Wes
The following days were extremely productive for Wes. He was in love, and he felt inspired and full of energy because of it.
It was finally Friday, and the past five days had seemed more like a month. He had rearranged his flat, held three emergency band practices, and had written fourteen new songs. Yes, fourteen—good ones, too. Hits. The emergency band practices were a result of the new songs, actually. He wanted to play a few of them at the show at The Rooftop, so he talked his band into adding some extra practice time to their week.
Wes had been in touch with Jo all week, but only with brief texts. They hadn't seen each other at all, and to him, it felt like torture. He hadn't even noticed how much time he had been spending with her until he wasn't doing it anymore. He felt as though he was going through withdrawals.
It was now Friday afternoon, and it was just a matter of hours before he saw her. He sent her a text.
Wes: "What's up?"
Jolene: "Working. What about you?"
Wes: "Just bought plane tickets for my trip."
Jolene: "That's awesome. Did you tell your mom?"
Wes: "I'm about to call her. I thought about telling her not to tell Owen and the others, but I figure he's got enough going on with the babies coming."
Jolene: "They're gonna be stoked whether it's a surprise or not."
Wes: "I saw your new video. Getting fancy with the underhand throw, huh? Like a boss."
Jolene: "You like that?"
Wes: "Super hot. You look like a Bond girl."
Jolene: "Haha."
Wes: "Today's Friday."
This text made Jolene smile and bite her lip. She couldn’t wait to see Wes. She had been counting the minutes.
Jolene: "Yep, it is."
She had been so composed about it all week, which made Wes even more anxious to see her.
Wes: "You're coming to my show."
Jolene: "I know. Luke and Chasidy are coming, too. And Katie and Micah. They all love the venue and invited themselves when I told them about it."
Wes: "As long as you don't have plans with them afterward."
Jolene: "I doubt it since it's gonna be late."
Wes: "Good. I'll give you a ride home."
Jolene: "Sounds good. I'll ride up there with Luke."
Wes: "See you then."
Jolene: "Okay." She added a simple red heart emoji that made Wes smile.
He paced around his living room for a few seconds before deciding to call his mom.
Rose Bishop almost always answered her cell phone. She did it for nearly everyone who called, but especially her children. She had slept in, so her voice was still groggy when Wes called.
"Hello?" she said, doing her best to make it seem like she was awake and alert.
"Are you sleeping?" Wes asked.
"No, I was just laying here. What's going on, baby?"
"What time is it over there?"
"Almost eight," she said, glancing at the clock by her bedside.
"I'm sorry. I thought it was nine," he said.
"It's fine," she said. "I was up. Is everything all right?"
"Yes ma'am. I just planned a trip home. I wanted to give you the dates so you could mark the calendar."
"Aww, good, baby, when?"
"In a couple of weeks," he said. "And I'm staying for longer than usual."
"Oh, my goodness, that's great news, Wesley. How long?"
"Twelve or thirteen days. I think it's just shy of two weeks."
"Why'd you plan such a long trip? I mean, I'm glad, it's just that usually you only stay about three or four days."
"I know. That's why I wanted to stay longer this time. Everything's always so busy when I go home that I don't really get that much quality time with you guys. Kip's going to be turning two, and Owen's gonna be having the twins. I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see everybody and have more than a few days to spend with y'all."
"Oh, Wesley, this really makes my day, baby. I'm so excited. Can I tell everyone? Did you buy the ticket yet?"
"I did buy the tickets, and, yes, you can tell everyone. You can tell them I'm bringing my girlfriend, too."
"Your girlfriend? You mean the girl with the knife show?"
"Jolene, yes. Only she doesn't know she's coming yet. I haven't asked her."
"Well, you better go ahead if you're coming in two weeks."
"She'll come," he said. "She really wants to go back to the States, and she sort of loves me."
Rose giggled. "Who wouldn't?" she asked.
"She really does, though, Mom. She loves me for real—like past all the motorcycles and music and everything."
(Rose didn't quite know the extent of what music meant in that statement. Part of her thought he was referring to being related to Ivy or Courtney. In recent weeks, as a result of Jo's influence, Wes had told his mother a little about his music. He made it out to be less of a thing than it was, but she did know that he had been writing songs, playing guitar, and getting gigs. She didn't know how very hard he worked at it or that he was in a band that already had a significant fan base in the UK. He wasn't the type of person who just came out and said things like that.)
"I'm so happy to hear you found somebody," she said. "You mentioned her a few times, but I thought you were just friends. You're talking about the one from the videos, right?"
"Yes ma'am, and we were just friends. I was actually seeing someone else. I didn't even tell you about that girl. Her name was Shea. I was with her on-and-off for like two years."
"Really? You never mentioned that."
"I know. I never mentioned her to you guys. I don't know why. I thought I really wanted to be with her, but I didn't. It was more like I just set this goal and kept going for it without even realizing that it wasn't the right thing. Jolene is different though. She snuck up on me. She's beautiful, and genuine, and wonderful, and it was like I couldn't even see it. It was like I had blinders on. We became best friends during the last few months, and then I just all of a sudden realized she wasn't my friend at all. My heart just suddenly realized she was the one. It was like I thought she was just a regular old rock that I carried around in my pocket, and then one day I took it out and realized it was a diamond. Not that she's like a rock. I shouldn't have said that. She's been a diamond all along, I just didn't see it. I couldn’t see it. I don’t know why. I was so focused on something else that I… I don't know. I just feel like I wasted so much time with Shea. I should have treated her better. I really hope she still loves me. I think she does. She's quiet, but I know she has feelings for me. I don't know why I couldn't see it before. She calls me Bugs because my initials are… never mind." He paused and sighed. "We haven't seen each other in five days. I feel like I'm going crazy. But I'm gonna see her tonight. I can't wait. I'm gonna tell her about the plane ticket. I'm playing a show at The Rooftop. I wrote like fourteen new songs, and we're doing three of them tonight. I think I might do a fourth by myself, but we'll have to see how things go. Anyway, I'll bring her home with me when I come. I really think she'll do it. I hope she will, at least."
This was, by a mile, more information than Wes had given his mom in years. It almost didn't even feel to Rose like she was talking to the right person. Tears gathered in her eyes as she listened to him. Her heart swelled at the sound of his excitement.
"Mom, are you there?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes, Wesley, I'm just listening to you. I'm trying to take everything in. You were talking so fast, and… what do you mean you're playing a show?"
"My band. I have a band. We're playing a show tonight at The Rooftop."
"Okay, first of all, why didn't you tell me you have a band?"
"I don't know why. I think it's because I didn't want to ride on Shug's coattails, or Courtney's. I started playing guitar a couple of years ago. I've been in a band for over a year now, and we play out quite a bit. There's four of us, but the songs are all mine. I really do love music, Mom. I play a lot of it. We have a gig every weekend, and more and more, they're selling out. It's humbling for me to even say that out loud. It's weird how quickly things have happened. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys that it's a big part of my life, but it is. I didn't mean to keep things from you, it just happened that way. I think I had good intentions about not mentioning it when I first started, but then I just didn't know how to bring it up. I was trying to make that girl Shea love me, and she didn't know I had money or anything. I really didn't want to tell her about my family or even get notoriety for my own music because I didn't want her to like me for that stuff. I think I was just purposefully holding myself back a little bit. I see now that it sounds ridiculous, but I didn't realize it was until… well, until I found Jo I guess. She makes everything seems so easy and honest."
"And Jo is the girl from the videos?"
"Yes. Her name is Jolene. I call her Jo or JoJo or Doubl—I call her all kinds of things. Her brother works for the London dealership. That's how we met."
"I remember you telling me that, but all this other stuff is news to me, Wes. I had no idea."
"I know. It all snuck up on me, really—the music and Jolene. I thought she was just my friend, and then she went on this date with another guy, and I felt like the world crashed down on me. I broke up with Shea that very same night. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my chest. It's so weird. I told Jolene that I broke up with Shea, and I told her how I felt about her, at least I think I did. I hope I did. She said we should take some time to make sure this was what we wanted. It's been five days since I've seen her. I don't know why it took me so long, Mom. I have no idea. I mean, in the last few months, she's become my best friend, and then suddenly, a switch flipped. It's like it was supernatural—like God had a hand in it."
Rose had long since sat up in bed to try to make herself more alert, but she still felt zonked and incapable of fully understanding what Wes was saying. "Okay, baby, let me get this straight. You were dating one girl while you were friends with this girl, Jolene. But you realized you had feelings for Jolene, so you broke up with the other one—the one we didn’t even know about."
"Yes, exactly. You didn't even know about her because she was wrong. She was the wrong one. I thought she was right, but I was wrong. I wasn't myself, Mom. I was keeping things from her; I was keeping things from you guys. I feel so much better now."
"Why did you say you hope she loves you?" Mom asked. "Can't you tell?"
"No. I mean, I kinda know she does, but she's not forward like Shea was. She's so sweet. She was content to just be friends with me and teach me how to throw knives. She's different than other girls."
"I really want you to bring her home with you, Wes. I want to meet whoever it is that's making you so happy."
"She's gonna want to move back if she comes," he said.
"Move back where?"
"To the States."
"Is she American?" Rose asked, her heart beginning to pound. She had prayed desperately for her baby boy to eventually make his way back home. She would never make him feel guilty about it, but it would please her immensely for him to come back—it would make her heart sing. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, praying that Wes's next words were going to be that this girl's parents live in Memphis—heck, even Columbus or Kansas City would work.
"Yes ma'am. Her parents live here in London, but she grew up in America. She loves it there. She's always wanted to move back. I thought you watched the videos I sent you. I thought you knew she was American."
"I did watch them—a few of them, but I didn't even think about that. I didn't even think to listen to her accent. I had no idea. I just assumed she was from England."
"No, she was born in Philly and then grew up in Savannah. She still has family in Philadelphia and some in Boston—an aunt in Atlanta, too. She really loved Savannah. She likes the south."
"Oh, my goodness, Wesley, bring that girl over here right now. She needs some fried chicken and barbeque. Collard greens."
Wes grinned at the sound of his mom's excitement. He knew she would love to have him closer to home, and honestly, it didn't seem like such a bad idea—especially if Jolene was there with him.