Chapter 14
Bailey
I wasn’t sure where Darren was taking us, but I trusted him. I sat in the passenger seat, watching the many headlights on the road heading for their Saturday night fun. Ultimately, I didn’t really care where Darren was taking me; I was just glad to be away from the house. I desperately wanted any distraction to divert me from thoughts about my dad.
Unfortunately, we were headed for the complete opposite of that. While I wanted a distraction, what I needed was something greater.
We pulled up to Chris’ Saloon. It was a small bar in town, and it had a nice atmosphere, but I’d never gone in. There were some people inside, but it wasn’t packed.
Darren opened my door for me and helped me out. I kept expecting him to tell me what was going on, but he was expecting me to ask him what was going on.
“So, why are we going here?” I asked. “You know, if you wanted to go out and get me drunk tonight, you could’ve just asked.”
“That’s not my goal here tonight,” said Darren. “If it happens, I’m not going to fight it. But, I’ve got a different mission.”
“Uh, oh.” I chuckled. “I was kind of hoping that was your goal. I want to have fun.”
We walked up to Chris’. Darren held the door open for me. The bar was dimly lit, but there were many bright televisions playing sports and movies scattered throughout the place. In the darkness, groups were eating and talking together. There were also intoxicated men and women succumbing to their desires, kissing quietly in corners. It was a bizarre place.
Darren walked us toward the sports area, where it was mostly people watching games or playing them, like darts or pool. He found a specific booth, nodding in affirmation before he ushered me over.
I slid into my seat, and Darren sat across from me, smiling mischievously.
“You look like you’re up to something,” I said to him.
“I just think you need to be here tonight.”
“Why is that?”
Before he could answer, we had a petite redheaded server come up to us. She was cute but appeared to be stoned and potentially drunk herself.
“What can I get y’all tonight, darling?” the server asked Darren.
“I think I’ll start with a margarita,” he told her. “I don’t know if I’m eating anything yet tonight.”
I was staring at him, focusing intently on his every move. Every twitch, every blink, each time his gorgeous mouth opened. I hated how hot he was.
“Ma’am?” the server asked me.
I snapped out of it. “I’ll have a vodka raspberry. Nothing to eat.”
“Sounds good,” the server said before she walked off.
“You don’t have to drink tonight,” said Darren.
“Hey, if you’re drinking, I’m going to keep up,” I said.
I looked around, wondering about everyone there. I thought about their stories, filling in my ideas.
In almost no time, our drinks were brought to us. We picked them up at the same time.
“Cheers,” we said, clinking our glasses together.
We downed our drinks like we’d been thirsting in the desert. We looked into each other’s eyes for several seconds. We didn’t speak, but we read each other’s thoughts.
“This sucks.” I sighed.
“What?”
“I’m going back to Tennessee here soon. And, you’re going to stay here. And, I don’t know when I’ll see you again.”
“Let’s not think about things that haven’t happened yet,” said Darren. “Let’s stay here, now. For the time being.”
We kept looking around, lingering on various things for small increments of time, always peeking at each other from the corners of our eyes.
Our server returned, asked us if we wanted another drink, and we concurred.
As she walked to the bar, I returned my full attention to Darren. “Hey.”
He stared at me, grinning. “Hey, missy.”
“I don’t understand why you took me here,” I said. “I like this place, but why did you want to come here tonight?”
“You’ve been really busy looking out into the crowd,” said Darren. “You haven’t looked at some things very close to you right now.”
I didn’t comprehend what he meant at first, but then it hit me. I turned to look at the wall our booth was seated against. My heart skipped a beat.
On the wall of this booth, there was nothing but articles and pictures of me. Every inch of the wall held an accomplishment of Bailey Wright to show to the town. It was unbelievable, overwhelming, and somehow, I knew the context before Darren could explain.
“I spent a lot of nights here with your dad,” he explained. “Sometimes we’d drink and shoot the shit, other times, we’d come to watch a game, sit back and chill. We never said too much, explicitly about what was going on inside. But, it was obvious. We missed you terribly. We shared that, so we bonded.
“Your father was your biggest fan in the whole wide world. There will be many young girls that connect with what you’re saying, but no one will support you quite like your dad did. It breaks my heart, but this is a reminder now. Look at all that you’ve achieved since you left here. You made the right call. No one blames you for leaving. You have a mighty fan-base here in Rome, and I’ll say it’s because of your dad. You filled up the wall. He was trying to get Chris to give him another wall to further spread your influence. But now, everyone that comes here and sits in this booth is met with tales and news about Bailey Wright and how she’s putting Rome on the map.”
I was crying like an unbelievable baby, but I didn’t care. Our server came by with our drinks, ensuring that she caught my gaze for a few moments.
“What?” I asked her.
“I just realized you’re the girl in all those pictures on the wall,” said our server. “I always wondered if you were ever going to show up one day. That’s awesome!”
“Thank you,” I mumbled weakly. I hadn’t been able to stop crying. I could barely look at my wall.
“Your dad loved you dearly, and he knew you loved him,” said Darren. “Don’t ever doubt it. And, just because, well, even though he’s no longer with us, he ain’t really gone. He’ll always be with us in some way.”
“I know,” I said with intense joy. I loved hearing him say that because I wanted to believe that so badly.
“So, you get why we’re here?” he asked.
I nodded, wiping away my tears. “I’m sorry.”
“You know you don’t ever apologize for your feelings in front of me,” he stated firmly. “And, I’m not angry at you. I’m not resentful or anything that you’re going to have to leave again. I’m not looking forward to you going is all. I miss you already, and you haven’t left yet.”
“I feel the same way.”
“I’m really proud of you,” he said.
We continued to drink alcohol, but we didn’t overdo it. We watched some football and played some darts, and we had a nice night.
The problem then became that I wasn’t lingering on my dad, but on Darren. I wanted him to take me back to his house and fuck me the way we did the night before. I loved feeling our intense ember bursting into a bonfire the longer we engaged in our taboo desires.
I was worried though because, at certain points, it didn’t feel like we were fucking. It felt like the many years we shared, along with our deepest feelings, came emanating out of him as he gave himself to me. I hesitated to think of it as “making love,” but I couldn’t think of a better term for it.
We looked toward the door. I thought about him taking me into the backseat of his car and riding me like he did when he first penetrated me again after so many years.
We paid our tab and slowly made our way back to his car. We both weren’t walking straight.
“Think we might need to get a cab,” I said.
“We’re not far from home,” said Darren. “I can drive, don’t worry.”
I stopped him before he could open his car door. I pulled him in for a hug, holding him close to me, tight against my body.
“Thank you for bringing me here tonight,” I whispered. “I needed that.”
“You’re welcome.”
He tried getting back in his car again, but I kept a tight grip on his hand. I didn’t want him driving.
“I swear I can drive,” he said.
“Maybe you can, but I don’t want you leaving right this second,” I said. “Give it a minute. You got a water in your car?”
Thankfully, he did have a bottle of water in his car. We both drank from it, downing the bottle in under a minute.
“I think I’ll get a cab or an Uber,” I told him. “I’ll stay at my dad’s place.”
“Hey, remember that annual cookout the city would throw by the park?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure,” I recalled. “I don’t think that’s for another couple of months, isn’t it?”
“They do them monthly now,” he said. “They still do them at the same spot, but they do them on Sundays, afternoon and night. I’d love to take you to it if you’re up for it. If you’re still going to be here.”
“I’d love to,” I said. “Let’s do that tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan, milady,” he winked. He went for his car door again, flinging it open before I had a chance to stop him.
“You’re really going to drive like this?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t drive if I couldn’t,” he said in a reassuring attempt.
I ran over to my side, flinging the passenger door open and collapsing down.
“I’m not letting you drive without a co-pilot,” I said. “Even if I’m drunk, better that than nothing!”
I was a useless navigator, but true to his word, Darren got us both to our respective homes safely. I was texting Leah, learning that she was at the airport to fly back to Memphis. I gave her a call once I was home alone.
“Are you on your plane yet?”
“Nah, it was running late,” Leah said. “I’m still in line.”
“Fucking bummer!” I shouted.
She laughed. “Someone’s been drinking.”
“A little bit,” I said. “You should have stayed. We all could’ve gone to Chris’ together. I sit with Darren, you sit with Garrett.”
Leah snorted. “Okay, sure.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said. “I thought you had a good time with him.”
“I did!” she said. “It was fine. He’s such a nice guy, and he’s sweet and funny.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“If I’m totally honest,” she began, “he switched off after he blew his load. It took him like no time to cum. Then after he had his turn, I never got mine.”
I groaned. “Oh. Fucking bummer.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” She laughed. “Garrett is a good guy, but I’m not sure he’s quite my type.”
“Oh, well,” I said.
“So, when are you getting on a plane, superstar?” Leah asked. “We have to get back to work.”
“I’m writing new music,” I told her. “So, I’m working.”
“We need to make a decision about this record label,” she stressed. “They’re patient, but they’re starting to ask questions pretty frequently.”
“I’m coming back soon, don’t you worry,” I told her. “You have a safe flight back. I’ll let you know what’s going on.”
We hung up, and I fell down onto my old bed, sinking into the mattress and passing out almost instantly.