| Kallie collected her tests, put them in her briefcase, and walked out of the classroom. She saw the moonlight cascade through the large school windows as she walked to the office and saw Howard sitting at his desk, reading a set of papers. She knocked at the door. “Isn’t it a little late for you to be here on a Friday night?” Howard looked up quickly. “Huh?” He looked at his watch. “Oh shit! My girlfriend’s gonna kill me! We’re supposed to go out to dinner tonight.” He gathered his papers and stuffed them in his bag. “Shouldn’t I say the same thing about you?” Kallie shrugged. “It’s OK.” “But it’s Friday night.” “Amy’s out with my friend Brian tonight and Deana’s meeting some friends, so I’m just gonna head home and take a hot bath.” Howard shook his head. “Kallie, you need to get out a little more.” “Believe me, I like my own company.” “OK, I’ll see you on Monday,” Howard slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out. Kallie turned off the lights in the office, where she heard a piano playing in the last rehearsal room. She went to the door and opened it slowly. Kevin was the one playing the piano, seeming to feel the music as his eyes were closed. It was a piano selection of her favorite piece: Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets. Kevin ended the piece as Kallie gave applause. “Oh, hey,” Kevin smiled as he cracked his knuckles. “Thought I was the only one here.” “I’m sorry to bother you, it’s just that Jupiter is my favorite piece. Never heard it from a piano before.” “It’s just something I was trying out.” Kevin got up and walked to Kallie. “What are you doing here?” “Just getting some work done. What about you?” “Sometimes I like to try out new stuff. I don’t have a lot of time to do it at home because I have a keyboard. Nothing’s sweeter than those ivory keys.” “True, true,” Kallie smiled. “Well, I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you Monday.” “OK,” Kevin said as Kallie headed out the door. “Hey Kallie? You wanna get a cup of coffee or something?” Kallie stopped short and turned around. “Me?” “Oh, are you busy?” “N-no,” Kallie stammered. “Sure.” “Great,” Kevin smiled. They walked to the parking lot. ~*~ “So, you really did work in New York?” Kallie said as she poured cream into her cup of coffee. “Yeah, about 6 years ago. I had just gotten out of college, not really wanting to go there in the first place. My parents wanted me to at least get a degree to fall back on. But I really didn’t want to go to a 9 to 5 job. So, I left LA to head out to New York. I thought that I would get a record deal in no time, but it was all a dream, so I wound up barely making rent playing in lounges and smoky bars. When I couldn’t afford peanut butter for food, I decided to head back home. I was so disappointed in myself, and then I figured that if I can’t make it, I could at least help someone else make it. So, I started applying to schools in the area, then Howard called me up for a position teaching classical piano.” “Wow, what a story,” Kallie sighed. “What about you?” “Let me give you the synopsis. Kid from Jersey finds music at a young age, then disappoints her family that she’s going to major in a field that Princeton is not known for. After teaching at some snotty prep school, kid disappoints family even further by saying she’s going to quit and teach 3,000 miles away.” Kevin took a sip of his coffee. “I can totally identify with that. Nothing’s worse or better than making it on your own. As I told someone before, if people like it, great, if they don’t, screw ‘em.” Kallie shuddered at his words, feeling déjà vu all over again. Kallie cleared her throat. “Yeah, someone told me that too.” Kevin finished his coffee. “You know, this coffee isn’t doing anything for me. What about you?” “It’s OK, well, the coffee could be a little…” “No, I mean, here we are at a coffee shop on a Friday night. We should be having fun! We’re single, in our prime, and we’re telling each other our sob stories.” Kallie laughed. “What are you suggesting?” “Are you up for it?” “Depends.” Kevin threw down some money on the table. “Let’s go.” ~*~ Kevin drove Kallie home and they took his car. Kevin was all smiles as they drove somewhere Kallie had no clue of where they were going. Finally they stopped at a dimly lit place on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “Where exactly are we?” Kallie said as they got out of the car. “You’ll see,” Kevin smirked as he grabbed her hand and led her inside. The place was a little smoky and dark. There was a bar to the left of her, with a heavyset man wiping down glasses, a small stage with a band tuning up and a dance floor. “Kev,” the bartender came up to them and shook his hand. “How you been man?” “Great Rob,” Kevin smiled. “This is Kallie Leighton, a teacher I work with. Kallie, this is Rob Marts, owner and proprietor of this establishment.” “Gee, I didn’t know I had an establishment,” Rob smiled as he shook Kallie’s hand. “Go have a seat. What’ll it be?” “I’ll have a beer, and you Kallie?” “Cranberry and vodka please,” Kallie requested. “Sure thing,” Rob said as he headed to the bar. Kevin led Kallie to a table as they sat. “Where exactly did you find this… place?” “Long time ago. When I was a teen, I came onto this place because they had great tunes coming from it. I wanted a job in the worse way, so I went inside and asked for a job. I told Rob I was 21, which of course I wasn’t. He didn’t believe me anyway, but he offered me a job cleaning up and washing dishes. Eventually he let me play on certain nights. That’s how I got to learn by ear. People would request songs and I would play them.” “Cool,” Kallie exclaimed as Rob brought them their drinks. “Feel like gracing us with a song tonight Kev?” Rob smiled as he set the drinks down. “Oh, I don’t know,” Kevin said. “Come on,” Kallie urged him. “One provision, you help me.” “Are you serious? I can’t perform.” “You do it everyday,” Kevin reasoned. “It’ll be fun.” “OK, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Kallie said as she stood up and followed Kevin to the piano. Ron went to the microphone. “I’m very honored to have with us tonight a great player who came to me when he was a scrawny kid asking for a job. He’s also one of my closest friends who came by to honor an old man’s wishes by gracing us with a song, along with his friend. Give it up for Kevin Richardson and Kallie Leighton!” Applause was shared as Kevin whispered to Kallie. “I’ll play and sing, then you sing.” “I haven’t sang since high school,” Kallie froze. “You never forget. Besides you know this song, everyone does,” Kevin cleared his throat as he began playing. I was as strong as I could be To let you get away from me I regret that move for as long as I’m living But now that I’ve come to see the light All I wanna do is make things right So just say the word And tell me that I’m forgiven You and me We’re gonna be Better than we were before Love you then But now I intend To open up and love you even more This time you can be sure I’m never gonna let you go I’m gonna hold you in my arms forever Gonna try and make up for the times I hurt you so Gonna hold your body close to mine And then stay Oh we’re gonna be together Oh I swear it this time I’m never gonna let you go Looking back now it seems so clear I had it all when you were here Oh you gave it all And I took it for granted But if there’s some feeling left in you Some flicker of love that still shines through Let’s talk it out Let’s talk about second chances Wait and see It’s gonna be Sweeter than it was before I gave some mend But now I intend To dedicate myself to giving more This time you can be sure I’m never gonna let you go I’m gonna hold you in my arms forever Gonna try and make up for the times I hurt you so Gonna hold your body close to mine And then stay Oh we’re gonna be together Oh I swear it this time I’m never gonna let you go Oh, so if you’ll just say You want me to I’m Never gonna let you go I’m gonna hold you in my arms forever Gonna try and make up for the times I hurt you so Gonna hold your body close to mine And then stay Oh we’re gonna be together Oh I swear it this time I’m never gonna let you go Applause rang out as Kevin and Kallie took their bows and took their seats. “Wow, that was so much fun!” Kallie said breathlessly. “And you have such a great voice. Why didn’t you teach vocals?” Kevin shrugged his shoulders. “Never crossed my mind. What about you?” “Nah, piano has always been my area of expertise.” “See? We both have a lot more in common than we thought.” Kallie smiled. “Yeah I guess so.” ~*~ Kallie had never felt freer as they drove down the coastline overlooking the Pacific Ocean. She didn’t know if it was the night, Kevin, or the couple of drinks she had in her system. Kevin had put the top down on his convertible, letting the cool breeze rush right past them as they drove. They stopped along an overlook where the moonlight danced with the sky and the sea. Kevin died out the engine and turned off the lights. “Beautiful view huh?” Kallie sighed. “It’s the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen. Beats the ocean in Jersey.” “Glad you like it. But… that’s not the only beautiful thing here,” Kevin dragged his finger along her face. Kallie looked down and slowly up at him. He looked so handsome in the moonlight. “Kevin?” Kevin smirked. “A lot more beautiful.” She fought the passion in his eyes and couldn’t take it anymore. Screw the alcohol, this was her destiny. She leaned over and kissed him passionately. ~*~ Kallie woke up while the sun was streaming through his window. She tilted her head up and saw Kevin lying there fast asleep. She was resting her head on his arm, holding his hand. Softly smiling, she got up slowly, found his bathrobe on the floor and put it on. She turned to Kevin and smiled again. She imagined herself always being like this, lying in his arms, wearing his bathrobe, cooking breakfast before driving to work together. Destiny was fickle; it led her straight to him. She went to the small kitchen to get herself a glass of water before returning to bed. As she was drinking the water, she noticed Kevin’s computer in the corner of the living room. Kallie heaved a broken sigh. That’s where they shared countless conversations about life and music; it was where she fell in love. She walked to the computer, and noticed it was still on. Moving the mouse, she activated the computer and saw the AOL symbol. She clicked the icon and waited for AOL to boot up. Noticing the sign on screen, she saw his screen name highlighted: KeyMaster007. Figuring it was another name; she scrolled down to the others. Her blood turned cold. It was the only one. She hit the button again to make sure and the results were the same. “Oh my God,” Kallie whispered. “What have I done?” Tears brimmed in her eyes as she sat there. It wasn’t him. I have got to get out of here… Her thoughts were frantic as she found her clothes strung around the living room and put them on like lightning. She grabbed her purse and quietly shut the door to his apartment. She’d figure out an excuse later… the only thing that mattered was to get away as soon as possible. She ran to the corner, crying hysterically as she dialed her cell phone for a cab. The cab picked her up 5 minutes later. “239 Cooper Street,” she hiccuped to the driver. The ride couldn’t have been slower with the Saturday morning traffic. She finally checked her watch and saw it was about 10AM. Finally she saw her building. “You can let me off at the corner,” she instructed the driver. She paid him and began to walk to her building, feeling so ashamed and dirty she just wanted to shower everything away. Wiping tears, she saw a figure standing in front of her building. She squinted to get a closer look. It wasn’t Kevin; he was too skinny and was taller. The figure turned towards her and Kallie gasped. “It can’t be!” Kallie was now running towards him, as well as him. They finally met at an embrace. “Hey stranger,” the figure said as Kallie crushed him. “Nick,” Kallie cried. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Chapter 10 Contents Chapter 8 Sergio Mendez "Never Gonna Let You Go" 1985 |