Page 1 of Speechless

1st movement

One good thing about music, when it hits you,

you feel no pain.

-Bob Marley

1

Lucy

“Flight727 to LAX is now delayed until 8:35. We have found a pilot and crew that will be arriving in Boston at 7:50. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

Delayed?Again?

I’ve been sitting at Logan airport for over three hours and poor Rowan’s already chewed through his only bully stick. I knew I should have brought two. My dog may look like a snuggly ball of fluff, but the dude can seriously chew. I give him a nice long scratch behind his ears and promise to get him lots of peanut butter as soon as we arrive in Los Angeles.

I dial Sarah one more time. It’s ridiculous that she hasn’t called me back yet. I’m supposed to be moving in with her in two hours—well, make that eight hours after the most recent flight delay—and she hasn’t responded to a single call or text in three days. She’s never been the most reliable, but sheismy best friend. This is pretty bad, even for her.

I never thought I’d be living with my college roommate again. I never thought I’d have another roommate, period. Once you get married and turn thirty, roommates aren’t really on the radar. Jack was supposed to be my forever roommate, the only person I’d ever have to fight over the shower with. The person I’d snuggle up to every night, wake up to every morning. The person who was supposed to be my constant. Now he’s just someone else who abandoned me.

Living with Sarah will be great though, considering how much fun we had together in college. She’s the one who convinced me to join a sorority, taught me how to make the best Jell-O shots, taste-tested all of my experimental baked goods; she even introduced me to Jack. I guess it’s time to take that off the list of reasons I love her.

Maybe this will be good for me. I need a distraction right now and Sarah is sort of a mess if I’m being honest. Always dating the wrong guys, the wrong girls, getting into trouble; she’s never really grown up. Taking care of her will absolutely keep me busy; I love feeling needed.

My eyes wander around the gate to see all the equally frustrated passengers while I turn over my necklace a few times and give it a quick rub. Why do people always have to blame someone for things that are out of our control? It’s like this inability to ever just accept our fate—someone always must be at fault.

There’s a big family next to me; four beautifully blonde kids all elementary school-aged, and two parents who haven’t once lifted their faces from their phones. The littlest girl looks like a miniature sci-fi princess in space buns, a pink tutu and light-up sneakers. My kind of outfit. She keeps tugging on her mom’s shirt to get her attention, but never succeeds. I’m tempted to ask if she wants to pet Rowan even though I know it’s inappropriate. Instead, I whisper to him conspiratorially.

“Row, what do you think? Doesn’t she look like the perfect modern-day princess for me to write about? What about aLittle Mermaid-inspired Space Opera?”

The wheels are already spinning, which isn’t surprising since I’ve never gone this long without writing before. Reimagined fairy tales aren’t only my day job. They live in my brain rent free. But, I should probably stop staring at the potential space mermaid; maybe if I keep watching this crowd closely enough, I’ll find myself a perfect villain.

I’m doing another quick scan when I notice the man directly across from me. Is he eyeing me or my dog? It’s usually Rowan who gets the attention, but I could swear even with his eyes lowered he’s looking right at me. It’s when he briskly turns away that I suddenly notice how gorgeous he is. The dark wavy hair, the piercing sapphire eyes, that jaw. He looks like a Ben Barnes, Ian Somerhalder hybrid—that’s jacked—and my inner teenager is starting to gawk. He’s wearing what looks like a very expensive suit, no tie and the shirt is open at the top revealing the tiniest dusting of chest hair. He catches my eye just before I make an audible shriek when my phone starts buzzing in my lap.

“Sarah! Finally! I’ve been trying to reach you for days! My flight’s been delayed more times than I can count at this point, but I’ll be there tonight, just late. I’ll get my own ride from the airport, no need for you to stay up.”

“Luce! So sorry for being MIA, it's just beencrazy.”

Crazy. That’s the Sarah I know. Every time she goes dark for a few days, a week, a month, it’s always because things arecrazy. Have I ever felt that way? Been able to make that excuse? I mean, in the last five years I’ve had four surgeries, lost my mom, gotten divorced…but have I ever felt like things were justtoocrazy to call my best friend back?

“That’s okay, I know you’re busy. I’m just glad you called before I got on the plane. I’ll let you know if anything else cha—”

“So, I have some really great news. Emmett and I got back together!”

“What? You’re joking, right?” Emmett is Sarah’s on-again, off-again boyfriend who recently moved out when he decided monogamy wasn’t his “path.” It really seemed like this was the breakup that would finally stick, especially considering he left her with a lease she could barely afford alone. He’s also the only reason I’m even moving to LA. I wanted a fresh start, but my friend said she needed me, and LA became the destination. Thirty years old and divorced, moving across the country didn’t sound half bad. The thought of running into Jack or our friends on a regular basis was much less appealing than moving to a city where I knew exactly one person.

“Joking? Of course not! You know how much I love him, Lu! I’m sorry, I know we were both so excited to be roomies again, but I really want to make this work, you know?”

“Okay, well, I’m happy for you if this is what you want.” I’m not sure if that’s the truth. “I guess I can start looking for my own place soon. I’ll try to be out of your hair after a few weeks, okay?”

“Oh, Luce, I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s gonna work. I told Emmett about how much you helped me through the breakup and how amazing you are—obviously!—and he said he’s really not comfortable with you being here or us hanging out. He thinks you might try to turn me against him or something, and honestly, we both know you’re not his biggest fan, so I get where he’s coming from . . .”

“He doesn’t want us seeing each other at all? Sar—”

“I know. It seems drastic but I’m sure once things have settled it’ll all be forgotten, just give him some time.”

“Sarah, I’m about to get on a plane to come live with you. Rowan and I don’t have anywhere else to stay.”

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