5. Respect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.   RESPECT

 

     I DROVE TO THEIR HOUSE, SINCE I ALREADY GOT THE WAY memorized. I wonder what can be the commotion is about. I just hope it won’t take too long so that I can still have time to go to Amy’s house.

     I stopped the car in front of their house as I can see Shane between Adam and Chace"who’s in a crouch position. I walked out of the car and ran toward them. “Hey, what happened?”

     “He suddenly attacked me,” Chace muttered, wiping some blood from the corner of his lips.

     “What?” I gazed to Adam.

     “It’s not what it looks like...” Adam tried to explain.

     “Do you care to explain to me what happened?” I tried to keep my emotion from overwhelming me, though doubt to him covered my voice.

     “That guy went here"”

     “To say that I’m leaving today and that I’m sorry taking you yesterday...” Chace cut him off, standing.

     “That’s all?” I asked.

     “Yah, then he suddenly attacked me.

 

♦51♦

     “That’s not true!” Adam shouted, almost attacking him again. if it wasn’t for Shane stopping him, Chace might get more than minor injuries in the face.

     “Fine, fine,” I sighed, trying not to make this a big deal. “Don’t you have an ice pack or something?”

     “Here,” Nate said, tossing one to me.

     “Thanks,” I placed it on Chace’s wound. “Hold this...”

     I turned around to face Adam but he’s already gone with Shane. I guess he already got the sense of who I believe more. “So, why did you come here?”

     “Like I said"”

     “The truth,”

     “I want peace...”

     “Peace? A war doesn’t even exist!” I took a deep breath. “You should leave now; you might miss your flight...”

     “Right, bye...” he hugged me tightly and went straight to his motorcycle.

     I examined him and notice that he’s just wearing a long sleeved blue shirt and jeans without any bag holding. Who leaves without his things?

     I sighed again and turn around to see Shane sitting on the bench. I decided to ask him since I know that Chace and Adam would tell me two different stories, and probably, neither can be the right one.

     “Hey, thanks for coming...” he said.

     “That’s alright,” I sat beside him. “So, can you tell me what really happened?”

     “I’m not sure. I was about to start another portrait, since it’s a lovely morning, then when I looked at the window, I saw that guy heading toward here. I decided to call you, since, well, my instincts told me to call you...” he sighed. “After a few minutes, I heard Adam shouted some word I didn’t understand, and then I went down and stopped them,”

     “Oh, so where’s Adam now?”

     “I’m guessing in the kitchen... eating a whole gallon of ice cream. He usually does that when he’s upset,” he chuckled.

 

♦52♦

     “Thanks, I’ll talk to him,” I stood up and walked toward their kitchen. As expected, Shane was right. Adam was eating a whole gallon of cookies and cream all by himself.

     “What are you doing here?” he muttered.

     “Why? Can’t I go here anymore?”

     “No...” he said taking a huge bite.

     “Why not?” I crossed my arms.

     “Because you went to his side,” he said like a little boy.

     “I’m not on anybody’s side.”

     He was silent for a moment.

     “What did really happened?” I sat on the chair beside him.

     “You want to know the story?” he asked as f I never believed him before.

     “Of course...”

     “I was playing with Maddie when he came,” he sighed. “He called my name, and of course, I went to him. He told me that he’s sorry for calling and taking you yesterday... then I said that’s fine... then he suddenly added that you two had a great time and...”

     “And...” I echoed.

     “That you’re still a great... kisser,” he took another huge bite.

     “And you think that I can do that?” I stood up, making him look at me. “C’mon, you know me better than that... with or without amnesia, I would never do that,”

     “So, you didn’t have a great time with him?” he said still looking to my eyes.

     “Well, I admit that I had a great time, with the dolphins... but there’s nothing more than that...”

     “Really,”

     “Of course, if you don’t believe me... then fine, you can end this thing,” I sighed. I know that he already know what I meant.

     “Why would I do that?”

     “Because you might think that I’m cheating to you or something... and, that’ fine with me...”

     “I would never do that,” he took another huge bite from the melted ice cream.

 

♦53♦

     “Stop eating that! You’ll be huge!” I took the ice cream from him.

     “That’s fine,” he tried to snatch it from me again, but I held it tighter.

     “Shut up...” I mumbled when my phone rang. “Hello?”

     “Hey Alyson, it’s me, Chace...”

     “Oh, so, how’s the flight?” I flickered to Adam if he’s eavesdropping, like he can.

     “I missed it, and that means that I’ll be staying here for another week, thanks to your boyfriend...”

      “Oh, um, can I call you later? I’m just fixing some things, bye...” I hung up.

     “So, what did that guy say?” Adam asked. I guess it’s too obvious on who I’m talking to for him to know.

     “Can’t you learn to call him Chace?”

     “I much prefer to call him ‘that guy’” he took another huge bite. “So, what did he say?”

     “He said that he’ll be staying here for another week,”

     “What?” he uttered.

     “Calm down, besides, it’s your fault anyway...”

     “How did that become my fault?”

     “Well, if you didn’t let your stupid jealousy overwhelm you, he might had left early and caught his flight...”

     “Well, it’s his fault... he should never go here in the first place...”

     “Fine, I don’t want to argue anymore,” I took the spoon from his hand.

     “Hey!”

     “Stop eating this...” I took the gallon too.

     “Give that back!”

     “Sorry, but I can’t... look at yourself...”

     “You’re unfair,”

     “That’s my middle name,” I ran away from him and almost even slipped.

     He caught me on the waist and whispered to my ear, “Give that back,”

 

 

♦54♦

     “Never,” I took a bite. No wonder he wanted it badly, it’s the most delicious ice cream I ever tasted. “Wow, this is good, amazing...” I took another bite.

     “Hey, that’s mine!” he took the spoon from me.

     “Get your own spoon,” I snatched it from him again.

     “That is my own spoon...”

     “Then get another one,”

     “You’re unfair,” he repeated.

     “Like I said, that’s my middle name,” I took another bite.

     He stopped for a moment, and then smiled brightly. “Hey, the next time Chace call, tell him that he is truly welcome to stay in San Francisco even for a month,”

     “Why?”

     “Well, since we’ll have a concert in London, and yes you’re already included, if you might be wondering, then that means he won’t be on my way...”

     “On your way?”

     He ignored my question. “C’mon, we need to at least rehearse the songs...”

     “But I don’t remember them... all...”

     “That would be easy...” he took the ice cream from my hands and placed it on the table then led me to another room. “This is where we rehearse,” he continued, “It’s like our own recording studio, or, you can call it project studio...”

     I examined the room. It’s the largest room in this house, walls painted with scarlet red, and the pale wooden floor matching it.

     “If you might not recall, this is the control room, you know, the room which houses the equipment for recording, routing and manipulating the sound... and the room connected by that door,” he pointed out, “that’s the isolation booth, where we keep all the loud instruments... and of course, that’s the live room... this is not the same as a real recording studios, but we still have the mixing console, multitrack recorder, mics, reference monitor...

 

 

♦55♦

“Most of the recording in the project studios are challenging, especially recording electric guitar and drums, since it’s the loudest instruments... and that’s the use of real recording studios...”

     “Interesting,” I said.

     “Hey, what are you doing in here?” Shane asked.

     “She needs to rehearse her vocals... London, remember?” Adam reminded.

     “Right,” he reached to his phone, “Wait just a sec,” he said then answered the phone. “Hello... what? Okay, I’ll tell her, bye...” he looked at me. “its dad, well, he’s our manager, and yours... he said that Paramount film wants you to star on their next movie, ‘Last Dance’!” he paused, then continued, “I heard that they were looking for the lead actress for months now, and when they saw one of our concerts and our movie, they placed you on pending, just in case they can’t find the perfect one to play the role...”

     “Really? I didn’t remember doing acting before...”

     “Your first movie, titled ‘get back’, then you guess-starred on your most favourite show, ‘grey’s anatomy’, then on our very own sit-com called ‘j-16’... by the way, the next season will be shoot this coming October, since of our schedule,”

     “Really,”

     “Wait, who’s the guy?” Adam asked. Please tell me we won’t go to this topic again.

     “I still don’t know, but the rumors spreading say it’ll be Jacob Faro...” Shane answered.

     “No way...”

     “What’s with him?” I asked.

     “Well, he came from a band before called ‘promised freedom’, then he became a solo artist... and what’s the real deal? He’s Adam’s mortal enemy... when Adam’s first, Jacob is second, and vice versa...”

     “Oh, well, is it okay for them for me to not know them?” I changed the topic.

 

 

♦56♦

     “Before you found out that you got amnesia, everybody in the world already knows that you had been in a car accident... and of course, some people might already conclude that it is possible for you to have it...” he sighed, “Besides, I think they already know about your amnesia, paparazzi have been tailing outside the hospital,”

     “Really,”

     “You sure you want to do this?” Adam asked.

     “Of course, this can be life-changing...”

     “Please don’t say that term... with that Faro kid in that movie...”

     I ignored him. “So, when will the shooting start?”

     “After a month or so... that means right after we got back from London, you’ll need to start memorizing your scripts...” he breathed, “Oh yah, the director wanted to talk to you... now...”

     “Okay, so, am I driving my way to the studio? Or taking the cab?” I asked.

     “I’ll drive you there, obviously...” Adam muttered.

     “Well, I’ll learn the songs later, is that alright?” I asked Shane.

     “Of course...” he answered.

     We walked out of their house and headed to their garage in silence. Neither of us spoke a word, as if we fought. He opened the car door for me then stepped in quietly. He drove faster in silence.

     “Don’t you want me to do the movie?” I finally asked.

     “Of course I do...” he answered, still looking straight ahead.

     “Then what’s wrong?”

     “Nothing...”

     “C’mon, you can lie better than that...”

     He sighed, “You sure you want to do this?”

     “Yes,”

     “I mean, you just got on an accident not that that’s the case to me... well, our schedule is pretty hectic... after London, you’ll go straight to the set of the movie, while we still have tours in Pennsylvania then we’ll go to Virginia, North and South Carolina...”

     “It’s okay, I’ll just miss some tours... it will only be six months, maybe...”

 

♦57♦

     “Okay, then you’ll be promoting the movie"”

     “Is that what you’re really worried about? For sure we’ve done this before"”

     “Never...”

     “Really, then now I will... look, if you want, I’ll go on tour with you...”

     He sighed again, “You don’t have to... you’ll be too exhausted...”

     “You know, I don’t really understand you... first, you don’t want me to do the movie"”

     “I didn’t say I didn’t want you to do the movie...”

     “Fine, you don’t like me to do the movie because I won’t be spending that much time with you or with the band anymore, then” I raised my right hand to keep him from butting in, “then, you won’t agree to my idea... I mean, we haven’t even tested my plan...”

     “And I know that you couldn’t take it... c’mon, it’s not really necessary for you to come in tours... you’ll kill yourself...”

     “But I insist...”

     “Alyson, this is not like a simple game in which when you get tired, you can leave it...”

     “Please... respect my decision...”

     “I always do...  but you’ll be the one who’s going to suffer, if you do that, you’ll have lack of sleep and lose energy"”

     “It’s fine... I can do it... besides, according to you, I’m a workaholic... and workaholics don’t say no to heavy works... it’s just some challenges I need to face....”

     “Can you handle the time?”

     “I can if I want to...”

     “Fine, but once, just once, you get too tired"”

     “That’ll never happen...”

     “But promise me first something...” he paused, then continued, “Promise me that you won’t force yourself when you’re really tired...”

     “Swear... besides, not just because I’m a workaholic doesn’t mean I need to take my body for granted...”

     “You’ll never know what you can do...” he stopped the car. “We’re here...”

 

♦58♦

Reviews

[elyza0926]

like i said on a chapter back, i hate it when guys get over protective.. but somehow, i think of Adam as a sweet guy, to be honest. and i know how it feels when the one you love loses time for you..

[Coyote Poetry]

You are a amazing writer. Story is strong. Good description of the characters. Accidents added a strong plot. Come back later and finish. A excellent story.
Coyote