A Time to Move On (8 page)

“Harder they fall,” Trent said.

“Yeah. That’s it. That’s what I
worry about. If Mack falls, that could be a hard fall for all of us.”

Trent nodded.

Luke looked forward through the
glass. A light glistened off the newly polished cymbals.

Don’t fall, big guy…

(8)

Mack had no idea what he was doing.
He could feel Laura's eyes on him as she followed him in her car. It was a
sense of desperation that caused Mack to tell Laura to follow him. He just
needed to get away from that spot, and for reasons he had yet to understand, he
wasn't done talking to Laura yet. There was more to her story than she let on.
So between his curiosity about her past and how she had no idea who he was, the
distraction was appealing to him.

Mack turned the corner and was back
in town. Down the block was a deli where he used to steal sandwiches as a kid.
At that time, the owner was an old man who cared more about watching game shows
on a small, fuzzy television than he did about watching his shop. As Mack got
older, he started to believe that the old man purposely left some food out for
Mack to steal. Now that the old man was gone and his son was in charge, Mack
made sure to go in whenever he needed a quick bite, and he always left a few
extra dollars on the counter with the hopes of eventually paying back all he
had stolen.

Parked against the side of the
building, Mack climbed off his motorcycle and walked to Laura’s car. Her big,
brown eyes were wary. Mack could tell this woman wasn’t as happy and easy-going
as she wanted the world to believe. It intrigued him.

“Stay put for a second,” Mack said.
“But if you take off, I’ll understand.”

Laura took her hands off the
steering wheel as though it meant she couldn’t put them right back and drive
away. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Mack curled his lip. He was annoyed
although it was his own fault that she was there. He didn't know what was going
on with him.

Mack turned on his heel and went
around the front of the building and walked inside. Timmy Jr. ran the place now.
He was about twenty years older than Mack. Mack jokingly cleared his throat to
get Timmy Jr.'s attention, and when he turned around, he smiled wide.

"Do you hear that? That's one
of your songs on the radio, man! How the hell have you been?"

Mack laughed and they shook hands.

“My kids can’t get enough,” Little
Timmy said. “Hell, they dress my grandkids in shirts with you on it."

"Things have been going well.
The place looks great, your father would be proud."

"Thanks. I miss that old man
every day. I still have that old TV in the back," Timmy Jr. said, pointing
to the back room.

Mack ordered two sandwiches, two
bags of chips, and two sodas, and put down twice what the bill cost.

"Hey, thanks. Take care of
yourself, Mack. Tell the rest of the guys I said hey.”

"Will do,” Mack said.

He grabbed his order and carried it
to Laura’s car.

“We’re eating?” Laura asked.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“Then, yes, we are eating.”

Laura's lips tightened.

Mack gritted his teeth and sucked
in a breath. Sometimes he didn’t mean to come across like an ass. It was just
his natural defense.

Laura took the food and put it on
the seat next to her.

“Just keep following me. I know a little
spot. It's where I go to disappear sometimes.”

“You want to disappear?” Laura
asked.

Mack didn’t answer the question. Instead,
he walked to his motorcycle and got back on it. When he started the ride, he
found that his heart was pounding in his chest. He was supposed to be meeting
the guys soon in the studio to finalize touring details with Frank. Mack took a
few back roads and stopped at a small clearing.

Laura parked and got out of her
car. She carried the food to one of the two benches that seemed out of place
and random.

“I’ve never been around here,”
Laura said.

“Like I said, it’s a secret.”

“How do you know about it?”

“I just know,” Mack said.

Laura didn’t seem to accept his
answer, but she sat anyway and handed Mack one of the sandwiches. He sat on the
other end of the bench. She kept the barbecue chips for herself and handed Mack
the plain ones.

Kelly liked plain…

Mack took the chips and put them
next to him. Was he really still buying food based on what she used to like?

“What’s wrong?” Laura asked.

“Nothing,” Mack said. He eyed the
chips and nodded. “You like barbecue?”

“Like there’s any better choice?”

Mack surprised himself when he
smiled. He shook his head. He couldn’t remember the last time a stranger was so
calm and cool around him. He couldn't get a read on Laura yet, because Mack
knew there were parts that were true and parts that were simply bullshit.

“Good point,” Mack said. “How about
sharing those with me?”

“Come get them,” Laura said.

She took a bite of her sandwich.
Mack scooted down toward her, and then all that separated them was a bag of
chips. Mack was close enough that he could smell Laura’s hair. Not that he was
trying. He was close enough that he could also see a small white dot of mayo on
the corner of her mouth.

“This is really good,” Laura said.
“I mean, it’s turkey and cheese, but it’s really good for some reason.”

“It's the fresh bread,” Mack said.
“It's definitely not what it used to be, but still better than cheap stuff.”

Laura looked at Mack. She opened
her mouth to say something else and before Mack knew what he was doing, he had
his thumb to her upper lip. He slowly brought it down and wiped the mayo from
the corner of her mouth.

“Sorry,” he said. “You had some…
whatever.”

Mack took a big bite of his
sandwich and stared straight ahead. His heart was unsure why he was there, but
he was doing nothing about it.

“So tell me something, anything,”
Laura said. “I mean, I had no idea you were famous.”

“That’s okay,” Mack said. “Nice to
have a break from that part of my life once in a while.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t all that
long ago we could walk around town without anyone giving us a second glance.
People just thought I was nothing but trouble because of my size and demeanor.
The other guys were the ones who actually like to cause trouble and have fun.
Cops used to worry about us. Now they protect us. Funny how life works.”

“Yeah, funny,” Laura said.

“I, uh, don’t mean to sound rude,
but I don't have a lot of time right now. I’m supposed to meet the band in the
studio. Our album is coming out in the next few days.”

“So I’ve heard,” Laura said. “My
sister, Steph, filled me in. She knew who you were the second she saw you
backing out of her driveway. And then she lectured me about taking a ride from
a stranger."

“Yeah, that is kind of risky,” Mack
said, turning to look at her.

Damn, she’s beautiful. She’s
naturally beautiful.

“Kind of like tracking that same
stranger down the next day? And then following him to some hidden area I’ve
never been before to eat lunch with him?”

“When you put it like that…”

Mack laughed and then ate the rest
of his sandwich. Laura finished hers off. They then both reached for the bag of
barbecue chips at the same time. Their hands touched and Mack pulled back.
Laura did the same.

“I’m not touching them,” Mack said.
“You eat them.”

“I don’t want them now,” Laura
said.

They stared at each other
defiantly. The sudden urge to kiss her angered him.

“Seriously,” Mack said. “Just eat
the damn chips, Laura.”

“Nope,” Laura said. “How about you
tell me more about yourself.”

“Like what?”

“Why does that road have meaning to
you?”

Mack gripped the edge of the bench
and shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t need to go down that road. No pun
intended.”

“I'm sorry, it's just that seeing
someone with the world at their fingertips moping on the side of a road screams
that they have trouble letting go of something..."

“Trouble moving forward,” Mack
said. “How’s that for a damn answer?”

Mack closed his eyes. He didn’t
want to be mean to Laura, but damn her for asking questions. When he opened his
eyes, Laura’s hand was moving toward his.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I
understand. Mack, the look in your eyes is exactly how I've felt for years
now."

“Yeah,” Mack said. “Is that why you
quit your job and ran out of gas?”

“Maybe,” Laura said. “I'm just at a
point where I am stuck. Can’t go back, don’t want to go forward…”

Mack turned his head slowly and
looked at Laura.

Was she real?

If so, she was proving herself to
be a little more than amazing right now. Her eyes were deep with honesty and
beauty. And her lips were slightly parted like she had plenty more to say. Mack
wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear it. Or if he could handle hearing it.

Mack jumped up, taking his hand
away from Laura. He stared down at her.

“What did you really expect from coming
to find me today?” he asked. “I mean, why?”

“I don’t know,” Laura said. “I’m
famous for just doing. Not thinking. It’s never really worked out for me, but
I’m still kind of hoping one day it will.”

Mack held his hand out and Laura
took it. He brought her to her feet. There was way too much going on in his
body to even come up with a sensible thought. So Mack reached down and grabbed
the bag of barbecue chips.

“You better eat these,” he said.
“They can’t go to waste.”

Laura took the chips and smiled.
“If you insist.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m
someone I’m not,” Mack said. “And I don’t even know what that means. I hope you
can take things for what you see them as. If that makes sense.”

“I can,” Laura said. “What about
you? What do you see things as?”

“Right now? I see a beautiful woman
standing in front of me. And it’s confusing the hell out of me.”

“What are you going to do about it
then?”

“I’m going to find out what you’re
doing maybe later, maybe tomorrow. Maybe you’d like to see where rockstars hang
out. Maybe you’d like to meet the band.”

“That would make my sister insanely
jealous.”

“Isn’t that the point of having a
sister?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Laura said, smiling.

Mack gently touched Laura’s side.
His fingers were tempted to pull at her shirt. His other hand wanted to reach
behind her head, touch her soft hair, and pull her in for a single kiss.

Just one kiss… because that could
change everything.

Christ, that’s what Kelly
used
to tell
me… one kiss could change everything.

It had worked with him and Kelly
all those years ago, so why couldn't it work now? Then again, if he had just
given Kelly one last kiss, she'd probably still be here.

Laura sensed the hesitation from
Mack, so just like the day before, she planted her soft lips to his cheek. She
touched his arm and then waved the bag of chips in the air, laughing.

“See you later, Mack,” she said.

“Laura,” Mack said. “If I wanted to
see you again…”

“Our spot?” she asked.

Mack’s heart tightened and his
hands curled into fists.

Our spot?

They had a spot now. But it wasn’t
a good spot. It was a bad spot. It was a really bad spot. But Mack caught
himself nodding.

Laura got into her car and drove
away, glancing in the rearview mirror just once.

Mack turned back to the bench and
picked up the bag of plain chips. He shook his head and sighed.

“Barbecue,” he whispered. “You have
to get the barbecue ones. Always.”

*

Laura kept looking every few
seconds to the bag of barbecue chips on the seat next to her. Did she actually
just have lunch with a famous person? She was sure that the secluded location
was for his own protection, but she couldn't help but feel that it was also so
they could talk privately. She wouldn't call it a date, but it was awfully
close. Rockstars probably didn't date. They had too much going on for that. Mack
had already made it clear that Fallen Tuesday was busy getting ready to release
their album, and then go on tour.

On tour.

Something always different. Always
changing. Seeing different places, meeting different people, and experiencing
the world. All while doing something that mattered to people. That was the
dream life.

Laura wished she had something like
that to offer. She had a nice resume, lots of name tags, some impressive titles
that went with jobs she purposely sabotaged, but now all she had was a beat up
car and a heart that matched. Today, though, Laura’s heart felt in a little
better shape than yesterday.

Thanks to the random kindness of a
complete stranger.

“Sexy,” Laura whispered to herself.
She felt her face burning and smiled.

Near her apartment, Laura stopped
at a red light and let the day flow through her mind. If she hadn’t quit her
job, none of this would have happened. That was the part of life that Steph
sometimes didn’t understand. Laura tried hard to make Steph see her perspective.
There had been a moment in Steph’s life that she made a decision that led to
another and another that led her to Jeff. No matter how small those decisions
were, they had the biggest impact on her life.

Laura lived a little differently.
She made the biggest and scariest decisions, hoping for even the smallest
outcome. All to somehow make the truth hurt less.

Looking out her window, Laura
spotted a young woman pushing a stroller. The woman had earbuds in her ears,
sunglasses that covered a lot of her face, and she was power walking. The baby
in the stroller was sitting up, taking in the world. Big, bright eyes absorbed
the surroundings. Big, bright eyes that didn’t understand pain and tragedy. It
was the innocence that should never be taken from a child…

Laura touched the window and
blinked as tears filled her eyes.