Chapter Thirty-Nine
Owen
I sat before the guys who, for the better part of twenty years, had shared my life. Guys who probably knew more about me than I knew about myself most days. It had been a few months since we had wrapped up the tour. A tour that had been the most successful and well-received tour we'd ever done. Social media had been all abuzz with fans talking about how well we'd played, album sales had shot through the roof, and rock magazines were calling it the comeback of the decade. It would be crazy to call it quits now that we were on this high, but the reality was that all good things had to come to an end.
“I appreciate you guys making it over today. I know everyone is busy, so I’ll try to keep it quick. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I know when we first decided to go on tour that it was supposed to be a long-term commitment,” I started, clasping my hands loosely in front of me.
“But, as I know you all are aware, some things have changed. And while being with you guys and jamming out these songs has been the best fucking experience of my life, I...I just feel like it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate some things. I want to turn my attention to my future, which is the record company and Nalia, of course, but I figured you guys already knew that.”
Nalia and I had been inseparable since the last concert of the tour. I would have never guessed how happy it would make me to wake up every morning and see her lying beside me with that gorgeous smile spread across her beautiful face. I was a lucky man. I loved her more than I thought was possible to love anyone, and I could not wait to make her officially mine.
“So you’re pulling out?” Jeremiah asked softly, no expression on his face.
“Yes and no. I'm saying we won’t be doing any touring. And since we're at the top, what better time for me to pull out? Better to do it now than to fade into obscurity and start putting out a string of lackluster albums because my heart isn’t in it. No, I think that now is the right time to make this move. So yeah, as amazing as it's been, it’s time for me to start a new chapter in my life.”
“Well,” Talon said, slapping his hands against his knees. “I don't know if I agree with you fully on this, bro, but I can understand why you're doing it. Touring is hard on the body and the mind, and, I never thought I'd say this, but I for one am looking forward to some downtime.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Jeremiah agreed with a shrug. “I want to do some real traveling, not the kind followed by having to do gigs every night. You know, like those guys on TV who go to the craziest places on earth. See the world before I’m too old to get out of the chair.”
“Man, I’ve been wanting to focus on writing more,” Jay added. “Having the tour be a success just puts me in a better position to do that.”
“So, you’re not all disappointed?” I asked, surprised by their responses. I had been expecting some resistance and maybe even a little resentment at least. We had poured our heart and souls into this tour—it had been a year in the making with a lot riding on its success. And a great success it had been. Naturally, I had assumed they would all want to press on and continue riding the wave of that high.
They all looked around at each other and then shook their heads, Talon giving me a grin. “Nah, man, it's been real, it's been amazing, but for now, we're good. I mean, shit, it was only a matter of time, anyway. We're all getting older. It’s time to move on to greener pastures, even though where we are right now is pretty damn comfy.
“I've been thinking of spending a year or two in Europe, actually. Maybe I’ll play some jazz. I'd like to explore the scene there and just have a bit of a change in my life. You know, see a new place, meet new people, play a different kind of music.”
“That sounds really cool, Talon,” Jeremiah remarked.
“Well, I guess that’s it then,” I announced, standing. “You’re all more than welcome to use the studio whenever you want if you want to record anything new. My studio is your studio, and you guys all know that. I've always got time for you guys, always. We're brothers, through and through, and we always will be, whether Bleeding Heart is going or not.”
Talon shot me a knowing look. “Brothers or not, before I drop by the house, I’ll make sure to call first.”
I grinned. “You do that.”
After saying our goodbyes and making plans to get together for a cookout, I walked them out to their cars and then headed back downstairs where I had left Nalia playing the piano earlier. I had asked her to come with me when I talked to the guys, but she’d refused, insisting that it should just be between them and me. I hated to admit she was right, but she had been on point about that.
Pausing in the doorway, I watched her tinker with the keys, her hands drifting over them. No matter how many times I looked at her, I couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. My heart almost seized in my chest as I thought about how close I had come to losing her. I’d been an idiot to ever think I could live without her. As impossible as I’d once thought it was, I’d become utterly grateful for every day I spent with her. And, I had never been much of a religious man, but when I held her, I knew there clearly had to be a God.
She looked up from playing, and our eyes met, a loving smile spreading across her face. “Hey, you.”
“Hey,” I replied, smiling as I stepped into the room. “What are you doing there?”
She pointed to the half-written song in front of her. “Writing and playing. It’s kind of my life now, you know.”
I walked over and took a seat next to her, pressing a kiss on her cheek. “I thought I was your life.”
She laughed and patted my knee. “Now, what would give you that idea?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I do, I do. I was just teasing you,” I said with a warm smile.
She leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek.
I sighed and hugged her tightly, and then turned to look at the music. “Are you stuck?”
“Yeah, feeling pretty hopeless about it, actually,” she admitted.
I read the notes, my hands moving over the keys as I did. In terms of piano playing, I wasn’t even close to her level, but I could still play enough to write music, and as I looked over what she had already done, an idea popped into my head. “What about this?” I suggested.
She listened intently, cocking her head to the side as I hummed a few bars, writing down the notes on the sheet. When I was finished she looked at the notes, playing them back on the piano a thousand times better than I had.
“That’s brilliant!” she exclaimed. “It's just what I was looking for, but couldn't quite find.”
“I still have a little somethin’ left to offer.”
“You have a lot left to offer, and you know it,” she nudged me.
“You know I love you, right?”
Her expression melted as she leaned against my shoulder, the smell of her shampoo tickling my nose. “I love you, too. I hope we stay this happy until we are old and gray.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist, feeling somewhat funny about the whole getting old thing. “I hope you love me that long,” I whispered under my breath.
“I will love you until the end of time.”
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“You shouldn’t have said it aloud then,” she giggled.
I laughed. “Yes, ma’am. You sure you can live with me until I’m old and gray?”
She looked up, her eyes warm and full of affection. “Absolutely. Just means I’ll have to be the one to stroke your ego when you’re old, instead of hordes of screaming women.”
I leaned down, gently brushing my lips against hers. “I don’t need the fans, the fame, or any of that as long as I have you. That’s all I need. You.”
“Just when I think you can’t blow me away anymore, you do,” she whispered.
I smiled against her lips. “Well, I hope I am able to just that for the rest of our lives, babe.”
She wound her arms around my neck, pulling me in for another deep kiss.
“God, I love your kisses. I would almost pay for those,” I joked.
“Well, you can start with that piano you promised me,” she whispered.
I grinned and tweaked her nose. “I'll buy you a warehouse full of pianos if you keep kissing me like that.”
“Deal.”