Damn cursor.
Damned cursor.
The friggin’ thing was winking at her!
Each wink was a smirk that any letter or word she’d type would end up being gobbled up by it eventually.
Kyra sighed as she shut the cover of her laptop and pushed her chair away from her desk. It just wasn’t happening today. Her editor wouldn’t be happy, but there were just days where it just wouldn’t happen. Anyway if she were to force it, it would end up being crap and she wouldn’t end up any better off than if she’d given up for a little while.
What had she been thinking when she’d submitted an outline for three books to her publisher? The first book had already been written and she had bits and pieces of the other two done, but they were nowhere near completion. And she had been given a time frame. A time frame.
She’d never written any other way than when the muse hit her and having to complete her work within a certain amount of time was causing her massive stress. She couldn’t think anymore and it was getting frustrating to her.
Of course that wasn’t the only problem.
She knew what the other problem was. It was him.
He was everywhere. Every time she turned on the radio or television he was there. She’d stopped listening to the radio in the car but each time she walked into a store, he’d be playing on the speakers. She’d stopped watching TV but each time she’d give in and try to turn on the news or something she’d end up flipping through channels and seeing him.
It had been easy at first to avoid him when they weren’t so well known in the US. Only her Mom used to mention him once in a while when she’d speak with her on the phone.
“I was talking to Karen the other day, did you hear that...”
No she hadn’t heard. And no, she hadn’t wanted to hear.
Kyra sighed once more and ran her hand over the glossy cover of her book. The publisher had couriered a copy of the final version to her the day before. It had been incredible opening the package to find a fully formed book, complete with cover art and an author’s blurb that was hers. Totally hers. She had been waiting for this her entire life it had seemed.
“You’re going to be an awesome writer,” he says as he leans down and presses his lips to the top of her head. “Now, once you become famous and make millions of dollars don’t you go forgetting about little ol’ me that lives next door…”
She laughs and rolls her eyes as she shuts the notebook she had been reading aloud from and tips her head back to smile at him. “You know I could never forget you. You’re my favorite person in the world.”
He smiles and his arms, which are wrapped around her as she leans back into his chest, tighten. “I promise I’ll be the first one in line to buy your first book.”
After a few quiet moments she admits, “I don’t want you to leave.”
“It’s only for a little while. We’re just going to see if it works.” She feels him shrug against her. “There’s probably only a one in a billion chance that we can end up getting it right.”
She sets her notebook on her thighs and slides her fingertips along his bare forearms. “I think if anyone can make it work it’s you. I can’t wait to hear you on the radio and see you on TV every day.”
He laughs and squeezes her once more. “Maybe one day you’ll regret saying that.”
And she did.
Now as she was about to embark on her very first publicity tour, she couldn’t help but think back to that long ago promise that she realized now would be yet another promise he would break.
With a shake of her head she stood from her desk chair and headed out of her office and into her bathroom to get ready for an interview. The past was the past and now that her future had opened up wider than she could have ever imagined, it was time for her to leave him behind.
*
Bobbie was sitting back in the hotel room’s lounge chair, her legs crossed at the ankle as she flipped another page of the novel she was reading. The latest assignment for her column had her reviewing an up and coming romance novelist’s first book. She didn’t usually use her free time to read since there was so much more she could have been doing, but she had a deadline and she needed to meet it.
She sighed as she kept reading, her eyes glancing up and into the mirror on a chest of drawers facing her across of the room once in a while. She caught a glimpse of the red soles of her black leather zip up boots and it filled her with satisfaction. She’d found them over a week ago in a boutique in Vegas when the guys had been performing, but she had been waiting a little while to wear them. She knew that JC would love them; they were sexy and sleek “but expensive as hell. She didn’t mind though, she knew he probably wouldn’t get his credit card bill for at least another few days. By the time he did get it, she’d make sure he’d remember only good things about those boots.
Of course she’d let him huff and puff about it for a few hours, even a few days and then eventually he’d get over it. Or, if he was feeling especially tired and pissy they might even break up again, but she had gotten used to this cycle by now. He’d eventually calm down and then end up getting wound up after a show or two where he didn’t get to release his adrenaline afterwards. Soon enough her phone would be ringing with an apology and a request for her to meet him after the next show. Of course then the process would just reset for the next time. It always did.
Tonight was one of the rare occasions on this leg of the tour where they were staying in a hotel instead of a damn bus since they’d be doing a couple of shows in a row at the same venue. She didn’t usually stick around when they had to sleep in the bus but anytime they had a little down time or a hotel room she liked to join JC. They never really did much but maybe get a little something to eat late after a show and then work off his adrenaline until he passed out from exhaustion. They never really hung out with the other guys any more, the last few times she’d been around them she’d really started to feel that they were quite cold with her. She didn’t really get it; she thought she was nice to all of them. Anyway, it didn’t really bother her; she was JC’s girlfriend not theirs.
She was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the door to their suite open and then shut firmly. She sat up in the lounge chair and purred, “Hey, baby.”
JC walked into the room dressed casually in his ‘press’ clothes; a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved shirt with an open collar where she could see a few necklaces gleaming in the light. He looked pissed.
Did the bill already come in?
“We need to talk,” he stated seriously as he walked over to the living area where she was still sitting.
She watched as he opened the mini bar and rummaged through it until he came out with a bottle of water.He leaned back against the counter, unscrewed the bottle and took a sip. His eyes then fixed on hers. “Did you get bitchy with Lonnie?”
Oh. So, not the bill.
She sat up and slowly uncrossed her legs in order to plant her feet firmly on the floor, effectively covering up their tell-tale red soles so as not to provoke him any more. “He was an asshole first,“ she started defensively
JC ran a frustrated hand over his face. “What happened this time?” he asked in exasperation.
His tone of voice pissed her off. It was like everything was always her fault. He always took the guys’ side instead of hers.
“Nothing! I needed a ride and he wouldn’t arrange for one. You guys were just doing a press thing; you didn’t need all of your bodyguards right then. All I asked was for one of the Escalades and a driver to get me to the mall. It wouldn’t have taken that long and they were just sitting there!”
He shook his head and took another sip of water. “Why couldn’t you just hail a cab?”
She hoped that the look she gave him made her point clear that she wouldn’t be taking any dirty old cabs to drive her around New York City.
JC groaned and set the bottle of water on the bar counter and crossed his arms. “You need to stop acting like a spoiled brat. People are really starting to resent having you around and I’m tired of always playing peacemaker between you and the whole world.” His voice was still calm and strangely that pissed her off even more.
“A spoiled brat?! I am not a spoiled brat! Do you know how much I put up with for you to be with me? I rarely see you and when I do all we do is sneak around for food, sneak around for privacy, and hang out on the bus or sometimes in a hotel room. If I really were a spoiled brat I’d demand much more attention from you.”
“It’s not like you didn’t know what you were getting into when we started dating, Bobbie! I told you it would be hard!”
She could tell he was starting to get worked up as the simmering anger was starting to boil over in his eyes.
“It’s not like you’re sitting around waiting for me to come home…my credit card is always getting plenty of exercise from you ‘passing the time’.”
How dare he. “How dare you JC! Yes, I use your credit card! You told me I could! I need these things to keep up with the other women in this industry. Do you expect your girlfriend to look cheap next to you?”
He rolled his eyes and a muscle in his jaw kept jumping. “You know how I feel about this. We’ve had this conversation many times; too many times. I’m tired of it.” He sighed and repeated one more time, “I’m tired of it, Bobbie. I’m tired of this.” He motioned to the space between the two of them. “I work hard and I just want to not have to deal with any drama when I have time off. I can’t do this anymore.”
Here we go again. “Yeah, whatever JC.” She huffed as she stood from her chair and started to walk away. “I’ll see you around.” With her final comment she flung her hard cover book straight at his chest before bending down to grab her purse and rolling suitcase off of the luggage rack near the door.
Thank God I hadn’t taken the time to unpack, she thought as she slammed the door shut behind her.
*
JC groaned loudly and kicked the book which had rebounded from his chest to the floor of the hotel room. He watched it slide across the plush carpet and hit the wall underneath an end table in the corner of the room.
He really was tired of having this conversation over and over again. He’d been so embarrassed earlier when he’d overheard Lonnie talking to one of the other bodyguards about an altercation with Bobbie. He’d wanted to approach Lonnie to apologize, again, for something Bobbie did while she was around but he’d wanted to know what had happened first in order to really be able to gauge how big the apology had to be this time.
With a final huff he pulled off his shirt and folded it before placing it in his laundry bag. He figured a hot shower would help him come down from the fight and then he could order some room service and veg out in his room. They’d been planning on doing something alone together tonight anyway, especially since none of the guys really wanted to hang around with him when Bobbie was there anymore.
With a shake of his head he started to make his way toward the bathroom when he saw the book on the ground. Suddenly feeling guilty about having kicked it, he got down onto the floor and reached to pick it up. As he turned it in his hand and got a glimpse at its spine, he almost hit his head underneath the end table with surprise.
Could it be?
With quick movements he stood up and started flipping the pages quickly as if the book were going to talk to him and answer his question. He turned the book to look at the spine again and his index finger traced the author’s name.
Dust jacket. Where is the dust jacket?
He started looking around the room frantically hoping that Bobbie hadn’t left with it. Suddenly his eye caught the glint of something sticking out from the crack between the seat cushion and the armrest of the chair she’d been sitting on earlier. Triumphantly he pulled out the now kinked dust jacket from its depths and unfolded it to reveal the picture of the author on its glossy surface. As he looked down at a very familiar pair of hazel eyes he felt his heart fall to the bottom of his feet.
It was.
Story Notes:
Thank you to my super talented and awesome (!) beta elle-miranda.
Chapter End Notes:
Hope you liked it!
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