Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story

“We were going over security procedures for the show,” the bodyguard replied.

“Well, one of you should have stayed here with me!”

“Why?”

“Because, that man I pointed out to you approached me in the hall and scared the hell out of me,” she answered with a quiver in her voice.  Then turned away to hide her emotion.  “I’m telling you, call it a gut instinct, but something isn’t right with that guy.”

“Did he threaten you in any way?”

“No, and that isn’t the point.  I don’t like the way he looks at me or Sammi.  He creeps me out.”

Annie paused and spun around to face her guard.  “I don't want him here for tomorrow night's show.  I'll even pay him not to show up.  How's that?”

“I think that’s a bit harsh.”

“Harsh?  Okay, fine.  If he’s here tomorrow night, then I’m leaving. How’s that for harsh!?”

The concert went off without a hitch and everywhere Annie went, her security followed.  She doubled-checked every darkened corner and hallway but the roadie was no where to be seen.  Just after midnight, her band began filing out toward the buses taking them back to their hotels.  Last minute, Annie decided to use the bathroom before she joined them.

Her bodyguard went in first and checked each stall.  Then came out, satisfied it was empty.  “It’s okay.  Go on inside, I’ll be over here,” he said, seeing another security guard he recognized about a hundred feet away.

When Annie came out of the stall to wash her hands, the roadie grabbed her, quickly covering her mouth with his filthy hand.  She struggled fiercely in his arms, desperate to free herself from his grip.

“You ain’t nothing but a stuck-up bitch,” he hissed.

Annie recognized his voice instantly and willed herself not to cry.  Instead she continued to fight him; which angered him even more.  Her strength was no match for his, as he tightened his grip around her wrist, jerking her arm behind her back and up between her shoulder blades.

Annie stifled a sob.  The pain was searing.  She could not believe this was happening.  He pressed his face into her neck.  His breathing was jagged and smelt like onions.  She could feel his erection pressing into her hip as he inched her toward the tiled wall beside the sinks.  With one hand fumbling beneath her skirt, the hand over her mouth slipped.  She managed to get out one short scream before he covered her mouth again.

“Stupid whore,” he spat, ripping off her panties, bruising her in the process.

She felt him wrestling with his pants and panicked.  She would die first before she let this man force himself on her, she thought, driving the spike heel of her leather boot deep into the top of his sneakered foot.  He screamed in pain, grabbed a clump of her hair at the back of her head, and slammed the side of her face into the tiled wall.  Annie fell limp in his arms.  Seconds later, several security guards filled the bathroom, guns drawn and ready.  The man raised his arms in defeat and let Annie fall to the floor in a lifeless heap at his shoes.

“Step away from her,” one demanded.

“Can I pull up my pants first?” the roadie sneered at them.

Annie’s security guard took two cautious steps closer.  “You pull anything from those pockets and I’ll blow your brains all over the wall!”

Annie woke in the ambulance.  The first thing she did was touch her cheek bone, then whimpered in pain.  By the time they reached the hospital, her eye was swollen shut and the skin on her cheek had turned a deep shade of purple.  Taylor arrived as the EMT’s pushed Annie into the emergency room.  Annie took Taylor’s hand and squeezed it.

“Stay with me,” Annie pleaded.

Taylor nodded.  “Of course I will.”

“Let’s get an x-ray on that cheek,” the emergency room doctor ordered.

Annie reached out and latched onto his wrist.  “No x-rays!”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m pregnant.”

An hour later, they moved Annie into a private room.  Against her wishes, she was admitted for the night, due to her past head trauma and new pregnancy.

“How long have you known?” Taylor asked, still holding Annie’s hand.

Annie turned her head toward her friend and saw the concern in Taylor’s eyes.  “About a week.”

“Michael doesn’t know, does he?” Taylor asked.

“No, and he won’t until after our divorce is finalized!  After that, I don’t care what he knows.  It won’t change anything.  I’m already raising Sammi by myself.  What difference will one more make?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Annie’s eyes lifted to the ceiling.  “Because I didn’t want to burden you with any more of my problems.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Taylor smiled.

“Well, with me as a friend, you got a lot more than I’m sure you bargained for.”

“Stop it!  We’ll get through this, as we did the rest of it, and move on stronger than we were before.  Right?”

Annie forced a smile then let it fade.  Her eyes quickly filled with tears.  “He didn’t rape me did he?”