When It All Goes Wrong Again

Pete stood in his doorway and looked me up and down. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and his right eyebrow was raised, like he was thinking, "What the fuck, man?" I gritted my teeth in my forced smile. I don't need this shit, I thought. It's my day off. The sooner I get this started, the sooner I can go back home to my pajamas.

Glancing briefly at my notes, I went into the already half memorized speech.
"I'm singing this song for you today,
because you've gone so far away.
I'm hoping when it's through you'll be,
on your way right back to me."
I winced, wishing people didn't make me say crap like this. "Um... Love Jen."

I recited this while looking at a spot about a foot over Pete's head. When I finished I chanced a quick look. He was smirking. "Weren't you supposed to sing that?" he said, his smirk widening as he noticed me looking.

Releasing the breath I didn't know I was holding, I said, "I'm getting to that part." This was always the awkward part. I enjoy singing and everyone tells me I'm good, but I don't know, it just seems... unnatural to be on someone's porch, singing without music while they stare at you. It's always easier for me when I pretend I'm somewhere else.

Clearing my throat and taking a breath, I broke into my revised version of Unbreak My Heart. Even in it's compacted state, it took a couple of minutes for me to finish the song. As the last notes faded away, I opened my eyes and noticed that the smirk on Pete's face was gone. He stared at me with the stunned, slightly vacant expression I was so used to seeing.

"Wow," he breathed, "you're good. Really good." His eyes cleared and he turned them to me, scrutinizing my face.

"Thank you," I calmly replied.

"I mean, I've never had a singing telegram before so I have nothing to compare it to, but that was amazing. Definitely the highlight of my day," he rambled. His face fell slightly as he said, "But the song, God, it's exactly the overly sentimental, cliche crap that I expected out of Jen. Don't you think?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're girlfriend would choose," I answered cautiously, not wanting to offend anyone, especially my client.

Pete made a face. "She's my ex. She keeps doing these crazy things to try to win me back. But I say, when it's over, it's over." He paused. "She could've at least been a little more original then Toni Braxton for a song. It reeks of lack of effort. What's your name?"

"Um..." We're not technically supposed to give out our names, and even though I tend to rebel against most rules at work, this is one I follow. This is L.A. You never know when you're going to run into a psycho stalker. In real life, they usually look like everyone else. So, even I surprised myself when I said, "A.J."

"Okay A.J.," he continued, not seeming to notice my discomfort, "what would you do if you were in this situation? If you were trying to win someone back? What kind of telegram would you send?" He was looking directly into my eyes, as if my answer was the most important thing in the world.

I returned his stare and replied, "I would never be in this situation."

"Just pretend for a minute, then. What song would you choose?"

I was about to give a stock answer when I realized that I was intrigued. No one ever asked for my opinion and this guy seemed to honestly want to know. So instead of blowing him off, I closed my eyes and tried to think about it. "Well," I started slowly, "I would never pick and overtly mushy song, not that there's anything wrong with them, you just don't use one on a guy." When I opened my eyes I could see him nodding. "I don't think I would go too obscure, you want him to know the song. Probably something classic, like Let's Stay Together, Ain't No Sunshine, I Want You Back, or if I'm feeling desperate, I Want You To Want Me." He was nodding faster now.

"Yes, exactly! That would get the point across without the whole 'embarrassing emotions in front of strangers' thing." He sighed. "She should've gone that route."

"Would it have made a difference?"

A cocky grin popped up on his face. "Hell no. But I would've respected her taste a little more."

A small laugh slipped from my throat before I could stop it, which made Pete's grin even bigger. We stood there for a few moments with and air of silence between us that wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but hesitant. I felt like I sould say something, which was weird because, well, I never felt that way.

With every second that ticked by, my urge to speak grew; I knew I had to say something or else go crazy. "Well, I guess I should be going," was what flew out of my mouth. I gave him a small smile, turned, and started walking across the porch.

"Wait!" Pete called. I stopped and turned around. "Do you, uh, want to come in?" I must've given him a strange look because he quickly continued, "I mean, you're soaked. I could give you a towel, let you dry off a little."

I looked at him thoughtfully, then shook my head. "Thanks, but I'm just going to get re-soaked when I leave." I started walking away again.

I heard him take a few steps. "But the rain could stop while you're inside." As if on cue, a loud thunderclap rumbled through the air and the rain came down even harder. "Or, maybe not," he said, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "I'll tell you what, you come in and dry off, I'll give you an umbrella. What do you say?"

There was a hopeful expression plastered across Pete's face, and for some reason I didn't want to disappoint him. I looked out towards my car, or what I could see of it. The rain was sheeting down so hard I could barely make out the shape of it, though it was only 20 feet away. When I looked back, Pete had dropped the hopeful expression in favor of puppy dog eyes, which made me laugh. "Okay," I said, "but only for a little bit."

"Great!" he said, smiling. He went to the door, opened it, and held out his arm in a welcoming gesture. "Come on in!"