Love Evolution (15 page)

Marcus stiffened, glaring at Avery, waiting for her to raise her head. When she did, he pinned her with a look.
“
What
’
s this about, really? Give it to me straight. You think there
’
s some truth to that bullshit.
”
He stood up and began pacing in front of her.

Ok, this day officially sucked. She was punchy and tired. Enough was enough. She got up and stood right in front of him, fists balled at her sides.
“
Yeah, you
’
re right, Marcus. You
’
ve got me all figured out.
”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and she threw her hands up in the air.
“
Come on Marcus. You and I are friends. I think we know each other better than that.
”

Exasperated, Avery shook her head, turned, and flopped back down on the sectional. She picked up her coffee, muttering,
“
Geez, defensive much?
”
Marcus stared at Avery while she watched him over the rim of her coffee cup, her foot tapping impatiently. The stare-down was on.

He gave in first. His lip twitched before he burst out laughing. She rapidly blinked her eyes at him which only made him laugh even harder.
“
Ace, you
’
re a trip,
”
he said in a droll tone as he sat down beside her.

“
Apology accepted,
”
she muttered. 

“
OK, you
wanna
get this done?
”
He patted her shoulder and stood up.
“
Let
’
s get it done. I still wish I had punched that asshole, though.
”

*****

For a couple of hours, they recorded themselves as they plunked around on their instruments in the studio.
“
Hey, I like that,
”
Avery finally said.
“
Play it again.
”

Marcus obliged. They tinkered with the melody until it began to have a southern swamp
,
Lynyrd
Skynyrd
-like vibe. He nodded.
“
That
’
ll work. What do you think of calling this one
‘
Fools Gold?
’
Maybe the lyrics could be a cautionary tale about how material things never satisfy?
”

“
Sure. Give me a minute.
”
Avery scribbled in her journal while Marcus continued to work on the melody. Working together, it wasn
’
t long before they had the song fleshed out. Marcus
forwarded an MP3 of it to Dalton. Avery stood and stretched.
“
I
’
m worn out, Marcus.
”
She yawned.
“
What time do you want to get together tomorrow?
”

“
How about nine?
If you
’
re still determined to have this done by Friday, we
’
ll need to start early.
”

She nodded.

“
Ok then Ace, we
’
ll give it a shot.
”
  

CHAPTER 16

It had been a long day. After Avery left his apartment, Marcus had gotten called in by production to do additional vocal filler to
“
Siren Call.
”
When he was getting ready to leave, he ran into Dwight in the hall.
“
Have you seen it?
”
Dwight asked.

“
Seen what?
”

“
Avery
’
s performance.
Brilliant, man.
”

“
What are you talking about?
”
Marcus asked, totally confused.

“
He was on
Good Morning America
,
”
Dwight replied, noting his brother
’
s puzzled expression. 
“
Didn
’
t you know? I would have thought he would have told you.
”

“
No. He didn
’
t say a thing.
”
Marcus
’
brow furrowed, wondering why.

“
Beth has it up there if you want to see it.
”
 
He patted Marcus on the back.
“
I
’
ll catch you
later,
bro. Lisa is expecting me for dinner.
”

“
Yeah, ok, sure,
”
Marcus mumbled, heading up the stairs to Beth
’
s office.

“
Hi, Marcus.
Come on in. I
’
ve been expecting you.
”
Beth smiled, smoothing her hair.

“
Why am I always the last one to find out about these things?
”
 

“
Well, Avery and I didn
’
t want to make a big deal about it, especially if it didn
’
t work out.
”
She shrugged.
“
That guy
’
s got a real feel for PR, you know. If he wasn
’
t such a good guitar player, I
’
d be afraid he wanted my job. See for
yourself
,
”
Beth said, reaching for the remote on her desk.

Marcus watched silently, his blue eyes glued to the screen. Avery fielded a couple of questions about being the new lead guitarist of Brutal Strength like a pro. When the interviewer asked about the Besille rumors, Avery rolled her eyes.
“
People will say what they
’
re
gonna
say. We
’
ve been so busy working on the new
album,
I haven
’
t had time to even think about my love life. Not that I don
’
t have my eye out for the right girl when she comes along. I
’
m afraid the days of Marcus being the only chick magnet in the band are over, if you know what I mean.
”

When the screen went blank, Beth said,
“
What
’
d I tell you? That
’
s the third time I
’
ve seen it, and I still love it. He looks great on camera, doesn
’
t he?
”

Marcus nodded.

“
We
’
ve already had thousands of hits on the band website from girls who think they are the
‘
right
’
one.
”
She smirked and went on excitedly about how good all this publicity would be for the band. Finally pausing, she looked at him with a raised brow.
“
Are you listening, Marcus?
”

He dutifully nodded again.

“
Good. I wanted to tell you, I
’
ve got the music video set up to film this Saturday. I spoke with your mom. She said there is plenty of room at the farm for everyone. So, I
’
ll see you then, I guess.
”
Beth laughed.
“
I think I
’
m in love with your guitarist.
”
 

“
Sounds like you
’
ll have to take a number and stand in line,
”
Marcus said drily.

*****

Avery arrived at Marcus
’
apartment early Monday morning bearing gifts, caf
é
lattes from Caf
é
Artigiano
, with double shots.
“
Hellooo
…”
she called from the entryway, a little surprised Marcus wasn
’
t there to greet her. 

“
Be there in a sec, Avery,
”
he answered from the bedroom.
“
Running a little late, worked out with Coleman again today.
”

He strode down the hallway from his room, hair still wet from the shower. Avery found herself staring, mouth going dry, as she watched the trails of water soaking into the collar of his Vancouver Canuck t-shirt.

“
Hey, cool. Thanks,
”
he said, taking one of the to-go cups from her hand.

‘
He seems to be in an unusually good mood,
’
she thought.
‘
Probably high on endorphins.
Not me. I need more caffeine.
’
Avery blinked, taking too big a sip of the hot coffee, and sputtered. 

“
You ok?
”
Marcus asked.

“
Yeah, yeah, went down the wrong way.
”
She forced a smile. 

“
Ready to write some songs today?
”
Marcus asked over his shoulder, heading back to the studio.

*****

They worked incessantly and productively the next few days. For Avery, time relentlessly rushed forward like the waters of a spring flood, toward the moment that she would have to tell Marcus the truth. Truth was the sharp-edged sword that would sever him from her life for good. Working with him in such close proximity, it was hard for her to concentrate on the task at hand. She committed to memory the timbre of his laughter, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, and the smell of the woodsy bath soap and aftershave he favored.

Periodically, Marcus would catch Avery looking at him with a worried expression on his face. He always seemed to glance quickly away. Marcus recognized that some subtle change had occurred in their relationship.  Avery was uncharacteristically reserved and distant. The childlike exuberance and optimism that he found so appealing had all but disappeared. Marcus made several clumsy attempts to lighten the somber mood that had descended on their songwriting sessions without much success. That was Avery
’
s forte, not his.  

*****

Plowing ahead with the songwriting, they were almost finished by Thursday morning. Marcus was finalizing
“
B Jezebel,
”
a discordant, clearly autobiographical tune, judging from the venom in the lyrics.
“
Not all women are like that, Marcus,
”
Avery said, reading over his shoulder.

Marcus gave her a wry look.
“
You
’
re young Ace. You
’
ll find out. It
’
s all a game to them. Women think differently than men.
”

The bitterness he felt toward the opposite sex reminded Avery why she had undertaken this disguise in the first place. She asked if Veronica had inspired the subject matter for this song.

He nodded.

“
Did you love her?
”

“
I believed I did at the time.
”

‘
Lucky girl,
’
Avery thought.

“
But now, I
’
m not so sure. I was on my own a lot then. Dwight had just met Lisa.
”
He stared down at the
fretboard
of his guitar.
“
I don
’
t know. Tell me again, why are we talking about all this sentimental crap? I never even told Dwight any of this stuff.
”

“
Yeah, well, it
’
s for the album and
consider
us even now. I never told anyone what happened to me when I was a kid, either.
”

“
That
’
s way different though, Ace.
”
He gave her a gentle smile and continued.
“
Ok. Physical attraction was definitely a big part of it with V. You
’
ve probably seen pictures of her.
”
Using both hands he made the universal gesture for a large-chested woman.
“
She is definitely hot. The thing about it is, even though I was stoned most of the time, I can
’
t remember us having anything in common except for the drugs.
”
He shook his head and shrugged.

They struggled to complete
“
Love Evolution.
”
As the title song, it had to set the mood for the entire album. They wanted the lyrics to be about the transformative power of love. How love changes gradually over time from a simple attraction to a deeper, more complex form.
“
Marcus, do you even believe that kind of love is possible?
”
Avery mused out loud.

“
It better be, Ace. I definitely don
’
t want to end up like some of those seventies rockers you find so fascinating, sixty years old and still chasing after twenty- year-old groupies.
”

She shook her head, chuckling.

“
I think it
’
s possible, Avery,
”
he said, tone turning serious.
“
My parents have that kind of love, and have been married forty years. They
’
ve had their ups and downs, but my dad always says love is a journey, not a destination.
”
He glanced over at her,
“
How about you?
”

Avery stopped scribbling in her journal. She lifted her head, green eyes warming as she studied him, committing to memory every nuance of the face she
’
d come to love so much.
“
I hope so, Marcus.
”
Rolling her pencil between her hands, she frowned as she looked away.
“
I really hope so.
”