Rum and Coke

“Ms. Patterson!”

Ellie quickly jolted into reality and looked at her history teacher.

Mrs. Shirley’s face softened. “Your genealogy project?”

Ellie nodded her head and handed her teacher the paper.

Smiling softly, Mrs. Shirley looked over the paper. Her smile quickly turned into a frown as she glanced at the only two names on the paper. “Ellie, what is this?”

Ellie shook her head. “You asked for my family tree, so I gave it to you,” she replied in an even, emotionless tone.

Concerned, Mrs. Shirley got down on Ellie’s level. “Are you okay? I thought you were going to do the alternate assignment.”

“I’m fine. You can’t write yourself into other people’s lives. You can’t explain their successes on who their family is…or was.”

Mrs. Shirley nodded her head. “Okay, if you ever want to talk, I’m a good listener.”

Ellie didn’t respond, she just laid her head back down on her desk and continued to stare blankly at the wall. It had been three weeks since Danielle’s funeral, and Ellie still hasn’t fully faced reality yet. For the past few weeks, she had taken residence with her uncles. Adam had to fly back out to Europe a few days after the funeral. No one wanted to see him go. Everyone believed that he was the only one who could truly fix her…well, the only one that they (aside from Kale) knew about.

~*~

Three thousand miles away, Brian Haner looked up from the copious amounts of paperwork that required his immediate attention. His eyes were strained and his head hurt. Sighing, Brian took off his reading glasses and rubbed his temple. He hated what he had become. He hated being chained to his office chair and his cell phone (which constantly rang). He wanted to get back on the stage and play guitar. That’s it. That’s all he wanted. It’s all he’s ever dreamed about. Some days, he wished that he had never opened his own clothing line. He wished that he had never signed on to become a producer for Warner Bros Records. He wanted to make music again. He wanted to play his own songs in front of a large crowd again.

In his mind, he was back in his glory days. He and his band were milking the crowd for all that they were worth. As the last chord of the night rang out through the venue, Brian smirked to the crowd and casually walked off stage and into the arms of the woman he loved. He was glad that she never minded how disgusting he was when he came off stage. Instead, she would always pull him into a passionate kiss, which would normally lead to something more in an empty room.

“You did great, Baby,” she whispered in his ear before she gently nipped it.

Brian placed his hands around her protruding stomach. “You know you’re not supposed to be here. I don’t want my son being born deaf. He needs to learn guitar somehow.”

“And who says that it’s a boy?” she smirked as she played with the hairs on the back of his neck.

“I do,” he growled seductively, effectively sending shivers up and down her spine.

“We’ll have to see about that.”

Brian took in her appearance. Her pregnancy really made her eyes stand out and her skin glow. Her hair was softer, and her bust was fuller.

She cocked her head to the side. “What are you looking at?”

“You’re beautiful,” he said before putting a chaste kiss on her lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Danni.”

Brian startled awake. He hadn’t thought about Danni in years. Well, that was a lie. He technically had dreamed about her one too many times…and they were really good dreams, too. He shook all thoughts of her aside and put his reading glasses back on. After reading over the newest piece of paper, he cursed under his breath and yanked his phone off the receiver.

“Mary, book me the next flight to New York. I need to straighten out a few things.”