Right Here Waiting

Val turned at the sound of a male voice, and Katie came to sit beside her, looking at the door. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Who’s he?” Val asked, not taking her eyes from the door.

“That’s Liz’s ex-boyfriend. Well, technically he’s her ex-fiancée. They were together for more than a year before he popped the question. She suddenly broke it off in November out of the blue. ”

“She was engaged?” Val asked in a hushed voice, looking at Katie who nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off of the two at the door.

“She’s still got the ring, too.”

“What are you doing here, David?” Eliza said, completely shocked.

“Well, I was talking to Ryan the other day and he said you’d moved back out here. I missed you and really wanted to see you.”

“So you flew three thousand miles to see me?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Why?”

“I told you why. I missed you. Plus, Ryan told me about your dad, and I figured you could use someone here for you. I remember how much you used to talk about him.”

“Katie’s here.”

“I know, he told me she was driving out, but I just wanted to be here, too. Can I come in?”
Against her better judgment, she moved aside to let him come in.

“Where are you… Did you plan on…”

“I’m staying at a hotel,” David finished for her. He smiled at her. “I didn’t want to impose on you. I just wanted to come see you in case you needed a friend.”

“Well, thanks, I guess,” Eliza said, not really knowing what to say.

She hadn’t thought of David in months. She’d broken up with him sometime before Thanksgiving because of the way he was treating her. She never told anyone, but there would be times she’d find bruises on her body where he’d grabbed her too hard, or played around too rough. He’d never gotten angry enough to beat her, but she didn’t want to push him. He also had this predetermined conception of what she should be, trying to force her to dye her hair, play only country music, act this way, act that way. She hated the idea that she wasn’t good enough for him the way she was and had broken it off. She thought about the one carat diamond ring that was upstairs in her stuff right now, and almost winced at the memory of it. She’d wanted to marry him, but the way he acted, she couldn’t take it. She didn’t want to be stuck in a marriage if he was going to be an angry person.

Those thoughts were quickly replaced by all the good times she’d had with him. Sure, he’d had bad moments, but he was one of the most fun people Eliza had ever met. He took her to so many concerts and festivals in Boston. He’d really helped her live while she was there. They’d met at a festival her freshman year, he was a second-year law student at Harvard. They’d hit it off immediately, and when he wasn’t studying, he was spending time with Eliza. Hell, he’d even bought her a full carat diamond ring to propose to her with. They’d been at a movie in the park when he’d popped the question; she couldn’t have been happier. He knew what music to play when she was in a bad mood; he knew what foods to cook for her, and everything. The only thing he didn’t know… was how to make her fall in love with him. He knew she loved him, but she wasn’t in love with him.

They walked into the living room where Eliza watched Val and Katie quickly turn around to pretend they weren’t watching. When they entered, the two girls stood up and Eliza introduced Val to David.

David stayed over until dinner. Eliza had offered to cook dinner for everyone, and as soon as they were done in the studio, the guys had planned on coming over. She spent all afternoon preparing the sauce, and by the time the guys arrived, she was preparing one of the dishes.
Brian came into the kitchen to see Eliza standing next to a guy he hadn’t seen before. They were laughing and bumping hips while Eliza stirred the sauce. He was rinsing the pasta off. She laughed loudly, and turned around to grab a spice when she noticed Brian standing there.

“Hey, Syn,” she said, smiling brightly at him.

“Hey there,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the guy who turned around, smiling.

He brushed his hands off on a towel and extended his hand. “I’m David.”

“Brian,” he replied, shaking his hand. “Have we met somewhere before?”

“I can’t say that we have,” David said, shaking his head. “I do really like your band, though.”
“Thanks,” Brian said, awkwardly.

The rest of the guys filed into the kitchen at that point, looking awkwardly at David before they introduced themselves. Jimmy found a spot beside Eliza and looked in the sauce pan. He looked at it with drawn eyebrows. Eliza laughed at his face before stirring it again.

“What in the fucking hell are you making?”

“Lasagna, silly,” Eliza said, bumping into him. She found a piece of mozzarella cheese and dipped it in the sauce before handing it to him. He ate the cheese tentatively before his eyes closed in awe.

“That’s so fucking good,” he said, chewing.

“Hey! I wanna try some!” Johnny said, appearing at Eliza’s other side.

“No, you’ll ruin your appetite. You guys go in the living room and wait for it to be ready,” Eliza said, shooing them out of the kitchen. Brian and David lingered in the kitchen. “You two, too. Go.”

David shrugged and walked out of the kitchen but Brian remained. He sat down at the island and watched Eliza move around the kitchen, assembling the layers of lasagna. “You know you’re just as important as Val, right?”

Eliza turned around, the corner of her mouth lifting up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re just as important to the band as Val is. You really mean a lot to us. I’m not sure what we would do without your cooking.”

“Thanks, Brian. That means a lot,” Eliza said and smiled widely at him. He smiled back.

Brian sat in the kitchen and watched as Eliza completely assembled the lasagna pans. Because of the number of people, she was making two pans, along with a salad and bread. She had just put the pans in the oven when there was a commotion from the living room.

They both walked in to see Amber and David hugging.

“You know him?” Brian said at the same time Eliza said “You know her?”

They looked at each other before turning back to the couple for an explanation.

“James is my cousin,” Amber said smiling. “He told me he was coming in town, but you didn’t tell me you were coming here, James.”

“You call him James?” Eliza asked.

“You call him David?” Amber countered, raising an eyebrow.

“He asked me to call him that when we started dating,” Eliza said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I only like family to call me by my first name. Everyone else calls me David, my middle name," David explained.

“You two dated?” Amber asked, shocked. She turned to David for an explanation.

“Yeah, we dated. She’s the one I told you I was engaged to.”

“You said her name was Elizabeth.”

“My name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Grey is my full name, but I’ve always been called Eliza.”

“You two were engaged?” Brian asked confused.

“Your name is Elizabeth?” Jimmy asked from the couch. Everyone ignored him.

“I asked her to marry me Christmas before last and she said yes. She broke it off around Thanksgiving last year, and I’ve missed her ever since. I came here hoping she’d forgive me and be my fiancée again,” David said as an explanation.

“You want to get engaged again?” Brian and Amber hollered at the same time. They didn’t even bother to look at each other, both of them yelling for two different reasons.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Eliza said and walked back into the kitchen.

“Talk about your ice breaker,” Zacky mumbled to Jimmy who nodded.

Brian followed Eliza into the kitchen and watched as she reached for a bottle of wine, pouring it into a glass and taking a big swallow. “Eliza you can’t be serious about this.”

“Serious about what?”

“Marrying him.”

“Marry him? I’m not even engaged, Brian. He hasn’t asked me anything,” Eliza said.

“I’m asking now,” David said, walking into the kitchen.

“Brian, why are you even so concerned?” Amber asked as she followed David.

“I’m just making sure she’s making the right choice.”

“Why don’t you let her do what she wants?” David said.

“Maybe she doesn’t know what she wants,” Brian countered back.

“What I want,” Eliza said, yelling over both of them. “Is for all three of you to get the fuck out of my goddamn kitchen so I can finish fucking making our fucking dinner. When it’s ready to eat, I will holler for all of you, and we better be on a different fucking subject.”

Even the audience in the living room when silent when she started yelling. Val and Katie stood up when Amber, David, and Brian came back into the living room.

“Our turn,” Katie said and pulled the doors to the living room shut.

“What the fuck,” Katie said, pulling herself up on the island to face Eliza. Val stood beside Eliza as she mixed lettuce and tomato together for the salad.

“David should have never come to town,” Eliza said, shaking her head.

“Hey, at least you know that Brian feels something now,” Katie said, shrugging.

“That is not a good thing, Katie,” Eliza said, whirling around. “My dad is in the hospital about to die any day, I’m helping to write a major record for a pretty much famous band, I’m having feelings for their guitarist who is dating the bitch from Hades, and my ex-fiancée has come in town to ask me to marry him again. Can my life get any more complicated?”

“You could be pregnant,” Val said, stealing a tomato slice. Both Katie and Eliza rolled their eyes at her. “I’m just saying you could be pregnant and not know who the father is. That would complicate things more.”

“She does have a point,” Katie said.

“You guys are not helping.”

“I’m not sure what we should be doing,” Val said.

“I don’t know either,” Eliza said, running a hand through her hair. “This is such a fucking clusterfuck.”

“You’re telling me,” Katie said, nodding her head.



Dinner passed with moderate silence. Everyone but Jimmy, Brian, Val, David and Katie left. Once the kitchen was clean, David and Jimmy left, too. The only thing left to do were the dishes. Brian was out on the beach behind Eliza’s house with a glass of Jack Daniels. Every few seconds, Eliza would take her eyes off the dishes and look at him.

“Go out there, we’ve got the dishes,” Val said finally.

Eliza smiled her appreciation and grabbed her glass. She came to a stop beside Brian and stared at the ocean. The sun was low in the sky, almost completely gone over the ocean.
Val and Katie watched intently through the kitchen window.

“Did she love David?” Val asked.

“In a way, she loved him. Was she in love with him? No. She never would’ve been able to break off the engagement if she was in love with him. Is Brian in love with Amber?”

“No. He thinks he is, but he wouldn’t be here every night if he was in love with Amber.”
“He’s here every night?” Katie asked, confused.

“Well, he used to be. Before you came, he would stay here all the time. Amber found out about the first night and blew up, but if she knows about him being here the past month, she hasn’t said anything about it.”

“Have they had sex?” Katie asked, motioning toward Eliza and Brian.

“I don’t think so. I think things would be different between them if they had. What’s your take on David?”

“I don’t know; I just get a bad feeling about him. Eliza didn’t tell me everything that happened between them and I feel like there’s something crucial I’m missing.”

They stood in silence and watched Eliza and Brian on the beach.

“You were engaged?” Brian said after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah, I was.”

“Do you love him?”

Eliza looked at Brian and studied his features. His hazel eyes were wide and bright in the setting sun. His hair was sticking out in random places underneath his hat, and his arms were bulging out of the sleeves of his shirt. His jaw was shadowed with hair, as if he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days and it was set as if he was pissed off. Why was he asking about all of this now? Did David showing up cause him to be jealous? No, he wasn’t jealous; Eliza dismissed that thought immediately.

“In a way, I think I do.”

“So you’re not in love with him?” Brian asked, turning to catch her eye.

“No, I’ve never been in love,” Eliza said, her grey-green eyes matching his.

He kept eye contact with her for a few more seconds before looking out over the water, finishing off his drink. He listened as she lit a cigarette, and did the same, inhaling before he spoke again. “Your hair looks good. Thank you for dinner.”

He could see her smile out of the corner of his eye. “Thank you and you’re welcome.”

“Val’s hair turned out pretty great, too.”

“We weren’t sure if it was going to look right or not,” Eliza confessed. They stood there for a few more seconds before Brian spoke again.

“Want to play some music?”

Eliza looked back at him and smiled. “When do I not want to?”

They smiled at each other before Eliza started running back to the house. Val and Katie’s heads lifted up to look through the window as they saw Eliza being chased by Brian back toward the house. He caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist, still holding his glass. She laughed, threw her head back and pushed his arms away, climbing the steps to sit at the deck table. Brian went into the house and brought both of his guitars back out to the deck. Curious, Val and Katie followed him outside and sat down at the table.

Eliza sat across from Brian; Val and Katie were on either side of her as she listened to Brian tune the guitar. Even more curious, Katie pulled out the second guitar from its case, tuned it, and started strumming the first chords of a song that she and Eliza had written. Eliza quietly sang along with it before they looked at each other and stopped, laughing.

“No, keep playing that!” Val said, enthusiastically.

“It’s just something we bullshitted with at school,” Katie said, waving it off.

“I thought you played piano?” Brian asked her, confused.

“When you live with someone who played guitar as much as Eliza did, you learn things,” Katie said and smiled fondly at the redhead.

“Please play the song?” Val said, cocking her head to the side to smile at them.

Eliza rolled her eyes but nodded and counted Katie off. They both began singing.

“When it’s said and done, you’re the only one…”

Eliza’s voice was a bit lower, while Katie’s rang out loud and higher pitched.

“Whoever said this pain, would ever go away? Didn’t know what it meant to, be here without you. Is everything you see, reminding you of me? Does it hurt when you breathe, too? ‘Cause it does when I do, cause it does when I do.

When anybody says your name I wanna run away, I keep remembering I can't forget you. It doesn't matter when I try it happens anyway, it's been forever and I can't forget you. With every single day, it won't go away; the way I feel about you. And when it' said and done, you're the only one and I can't regret you, so I can't forget you…”

Katie’s fingers skipped over the strings and Eliza’s hands tapped along her thighs with the beat, moving her head around with Katie. Val had a wide, toothy smile on her face and Brian looked deep in concentration, nodding his head along with them.

They made their way through the second verse, chorus, and moved onto the last bit of the song before Eliza lifted her eyes up to Brian. His hazel eyes bore into her eyes. For an instant, she got self-conscious at the verse coming up, but she pressed on.

“Stop haunting my dreams; please set me free. Stop haunting my dreams; please set me free,” Eliza and Katie sang together. Her eyes still on Brian’s, she raised her pitch for the next line and didn’t tear her gaze from his as she sang “You’re the only one.”

She and Katie dove back into the chorus and finished the song to Val clapping loudly and Brian smiling. They talked for a few more minutes about the song until Val interrupted.

“Why don’t you and Eliza sing something?” she said, looking at Brian.

“I don’t really sing,” Brian said, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh come on, you guys both talk all the time about playing and singing together," Katie said.

"Really, Brian? You sing backup in a famous band. Please tell me you don't sing again," Val said, rolling her eyes.

“Usually I just play our songs,” Brian said.

“Or we do like two other songs by Staind,” Eliza said, shrugging.

“Then play one of those songs,” Katie said, smiling.

“I don’t sing on those, though,” Brian said.

“Then find something where you both sing and play it!”

“What about that one song we sang together in the car?” Eliza asked.

“Eliza, we’ve sang a lot of songs together in the car,” Brian said, rolling his eyes.

“I thought you said you don’t sing!” Val interjected.

“The one we sang to each other real loud. I think it was by Hinder,” Eliza said.

“Oh, I know what song you’re talking about. I just don’t know if that’s the right song or not to sing right now.”

“Just play it, will ya?”

Brian was very nervous, now. Not because he had to sing in front of people; he sang all the time in front of crowds, but because of how true the song was becoming. “Lips of an Angel” had started off as something they sang in the car that day to ease tension, but the more he listened to it; the more it was starting to become true. When Brian was alone, he’d think about any and every song Eliza had said she liked or had sung in front of him and learned how to play. This song was one of the first ones he learned how to play. Thinking about David being in town, now, more than ever he was coming to the conclusion this wasn’t a good song to sing. All three girls were looking at him, so with a deep breath, he strummed his fingers across the strings and started singing.

“Honey, why you calling me so late? It’s kind of hard to talk right now. Honey, why’re you crying, is everything okay? I gotta whisper ‘cause I can’t be too loud. Well, my girl’s in the next room, sometimes I wish she was you. I guess we never really moved on.”

Eliza joined in and harmonized with him.

”It’s really good to hear your voice, saying my name; it sounds so sweet. Coming from the lips of an angel, hearing those words it makes me weak. And I never wanna say goodbye, ‘cause girl you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel.”

Brian looked at Eliza to signal her to take the next verse. Val and Katie watched on, fascinated at the chemistry and harmonies between the two.

“It’s funny that you’re calling me tonight. And yes, I’ve dreamt of you, too. And does she know you’re talking to me, will it start a fight? No, I don’t think he has a clue. Well, my guy’s in the next room, sometimes I wish he was you. I guess we never really moved on.”

Val realized at that point why Brian was a little hesitant to sing this song. She watched his face more and more, and his eyes told what he wouldn’t ever say. He could talk about his feelings with Amber all he wanted, but he was in love with Eliza. Of course, he would never say it out loud, but Val knew the truth. Looking back to Eliza, she didn’t see the exact same feelings in her eyes, but they were pretty close. Eliza’s eyes seem to become a hazel fire when she looked at Brian, and Val knew she had feelings, too, but they weren’t as deep as Brian’s.

Suddenly, Val wanted Amber out of the picture quick, fast, and in a hurry. She watched as they both smiled and she realized the song was over and clapped. Her phone chirped and she read the text from Matt wanting her to come over. She replied that she’d be there in a few minutes and that she had something to tell him about. If she had anything to do about it, Brian and Eliza would be together soon.

She said goodbye to everyone, and Katie walked her to the door.

“Did you feel what I felt when they were singing?” she asked Val.

“I’m pretty sure I did. I’m just hoping he stays tonight to confirm my thoughts. Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk some sense into him and get him to break up with Amber.”

“Stay tonight? What do you mean by stay?”

“Brian hasn’t stayed here?”

“Not since I’ve been here, no,” Katie said, obviously confused.

“Remember I told you Brian’s been staying here almost every night for the past month. He must just not want to since you’re here,” Val said.

“I’m not trying to fuck up their routine, I didn’t know that.”

“I’m sure they don’t think that. Actually, I know Eliza’s really glad to have you here. She used to talk about you all the time and I’m glad I got to meet you.”

“I’m glad I met you, too,” Katie said, and they said goodnight to each other, Val walking out the door.

Katie walked back to the back porch to say goodnight to the two sitting there.

“See you in the morning, Brian,” she said and walked back into the house.

“What was that about?” Brian asked, looking at Eliza.

“She was giving you permission to stay over.”

“I needed her permission?”

“No, but I’m assuming she found out from Val or someone that you used to stay over every night and since you haven’t since she’s been here, she’s thinking it’s her fault. She’s just saying she’s okay with it.”

Brian nodded, and walked into the kitchen to grab the bottle of liquor and two glasses. Since he’d drunk so much of hers, he’d ended up buying her a couple of bottles. They’d moved on from drinking the whole bottle to only a few glasses to conserve it. He set it the glasses on the deck table and poured both of them a glass while Eliza inhaled her cigarette. Suddenly, a cough wracked through her body and Brian paused, to make sure she was okay. The cough ceased, and she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, meaning it was a bad cough. She waved off his hand, signaling she was okay, but another cough took her by surprise.

Once the cough was done, she tried to tell Brian she was okay, but no sound came out. She cleared her throat, and in a raspy whisper, she was able to manage words. “I’m okay, it’s just a cough.”

“It sounds like you’re losing your voice. I’ve seen Matt go through it. Come on, let’s get you some tea or something. That always works for him.”

Eliza watched Brian chug both glasses of the liquor and smiled at him. She followed him into the house and went to the couch where he directed her to. From there, she turned on the television and could see him heating up water before pouring it into a mug and adding the herbal tea her dad always kept in the house. He searched in the refrigerator for a few minutes before he extracted some honey and squirted that into her tea as well. She sat up as he brought it to her, and he sat down next to her. She leaned into him to watch television, and his hand found its way to her hair. Before long, they were both asleep on the couch.



Katie woke up early and realized Eliza wasn’t beside her. She went downstairs and was about to yell out for her when she saw the television was on and there was a head sticking out from one side of the couch. As she crept closer, she saw it was Brian’s head. He was lying on his back and Eliza was partially on top of him and partially squished into the couch. His arm was around her back and his chin was resting on top of Eliza’s head. She smiled at the two, and moved to the kitchen. Thinking, she rocked back on her heels and turned around, snapping a picture of the two on her phone before leaving the living room.

Brian woke up to the sound of someone downstairs. Opening his eyes, he saw Eliza’s body on top of his. He smiled, and heard more noises from the kitchen. Slowly, as to not wake her up, he slid his body from underneath hers and lifted himself off the couch. He moved to the kitchen where he found Katie making food.

“Smells good,” he said, and sat at the island to face Katie.

“You want some?”

“What is it?”

“Pancakes,” Katie said, moving around more, getting a plate and silverware and setting it in front of him.

“I’d love some, thank you. Do you want some help?”

“No, I’ve got it. But there’s coffee if you want some.”

“Yes, definitely.”

“Pancakes are Eliza’s favorite.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she said her dad made them for her every morning before school. She used to do all the cooking for us at the apartment, but this was the one thing I could make for her. I’m a really crappy cook.”

“Yeah, she’s made dinner for us a lot. I guess we’d be eating out a lot if she didn’t cook for us,” Brian said, smiling. “Did she cook for David?”

“Are you jealous, Brian?” Katie asked with a smile over her shoulder.

“No, I’m just curious about the two. If she wants to date him again, I want to make sure that she’s being taken care of.”

“He usually took her out to eat. He has different views, I think, when it comes to females. He comes from that type of family where the male supports the female, and the female does what the male says. Of course, since his father passed away, his mother has taken over everything. He idolizes her, and I think ultimately she's running the show.”

“He does realize that Eliza’s not that type of person, right?”

“I don’t think so. He’s one of those guys who just doesn’t care; it’s either his way or the high way. I think Eliza was just going through a rough time when she met him, and for once she didn’t have to be in charge of something. I know she said since her mom died, her dad really relied on her to do things around the house, and grow up a lot, so I think when David kind of took control of things, she latched on to it, thinking for once she could follow instead of lead.”

“That makes sense,” Brian said, taking a sip of coffee.

“I also know that she never truly was herself around him. He has all these different views of her or what she should be. I’ve never seen her act so free than I have when she’s with you.”
Brian didn’t say anything; he just looked at his coffee mug.

Katie didn’t get to say anything else because Eliza walked groggily into the kitchen at that point. She lifted a hand in a waving gesture, and slumped down beside Brian, laying her head on her arm.

“Still feel like shit?” Brian asked. He watched her head move, signaling yes. “Want me to make you some more tea?”

At her head nod, he got up and moved to Katie’s spot in front of the stove to fix Eliza’s tea. Once she had drank it all, he took her upstairs to her room to make her sleep some more. He was about to leave when she grabbed his hand. Turning back to her, Brian saw a sleepy smile on her face as she pulled him down to the bed. He situated himself and watched as Eliza made herself comfortable on his chest. She let out a raspy yawn, and pulled his hand to her head to play with her hair again. She was asleep in minutes.