‹ Prequel: Masterpiece Theater
Status: Sequel to Masterpiece Theater. Go back and read it if you haven't or you will be lost.

Sound Effects and Overdramatics

Jet-Pack Blues

I clutched my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I did laps around the hotel room, holding an ashtray in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I had the TV on but I for the life of me had no idea what was on. I tried using it as a distraction and it didn’t work.

“I don’t know what to do, Jason. I fucked up. I really fucked up.”

“Why didn’t you call her first?”

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“Just let her calm down. She always does this.”

“She did this before because she had you and Finn to worry about. You’re fine and Finn is behind bars. So what’s stopping her now?”

“A. I’m not fine. I just got sober and started hiding it better. Don’t think that you’re the only one who benefits from anything we do. B. Just because Finn is behind bars doesn’t mean what happened isn’t still affecting her.”

I sighed and flicked ashes into the ashtray before plopping down on the edge of the squeaky bed. “I want to help her. I didn’t mean to go barreling in there all he-man. I was just upset and running on adrenaline and I miss her.”

“You just have to be patient with her, man. Trust me, if she didn’t love you, she wouldn’t have come back to Cali in the first place. Just give her time.”

“Alright. Later.” I hung up and set the phone next to me. I lit another cigarette trying to ease the headache. The tension in my shoulders pulsated and crawled up my neck and to the base of my skull. I was severely jet-lagged and dehydrated and starving.

I had two days before I had to be back in California, with or without her, and the way things were going, it was probably going to be without. I wasn’t sure I could walk away from her again.

There wasn’t much else I could do except wait. I fielded calls from the guys; I wasn’t too keen on explaining myself to any of them. Matt could fill them in, since he was such an expert on my life anyway.

I shouldn’t have told him that I was with Laurel. I should have just told him I was on a drive. Something that didn’t involve me being with someone else instead of my fiancee and the rest of my family.

Laurel did have a point about one thing. He was bound and determined to make sure I wasn’t happy because of some petty bullshit. He would never own up to how he felt and at this point, I really didn’t give a damn. Maybe at some point I did, but too much had happened.

I would have loved to know how he knew about Jason, though. It wasn’t like Jason was around anymore to give off any vibes.

I scrubbed down in the shower, the mediocre spray barely doing anything to ease the tension in my shoulders. It definitely wasn’t a shower made for tall people, so to get my hair wet, I had to duck and slouch under the shower head. I was better off just turning the faucet on and dunking my head that way.

I could have sprung for something nicer, but I wanted to be close to Laurel, so I picked a mediocre place just a couple blocks away from her townhouse. Proximity outweighed luxury.

Seeing Kai threw me for a second. She’d said they were just friends, but I knew better. He’d been naked in her bed when I bombarded her at the hotel. There was no way they weren’t fucking. I’d told myself that he would probably be there, but it didn’t stop the disappointment when I saw him standing on the stairs.

At least he had the balls to walk me out and tell me that they hadn’t slept together since they got back. It was a small comfort.

There was a pub a couple buildings down from the hotel. I wasn’t keen on going out in the snow, but I needed to eat, and then I needed to sleep. The weather didn’t care about human necessity, so I bundled up and ventured out, cursing the cold the whole time.

The Mayflower had a warm atmosphere and a restaurant on the second floor, so I climbed the stairs, ordered a pint, and settled in with my cigarettes, looking over the menu. I ordered when the cute waitress brought my beer and then leaned back in my chair, staring pathetically at my phone, hoping Laurel would call.

I wound up four beers in before coming to the realization that, at least for now, she was staying quiet.

I meandered back to the hotel, dragging my feet in the snow. I didn’t have anywhere in particular I wanted to go or needed to be. London was London. We’d been here on tour. I’d already seen the sights and quite frankly, there was no reason to see them alone, and wandering aimlessly in the snow wasn’t my idea of a good time.

I hated the snow.

I hit the bed and my eyes closed. I was just...done.

**********

My phone rang. I’d kept the volume on high, just in case. “Hello?” I grumbled. I rinsed the cotton from my mouth with the whiskey on the nightstand.

“Bri,” Laurel sniffled.

“Beth, hi. You okay?”

“Why...why are you calling me Beth?”

“It’s your name, isn’t it? You don’t really respond well when I call you Laurel, so I figured I’d try a different approach.”

She sniffled again, but maybe she also laughed. “Are you still in London?”

“For a few hours. I gotta get back.”

“Wanna grab some coffee?”

“Sure. Yeah. Gimme twenty minutes?”

“Where are you staying? I can pick you up.”

“The Doubletree, just down the road from the Mayflower.”

“Perfect. See you in a bit.”

I brushed my teeth with more whiskey and a cigarette before changing out of the t-shirt I’d been wearing for two days. I hadn’t really been motivated to leave the hotel room. Smartly, I remembered to apply deodorant before I put on the new shirt.

I froze my ass off outside waiting for her to pull up. As soon as she did, she popped the door open and I all but jumped into her lap and slammed the door shut. She was laughing at me.

“You’re used to it. I’m not.”

She was still smirking when we reached the coffee place. I got out to hold her door open, disoriented for a second at having to be on the opposite side. She took my hand with a smile and we walked in, side by side.

It brought me back in time, giving me hope that not everything had changed.

I bought our coffees, she chose the seats, and reached across the table for my hand. I took it and smiled. I wasn’t worried about my coffee at all, but she drank hers liberally.

“What do I owe the pleasure?” I asked.

“I’ve thought about some things since you left the other day.” She wouldn’t look at me, but she played with my fingers, not wanting to keep still. Her nails, as always, were perfectly manicured. This time they were a bright blue coated in silver stripes.

“Like what?”

“You were right, back in California. I shouldn’t have done what I did, not when I wasn’t sure of what I wanted.”

“Okay.”

“Would you still marry her, if I hadn’t?”

“I don’t want to talk about ifs. It happened, we can’t change it. Michelle always knew that it was more of an obligation. Matt married her sister, it just made sense. Matt told her I was with you because I was stupid enough to tell him. That’s all there is to it.”

She nodded. It wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. I couldn’t give it to her without it being a lie, and she knew that. She drank more of her coffee before continuing.

“I love you. You know that, right?”

I swallowed. This wasn’t going to go where I wanted it to, but I wasn’t going to interrupt her. I nodded and squeezed her hand tighter.

“I’ve missed you everyday since I had to leave you. I wanted to call you so many times and I couldn’t. It wasn’t safe, and then it was just too hard. I thought staying away would be better for everyone. When I heard about Jimmy, it wasn’t a question. I wasn’t prepared for how I was going to react when I saw you.”

She had this big speech prepared and she needed to get it out and I had no intention of interrupting her. I waited patiently, watching her as she continued to not look at me and talk.

“I wish I could tell you I was coming back to California with you, but that’s just not something I’m ready for. I have a life here, one I like, and I’ve made a lot of progress...moving back right now just isn’t a good idea.”

It sounded like she’d made it through the worst of it. I took a deep breath and held it, leaning back in my chair. Outside, more snow was falling, streetlamps cast a hazy glow, and everyone walked around like it was no big deal. Meanwhile, even in my coat and jeans and beanie and finger-less gloves, I still felt like Mr. Scrooge’s assistant when he was too cheap to put more coal in the furnace.

Everyone who enjoyed the snow was just completely moronic.

“So what are you saying?” I asked, because she expected me to. I pulled my hand from hers and finally picked up my coffee mug. It had cooled considerably, but I drank it anyway.

“I don’t want to define anything, Bri. Putting a label on it-on us-it’s too constrictive, too hard. Calling you my boyfriend, it’s huge. I’m not really ready for that kind of pressure.”

Excuses. More excuses. I wanted her to stop talking; I wanted her to just let me go without her voice ringing in my ears of maybes and what ifs.

“I want to be with you, Beth. Please. Just let me be with you.” I heard myself say.

“So why don’t we give long distance a try? Nothing too serious. Just...casual. No labels, no expectations.”

“Are you serious? Beth, this isn’t like you living in New York or Chicago. You’re on a whole different continent. How the fuck would this work?”

“Neither one of us has an issue with flying. We can call and text and Skype. It’s better than nothing, Brian, and it’s all I can do right now.”

It was my turn not to look at her. I drummed my fingers on the table top, shaking my head in disbelief. This was her grand solution to the problem that she had created. If I wasn’t already pissed at her, I might have actually considered it as a real possibility.

Maybe it was and I just didn’t want to hear it. I always thought it was all or nothing with her, because that was the way it had always been, but maybe it didn’t have to be. Maybe this arrangement would work, and in the meantime, I could get her to come around.

I sighed. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll...call you when I get in, okay?”

“Yeah.” She muttered, disappointed. I stood and leaned over to give her a kiss. Her lips barely touched mine before she pulled away, closing herself off once again.

It was a long flight back to the States, made even longer by the fact that my body didn’t have proper time to adjust to bouncing between time zones.
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I know it's taking me forever to update, guys. I'm sorry. I got hit with the Plague (not Corona. Just a head cold.) Due to not dressing appropriately for our random ass Tennessee weather and getting a new tattoo. Just all kinds of stuff going on. Hopefully I can get back in the groove of things.

<3 Madi