Lick: Stage Dive 1(68)
“Excuse me,” I said, butting in.
Adrian turned and frowned, the flash of bright teeth coming a moment too late. “Evelyn. Honey, I’m just in the middle of something here—”
“I’d like to go back to Portland now.”
“You would? Okay.” He rubbed his hands together. Ah, I’d pleased him. His smile was huge, genuine for once and glaringly bright. Headlights had nothing on him. He’d apparently been holding back previously.
“Sam!” he yelled.
The bodyguard appeared, weaving through the crowd with ease. “Mrs Ferris.”
“Miss Thomas,” Adrian corrected. “Would you mind seeing her safely returned to her home, thanks, Sam?”
The polite professional expression didn’t falter for a second. “Yes, sir. Of course.”
“Excellent.”
Jimmy started laughing, big belly laughs that shook his whole body. Then he started cackling, the noise vaguely reminiscent of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. If she’d been on crack or cocaine or whatever Jimmy had been digging into, of course.
These people, they made no sense.
I didn’t belong here. I’d never belonged here.
“This way.” Sam pressed a hand lightly to the small of my back, which was sufficient to get me moving. Time to go home, wake up from the too-good-to-be-true dream that had twisted into this warped nightmare.
The laughter got louder and louder, ringing in my ears, until suddenly it cut off. I turned in time to watch Jimmy slump to the ground, his slick suit a mess. One woman gasped. Another chuckled and rolled her eyes.
“Fuck’s sake,” growled Adrian, kneeling beside the unconscious man. He slapped at his face. “Jimmy. Jimmy!”
More burly bodyguards appeared, crowding around the fallen singer, blocking him from view.
“Not again,” Adrian ranted. “Get the doctor in here. Goddamn it, Jimmy.”
“Mrs Ferris?” asked Sam.
“Is he alright?”
Sam scowled at the scene. “He’s probably just passed out. It’s been happening a lot lately. Shall we go?”
“Get me out of here, Sam. Please.”
*
I was back in Portland before the sun rose. I didn’t cry on the trip. It was as if my brain had diagnosed the emergency and cauterized my emotions. I felt numb, as if Sam could swerve the car into the oncoming traffic and I wouldn’t utter a peep. I was done, frozen solid. We went via the mansion so Sam could collect my bag before heading to the airport. He put me on the jet and we flew to Portland. He got me off the jet and drove me home.
Sam insisted on carrying my bag, just like he’d insisted on calling me by my married name. The man did the best subtle, concerned sidelong glance I’d ever seen. Never said much, though, which I appreciated immensely.
I sleepwalked my sorry self up the stairs to the apartment Lauren and I shared. Home was a garlic-scented hallway courtesy of Mrs Lucia downstairs, constantly cooking. Peeling green wallpaper and worn wooden floorboards, scuffed and stained. Lucky I’d put the Converse on or my feet would have been full of splinters. This floor was nothing like the gloss and gleam of David’s house. You could see yourself in that sucker.
Shit. I didn’t want to think of him. All of those memories belonged in a box buried in the back of my mind. Never again would they see the light of day.
My key still fit the lock. It comforted me. I might as well have been missing for years instead of days. It hadn’t even been a week. I’d left early Thursday morning and now it was Tuesday. Less than six short days. That was insane. Everything felt different. I pushed open the door, being quiet because of the early hour. Lauren would be asleep. Or she might not be. I heard laughing.
She might, in fact, be spread out over our small breakfast table, giggling as some guy stuffed his head beneath one of the old oversized T-shirts she slept in. He buried his face in her cleavage and tickled her. Lauren squirmed, making all sorts of happy noises. Thankfully the guy’s pants were still on, whoever he was. They were really into it, didn’t notice our entry at all.
Sam stared at the far wall, avoiding the scene. Poor guy, the things he must have witnessed over the years.
“Hi,” I said. “Um, Lauren?”
Lauren screeched and rolled, twisting the guy up in her shirt as he fought to get free. If she accidentally strangled him, at least he’d go happy, given the view.
“Ev,” she panted. “You’re back.”
The guy finally liberated his face.
“Nathan?” I asked, stupefied. I cocked my head just to be sure, narrowed my eyes.
“Hi.” My brother raised one hand while pulling down Lauren’s shirt with the other. “How are you?”