The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (25 page)

“
I know you aren’t, but
s
he’s been calling me
every day since
I told her I was marrying you
. She’s trying to talk me into postponing the
wedding
, and preaching
at
me, trying to convert me to her
way of thinking,” Jessie sighed. She lifted
her head from his shoulder to offer him a sad smile. “You see, the world is coming to an end tomorrow; the President is a member of the Trilateralist Commission, and Amy Grant is a Satanist, along wi
th Alice Cooper,
Ozzie Osbourne . . .”

“And Lex.
” He finished with a b
itter edge to his voice. “
I’ve
heard it before.
”
He hit the steering wheel with his fist. “So, they don’t want you to marry me.”

“Pretty much.”
Jessie let out a long, tortured sigh, as her heart rose somewhere in the vicinity of her tonsils.
“They’re threatening to disown me if I do.”

Lex
looked her in the eyes, an
d said in a quiet, steady tone, “What do you want, Jess?  Do you want to create a life together with me or do you just want your parents to approve of your choice in a mate?”

“I don’t want their approval.
” Jessie replied
with venom
, angry that he should even ask such a thing. “I want everyone to get off my case, step back and let me decide what I want.
I don’t want to be bullied into a decision, by
my mom, my sister, or even you.
You want me t
o marry you, not in six months
or next year,
but right now
.
”

Jessie knew she
was losing it. She was
yelling
at him
, accusing
Lex
, and worst of all, she fe
lt as if her heart was being
ripped o
ut of her chest. “What’s the big hurry? Are you afraid if I think about it too much and make a serious assessment of your offer
? Are you afraid
I’ll notice something I shouldn’t? Is there an expiration date out there on the nice Lex and if I don’t marry you by the next full moon you’ll be damned forever to roam the night and eat human flesh?
”

“
You’re over-reacting.
” Lex was holdin
g her by the shoulders, talking in a calm, serene tone that irked Jessie t
o the point of wanting to scratch his handsome face
.

“Oh God
.
” Jessie gasped. T
he
freaking rug had been literally yanked
out fr
om under her as the truth came rushi
ng over her with startling clarity
. “Oh-God--
why are they doin
g this to me? Why can’t they
be happ
y?
Why do they have to make it out to be something dark and shameful? It’s not fair.”

A
dam broke somewhere
deep
in her soul. Before she could stop it, Jessie was sobbing, nearly c
hoking on her desperate cries
as
she clung to Lex.
They made h
er life hell, all three of them
in one way or another. Jack was the only one who wanted her to be happy. Michelle and her parents just wante
d to make her feel guilty and ashamed.
They didn’t want her to be happy. They wanted her to be miserable and afr
aid, just like them
.

“It will be okay
.
” Lex whispered as she wept in his arms.
“I promise.”

E
ven Duncan turned from his perusal of the seashore to nudge Jessie affectionately as he sat on her lap.

“I love you. T
hat’s all that matters
.
We found each other, Jessie. We found each other again in this life.
” Lex was crushing her
to him, holding her with a kind of frantic desperation, as if he were trying to absorb some of her pain.

Jessie’s eyes were finally dry.
She was
exhausted.

They sat for a long time holding each other,
looking out at the wide expanse of sea and sky. The wind was crisp on the point. The
sea
birds
screeched above their heads.
Duncan stood up with his front legs perched on the car door and growled at the winged intruders to warn them away.

Jessie felt small and stupid for breaking down as she had, but damn it--it had felt so good to just lose control for a
short time.

If the man
was serious about marrying her, then he’d best see the
ugly side
. A few pleasant dinners and a walk on the
beach could be
fine and go
od, but reality wasn’t always so
idyllic. If Lex wanted to m
arry her, then he should know
there was not a happy family waiting to welcome him into the fold. He would be reviled, and they’d be ashamed to
claim him as one of their own
.

Her d
ad wasn’t a bad sort, but he tended to side with Mom on any given subject to
keep the
peace, so if Mom didn’t like Lex
that was tha
t. And as for her sister,
Michelle thought there were demons behind every bush and believed that everyone who
didn’t follow her
flavor of
religion was destined
to fry forever in the fires of Mount D
oom.

Religion
. Now, that was something they had never really discussed before. Jessie sat up, extracting herself from Lex’s comf
orting embrace. She climbed off his lap and reached into the back seat to reel
in Duncan’s leash
. “He
needs to stretch his legs.”

“And mark twenty weeds and stones.” Lex teased. “Yeah, I know the feeling.” He sighed, and
opened the car door for her
.

As they exited t
he car
the mood between them changed. Lex walked along behind Jessie as Dun
can tugged on the
leash
and started pulling
her fo
rward with determination.

Duncan kept pulling her along the beach. He was excited to be in a new environment and new smells. He discovered a dead fish and she had quite a time pulling the stubborn little Scottie from the disgusting mess. Lex walked casually behind them, sensing she needed a little space to reclaim her dignity as well as her composure.

Finally, they reached an old wooden electrical pole that was lying on its side in the sand. It was weathered from years of abuse from the sun and the ocean swells. Jessie reached it first with Duncan, and sat down as she waited for Lex to catch up with her.

He joined her on the seat, and sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees. All J
essie had to do was look at him
and she felt an instant sense of calm. He sat very still, gazing back at her with a serene expression, as if all were right in the world, his world.

“We never talked about our religious beliefs.” Jessie began, bracing herself for the worst out of pure habit. Of course, Michelle’s wild accusations didn’t help matters. “I was raised Catholic, bein
g Irish American. I’m not
Catholic
anymore. I’m not really into religion. What a
bout you?
What are your spiritual beliefs, Lex?
”

Chapter Fourteen

Lex wanted
to make some smart ass remark about sacrificing virgins every full moon, just
to lighten the mood.
Looking at Jessie, however, with her severe pallor and the deep circles forming beneath her eyes, he knew it was best to tread lightly where she was concerned.

He had been accused of devil worship and worse for years. It shouldn’t bother him; it was merely a by-product of being famous in the rock industry. The religious right always seemed determined to label creative types who explore the darker side of the human experience as Satanists. Typically, it didn’t bother Lex. This was different. This revolved around the woman he loved. He was being maligned to the woman he wanted to marry, and by the looks of things, she wasn’t too certain that her sister was wrong.

“I was raised Presbyte
rian. Like you,
I’ve
moved away
from what I was taught as a child
.” He said quietly. “I spent many years believing in nothing, and living my
life
accordingly. Now, I’m a
new age spiritualist--peri
o
d
.
No
thing scary or dark
you need to be worried about
. No devil, no demons.
No weird cult associations.
My spiritual journey is
private and it’s
all about
deep
reverence fo
r the Earth
.”

Jessie
d
idn’t say anything. She was
looking at him, almost if she were waiting for something to explode between them. Perhaps she was. She did have the look of someone who just left the twin towers in NYC on 9/11--moments before they collapsed.

“I meditate every day. I us
e c
rystals, aromatherapy and
herbal medicine; t
hings asso
ciated with the New Age
religion
but
are
aspects of
ancient mysticism
.
”

She looked relieved, so much so he almost expected her to fall forward in the sand with a heavy sigh. She did neither. She just stared at him, more with
fascination now than the
fear she’d kept so tightly in check. “Like Shirley M
ac
laine?”

Lex made a
face. “Ah . .
.
a little bit.” He lifted his thumb and forefinger to signify an inch, and then shrugged.
“Unlike her,
I’m not trying to get every
one to tune into my frequency.
It’s my
journey.
It’s not about getting the
world to follow your path. What I believe is
c
losest to Eastern M
ysticism
. You’ve heard of Ravi
?”

She nodded. That was good. She was still with
him. “Are you his follower
?”

“No
.
He’s a new age guru, a guide.
I’ve listened to him speak and gained a few insights, but as I said, for me it’s
a personal journey. I medita
te every
morning. I practice yoga and take
herbal supplements now instead o
f
street drugs. I talk with Ravi
when I need to and he
helps me sort throug
h things
, like other people talk with a therapist.
T
hat’s it.
There are n
o church services, no
confessional
s,
no proselytizing.
No big ranch with guards
keeping eve
ryone in or out. We respect other beliefs because we
believe every
soul must find
its own path to enligh
tenment. That doesn’t sound so
scary, does it?”

Jessi
e released her breath in an
almost tortured sigh. She’d been holding it, along with the pent up anxiety and panic over her family
’s reaction to her
wedding.

“Here, let me show you something.” He stood and took her hand, pulling Jessie to her feet. “Just stand here, feet apart, like this.” Lex stood in front of her, showing her the basic
stance. “Put your arms out, that’s it.” He said as he let his arms extend straight out in a horizontal pose on either side
of him. “Now, breathe in and lift your arms
slowly.”

He inhaled, and slowly moved his hands upward until the palms were extended above his head
. He held the pose for a second.  Lex
exhaled while pushing his ar
ms down in front of him quickly and then gracefully moved them in a horizontal arc until
his arms were extended on either side of hi
m again. “It’s a calming breath
, it helps reduce anxiety and
stress. Do this about eight times
an
d you’ll start to relax
. It’s been proven that t
aking
slow, deep breaths allows
your lungs to full with oxygen
and helps relieve the tension you feel when you are under stress
.
See, n
o mysticis
m
, just body mechanics and science.
Each time y
ou
move your arms and
release your breath, and it releases a little more tension.”