Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story
- Автор: Lister Ann
- Серия: Sheet Music #1
- Год: 2011
- Язык: голландский
- Год: Lulu.com
- ISBN: 9781105173578
- Жанр: Прочая древняя литература
Электронная книга - «Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story». Краткое содержание книги:
Brian walked to the door and slammed it behind him.
Two weeks passed, and Lace’s tour ended. Annie flew back to New York and moved back into her old bedroom at the apartment Taylor had inherited upon the death of her grandmother. The place was huge with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, far more space than one woman could occupy, so having Annie as a roommate was a gift. Taylor welcomed the company, especially after her surgery.
But, not a day went by that Taylor didn’t remind Annie that her current living arrangement was temporary and she should call Michael. And each day, Annie claimed she still wasn’t ready to talk to him.
“If he calls here, I’m not lying for you, Annie,” Taylor would scold. “In fact, maybe I should call him myself and invite him over for dinner!”
“Just let me get settled,” Annie would reply in protest.
Annie knew she was putting off the inevitable and sooner than later she would have to address the situation with Michael. As the weeks went by, her belly grew. It would only be a matter of weeks until the baby came. Then, what would she do? At that point, she’d have to talk to him.
Although she hated to admit it, she did miss him. The nights were so empty without him. She ached to hear his voice, the sounds of his guitar echoing in the halls of their house, and smell the subtle scent of his cologne. Her morning sickness was a distant memory now, and with one month left before her due-date, her body had swelled beyond her expectations. She had wanted to share these body changes, but the thought of being with him was still too painful.
She knew all it would take was a phone call and he would come running. The knowledge of that both terrified and excited her. Soon enough, it would be time to face him and the reality of their future.
“What are you listening to?” Taylor asked, as she breezed into Annie’s bedroom.
“Oh, it’s a demo tape of my work. I keep adding to it from time to time. Pretty soon I should have enough material for an album.”
“Really? Can I listen to it?”
“I guess so, but be careful. It’s the only copy I have and don’t expect sound studio quality either. Most of it is just me and an acoustic guitar.”
Taylor took Annie’s demo tape into her bedroom and listened to it with a set of headphones over her ears. She liked what she heard so much that she brought the audio tape to her record label and had one of the producers take a listen to it.
When the producer finished listening, the smile on his face said it all. He agreed with Taylor. There was definitely an album of material there. Question was; when could they get Annie into the studio to record it.
Taylor returned to the apartment and found Annie resting in the living room. She couldn’t wait to share the good news with her. “I hope you’re not mad, Annie, but I took your demo tape to our record label and they loved your material,” Taylor announced with a brilliant smile.
“You did what?”
“They want to know when you can record, and they’re talking about signing you, too.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Yes, yes! I’m very serious,” Taylor said.
“A record deal?”
“Yes! Now, when are you available to record?”
Annie’s face exploded into a magnificent smile then it quickly faded. “Taylor, I don’t have the money to rent studio time and I’m not asking Michael for it.”
“Annie, don’t worry about the money. I’ll take care of it for you.”
“That’s not necessary. I’d want to pay for it myself,” Annie replied.
“Okay, then. Call it a loan and we’ll worry about paying it back later.”
“You’re really willing to do this for me?” Annie asked.
“Why not? You helped me out after my heart surgery.”
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“So, when do you think you can get into the studio?” Taylor insisted.
Annie smiled again. “How about next week?”
“Great! I’ll make the arrangements,” she replied and turned to leave.
“Taylor, can we keep this between the two of us? In case it doesn’t pan out, I’d rather no one else knows about it.”
“You mean Michael.”
“Not exclusively him.”
“What ever you want, Annie.”
When Taylor reached the doorway she turned and faced Annie. “There's just one thing, Annie. This will pan out, you'll see.”
It was nine o’clock on a Friday night and Annie sat on the floor of Taylor’s living room playing guitar and serenading several of her new friends. She was propped up against the legs of Kent Parker, a production staffer that had relentlessly pursued Annie’s attention since their gigs in Los Angeles.
Kent was tall, dark haired, and classically handsome, and untamed like Michael. He was bad news from the get-go but so very important for Annie’s shattered ego.
She flirted with him shamelessly, reveling in the attention he gave back to her. The fact he could not have cared less she was weeks away from giving birth to another man’s baby made him even more dangerous.
She was singing and strumming the chords to an old Fleetwood Mac classic tune when the doorbell chimed.
“I'll get it,” Taylor announced. “It's probably the pizza guy delivering to the wrong apartment again.” Taylor spied the hallway through the peep-hole in the door and saw Michael. The blood drained from her face, as she contemplated what she should do. For a moment she thought of warning Annie but quickly changed her mind. This was a confrontation that had to happen whether Annie was ready for it or not. She swallowed hard and opened her door.
“Hi Taylor. How are you doing?” he greeted her, his voice flat and heavy with sadness.
“I’m doing good. How about you?” she asked, motioning him to step inside.
“I’ve been better.”
His face looked worn and his body fidgeted with nervous energy. “Is she here?” he asked pensively.
“Yes, she is, and I told her I wouldn’t lie if you showed up or called.”
Taylor brought him through the foyer and led him into the main living room. With each step they took, Annie’s singing and guitar strumming became louder; as did the laughter. He stopped at the edge of the plush white carpet and gazed across the room. He saw Annie’s blond head resting against Kent’s legs and swallowed hard. His stomach quickly twisted into a painful knot.
“Annie, you have a visitor,” Taylor yelled above the music.
Instantly the room fell to silence and Annie’s body went stiff. One by one, her friends made excuses and headed toward the door. Annie used Kent’s thigh to boost herself up from the floor, then began to pack her guitar back into its case. She moved in slow motion, wiping down the neck of the guitar with a soft rag, clicking each buckle of the leather case one at a time, hoping beyond reason that Michael would be gone by the time she turned around.
“Annie, we’ll be down at the Lady Slipper if you want to join us later.” Taylor said, as she shut the apartment door.
Annie nodded and turned to face Michael. The sight of him still took her breath away. Her eyes scanned his body, so strong and lean, she wanted to melt against him but pride kept her rigid and unrelenting. She walked toward him and prayed her knees didn’t buckle along the way.
“I guess Brian didn’t deliver my message,” she said with sarcasm, as she breezed past him on her way to her bedroom.
“I got your message, Annie, but that was a month ago.”
He fell into step behind her and stopped when he got to her doorway. “You didn’t come home after your tour ended and I got worried,” he said softly, eying the contents of her room. It looked settled and lived in, like this was her new home. Anguish washed over him at the thought she might not be coming home to him at all.