The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (12 page)

“I’ll always love you. You know that.
” She affirmed sternly after several moments of awkward silence.

Steve nodded, looking confused, torn, and relieved by her declaration. It took several moments for him to finally meet her steady gaze. 

The patio door slammed below them, heralding the arrival of Lex.
Ozzy
and Duncan raced down from the bedroom above them, and down the winding stairs to the basement level, barki
ng and snarling at the intruder
until Lex greeted them.

“Hi, boys.
”  Jessie heard his greeting
and the barking subsided.  “Jessie?”

“Up here.” She pulled her left leg away from Steve, turned about quickly and sank into the corner of th
e sofa, several inches from him
so Lex wouldn’t see them in an intimate pose and get the wrong idea.

He lingered in the basement for a few more minutes, talking and petting
the boys
, the affectionate term the
household had dubbed their fur people
.

“Don’t tell anyone, Jess.
” Steve whispered. “Please.”

Jessie took his hand, squeezing it gently. “I won’t
. But you already knew it, didn’t you?
”

Steve nodded.

Lex rose from the floor below, slowin
g plodding up the iron stairs,
each step heralding his arrival as his boots clanked the metal. He was dressed in black; a loose
dress shirt opened to his chest and
his trademark
black leather pants. His long hair
had been brushed back
into a ponytail,
revealing th
e small golden circle hanging neatly from  his ear. He hadn’t shaved for a day or so. The effect was stunning, making him look dangerous
and sexy.

“Ready?”  His blue eyes swe
pt over her with icy impatience
as one ebony brow raised
in question.

“
I’m sorry, we were
just
talking.” She stood
, feeling somehow chastised by the tone of voice and the look in his eyes.
“I’ll just be a minute. And,”
She turned to Steve, “
You
are coming w
ith us. No arguments, right Lex? Steve’s digging a hole in the back yard. He
needs to be with friends
tonight
.”

“It’s okay.
” Steve shrugged, poking a finger in the ragged knee
hole of his jeans. “I don’t wanna
intrude.”

“I won’
t take no for a
n answer. Either you come along
or we’ll stay here and order a pizza.” She commanded, challenging Lex to deny h
er words. “Lex won’t mind sharing
me with you.” Jessie jaunted
up the stairs to change into
something more romantic
than torn jeans and a belly shirt.

“Yeah.”  Lex mumbled without enthusiasm. “We’re
going
to the new Mexican place on Wil
shire Boulevard.”  He was being forced to allow his competition to join them on their dinner date. Stiff competition, from what he’d heard below stai
rs, this was the love of Jessie’
s life. 

“I’ll always love you--you know that
.
” 

He ca
me in unannounced, hearing just that small tidbit as he stood peering up the wrought iron winding staircase, seeing Jessie straddling her lover’s lap i
n an intimate embrace. He stood for a moment in shock. And
then
he
went to the door and sla
mmed it, pretending he’d just co
me in. The dogs heard the slam and came down to greet him, giving him an excuse to linger and rein in his emot
ions before facing her and her
lover.

“Are you sure
you don’t mind
?”  Steve queried with sorrow-filled eyes. 

Yeah, I do mind
.
   Lex thought. Instead, he waxed contemporary as he held out his hand
s expansively. “Why would I
?”

It was an
etern
ity before Jessie returned
to him
.
Neither man spoke as that
awkward silence stretched on.
W
hen she did
descend the stairs
it was worth every second of silent agony. Sh
e was exquisite in the exotic two piece dress
but the coloring--sage green, brought out the flame of her hair and the delicate ivory caste of her complexion.

Steve didn’t
seem to notic
e the goddess before them
. He continued to stare at his kneehole and kept
ripping the jagged threads
from it
and tossing them on the floor beneath the coffee table.
Lex could only sta
re incredulously at the bum. Jessie
was radiant, divine, and all th
e guy could see were his torn jeans?

“Steve,
” Jessie prompted.
“Let’s go.”

The brown head rose. Sienna
eyes registered briefly on her
and
then went back to their deep contemplation of his jeans.

“Come on . . . we’ll see what movies are pla
ying after dinner.”

With a sigh, the lanky bo
dy pulled itself up from his
knee meditations an
d followed them out to Lex’s car.

Jessie talked
and talked, trying to make conversation while the two men with her sulked, eyeing each other with stony sile
nce. The new restaurant was lovely.
J
essie commented on the bright
Spanish
tiles
and the exquisite fountain in the middle of the dining room in an attempt to break the tense silences between them.

She didn’t know why Lex was so sullen
. U
sual
ly he was very pleasant and fun to be with. Steve rattled his
silverware
and drummed the table with them
in his usual overly active way, and it seemed to annoy their companion, although Lex did not comment on it.

The musician, a lone guitarist dressed in full Mexican attire began to strum the strains of a jaunty tune. His fingers were skilled, but it was when he opened his mouth to start singing that Steve and Jessie suddenly locked eyes with shock and amusement.

“He needs voice lessons.
” Jessie leaned over to whisper to her friend.

“Bet he’s the owner’s cousin.
” Steve grinned as he started playing air drums with hi
s knife and spoon. “Don’t laugh.
” He chided as Jessie giggled. “That’s how Selena got starte
d. Her papa bought a restaurant
and while the patrons ate, his little darlings serenaded them
.
”

“
H
e could be the next Latino sensation
.
” Jessie commented
.
“You never can tell.”

“Ricky Martin
.
” Steve argued and
then started his
own rendition of
La Vida Loca
.  “Her lips are devil red and her skin’s the color of mocha, she will wear you out . . .”

“Living the Vida Loca
.
” 
Jessie and Steve crooned together in the spirit of karaoke.

“Can we order already?
” Lex hissed with all the stiff impatience of a father as he glowered at them from over his menu. It had the effect of cold water on Steve’s rekindled humor, effectively snuffing it out as that young man slumped in his chair.

“I’m not hungry.” Steve muttered.

Jessie gave Lex a killing look, but he wasn’t looking at her at all. He was tight lipped, tense as he scrutinized the menu. She wanted to kick him under the table. He was being an absolute jerk. Sh
e’d never seen him act this way
and she couldn’t understand what brought such rude behavior on without warning.

Some
how they made it through dinner. Steve picked
at his plat
e. Lex remained quiet and
sullen as
he devoured his Chicken Burrito
. Jessie gave up trying to hold up any
measure of polite conversation. She’d have better luck trying to pick
up
some guy at the bar.

After dinner, Lex packed them into his El Dorado and headed ba
ck to the
Pacific Coast highway to Malibu. He cited
a
migraine as the reason for his need to cut their outing short. As he dropped them at their
house, he didn’t even offer Jessie a kiss goodnight. She understood. He felt lousy so she dismissed his moodiness. Jessie had
migraines before. T
hey didn’t leave a person in any mood for socializing.

Tomorrow, he’d call, apologize and her world would
be sunny again.  

Chapter Eight

Five days
.

Jessie blinked, unable to fathom what had suddenly ended her relationship with Lex.  She sat in their expansive living room, overlooking the shoreline, staring at nothing, trying to find a reason for this latest fi
asco in her doomed love life.

Rain pelted the view of the majestic ocean waves, graying the skies to a leaden, dreary haze.

Steve was with her, both of them silent refugees, hiding from the storm of confusion and turmoil the jailer known as life had se
rved them. The others were gone. L
ost in a wonderland of bliss with their
respective lovers;
Jack with Lilly, Kyra with Mike, and Darrell with some mystery woman from Bel Air.

Jessie nibbled t
he cylinder of
chocolate chip cookie dough, savoring the gritty, sweet paste as she crunched the chips. She hadn’t bothere
d to dress. What was the point?
There was nothing to do today, no pressing business demanding she look her best as a successful young rock star. No Lex to whisk her away on some mad
cap adventure. He’d left Malibu
without a word to her, without even a good-bye.

Beside her, Steve nursed a beer, still in his bathrobe, his hair disheveled, as he, too, stared at the horizon of grey mist. 

This wasn’t t
he first time she’d been dumped. It was pretty much
business as usual.

This time was different. Lex had
barely even kissed her
properly
.
The u
sual routine was to let her drop after the first date,
when she
refused to have sex with the guy.

“
Here, now, stop that.”  Steve offered her
a corner of his nubby
royal blue robe to wipe away her
fountain of tears.

“I don’t understand?
”
Jessie squeaked.
“He just left--”

“It’s okay.” Steve’s arm wrapped about her protectively. “Maybe he had so
me important business,
a family emergency. He’ll be back, Jess.”

She shook her head, choking back the pain of rejection, a pain she’d come to know all too well. 

At first, she welcomed the isolation. The morning after their dinner with Steve, she felt relief when Lex didn’t call and wake her with a well-laid plan
of their adventure for the day
as had been his habit. Steve needed to talk, to sort out
his emotions. He needed Jessie and their peculiar bond of
friendship/sibling/confidante that no one understood but the two of the
m. Jack was her biological twin
but Steve seemed to
be
her soul’s twin. They were kindred spirits, just like the girls in
Anne of Green Gables
, except that Steve happened to be a guy, a gay guy.

After spending that first morning listening to Steve, encouraging him, offering him understanding and acce
ptance for wanting to come out of the closet
, she called Lex to find out if he wanted to join them for a meal at home. His housek
eeper reported
he’d
left for
New York City at nine th
at morning
and she wasn’t sure when he would return.

Jessie
called his cell
number
, twice.
She l
eft messages. He didn’t return them. She wasn’t going to be clingy and desperate. It wasn’t like she was in love with the d
ude.