Page 12 of Heart Strings

Chapter Six

Alejandro

The life of a rockstar wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Sure, the industry practically encouraged us to do all the drugs we wanted, sex was harder to get out of than to find, and we saw all kinds of incredible places on tour…

But drugs messed you up. Sex couldn’t satisfy all your needs. And every place you visited felt farther and farther away from home. It had taken me a long time to realize those three things, and Sierra still only got the last one. In fact, she had asked me again about that condo on the beach just an hour after I returned from Louisiana.

That had been the start of a very, very long week, but it was finally Friday, and not just any Friday -theFriday. Today was the day I would fly to New Orleans, meet with Abigail, and fly back here with her.

I had been doing two things all week to prepare for today: talking with Abigail regularly to make sure she didn’t change her mind and dropping hints for Sierra that something was going on that I wasn’t telling her about. One woman had taken my approach to her well. One had not.

I had just left that woman, in fact, after another very angry argument. The steady rumble of the tires on the road and the hum of the engine of my car as I drove to the airport soothed me, reminding me that very soon, I would feel a lot better. I would get to see Abigail again.

Abigail was what had sparked that argument. Finally, after days of letting Sierra’s imagination run wild with what I was hiding from her, I had come out with it - I had a new girl.

At first, Sierra hadn’t believed me. She actually just wrapped her arms around my neck, pressed herself seductively against me just under the line of my belt, and said, “Now, Baby…I know you wouldn’t give this up.”

Finally - and it had been a long time coming - I did something I’d never done before. I shoved Sierra away from me. Shoved sounded violent, actually…I wasn’t like that. The hands I had placed against her shoulders and used to put some space between us had really just given her a somewhat forceful push. Nowhere near enough force to knock her over, of course.

It hadn’t mattered how little force I had put into distancing her from me. She still raised hell over it, screaming at me that I couldn’t treat her this way and that she thought she meant more to me than this…to which I had just shrugged and told her again that I had a new girl.

Oh, that had made her angry. Sometimes, when Sierra was particularly mad, she dropped all the anger from everything except her eyes and used this sickly, honey-sweet voice that screamed: “Oh boy, you’re in trouble now.” She had used that to try and convince me not to go to the airport. It hadn’t worked, and I had shut the door in her face.

Later, I would have to deal with Sierra, because this definitely wouldn’t be enough to get her to leave. She needed to see that she had truly lost me completely - forever.

As I parked at the airport and headed inside, conspicuously without bags in a place filled with people and luggage, a thought struck me. Had Sierra always been such an angry person? Surely she hadn’t… I wouldn’t have liked someone who acted like she did now. Or had my tastes really changed so fast and so dramatically?

I guess I had just realized another thing about myself. After years of getting between the legs of almost any girl I wanted, I needed more than just beauty to find a woman attractive. I had worked hard to get where I was today, and so many people didn’t understand what it was like to try, try and try some more until you finally got what you wanted - so many people didn’t know what it was like to be talented. Sierra had the looks, but she had nothing else.

Abigail had the looks, the talent, the will, the…everything. I knew plenty of people who would knock my head off for thinking it, but I hadn’t known women like her existed. All the action I’d gotten, every wild night of sex…I had been settling, and I hadn’t even known it.

Time to fix all that. I wanted Abigail to be my girlfriend - my real girlfriend. I wasn’t sure how her dream of playing in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and my reality of living on the road would mesh, but every second of time I spent with Abigail or listened to her voice on the phone convinced me that I would regret going back to my life and letting her go.

I had a week. A week to get to know Abigail, a week to show her who I could be, and a week to figure out how to make us work.

Ha. I’d worked with tighter deadlines songwriting - this would be a cinch.

Just before the plane took off, I sent Abigail a text:Taking off now. See you soon!Reluctantly, I put my phone on airplane mode, still staring at our growing chain of text messages. I needed a picture of her to put in her contact on my phone. Then, I could see her every time I texted her and thought of her.

* * *

Two hours later, the plane touched down in New Orleans. Watching the landing strip speed by as the plane slowed gradually, I remembered it had only been a week and some change since I had come here with Vaporized to play during Mardi Gras. So much had changed…but only in my mind. The physical changes, the ones that would permeate my life - those were coming soon.

The rental car I had asked for had been left at the airport for me, and I found it easily with the help of the app that came with the service. I only needed it for an hour at most, but I couldn’t very well pick up a girl without having a car to drive.

I sat in the running car and unlocked my phone to send a quick message to Abigail.Just landed. Be there soon.Grinning at the missed calls and the texts from Sierra, I pulled out of the spot fast enough to hear the tires squeal.

As the GPS app correctly predicted, I stopped in front of the sorority house in just about twenty-five minutes.Here, I texted, then got out of the car.

The door opened a crack just as I reached it, then swung open fully when Abigail gave it a firm bump with her hip. The doorjamb immediately took a beating as Abigail tried to maneuver her way through it with her backpack, suitcase, and another bag.

“Let me help,” I offered, stepping forward and taking the suitcase and bag from her without waiting for an answer. Easily, I lifted the heavy suitcase off the ground and carried it down the steps.

“I had it, but thanks.” Abigail followed me and slipped her backpack off her shoulders so I could fit it into the trunk next to the rest of her luggage.

“Anything for la señorita. Is that everything?”

“I think so. I hope so. I’m not used to packing for trips. Let me just run inside and check? You can come in, too. My friends wanted to meet you anyway.”

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