Second Heartbeat

Brian closed the door behind him and put his bag down on the bed that Matt hadn’t claimed. The tension among the two of them was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

“Why did you do it?” Matt asked.

“What difference would it make if I told you. It happened and nothing I say to you will change that”

“I need to know,” he said leaning against the desk in the corner of the room.

“I didn’t know it was her. From the back, all I saw was the red hair and the black mini skirt of her costume. I thought she was Stormy. When I realized it wasn’t, I couldn’t stop.” He wasn’t going to set Matt off by telling him that he gave Sydney an out and she chose to stay. He’d rather take the full blame on himself then create any more problems.

Matt didn’t say a word; he just went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. When he walked back out of the room to get his clothes, Brian was standing at the end of his bed unpacking. Matt gently laid his hand on Brian’s shoulder.

“I shouldn’t have done that to your face.” He said

“You should have done worse, Matt”

“Maybe so, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry”

“And for what it’s worth, I am too” Brian said.

Matt walked away from him and went back into the bathroom to go take a shower.

---

Jimmy and Brian picked up their rental car and set off on their way home. A slight bit of traffic put them a half-hour behind schedule. When they pulled up to the house it was just in time to catch Stormy pulling out and driving off down the road.

“Do me a favor?” Brian asked

“Yeah sure, what is it?”

“Follow her, I need to understand why she went back to stripping Jimmy, it’s killing me.”

Jimmy nodded and set off in the same direction as Stormy’s car. They kept back far enough so that she wouldn’t realize she was being followed even though it was a rental and she wouldn’t recognize the car anyway.

When they saw her parking, they drove passed her car and went around the block. After parking, they walked back to where she parked her car and went inside of the building that She was parked in front of.

Brian walked down the hall in a hurry looking through each door as he passed. He was walking so fast Jimmy could barely keep up. When he reached the door at the end of the hall he looked through the little glass widow in the door and there she was.

She was wearing a black leotard with white tights and ballet shoes and she was dancing. The smile on her face couldn’t get any wider. He watched as she glided around the room like she was floating on air. She literally took his breath away.

“She’s good isn’t she?” a woman said from behind them

“Yeah” Brian whispered

“Stormy is one of my best students” the woman beamed.

Brian turned to face the woman “Please don’t tell her we were here” he said and walked down the hall with Jimmy following after. They got back to their car and drove back to the house; neither said a word the whole way home.

--------

“I missed you”

“Prove it”

“I thought I just did” he grinned.

“If that is how you prove you missed me, then you suck!” she teased.

“Oh really now? Speaking of sucking…how about you suck?” he smirked

She laughed and disappeared under the covers to meet his request
---------

Brian’s POV

After getting home and seeing everyone again, I went down to the apartment and walked into the bedroom. The bed was unmade and her clothes were strewn about as if she was in a hurry to get ready today. The smell of her perfume still lingered in the air. I walked out to the kitchen and grabbed a beer and sat in the dark waiting for her to come home. After a while, I found myself nodding off, but opened my eyes quickly when I heard the door open.

I watched her in the dark as she set her bag down on the floor and walked into the bathroom. I heard the shower start and watched her walk out of the bathroom to the bedroom right passed me without even knowing I was laying on the couch.

She found her clothes and disappeared back into the bathroom. When she came out a half hour later I could smell the faint scent of Strawberries and cream from the shampoo she uses. When she went to the kitchen I figured it was time to make my presence known.

As I stood behind her she opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a beer. After she closed the door, I slid my arm around her waist, realizing my mistake as soon as I did it. She screamed and tried to hit me with her beer bottle. I quickly covered her mouth with my hand before she woke up the entire household.

“It’s me… Brian,” I said but she struggled against me.

“Damn it, Stormy, it’s me” I said and took my lighter out of my pocket and lit one of the candles on the counter. I then turned her around to face me.

“See?”

She looked at me in the dimly lit kitchen and it was as if she didn’t recognize me.

“What happened to your face?” she asked never taking her eyes off me.

“Matt”

“Oh Brian” she said and covered her mouth with her hand.

“It’s ok, I’m fine” I faked a smile for her benefit.

She reached out and touched my face and although it hurt like hell, just the fact that she was touching me made me happier than you could imagine.

“It doesn’t hurt” I lied when her eyes started to water. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was see her cry.

I wasn’t expecting her to walk closer, but she did. I wasn’t expecting her to kiss me either, but she did that too. I tried to hide the fact that it hurt to kiss her, because it hurt more not to kiss her, but when she noticed I was in pain she stepped back.

I held out my hand for her to take. “Come lay down with me?”

She nodded and took my hand as I walked her over to the couch. I lay down and took her into my arms pulling her down on my chest. I was very content just holding her. I knew she would need time before we could have sex again and I wasn’t going to force the issue. I could wait, as long as I had her, I could wait.

--
“Satisfied?” she asked as she rested her head on his chest.

“Very” he grinned.

“Good, because that is the last time I am doing that”

“What?” he asked watching her as she sat up.

“I’m tired of being your mistress. I’m not going to wait for you much longer and I wont have sex with you again after tonight.”

“You are acting like a child,” he said

“and you are treating me like one of your groupies. We have sex and you go about your life as if I didn’t exist.”

He put his hands over his face. “FUCK why do you have to keep complicating things, why cant you just leave them the way they are?”

“I am complicating things? You know what, I love you, but I can’t do this anymore. I should have known better to begin with. You will never fully be mine.”

She reached for her shirt and pulled it over her head while he sat up.

“Can’t you just be patient?” he asked rubbing her arm

“I’ve been patient, I have heard the lies, never mind the fact that I am currently living a lie. I can’t do it anymore. After tonight this isn’t going to happen again”

“Just give me til after the tour is over” he pleaded.

“No, I cant trust your words anymore, I should never have even believed you when you said you loved me because if you did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s over.