The Songwriter (10 page)

She elbowed him in the ribs and stomped her heels and clapped her hands.
“My first sign!”

“
Whatever does it for you.”

Johnny followed her beneath the stage and examined the elevator with a sniff before he slapped her ass and winked.
“Get em babe.”

Gwen
appeared onstage with the biggest smile on her face. She didn’t even care that Trey kept looking offstage to shoot angry looks at Johnny. Gwen sang to Trey and tried not to slap or bite his hand when he touched her. It was a relief to turn away from him, walk to the edge of the stage and give the woman holding the sign a shout out. Trey’s banked anger filled the stage. Gwen ignored him and poured herself into the crowd and was satisfied when they jumped out of their seats to sing her lyrics back to her. When she dashed off the stage for her wardrobe change, Johnny’s eyes were alight as they ripped off her clothes and redressed her.

“
You were great and he hates me!” Johnny said gleefully.

Gwen was on too much of a high to chide him.
“The crowd is great tonight.”

“
You have a way with the women. Girl power or some shit. They see it in you,” Johnny said. “Natasha was fake. Fake boobs, fake ass-”

Gwen giggled and threw her shoe at him. Johnny dodged and slapped he
r ass again when she shot past. Gwen sang
Release the Dream
and looked into the arena. It was becoming a familiar and beautiful sight- a room filled with people swaying, singing along with her and feeling the same emotion as her. These people knew her lyrics and emphasized with her plight in the song and Gwen ate up every moment. As a songwriter, she created in private and as a singer; she could now see the affect the song had on the public. It was magical and something she would cherish for the rest of her life.

Trey came up beside her and she forced herself to look at him as he sang his lines.

I have another woman

So much time has passed by,

B
aby, release me from your dreams

At the close of the song Gwen sang:

I need to move on with my life

I can’t breathe

I’ve built a cage of fantasies

I need to release the dream of you and me

I need to be free

When the drummer started
Breaking Out
,
Gwen clapped and did her usual routine of riling the crowd, flirting with the band members and generally doing everything she could to stay away from Trey. When she started backing towards the edge of the stage to make her exit, she was startled when Trey blocked her way and grabbed her arm.

“
What did you think of my partner, Gwen Harper?” Trey hollered.

The resounding yells shook the ground and Gwen smiled and tried to tug out of Trey’s hold. He pulled her back to center stage and she felt a spear of panic. This wasn’t part of the act! Trey grabbed a stool and gallantly led her to it. She took the seat
and stared at him, trying to ask him without words that the hell he was doing.

“
Since I’ve been an ass to Gwen, let’s see if I can make it up to her,” Trey said.

Gwen smiled but she was so confused. Was he talking about figuratively or literally? In the song
, the man was a douche bag that couldn’t give the woman what she wanted. Was that what he was trying to “make up” for? Trey didn’t move his eyes from hers as he stood beside her and played his guitar.

Baby, you’re the best thing

that’s
happened to me

You get me like no one else

Those other women, they meant nothing

What can I say to make you stay?

Gwen was completely dumbstruck. The song he was singing wasn’t on any of his albums which meant he’d either just written it or he was making it up as he went along. Trey’s boot tapped as he strummed h
is guitar and she heard the women sighing as they watched him. When he finished, Trey kissed her on the lips and the women screamed. Trey bowed her off the stage and she walked over to Johnny who sniggered. Gwen saw Angie standing on the side and strode over to her.

“
What the hell was that?” Gwen demanded angrily.

Angie looked at Gwen’s furious face, at Trey onstage and then Johnny who was grinning like a fool.
“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“
Do I
look
like I knew about this?” Gwen growled between clenched teeth.

Angie shrugged.
“I manage Trey, I don’t control him. If you have a problem about what just happened, you take it up with him.”

“
Don’t worry, I will!”

For the first time Gwen didn’t go to her bus to shower and sleep. Johnny accompanied her to the bus and chattered while she showered and changed. Gwen was too angry to say more than a few words. She wanted to strangle Trey. What the hell did he think he was doing, changing their act in the middle
of the show? She sat on that stool like a dumbass, just listening to him sing to her, wondering where he was going with this and
why
.

When Gwen stormed back to the arena
, the show was just letting out and Trey was doing interviews and mingling with fans along with Oliver, whose eyes popped when he caught sight of Johnny. Oliver forgot about his promotions and pushed his way over to Johnny. This caused the fans to redirect their focus on Gwen, who was suddenly engulfed in hugs and demands for autographs. At some point, she looked up and saw Trey watching her but there were at least twenty people between them and they lost each other, swept away by the enthusiastic crowd.

It was midnight by the time she got away and there was still no sign of Trey. She actually had no idea what he did after the show. For all she knew, he could be with a woman or go to a bar with the fans. He wasn’t in his bus and Johnny finally dragged her to
bed since she was pale with exhaustion.

Gwen woke before the sun was up,
slipped out of Johnny’s arms and went to Trey’s bus but he wasn’t there. Frustrated, she headed to her sanctuary, only to find Trey already there. He mumbled under his breath and leaned over his guitar to make a note on a legal pad. Some sixth sense made him look up and for a moment they stared at each other through the glass door of the recording room. Gwen walked through the door and let it shut behind her, locking them in a room where they could yell as loud as they pleased without being heard.

“
What the hell were you doing last night?” Gwen said.

Trey surveyed her while he plucked sweet chords on his guitar
, which distracted her. “I was doing my show.”

“
Don’t play games, Trey. You know what I’m talking about. What was with that song?” she demanded, standing in front of him, tapping her slipper.

“
You don’t like it?”

She glared.
“That’s beside the point!”

“
I think the lyrics need help, but I think the core of the song is good. I wanted you to hear it.”

“
You changed our act. Why?”

Trey rose from the couch and put his guitar on a stand. He had his back to her and when he stayed that way
, she lost patience with him.

“
I don’t know what happened to you last night but a head’s up would’ve been nice! How would you feel if I decided to change things up and you had no clue what was going on?”

“
Johnny slept in your bus,” Trey said and turned to face her. He was wearing a hat that shaded his eyes.

“
So? Are you listening to what I’m saying?” Gwen shouted. “My nerves are already stretched to the breaking point every night, then you pull something like what you did last night. If you want me to be a nervous wreck, you don’t have to do anything else- I’m already there!”

“
How long is he staying?”

“
Who?” Gwen bellowed, beyond furious.

“
Johnny.”

She threw her hand
s in the air. “Why are you so obsessed with Johnny?”

“
Johnny’s not the guy for you, Gwen.”

“
Johnny’s perfect for me. We understand one another. As for you, I feel like the more time I spend with you, the more confused I am!”

“
Same here. How the hell do you even know Johnny?”

“
I didn’t come here to talk about Johnny.”

“
Well, we’re going to talk about him. How do you know Johnny?”

“
He’s a songwriter, I’m a songwriter… See a pattern here?”

“
Johnny doesn’t ‘visit’ all songwriters.”

“
I love Johnny. He’ll be around for a week or so, then he’ll be gone and you can forget your issues with him. What I want to talk about is you deciding to experiment with me last night.”

“
I thought I’d change it up.”

“
Change it up
? Why the hell would you change it up right when I don’t even have a routine?” she barked.

“
You don’t want a show to become routine.”

“
Believe me, performing will never be routine for me! So if I decide that
I
want to change our act, I can just improvise?”

He crossed his arms.
“I prefer you run it by me first.”

“
I
prefer
the same,” she retorted. “What is wrong with you lately?”

“
Me?” he shouted.

“
Yes! You! Ever since Gabe came around you’ve been an ass and now that Johnny’s here you’re keeping me onstage,
improvising
when you know I’m not comfortable!”

“
I didn’t mean to freak you out last night.”

“
Then what were you trying to do?”

Silence.

“Trey?”

“
I don’t like seeing you with him.”

“
What does that have to do with-” Her eyes rounded and she shoved him. “You kept me onstage to keep me from Johnny?!”

A muscle ticked in his jaw and he said nothing. She grabbed a pillow off the couch and swung at his face, knocking him back a step while his hat sailed across the room. She smacked him with all her might.

“My personal life is none of your business! If I want to sleep with every Tom, Dick and Harry I will! God, you are such a chauvinist. You don’t want me but you’re trying to keep me from-”

Trey snatched the pillow out of her hand and tossed it across the room, grasped her shoulders and shook her.

“Johnny’s not good enough for you!” Trey shouted.

“
Then who is?” she breathed.

“
Am I interrupting?”

Johnny was in the doorw
ay, top button of his jeans undone. His eyes were heavy and he had bed hair. He eyed them sleepily. “I woke up when I realized you were gone.”

Trey’s hands tightened on her. Gwen pushed him
away because this was getting them nowhere. She walked towards Johnny, who saluted Trey and they walked off the recording bus back to her own.

“
You okay?” Johnny asked quietly.

“
I am so damn tired of being treated like a kid! He thinks I’m stupid or something.”

Gwen sat at the table and glared out the window. The sun was up now and people shuffled sleepily across the lot, making sure they weren’t forgetting anything before they got on the road again. Johnny set a full mug of coffee in front of her as
the bus driver nodded to them and started the engine. Johnny ambled into the bedroom to shower and her phone rang. She saw who it was and tried to erase the anger from her voice.

“
Hey Wade.”

“
Hey baby sis. I hear you’re a celebrity.”

She rolled her eyes
and sipped her coffee. “I don’t feel like one.”

“
Watcha doing?”

“
Gwen, can you pass me-” Johnny yelled.

“
I’m on the phone!” Gwen shouted.

“
Who’s that?” Wade asked suspiciously.

“
With who?” Johnny hollered.

“
My brother Wade!” she shouted and then to Wade. “It’s Johnny.”

“
Hmm. He’s going through another funk, huh? He was here a couple weeks ago.”

“
Yeah. He decided to drop in on me and my boss isn’t too happy about it. He thinks Johnny and I are sleeping together.”

A beat of silence.
“You’re not, right?”

Gwen snorted.
“No and you don’t have to get all big brother-y. I can take care of myself.”

“
I know. You’ve always been that way. I wanted to tell you I have full custody of Ben.”

She leapt out of her chair and
danced around as the bus went into motion. “You did?! Thank God.”

“
I know. Steph is worse than ever. She showed up in court high on something. The judge couldn’t give me custody fast enough.”

She pressed a hand over her heart and sank back into her chair.
“I’m so happy for you Wade.”

Ever since Wade got Steph Carson pregnant
, his life turned into a nightmare. Steph was jealous, dramatic, insane and recently started doing drugs. She was mentally unstable and Wade was on pins and needles, trying to placate Steph since she had their son Ben in her custody. No more.

“
Yeah, I’m relieved. Mom watches him while I work and Lisa and Jo have helped out a lot too.”

Gwen’s family owned and ran the only hardware store in White Mist
, Montana. Even her brothers in law worked there. Her family was very tight knit and Gwen visited twice a year, usually during the holidays. She enjoyed being with her family, but she also liked being in New York where she could be anonymous and private. She’d always been more of a loner, but her family was proud of her and didn’t force her to come back.

“
Oh, I can’t wait to see him. How was his first day in kindergarten?”

While Wade chattered about his son and her nieces
, Gwen forgot about her issues with Trey and lost herself in family talk. They talked for over an hour and Gwen got an earful of town gossip. Gwen smirked when Johnny joined her at the table.

“
A little birdie told me you had a little
too
much fun the last time you were in White Mist,” Gwen said archly.

Johnny glared at
the phone and then her. “How was I supposed to know she was married?”

Gwen snorted and slapped her hand on the table.
“You are so clueless. Maybe you should’ve asked somebody. They would have told you in a heartbeat!”

“
Whatever. Thank God Regan was there when that bastard came for me. He had a bat and everything! Regan held him off while I got away.”

She eyed him narrowly over her coffee.
“So that’s why you’re here.”

Johnny patted her arm.
“I’m here because I love you and you get me and because he was a
huge
bastard.”

“
Johnny, Johnny, what are we going to do with you? We need to get you a woman!”

He winked roguishly.
“I have me a lot of women, baby.”

“
I mean a
real
woman, not a plastic Barbie doll. You know, a woman with a
brain
that you love and want to be around all the time.”

“
That’s what I have you and Regan for.”

Gwen
thought of the women she knew, but had absolutely no idea what kind of woman would make Johnny happy. Johnny enjoyed Regan because she had that same restlessness that was embedded in him and she was honest, loyal and crazy. Gwen connected with Johnny because of their love of music. So Johnny’s woman had to love music and be restless and crazy. Gwen blanched. Not a good combo.

Gwen pulled a legal pad towards her.
“Let’s get down to business. What kind of album are you building?”

Johnny
leaned forward and tried to convince Gwen that a new album built around a woman serial killer would go platinum. After fifteen minutes of singing snatches of songs, which included
Hate You Bastard
,
Love you but still have to kill you
and
Love to Kill
,
Gwen put a stop to it.

“
Johnny, I love you so I have to stop you. That’s a crazy idea.”

Johnny pouted.
“But it’s never been done before.”

Gwen slapped the table.
“Exactly. So we have to find a new focus.”

Johnny looked like a petulant child and Gwen went into high gear. For
hours, she threw ideas at him until one clicked.

“
I can do an album about being a wronged man,” Johnny said triumphantly. “I was an innocent victim and these women are deceitful and they can’t resist the Bentley. Is that my fault? No siree. This is great!”

Relieved
to see his enthusiasm soar, they began to brainstorm lyrics. They drove all day and Gwen tried not to think about her stupid fight with Trey. She didn’t understand him. They had to deal with it at some point but with Johnny here Trey wasn’t rational. Maybe she would wait until Johnny left.

By the time the bus stopped in
Indianapolis and they set up camp in the parking lot, Johnny was on cloud nine. Gwen was exhausted. Dealing with Johnny was like dealing with a three year old. Joy, depression, elation, frustration- Johnny’s moods were all over the place but Gwen fielded them easily until Johnny asked her to sing on his album.

“
Absolutely not.”

“
Why?” Johnny whined. “You sing on tour, what’s the difference?”

“
If you ask me, others might and I don’t want to be a singer!”

“
Why?”

She banged her head against the glass window.
“Because I like songwriting and I don’t want to walk down a career path because people want me to. My passion is songwriting.”

“
I understand that but… it’s just one song. Okay I lied, maybe three. Please?”

When Barbie and Cassie came on the bus and asked if she wanted a night on the town
, Gwen nearly knocked Johnny over in her haste to get dressed. She was getting cabin/bus fever and she had sudden visions of a large mojito. Johnny pounded on the door when she locked him out of the bathroom. She dressed in a jeans skirt and halter top and platform shoes. She didn’t want to be the professional singer tonight. She wanted to be a regular girl on the town having fun. Johnny insisted on coming which cheered Barbie and Cassie. About thirty of them gathered and walked over to the local bar. Gwen was happy Trey wasn’t part of them. She didn’t want to deal with him tonight.