Fever Pitch (15 page)

             
Come on, it’s all good
, I told myself.

              I spotted her right away. She was sitting in a booth, facing the front door. Her hair was rumpled, like she’d just woken up. She wore a white tank top that clung tightly to her boobs, making them look especially great. I simmered at the thought of Nathan staring at them too. Standing there, I waited for her to see me, wondering what her reaction would be.

              Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me. She quickly got up, making her way towards me. A look of surprise painted her face, and her smile was genuine. Relief flooded over me. She wrapped her arms around me as I stared in the direction of Nathan, who was looking over his shoulder, peeved. I couldn’t help but smirk. Fuck him with his pretty-boy blond hair. Another fucking sporto, of course. Sometimes I wondered why she chose me. Usually girls stuck with the same type of guy; other than Mike, she’d never dated another musician. This just made me love her more. She wasn’t some band whore like all the others, including Sophia, who’d gone out with her share of famous frontmen.

              Aly barraged me with questions, searching my face and squeezing my waist. “What are you doing here? When did you arrive?”

              “Just flew in. I wanted to surprise you,” I answered, looking at her lovingly. Her excited state had me zinging inside.

              “Come on, let’s go,” I said, kissing her flawless face.

              “Jake, I can’t just leave him.” She laughed under her breath, glancing in Nathan’s direction.

              “Did you eat already?”

              “Yeah.”

              “Then you can. Go say good-bye. Tell him the truth and let’s go.” I held her tight to my chest, kissing her again.

              She paused, pushing away from me and sighed. Her lips pressed together and her head bobbled from side to side. “Okay. I feel bad though.”

              I looked at her with raised eyebrows as she backed away, wearing a helpless expression. She turned and slowly walked back to Nathan. Kyle stood behind me, silently timid and not wanting to get involved in any way, which took me back to our childhood for a split second. I watched Aly intently as she pulled nervously at the caramel colored tips of her hair, making up some sort of an excuse and dumping it in Nathan’s lap. Aly grabbed her bag and gave him a hug. To my gut-wrenching surprise, Nathan got up and followed her. I could only imagine what was going through his head.

             
Fuck – confrontation.

              Nathan approached us and Aly took my hand. He stared me up and down and I stood taller, meeting him face to face. My heart thumped in my throat then he spoke.

              “You don’t deserve her,” He growled under his breath, walking away before I could formulate a comeback. Aly clutched at my arm, stopping the torrent of anger coursing through me.

             
Fuck him.

              “Sporto didn’t take this well,” I said smugly.

              “Get over yourself,” she nudged, trying not to smile. “Of course he’s not gonna take it well. But I told him when I got back from London what was going on, and he chose to keep hanging out with me.”

             
You clearly liked hanging out with him too
, I thought, but wasn’t gonna say anything about it. I had no right, at this point.

              Draping my arm around her shoulder, I pulled her close to me as we walked to Kyle’s car. I decided to tell her about Sophia when we got to my house.

2

Jake

Aly hung over the back passenger’s seat with her arms wrapped around me. I kissed her hands and fingers tenderly, over and over again. I wished I’d gotten a room somewhere, instead of thinking I’d stay with my mom at the house. All I could think about was being alone with her in a king-sized bed. One of her hands slipped down into the neck of my shirt and her fingers lightly brushed at my chest, giving me the chills. I could have dove into the backseat then and there.

Soon enough, we were pulling into Aly’s driveway. I stared over at my house, my childhood home where it all began:
everything
. I tensed up, knowing I’d be face to face with my mother. Strange, I thought. We’d actually been getting along really well since her trip to London–we’d still yet to talk about anything
life changing
. Not sure what my mood was all about. My mom had only joined me on the road twice in Europe, and Notting made sure to take charge, keeping her at arms-length. There wasn’t really anything that she could control, now that I was grown and on my own.

I sighed loudly, gripping the door handle. “Ok, here we go,” I announced as I opened the door, swinging my legs out and walking to Aly’s side of the car.

“What’s wrong?” she said, shutting the car door. “Aren’t you excited to be home?”

“Of course I am, come here.” I reached out for her, pulling her tight to my body, kissing her quickly. “It’s just weird. The last time we were here together, it was…crazy.”

Aly nodded her head, stepping back away from me. She held my hand swinging it back and forth, staring at it. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

A jolt went through me. Was she trying being cute?

A smile peaked at the corners of her mouth. “Wow, no pun intended, but now that it’s out there, nice song,” she said dryly.

We never did talk about the song I’d written and recorded after we officially broke up.
The
song that got mass airplay all over the country, the song–
Talk About It
. I guess now, maybe, we’d talk about it.

I smiled weakly at her. “I’m sorry how that all went down.”

“Yeah, a pretty sucky time. When I heard it for the first time on the radio, it made me hate you more.”

What was I gonna say to that? We stood staring at each other for a long moment, her face pensive. The song said it all. “That’s all behind us now. Let’s go say hello to Kate.”

I began walking away, but Aly didn’t follow.

“Um, I think maybe you should go alone. Text me in a bit and I’ll come over.”

I totally understood where she was coming from. I didn’t look forward to my face to face with her father, either.

I shook my head, walking back to her. “Ok. It’s probably better, seeing she has no idea I’m here.” I chuckled. “I’ll text when the excitement fades. Then you and I are gonna do cartwheels.” I winked at her, leaning down, and kissed her goodbye.

***

I stood staring at my front door. Nothing about its off-white surface had changed. The same potted, neatly trimmed succulents lined the steps. I bent down, picking up two tree-trimming leaflets someone had left in hopes of new business. I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six
…I counted all the way to ten before I heard commotion come from behind the door, and then it swung open.

I smiled sheepishly. “I’m home!” I said as I raised my arms. My mother beamed at me and her smile radiated. I felt a tinge of burn in my nose and my eyes tingled. I was relieved and happy to see her, and when I went in to hug her, I was surprised I got misty-eyed.

She held me firmly, all the while whispering, “
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, my baby’s home.”
She’d never used the words
my baby
. I held her snug in return.

I pulled away and noticed that her hair was different. A lot about her appearance had changed since I’d seen her last. Her hair now grazed the tops of her shoulders. Gone were long the golden blonde waves. She was still blonde, but more grey peeked out from behind the blonde strands.

“What are you doing here? Does Notting know? Oh, geez, Jake Masters. How could you do this? I’m not ready for you.”

She kept chitchatting in excited bursts. “Mom, relax. Take a breath.” I laughed. We slowly walked through the foyer, and I glanced at the wall. I noticed all the black and white photos that I’d left behind were now gone. Lined side by side were black and whites of me and the band, performing at various venues and stadiums. “Wow, when did you get those?” I asked, pointing.

“Oh, Notting and I…” She paused. “He came home with one, as a gift on my birthday one time, and then it just grew from there.”

I got the feeling she didn’t want to admit that Notting and her had taken things to another level. “Is Notting living here?” I saw her gulp and surprise flashed in her eyes.
Whoops
. She certainly didn’t expect me to ask that so quickly. “Come on, Mom. It’s no big deal.”

Her chest rose as she took in a breath and held it. Her eyes searched mine and she let out a big sigh. “Jake, Notting does stay here from time to time.”

I smiled at her impishly. “Mom, I’m not thirteen anymore. It’s okay to have a boyfriend. I already know you guys have had a thing going on for years.”

She grew rigid, standing taller and then turned sitting down on the sofa. “Notting and I are very good friends, Jake, and…”

“Mom, it’s okay. Don’t you get it?” I said, interrupting her. I still couldn’t believe after all the time that went by, and how long I’d been gone, that she still couldn’t admit anything about Notting. “Did you hear what I said? I know about Notting.”

The skin on her cheeks flushed pink and I immediately felt bad. I totally put her on the spot, but it needed to happen. She should be happy to have everything out in the open. “What’s the problem?” I probed.

She fidgeted with the rings on her fingers. “I want to hear about you.” She blinked. “Who met you at the airport?”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Ok. Let’s see something.” I turned around and walked toward her bedroom. She didn’t say anything until I was all the way into her room.

I heard her voice faintly. “Jake, what are you doing?”

I stood facing the neatly-made bed, its white comforter pulled and tucked tightly against its mattress. I glanced around the room. I spotted Notting’s camel-colored travel satchel. I knew it was his. It had the familiar well-traveled scars, and Dump’s branded cigarette-burned happy face stared back at me.

“What are you looking for?” she said, coming up behind me. “Notting’s not here.”

I didn’t answer her and walked toward the closet. “Jake?” she said, her voice strained.

Just as I thought, Notting’s razor sat on the side of the sink across from the wall of closet mirrors. I pulled open the doors, and men’s clothing hung there.

I shot my mother an ironic look over my shoulder. “I guess I’m doing what you would do and just seeing for myself.” I stared at her, smiling, waiting for her to admit it. “Can’t we all just move on?”

Her forehead knitted together. “Jake this is not how I wanted you to find out.”

“Mom, you’re acting like you got caught cheating or…” I stalled as the words darted from my mouth, thinking of my father. “I mean, come on. It’s okay. I’m a big boy.” There was something that flashed in her eyes. What was her problem? “Look. I know I caught you off guard, and I’m sorry. I think I’ll just stay at a hotel, until you work whatever it is you need to work out,” I said, swinging my arms around and pointing out the obvious.

“No, no, no. I want you to stay here.” She pulled the hair from around her neck and reached over to the bathroom counter, grabbing a little black elastic band to tie her hair back. Instantly, she looked ten years younger. She exhaled loudly. “Come.” She turned, walking toward the bedroom door, and I followed. “Notting won’t be home for a while. I want to hear about what’s been going on with you. Notting, of course tells me everything, but I want to hear your version. Are you still dating Sophia? Or is this thing with Aly still happening?”

Kill me before the pink elephant swallows me whole,
I thought
.

I did not want to talk about Sophia with her. I decided not to lean on my mom anymore about Notting; instead, I’d just ask him directly. I was shocked he never said anything to me in the first place. I felt strange about the whole thing. Why wouldn’t he tell me, especially after all the intimate talks we’d had in the past?

Sitting at the kitchen counter as my mother did her usual frittering around, making food I wasn’t hungry for, she prodded again about my personal life in New York.

“Are you still seeing Sophia? I really liked her, she seems like a good one.”

Not as good as Aly.

“Um, about that…” I paused.

She shut the stove carefully. “What happened?” she asked sadly. “Did you break it off because you and Aly are getting serious again? I had a feeling since London…but with her school and all, are you sure you want to have a long distance relationship...? It wouldn’t…”

I sucked in a deep breath and stood up. “Look, mom,” I interrupted her babbling, “actually, there’s something I want to tell you.”

“Ok.” She kept shredding cheese without looking up at me.

“Aly is coming back with me to New York.”  I held my breath. My heart thumped hard in anticipation of her reply. She smiled softly and kept shredding for a moment longer.

She looked at me and her eyes drifted across my face, wondering if I was kidding. “This
is
news. I’m not sure what to say.”

Really? She didn’t have
one
thing to say about it? I waited. She most definitely had to have something to say about it.

Gulp–nothing. Lick my lips–nothing.

She looked away from me and began placing the cheese in a bowl.

I wasn’t about to go after this. Or was I? Reverse psychology at its best.

“No other questions?” She shook her head
no
. I nodded. “Ok. So. Um, I guess I’ll go get checked into a hotel and come back in a bit. I wanna spend some time with Aly, too.”

I stood blinking, dumbfounded.

“I’m making enchiladas. Will you please come for dinner?” Her voice sounded funny. It pitched higher, and the mood that blanked the room was nothing I was used to. She sounded small, insubstantial, unlike her. This yanked at me.

“Yeah, of course. I just don’t want you to feel weird about Notting, Mom.”