Second Chance

Gena’s POV

“Gena, phone” Kelly, the saloon receptionist, says. I put down the blow dryer & excuse myself from my current appointment to go to the table where Kelly is arranging all sort of crap. Who would dare call me when they know I’m working? They all know I hate that.

“Hello?” I say, picking the red phone, a little annoyance on my voice.

“Gena? Hi” I hear a familiar voice. I smile. I’m not gonna deny that I’m a bit shocked to hear from her, but I’m also very excited.

“Anna. Hi. How are you?” I say, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.

“I’m fine. How are you?” She says & I can hear a faint nervousness in her voice. Anna… nervous? I’ve never seen that happen before.

“Good. Really good. Wondering what I owe this privilege of having the famous Annabelle Hurley calling me at work” I say, the smile always present in my face. I miss talking to Annabelle. We used to talk so much, until our phones died. Or Zacky made me hung up. We never ran out of things to talk about. & even when we talked about the same things over & over again, we would always laugh until we were crying. Or the times when we would talk, girl to girl, & cry on each other’s shoulders about heartbreaks, the future & everything in-between.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, G” She says & I hear soft music in the back.

“Where are you?” I ask her.

“Sitting very comfortably in my office” She says & I hear some clicking too. Like she’s typing.

“What’s that music?” I ask.

“Oh, A Day To Remember. You know I can’t do anything in complete silence” She says & I let out a small chuckle. She always used to be playing some music. She was cooking, she was playing music. She was painting, she had her earphones blasting. She was dancing… well, obviously she had music. “I’m actually calling you cuz I have something to ask you” She says.

“A favor?” I ask, wondering what she would need.

“Kinda, yeah” She says after a short pause. “See… I started planning, uh… the wedding” She says.

“Really? That’s great. I still can’t believe that you’re getting married. I always thought I was gonna be the next one. But I guess Zacky just likes taking his sweet ass time” I mutter a bit bitterly.

“You sound like an obsessive girlfriend” She says & I sigh.

“I know I do. It’s just that it’s a bit hard for me to not want that after all the years we’ve been dating, you know. I mean, you didn’t date John for very much time & he popped the question. What is holding Zacky back?” I say. Ever since I found out Annabelle was getting married, I’ve been thinking a lot about marriage. Do I want to get married? Yes. To Zack? Hell yes. But he doesn’t seem to want that.

“I’m sure he’s just waiting for the right moment. I mean, with the new album in the works, you know tours will be next. I bet he’s just waiting for a moment where he will have enough time to do it right. Trust me. Zack’s like that” She says. She always knew how to lift everyone up. She just has it in her. It’s so… so… Annabelle. “But I didn’t call you so you can complain to me about Zacky not wanting to get married. I called to ask you something” She says & I’m snapped into reality again.

“Ok. Go ahead” I say, turning to see if my client hasn’t left yet. I see her talking on her phone so I know I’m set for a couple of more minutes.

“Well, I was wondering, if maybe you wanted to take a break from work & um… you know, help me plan this thing” She says with hesitation. I furrow my brows in confusion.

“You want me to help you plan your wedding?” I ask, not sure if that’s what she was asking. After all this time, I really thought she had grown closer to Pauline. & I’m sure it would be easier for her to help Annabelle since they live in the same city. I’m on the opposite coast for Christ sakes.

“Yeah. You know… that’s the least my maid of honor can do” She says & I stopped breathing. Was she asking me to be her maid of honor?

“Are you serious? Don’t play with me, Annabelle” I say. She knows how important it is for me. What all of this means. See, in one of those drunken talks we had, we made a promise, a pinky promise, that she would be my maid of honor & I was gonna be hers. Leana was gonna be our first born godmother. Our boys would be free to decide the godfather.

“Of course I’m serious” She says. “Why wouldn’t I be?” She asks & I ponder in my answer, hesitant about telling her or not. But I do.

“Well… we haven’t spoken in years, so I thought… you know” I say, letting out a sad sigh.

“I know. & I’m sorry. But there’s no one else I want by my side that day than you” She says & I laugh. I feel like crying. “What do you say? Are you up for it? Or do I have to propose it to you?” She says letting out a laugh. I laugh too. It’s almost like, time stood still & she didn’t moved or left. Like she didn’t shut us out of her life.

“Of course not. Although it would’ve been nice” I say. “So how are we gonna do this? You do realize that we live in the opposite sides of the country, right?”

“Don’t worry about that. I have it all figured out. I talked to your boss before you, hence why I didn’t call your cell. So… when can you get you tiny, skinny white ass here?” She says & I let out a squeal, jumping up & down from the excitement.

“I’ll be there as soon as I’m finished with my client” I say, hanging up & quickly running towards the middle age woman. I’m going to New York, baby!!!

Brian’s POV

“Hey, man” I look up to see Jimmy standing by the balcony door. I turn my head round again without even acknowledging him while I continue to strum on my guitar. I’ve been lacking on my part of helping out on this record. I’m just not that into it. The last thing in my mind is a new record. “Working on a song?” He asks, taking a seat next to me but I don’t answer him. Since my wedding, Jimmy & I have a non-existent relationship. Which is funny since he was like my fucking brother & fucking best man. I just can’t believe that he did what he did to me. I’m in this mess because of him. “So you’re not talking to me yet, uh?” He says, placing his sunglasses over his eyes as the sun starts to appear from behind a cloud. “Listen, Brian, I know you don’t see it, but I did you a favor” He says & I roll my eyes behind my sunglasses.

“Save the fucking speech, Jim. I’m not in the mood” I say, strumming my guitar a bit harder this time, trying to signal that I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, to listen to his fucking little speech that he has given me for the past 3 years. I hear him give out a big sigh, leaning back on the chair. We stay silent for several minutes although I can feel that he wants to say something.

“Listen…” He starts but stops. He takes a big breath before continuing. “I’m sorry, Brian. I’m really sorry. I fucked you up” He says & I stop momentarily my strumming. After a couple of seconds, I continue. He sighs. “You really loved her, right?” He asks & I stop completely.

“No” I say & turn to look at him at the same time he turns to look at me. “I still love her” I say, before returning to my strumming, looking at the tall building that decorates the city of New York.

“You still love her?” He asks & I just snap.

“Of course I still fucking love her. What did you think? That she was just a good fuck that I wanted to keep around? That she was an infatuation that kept me awake for 3 years? That still keeps me awake? NO. I LOVE HER, OK? I was willing to leave an amazing girl at the altar to be with her. & she wanted to with me” I say, standing. I see his eyes wide in shocked. I’ve never talked to him like that EVER. “But now that’s fucked up, thanks to you. You made me turn my back on her. You made me walk away from her when she was begging me to stay… to love her. Why the fuck did I listened to you? You just had to walk in & screw with my head” I say, before stopping to catch my breath. “Now she’s gonna marry some other dude, when that should be me. I should be the one she’s gonna marry, Jim” I say, my breath coming out in short pants.

“I-I’m sorry, Brian” Jimmy says after making sure I wasn’t gonna continue with my rant. “I’m really sorry” I let out a chuckle, a chuckle filled with sarcasm. He’s actually apologizing. He never apologized before… but what good is now? It can’t change what happened. It can’t change what’s gonna happen. She’s gonna marry John & I’m gonna stuck being miserable in a marriage I’m not putting any effort in making it work.

“I lost her. I lost Annabelle forever. She moved on & fell in love again. & I’m just… I…” I stop & swallow the lump in my throat. “I guess I’ll just have to suck it up & keep pretending that I married the woman I love” I say, before starting to walk away before stopping. I turn to see him run his hands through his face. He knows he fucked up. He knows all the pain & suffering he put on me. He has been there to witness it all. “I can’t forgive you, Jimmy. If you were anybody else, I would’ve already. But you aren’t. You were my fucking brother. You were supposed to have my back. Not turn yours on me. You stood by my side at my fucking wedding, witnessing me make the biggest mistake in my life. You watched me be miserable. You watched me long for her. So… no, I can’t forgive you. It wasn’t John that took Annabelle away from me. It was you” I finally said. I turn to smack into body. A pair of wide hazel eyes staring right at me. I look behind him to find a pair of green ones & another pair of brown ones looking at me the same.

“What did you just said?” Matt asks in disbelief. I let out a sigh. Great… just what I needed.