“Go with me to Leighanne’s party tomorrow?”
The voice on the other end of my phone belonged to Alex. He sounded scared and lonely as he invited, or maybe I should say begged me to go with him.
“How did you sleep, Alex?” I asked, ignoring his question for moment as I glanced at the clock. It was one o’clock in the afternoon.
“I woke you up, didn’t I?” he asked, now ignoring my question.
“How did you sleep, Alex?” I repeated.
“She smiled at me when I asked. Then she was gone. No walking away, no running after her. It just ended,” he admitted.
“Because she knew and now you know.”
“So will you come with me tomorrow?”
‘I don’t know if I can, Alex. I have plans for the better part of the day,” I admitted.
“What?” he asked. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was surprised. My life had been completely his for so long. He must have assumed I didn’t have much of a social life.
“I’m going to see a friend,” I answered.
“Who?” he pressed.
“His name is Kane and I can’t cancel,” I explained.
“Want some company?” he offered softly.
“Why would you want to go with me?” I countered, hoping he would give me the answer I wanted to hear.
His answer was silence at first. Then quietly,” I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
My smiled was slow but as it spread across my face I felt something in my heart jump with joy. He was taking a step.
“What time is the party?” I asked.
“Five o’clock,” he said.
“Would you mind be late?”
“Not really,” he answered and I was positive I heard him give a little laugh.
“My place ten tomorrow morning, got it?” I asked, grinning though he couldn’t see it.
“Got it.”
“Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you be at the Lonely Star tonight?” I asked softly.
“I don’t know, Greer. If I am I can’t promised it’ll be to nurse a bottle. I don’t know if I can stand the silence all night,” he admitted.
“I understand,” I answered with just a little more hope.
With a well-placed smack I set the jukebox going as I walked into the bar later that night.
“There’s my Busy. How’s it going, honey?” Frankie greeted.
“Its going, Frankie. How are the girls today?” I asked, putting my bag behind the bar.
“Good. Abby has her first date next weekend,” he said, his face contorted in mock pain.
“Oh your baby is growing up on you, Frankie?” I teased.
The sound of the door opening drew my attention and, still laughing, I turned to it. The man held a vase of sunflowers as he walked toward us.
“Greer Stone?” he asked.
“That’s me,” I said, signing for the flowers before taking them.
“Who are they from?” Frankie asked.
I shrugged, pulling the card out. I had a feeling who they were from.
“Well?” Frankie pressed.
“No name,” I answered, smiling. I moved the flowers to behind the bar and put on my apron.
“You know though, don’t you?” he said, watching me.
“Just a feeling,” I answered as the first customer came in.
At eight o’clock that night I looked up at the door to see Alex standing there. He nodded slightly before heading to his stool at the end of the bar. With baited breath, I watched him give Frankie his order. I think my sight of relief was audible above the blaring of the music as Frankie handed him a cup of coffee.
When I finally made my way to his side I took a seat on the stool next to him.
“Okay?” I asked over the blaring music.
“Okay,” he answered, not looking at me as he stared into his coffee cup.
I watched his face. He was struggling so hard with his demons. The demons of loving and losing a woman that was never his. It was taking all his will power and strength not to order a drink.
“All the chances it takes, Alex,” was all I said, touching his knee as I stood.
He turned just enough so his dark eyes caught mine and very slowly the corners of his mouth began to lift just slightly.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice still somehow soft over all the noise.
I smiled at him and returned to working. I watched him throughout the night, my heart swelling just a little more with hope every time Frankie poured him another cup of coffee.
At two o’clock I walked Frankie to the door.
“Night, Frankie. Give the girls my love,” I said, kissing the big man’s cheek.
“Nigh, Busy. Have a good day off tomorrow,” he answered, smiling at me. He lifted his eyes over my head to look back at the bar. “JD,” was all he said, giving Alex a brief nod.
I closed the door and locked it behind him. Turning the open sign to closed, I began my nightly ritual.
Wiping down the tables, I looked up to see Alex across the bar scrubbing down tables.
“Why does he call you Busy?” he asked suddenly.
“My first night here we were packed. He said I was running around like a busy bee. Hence the Busy. It just sort of stuck over the year,” I explained, smiling at the memory.
“The guys call me Bone,” he admitted, moving to another table.
“Bone? What kind of nickname is that?”
“Have you looked at me lately, Greer?” he asked, straightening and holding his arms out to offer me a better view. I grinned at him for a moment before answering.
“I thought maybe you had just lost a lot of weight since Riley,” I answered.
“I guess I’ve lost more since then,” he said, quietly as he returned to wiping.
“So Bone is due to your size,” I said, returning to the original topic.
“Among other things from my past,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
I laughed and threw my cloth at him as I walked behind the bar.
“Does your past explain all your tattoos?” I asked as I continued to clean.
“Every group has to have a bad boy. I guess I just had the look. With the title came a few other things. I guess it also offered me the chance to test my limits. Each tattoo has a meaning, a purpose, but I doubt I would have gotten all of them if the world had never heard the name A.J. McLean. I probably never would have done a lot of things. Things like dying my hair, the tattoos, the sunglasses, the bars. I’ve been in a lot of bars,” he admitted, giving me the cloths
“Was it all to fit the image?” I asked.
“No, not all of it. Some of it was to defy the image. The shows for Save the Music, the hospital visits with kids, the Expedition instead of the Viper. I use to try so hard to put some part of Alex into A.J. Sometimes I think a few of the fans saw the real me, but I doubt there were many,” he said.
“Have you thought about going back into the studio? Maybe make some music for Alex?” I suggested.
“I don’t think there’s anymore music left in me, Greer. I lost it will Riley,” he answered, turning away.
“Alex,” I said, reaching across the bar to touch his hand. “There was music before Riley, there was music with Riley, and there can be music after Riley. You just have to listen for it,” I explained.
“I don’t know how to anymore,” he said, looking at me.
Looking at him, I sighed sadly. Then I rounded the bar and headed straight for the jukebox. A few quarters later SheDaisy came on with “I Will… But.”
“This is music, Jack Daniels,” I yelled over the song. “Can you dance?”
“Not to this,” he answered, shaking his head.
“Time to learn,” I said, taking his hand and pulling him to the empty space that would have been a dance floor if the Lonely Star patrons danced.
A few minutes later I had Alex line dancing.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he yelled over the music.
“I can’t believe you are doing it so badly,” I added, laughing as I watched his feet.
“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m the best dancer in the group,” he argued.
“Yeah right! Prove it, “ I said as the song ended.
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