CHAPTER 20
For four days Brian was away and he decided it had been the hardest four days away from someone he had ever experienced. Their meetings with the record company had gone smoothly enough, leaving him with enough free time to think about Skye and miss her intensely. They had been discussing a new album and all that went with it. Where they would record, which songs would go on it, who would produce, when it would all take place, and in the end how they planned to promote it and take the new tour on the road. He still had 10 weeks off before they began their work but there were still more meetings planned. The next one was in Orlando in 3 weeks. All going well he hoped he would be able to bring Skye with him.
His thoughts turned back to Skye and how much he had missed her. It amazed him how it already affected his mind and his body. He missed her like crazy and rang her on his cell phone many times, never giving a thought to how much his bill was going to come to. He needed to talk to her. At night as he lay in bed he longed to hold her and when he fell asleep he dreamed of her. He dreamt of only her, no other family members invaded these dreams, and they always left him in need of the cold showers her grandmother had suggested. He didn’t know how much longer he would be able to control himself when he was with her again.
He had left the other four guys again not telling them where he was. They knew his number if they urgently needed him, but other than that he wanted a complete escape. They knew about the new woman in his life, each of them happy for him, especially knowing that she had no idea of his celebrity status. That had always been a problem for him, not knowing who to trust. Only Nick knew about his dreams. The dreams and incredible coincidence, or fate playing its hand were all Nick knew about too. He had not told him about the voices he was hearing because he was sure Nick would want to have him committed if he knew. He would laugh at Brian, of that he was sure.
Brian had arrived back at Daniels house in the afternoon and no sooner was he back in the house and he was given the third degree. “Where have you been Brian?” she said to him as he got ready to take a shower. “Skye has been so sad without you here. She has been at a loss.”
“I’m sure it hasn’t been that bad,” he answered her, knowing he had in fact felt pretty bad himself. He had, however, had a lot of things to keeping his mind occupied, the others always surrounding him. It was the nights that were difficult. While he was alone.
“Oh but it was. I spent my time over there while you were gone. She was very sad. You must go and see her again.”
“I will. Don’t you think I didn’t miss her, because I did. Very much. I just need a shower first.” He took his things into the bathroom and turned the tap on, ready to soak away the aches from the plane flight back. He was looking forward to seeing Skye again, but he wanted to feel refreshed when he did.
No sooner did he come back out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped discreetly around his waist and she started again. “Are you going to go and see her? She’s been miserable Brian,” she said. Brian knew she was laying it on a bit thick.
“I will. I will go and see her as soon as I get dressed. And speaking of that, can I have some privacy so I can get dressed.”
“I told you before…”
Brian cut her off. He hadn’t had to deal with this for the past four days and while he liked the old lady, it did annoy him that she would appear with no warning all the time. “I know you told me, but it would be nice to be able to change on my own with no peering eyes upon me. Don’t worry I will go and see Skye shortly. I’ll go on over there.”
“Oh good. She’ll be so pleased to see you.”
From the bedroom door they heard a noise. “Brian?” came Skye’s puzzled voice.
“Uh oh,” the grandmother said quietly to herself.
“Brian, who are you talking to?”
“Um, um, um… No one.” He stuttered. Now what was he going to do.
“Yes you were, I heard you. I heard her.”
For a moment Brian wondered if she might have thought he had brought a woman back with him. “There’s no one here Skye. What are you doing here?”
“I knocked and there was no answer. The door was open and I thought you might have been out the back, so I came in. Brian I heard you and someone else talking.” Brian looked around the room, both for help, and also to show there was no one there. “Brian?” She was clearly upset at the thought that he was lying to her.
“It’s okay Skye my dear girl. It is only me he has been talking to.” She would not let Skye get angry or upset with Brian on her account.
Skye’s eyes looked like they would pop out of her head. She shook her head to clear it and uttered silently, “Grandma?” She looked faint and Brian took her arm and guided her over to the bed, sitting her down. She looked around the room again and then at Brian. He suddenly became aware of the fact that he was wearing only a towel and pulled it tightly to ensure it stayed in place. Skye blushed when she looked at him and lowered her head.
“It’s okay Skye. Nothing will happen to you.” Brian said to her, laying his bare arm over his shoulder. If he didn’t have this situation to worry about now, he knew he would now have her in his arms and kissing her.
“But Grandma… I thought you… I only heard you once… Grandad said Brian couldn’t hear you.”
“I’m here pet. You can’t see me, but I am here. Grandad said Brian couldn’t hear HIM. But he didn’t say anything about me. Remember? We wouldn’t lie to you.”
Now it was Brian’s turn to look surprised. “Huh? You hear him? You’ve heard her?” he said to Skye.
Skye looked up at him again slowly. “Yes. But I had no idea you heard my Grandmother. How long has this been happening?”
Brian shrugged. When had she appeared? It seemed like forever. “I think the night I met you.”
“Yes, that was the night. Brian, don’t you remember, but you knew me before that.” She said to him enthusiastically. She would always try to make good of a potentially bad situation.
“Brian why didn’t you tell me?” Skye asked him ignoring what her grandmother had said.
“I thought you would think I was crazy. I had no idea you were going through the same as I was.” He lifted her gaze to his. “I guess we are both crazy if you can hear her too.”
“You are not crazy, I am here.” She huffed at them both and they laughed.
“This is a little freaky Brian.” Skye still seemed a little distressed.
“Look, how about I get dressed and we’ll talk about all this. I think it’s going to take a while and I would be more comfortable dressed.”
Skye smiled softly and nodded her head. A small gasp came from her as she looked down at his chest. “Brian, what happened here?” Her hand reached up to trace a finger along a thin scar line that ran down his chest sending warm tingles through Brian’s chest, quickly moving over his whole body. Why did she have to do this now, when they were in the middle of the most confusing situation. “Are you okay?”
He looked at her his feelings evident in his eyes. “Yes, I’m okay. I had heart surgery a few years ago.” She gasped again. “I am just fine now, honest, it’s in my past and this is my only physical reminder.” Brian looked at the concern in her eyes, all thought of ghosts forgotten for the moment. “I missed you Skye.”
Her eyelids grew heavy as she looked up at him. “I missed you too Brian. Very much.”
A squeak from the corner broke them from their trance and they turned to look, finding only thin air. “Oh don’t stop on my account, just kiss her,” she said and both Brian and Skye broke out in giggles.
“Her famous catchphrase,” Brian laughed.
“You too?”
“Yes, me too. Remember that day on the beach, when I had been swimming,” he clarified. “She was urging me to kiss you. She even pushed me to have me fall into your arms, like she had in your house that first night.”
“Oh my! I remember. Grandad was doing it to me too. I thought you would think I was crazy.”
“So did I! I couldn’t get to your place fast enough to apologise for my behaviour, that I couldn’t really explain.”
Skye shook her head in amusement. “Have you really been putting up with my grandmother for so long? She has a wicked sense of humour.”
“I found that out pretty quick.” He lifted her chin to look in her eyes. “I’ll be out in a few minutes okay?” He moved away to pick up some clothes he had laid out to wear.
“Okay. And Brian,” she said making sure she had his attention. “I’m glad you’re back.”
He smiled at her in answer and watched her walk out, closing the door behind her. “Did you go too?” Brian said to thin air. He got no reply, which really meant nothing, so started to change into his clothes. It was wonderful to see Skye again, but this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind for their reunion.
**********
“So let me get this straight,” Skye said to Brian shaking her head in disbelief. This was crazy, how could it be happening? It was the stuff from fantasy and movies, not real life. “You started out by dreaming about me about 3 or 4 months ago?”
“Yep,” Brian told her. He was equally as astounded as her, finding it hard to believe.
“That’s crazy, so did I. Dream about you that is. But all I remembered at first was your eyes.” She became animated while telling him.
A chuckle came from Brian as he watched her. “So did I. I called you my Honey Eyes. Hence the reason I like to call you Honey now.”
Skye stilled, her mouth open. “I called you Blue eyes. This is too weird.”
“And then when I saw you at Daniel’s party you could have floored me.”
“Me too. I wanted to run but I had nowhere to run to. Not knowing that you were going through this too it was a huge effort to act normally.”
Brian stopped and thought. “You know there is no explanation for this?”
Skye did the same and sat contemplating it all for a while. “Are we crazy? I mean to dream all those dreams and now to hear the voices of my grandparents.” Brian wanted to add Trevor too, but knew that would open too many wounds for Skye that she had come a long way in healing. “And where are they now?” she asked noticing their silence.
Brian made a gesture with his hands. “I don’t know. It’s not like her not to be in the middle of everything. She is an incurable romantic.” He paused again. This was a lot to get his head around. Not only had all these things happened to him, but also to Skye. The dreams, the premonitions, the ghostly visits. It was a bit much to comprehend. And why them? Why was this all happening to them? “Do you understand any of this?”
“No. It shouldn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen. I never really believed in ghosts before. Now I don’t know what to believe.” She stopped again and they sat in silence. “Why us Brian? Why is this happening to us?”
“I wish I could tell you Skye.” He held out his hand to her. “Come here.” He took her hand in his and pulled her in for a much needed hug. “We’re in this together,” he said to her, his lips brushing over hers. “I missed you so much while I was away.”
Brian’s lips hovered over hers, his breath whispering over them. “I…” She looked up into his eyes and felt herself falling further under his spell. “I missed you too.”
Brian closed the gap between them as Skye lifted her face to his. He covered her mouth, brushing his lips over hers slowly. Instantly Skye felt the familiar heat cascade through her body, pulling Brian closer desperate to feel him in her arms. Deepening the kiss, she felt her knees weaken with the built up longing she felt. She had missed him while he was gone but she hadn’t realised how much until this moment when he was back in her arms. This is where she wanted to be.
**********
“This really isn’t a good turn of events you know,” the man said to the woman, now both at Skye’s house leaving Brian and Skye to contemplate what they were going through.
“I know, but I couldn’t let Skye get mad at Brian. I saw her face. She thought Brian had another woman with him. That just wouldn’t do at all.” She fussed about, worried about the problem now at hand. “She just snuck up on us, neither one of us was aware of the fact that she had come in the house while Brian was in the shower.”
“But you know what this means now?” he asked sadly.
“What does it mean?” she asked, although she had a good idea of what and didn’t like it at all.
“It means we must now remain scarce. If we stay around and push them together it won’t be because they choose to do it and we will still be stuck here for who knows how long. We know they are destined to be together but they must be the ones to realise it or we will not be able to leave.”
“But we can help,” she pleaded.
“We need to give them time now. Yes, a little push here and there, but we need to back away now. Now that they know about our intervention.” He let out a loud sigh. “Imagine how confused they must be now.” He took his wife’s hand in his. “We can watch, but not interfere anymore.”
“Yes, I know. It was inevitable after what I did but believe me it was necessary. I have no regrets.”
“Yes my dear, I believe you. Besides, we can still help without talking to them,” he said to her, a twinkle in his eye.
“What do you have in mind? You are as bad as me.”
“Nothing in particular yet, but there is bound to be something. These two belong together and I will do everything in my power to make sure it happens too. The two of us together can make sure of it.”
**********
For the next two weeks the ghosts stayed quiet. It confused Brian and Skye who had become used to hearing their respective ghost. Brian missed the conversations with the grandmother who had, as Skye had said, a wicked sense of humour. They talked of her grandparents many times, and their dreams, and simply how crazy the whole situation was. They spent most of their time together, strengthening their bond and becoming as close as two people could get short of becoming intimate. The thought was always on their minds, but not spoken between them, both of them stopping short of taking that extra step of telling each other of the love they felt.
The fact that Brian still hadn’t told Skye what he did for a living was gnawing at his insides preventing him from declaring his love. He had to tell her soon because it bothered him that he wasn’t being completely honest with her. He would be going away again this coming week to Orlando for more meetings and he had wanted to ask her to join him. He knew her parents lived there and she would no doubt spend time with them while he was at his meetings, but it was most likely that she would also meet the guys and that would be impossible without telling her what he did. If she even agreed to come with him after he told her. Something warned him it would be something that would bother her, his whole lifestyle so different to anything she was used to, but he decided he had to take the risk of losing her in his wish to hopefully win her forever.
Chapter 21
Index
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