Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story

Annie sat on the far side of the bed and faced the window, keeping her back to him.  “Did you take your wedding ring off when you were with her?” she asked somberly.

“No, I didn’t.  I haven’t taken it off since the day you put it on my finger and I don’t intend to either.”

“So, the fact that you were wearing a wedding ring didn’t discourage that girl from sleeping with you?”

“Annie, I swear to you, I did not sleep with her.”

“Are you denying you did anything sexual with her?”

A pause fell between them and Annie blinked away her tears.

“I didn’t plan for that to happen.  She showed up looking for Brian but he had already left the hotel.”

“So, you were second best?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Another pause filled the room.

“That girl wasn’t the first, was she?” she asked and spun around to face him.  “And don’t you dare lie to me!  You want to talk and get this out in the open, then you better start telling the truth!”

“I have no intention of lying to you.”

“Then answer my question.”

“Just her, Annie.  There was no one else.”

She closed her eyes and grimaced as if he had punched her.

“Why?  What did I do wrong?” she cried.  “I don’t understand.  Is it because I’m pregnant and you don’t find me attractive anymore?  What is it that made you turn to her and not me?”

“Jesus, Annie!  What I did has absolutely nothing to do with you.  It was me - all me.  You did nothing wrong, believe me.”

He came around the bed and knelt before her.  “Don’t think for a second you don’t turn me on.  You walk into a room and I get hard and that’s the truth.”

She shifted her head and started at him, fluid teetering on the rims of her eyes and twinkled in the light.  “Then why?”

“I don’t have an answer to that question and I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.  If I could erase what happened, I would in a heart-beat.  I’m an asshole that doesn’t deserve you.  Deep down I’ve always wondered why you were with me, Annie.  Frankly, you could have done a lot better.  God knows you deserve better.”

He sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, facing her.  Annie tipped her head back and closed her eyes. She was exhausted to the point of collapse.  “The day you asked me to marry you I told you I wasn’t into sharing.  I thought I was up front about that.  You swore to me that you wouldn’t cheat because you loved me, unlike the other women from your past, and I believed you.  Man, what a line that was, and I fell for it!”

“I meant what I said.”

“That’s bullshit.  Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” She watched him rub at his eyes.  “How long after we got married did you resume our old lifestyle?” she asked.

“I told you, she was the only one.”

“So, being on the road is what tempted you?”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t know.  Maybe.”

Annie fell silent for several minutes before she spoke.

“Okay, then.  As long as we’re being honest, you should probably know that I’ve been screwing around on you for the last few weeks.”

He cocked his head and stared at her with suspicion.  “What did you just say?”

She watched the color change in his eyes and smiled triumphantly.  Finally, she had struck a nerve that would cause him to feel the same pain she had carried around on her back for the last month.

“You heard me,” she sneered and bent forward to shorten the distance between them.  “I’ve slept with four different men in the last fourteen days.”

He shook his head.  “I don’t believe you.  You’re hardly the type…and besides, you’re pregnant.”

“How do you know what I'm capable of?” she spat.  “I'll tell you this though, the first time was purely for revenge.  Have you ever done that, Michael, fuck for revenge?  And I'll also share this with you: he didn't give a damn that I was pregnant.  In fact, when I told him you were the father of my baby, it seemed to turn him on even more.”

“Stop it!  That’s enough,” he shouted.  He stood quickly and began to pace the floor.

“I believe you know him: Ralph Mason, the infamous tour manager.  I don’t regret a minute of it either.”

Annie sat back on the bed, making herself more comfortable.  She felt empowered watching him suffer.  “Then there was Scott, our drummer, but I only had oral sex with him so I guess it doesn't count, does it Michael – at least in your rule book.  Even still, to me, sex is sex, so I'll count it.”

“I don’t want to hear this,” he yelled.

“Too bad!  You wanted to get everything out in the open and that’s exactly what I’m doing.  It’s my turn to cleanse my soul so shut the hell up and listen!” He stood by the window and gazed at Central Park in the distance.  Shoulders slouched in defeat, his forehead rested against the cold glass.  She circled him like prey and moved in for the kill.