Page 10 of Heart Strings

Al’s offer had been constantly on my mind since yesterday, slinging pros and cons at me. I was slowly starting to realize that the pros outweighed the cons, but I still just didn’t know about this whole thing.

I rarely traveled - I’d never had much time since my freshman year. I had been busy working, studying and practicing piano. So, Al’s idea could be a great chance to actually take a real break where I completely left the Tulane campus and all the cares and worries associated with it behind, just for a while. And Al even had a piano for me to practice on so I would be able to prepare for that all-important audition.

Al’s offer had seemed so good, so easy and so perfect, and that was exactly what made me the most hesitant to accept. I just couldn’t afford to get lax or lazy…and I also didn’t need drama in my life right now. If I went on this vacation, I could possibly be placing myself directly in the middle of whatever he and his current girlfriend were working through. This could be a nice, relaxing, fairy-tale spring break getting to know a rockstar - or it could be a nightmare that lasted hours where I got yelled at by some girl I didn’t even know.

There it was again, that mental cycle. I would think about Al’s offer, come up with reasons it would work and then some why it wouldn’t, and still never make up my mind about any of it.

I needed some help. A different point of view. Or, maybe two points of view.

I picked up my phone, found the group message I shared with Zoe and Maggie and sent a text.

Hours later, after slogging my way through the rest of my school day, I banged through the front door, and dropped my stuff inside the door so I could go plop down on an armchair next to Zoe and Maggie. They had gotten my text SOS and were waiting for me, just as they had both promised.

“Alright, what’s up?” Zoe asked after our little group was fully convened.

“Well…” It took me some fumbling to find the right words and ways to phrase them, but once I did, I told Zoe and Maggie all about Al’s offer to pay for a vacation in Florida. “Should I go?” I asked when I had finished.

Maggie shrugged, clearly not understanding my dilemma. “Why wouldn’t you? It’s a free vacation. All expenses paid.”

“Can you practice the piano while you’re there?” Zoe asked, knowing what would be most important to me.

“Yeah,” I told her quickly. Of my two friends, Zoe was the one I expected to give me some advice I could actually use - and she didn’t disappoint.

“Do you trust…Al? Gosh, it’s so weird to just call him by his name like that. I can’t believe a celebrity actually asked you to be his fake girlfriend. You realize this only happens in movies, right?” Zoe crossed her legs and arranged her hands in a meditative pose, deepening her voice. “Become the movie, Abigail.”

“I’ll turn my keyboard up as far as it will go and play while you’re sleeping,” I threatened jokingly. “But yeah, I think I trust him. Mostly. Like, I don’t know him that well, but I don’t think he would do anything I asked him not to.”

“That sounds like enough to me.” Zoe shrugged. “If he seems like a decent guy, and if you can practice while you’re in Miami, I don’t see why you shouldn’t go. But have you considered the other option?”

Maggie smiled a secret smile, and she and Zoe shared a look. I stared back and forth between my two friends, thoroughly confused. “No? I guess? I either go or don’t go, right?”

“Oh Abigail,” Maggie sighed. “Think. What if this Spanish stud has a thing for Irish girls?”

“Whoa, hold on,” I laughed. “Just because he kissed me doesn’t mean he actually likes me. It just kind of happened, and it was a one-time thing. He tours all over the country and I haven’t left Louisiana in ages, and he has to meet a million girls a week.”

“All I’m saying is maybe you’re the one in that million,” Maggie said airily. “Do you like this guy?”

“Definitely,” I admitted readily. “He’s hard not to like. But I’m not throwing myself at someone like him when it probably couldn’t go anywhere.”

“You’ll be spending a lot of time with him if you go to Florida. Why don’t you just go, take your vacation, and get to know him better? It certainly can’t hurt just to see where things go in a week.”

Zoe’s suggestion made sense. I didn’t know what had been holding me back or why I hadn’t been able to decide on my own, but finally, I felt like I knew what I wanted. “Okay,” I said slowly, then again more forcefully, “okay. I’ll go. It’s more time to hang out with a rockstar, right? And I get a vacation out of it.”

“That’s what we’ve been saying,” Zoe confirmed while Maggie gave a whoop. “It’ll be good for you. You try too hard, sometimes.”

Maybe I do try too hard. Maybe meeting Al and being invited to Miami is my fate…to make me take a break.“Okay. I’ll go step outside and give him a call.”

Giggles followed me until I shut the heavy wooden door behind me, blocking sound from entering or leaving the house. Sitting on the cool, rough, stone steps, I found Al’s contact on my phone and called him before I could get too nervous to press the button.

“Hola?”

That single word said in his deep, rich voice convinced me I had made the right choice. “Hi, Al. Uh…did you have a safe flight?” And now that I knew I had made the right choice, I was for some reason making awkward small talk instead of saying what I wanted to say.

“Short and turbulence-free.” Something squeaked and cut off my words as I started to speak, and Al said, “Sorry, that’s the screen door. I stepped out on the balcony. It has a nice view, but it’s even nicer when you share it with someone.”

I had to roll my eyes at that, and the awkwardness dissipated. “You can cut it out. I decided to come…if you still want me to. It sounds like fun, and maybe it’ll help you out with your…girlfriend problem.”

“Yes!” I imagined his brawny, tattooed arm flexing in a quick little fist pump. “It’s settled, then. I’ll get you a flight for next Friday and a return flight for Sunday.”

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