The Way We Talk

“No, no, I think the chord progression should change halfway through. It would add a little something to it, you know?” Alex suggested as he sat behind me with the guys.

December had come and gone, January almost over within the next couple of weeks.

We’d had a break in between, everyone going home to visit family. I, myself had decided to fly home to Baltimore and visit my family. Adam and his girlfriend we considering getting engaged, but that was still up in the air. It surprised me that they would talk about it and decided whether or not they’d marry. Most couple went the ‘guy proposes, girl thinks about it/knows and either accepts or rejects’ route. Aimee was expecting and I would soon become an aunt. Of course, my parents were over the moon about the prospect of being grandparents.

Alex and Lisa made peace and got back together. I had the lovely privilege of witnessing Alex’s phone calls home. They were so sickeningly sweet that I literally wanted to throw up. Zack and Rian agreed with my point of view. I’d met Cassadee as Rian’s girlfriend and enjoyed the company of another girl in the room with the guys for the first time in ages. Jack and I were fast becoming friends, much like we’d started out. It was nice, getting back into the same old routine.

Jared had come home for a few days, but we barely had any time to ourselves and we fought during the time we did have. It was a stupid fight; one about a dirty, wet towel left on the bathroom floor. I could feel that our relationship was under some strain. It worried me; mainly because we’d never had an issue before, but also because I wasn’t nearly as bothered as I should be. I was too busy with work and the guys to really ponder on my relationship woes.

One downfall of being around the guys again came to light when they began releasing studio updates online for the Hustler Club. I’d snooped around the forums and found an entire thread dedicated to my return. Questions flooded the community on whether I was actually the Abigail Stone, or some coincidental look-alike; if I was actually Abby, was I back with Jack; and my own personal torment, the story on why I disappeared. There were hate comments, defensive comments, neutral comments; all sorts of comments, all about me.

As of late, they were nearing the end of the recording process. And they were discussing whether or not a chord change would benefit the song or make any difference in the influence. When they’d ask me, I was little to know help; I thought they’d done great and any changes could possibly be better, but it was really up to them. They were the musical geniuses, not me. So, I stuck to my own work and kept my opinions to myself.

“Alright, that’s about as far as we’re getting today,” Jimmy stated, taking off his headphones and rubbing his eyes. “Pack up your things, guys.”

As I gathered my things, my cell phone rang; Jared’s name flashing across the screen. I bit my lip, wondering if I should answer it. To be honest, I hadn’t made any effort to keep in touch after our petty fight. We’d resolved it obviously, but I was still a bit miffed about it. However, it wasn’t fair to Jared that I was staring at the phone questioning whether or not I should answer. This was my boyfriend, we were talking about.

I hit the green button and brought the phone to my ear as I continued picking up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, honey. I’ve been calling you and hadn’t been able to get through. How are you?” Jared’s sleepy voice came over the ear piece.

“I’m good. I’m glad to hear from you,” I smiled, despite his inability to see. I bustled around the small room gathering the trash so that it was a little bit neater for tomorrow.

“I know. I’ve been meaning to call, but the rates overseas suck,” Jared explained.

“I know they are. You shouldn’t call me. I told you we could Skype or email or something,” I frowned. “I don’t want you running up a bill.”

“One little call to my lovely lady won’t hurt.”

I grinned. He really was such a sweetheart. I immediately felt guilty for even thinking about ignoring his call. “Thanks, that means a ton to me. How’s it going?”

“It’s been really good. The shows have been fun and the fans are really fantastic. I wish you could come; the sights are amazing. We went to a few of the tourist spots here in London,” Jared spoke.

“I wish I could be there too,” I replied honestly. It was moments like this that reminded me how lucky I was to have him.

“Yeah,” Jared yawned.

“Honey, you need to sleep, what time is it over there anyway?” I asked, checking my watch and doing the math myself. “It’s one in the morning, Jared. You need to sleep.”

“You’re right. Okay, sorry this call was so short, but I do need some sleep. I love you,” Jared sighed.

“I love you too,” I replied. I meant it, but it felt more automatic than normal. “I’ll email you or something later, alright?”

“Okay. That sounds good, goodbye.”

“Bye, babe,” I ended the call and stuck my phone in my purse. I looked up, taking note of the lack of people in the room. Jack, however, was standing my doorway watching me.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, turning off equipment and slipping my coat on.

“They took off. We’re pretty tired of even discussing music today,” Jack explained. “I just figured I’d wait for you.”

“Oh well, thank you.” I slung my bag onto my shoulder and headed to the door.

We reached the elevator and the chrome doors parted, letting us in. Conversation was usually easy between us, but for some reason, today wasn’t one of those days. I rocked lightly on the balls of my feet, focusing on not tipping over in my heels.

“So, was that your boyfriend?” Jack asked, tracing the floor tile with the toe of his shoe.

“Yeah, that was Jared,” I confirmed.

“That’s, uh that’s nice,” Jack stated awkwardly. “What are you going to do tonight?”

“Uh well, I’m probably just going to grab some take-out and watch TV,” I replied, watching the floor numbers light up as we passed each one.

“Cool, I was going to ask if maybe you wanted to join us tonight. Me and the guys are going to this club for a few drinks,” Jack said.

“That actually sounds like fun,” I agreed. “What time?”

“I’m pretty sure that they’re in need of sleep; I could use a nap too, so maybe at about nine?” Jack shrugged.

“Okay, sure. I’ll tag along,” I decided.

“Great,” Jack grinned. “I’ll call a cab and pick you up at nine; that we won’t get there too far ahead of them and you don’t have to use your car.”

“Okay,” I nodded again.

The elevator door dinged and the silver panels parted again to let us out. My heels clicked on the tile flooring as we walked out the glass doors. I tightened my coat around me when the cold air blew around us. We reached the sidewalk, Jack attempting to hail a cab and me heading to the parking lot. I got into my car and pulled out a few minutes later, only to pull up to the curb in front of Jack.

“Want a ride?” I asked, lowering the window. He didn’t seem to be having such an easy time.

“Yeah, I would. Thanks.” Jack slid into the passenger seat.

I slipped in one of the CD’s I found in my visor; Jared’s actually, and began driving Jack to the hotel.

“Who the hell is this?” Jack asked, staring at the radio in disgust.

“That would be Jared. It’s his first CD,” I responded defensively.

“Sounds like crap if you ask me,” Jack muttered.

“Well no one asked you,” I snapped back. I switched the radio on instead to keep from making insults.

To our surprise, Blink-182’s ‘All the Small Things’ came blasting through the speakers and we both belted out the lyrics, complete with dance moves. We both burst into laughter when our eyes would meet.

We found ourselves in front of the hotel within a few songs and I lowered the volume to say goodbye. As I shifted the gear to the bright ‘P’, my hand brushed against Jack’s. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything. I felt shivers run through my cold fingers and up my arm, but that could’ve just been attributed to the weather. But, our eyes met for a moment and the inexplicable and inexcusable happened.

I can’t understand why I let it happen, or where our heads were, but the moment my brain registered that Jack was leaning in to me, my eyes shut and my lips waited for his. And when they met, the mental image that engulfed my mind was a fourth of July display. Fireworks were pretty much the only thing I could feel.

Jack’s hand curved around my neck, bringing me in closer. His tongue traced my bottom lip, and found its way into my mouth. I could feel my entire body tingling with excitement. He kissed me like he meant it, like we used to back when we both meant the world to each other. I finally ran out of breath and was forced to break away. He, too, pulled back, staring at me across the console. We each sat in the car, not bothering to move, trying to catch our breath.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” I finally spoke.

“You’re right,” Jack agreed. “We shouldn’t have, but we did.”

“Let’s just, uh, forget about it. Um, I think I’m just going to call it a night. Thanks for the invite, but I’d like to stay in tonight and maybe work on a few things,” I said.

Jack simply nodded. “Yeah okay, of course. I’ll see you in a few days then.”

“You’re not going to be in tomorrow?” I asked curiously.

“No, um, my parts for the song we’re working on are done. I’m going to Las Vegas for a couple of days,” Jack explained briefly.

“Oh well, have fun then.” I tried to smile and force the heat from my face.

“Thanks for the ride,” Jack stated, waving and walking into the hotel lobby.

I leaned back against the seat, still processing what just happened before driving home. I was still in shock about tonight’s occurrences. Jack kissed me, after hearing my half of the conversation with my boyfriend. And, wasn’t he seeing someone? Although last I checked, it wasn’t serious. God, my mind was traveling a mile a minute as I stepped through my front door. The best way to unwind was to shower and sit in front of my TV with a glass of white wine.

I showered quickly, running a little behind schedule; I didn’t want to miss the re-runs of Kendra that I hadn’t gotten to see due to my schedule. I slipped my pajamas on and grabbed a glass and the bottle of wine, taking both items with me and setting them on the glass coffee table. I flipped the TV on, barely catching the end of the show’s introduction. My stomach growled in frustration as I was watching the show. When a commercial came on, I hopped up and searched the fridge for something edible. I pulled out left over take out from the day before and , after sniffing it, deemed it worthy of tonight’s dinner.

“Stay tuned after Kendra for the sneak peek of the next season of Holly’s World...” announced the television.

I reheated the boxes of Chinese take-out, making a mental note to keep up better with these TV shows. Finally, the microwave beeped and I took my food to the living room. I poured a little more wine into my glass and settled into watch the rest of Kendra.

Finally caught up with Kendra, the credits rolled and soon enough the sneak peak began. I grabbed the wine glass from the table and took a sip.

“Now the sneak peak of the season premiere of Holly’s World:

“Hello?”

“Hello!” My favorite of the blonde trio was adjusting her dress in the mirror.

“Oh damn!

“You look hot! You’re all dressed up!” She turned to face her friend, Josh.

“You look hotter!” he gushed.

“Thank you. Muah!” Holly hugged him and kissed his cheek, then resumed her final touch ups.

“Is Jack here yet?”

“Um, he should be here any second.” The camera panned and the last thing I ever expected to see on Holly’s World popped up.

“JACKALOPE YAY!”

I nearly choked and spit out the wine that was in my mouth when Jack appeared.

JACK BARAKAT holly’s boyfriend, I read.

I watched in complete shock as she ran to him and hugged him, hanging on his neck. I felt a lump rise in my throat as I watched her introduce him to her friend.

“Holly. Madison?” my voice cracked through an octave as I continued watching. “Holly Madison?

I grabbed my phone and furiously typed out a text message and hit send.


From: Abby Stone
310-9834*
Sent: 9:55pm 1-23-11

To: Jack Barakat
424-8972*
Received: 9:58pm 1-23-11

Re: YOU’RE DATING HOLLY MADISON???