Chapter 35

Daylight brought a renewed confidence to Genevieve Redlin today. The frightened uncertainty of the dark lonely night had dissipated and she was once again ready to face the world…and Stacey. She’d thought for a long time as she lay in bed hoping for sleep to drift her way. She was not going to let it bother her that she didn’t have his phone number. He said he would call, and she was going to trust him. And if he didn’t…well, she didn’t want to think about that, but she reminded herself that Stace was right, he was a busy guy.

She plodded lazily into the living room and found Stacey watching TV and checking out her loot.

“Mornin’ sleepyhead,” Stacey chirped. “It’s almost noon. I wondered if you were still alive!”

“Still here,” she smiled.

“I made you some coffee.” She followed Gennie into the kitchen. As Gen filled her cup, Stace took a seat at the table. “Gen, I want to apologize for being so critical last night. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. It’s not everyday that my best friend falls in love with a rock star, you know.”

Gen slid into a chair opposite her friend. “It’s Ok, Stace. Y’know, I thought about it, and you were right about a lot of things. As weird as it sounds, I forget he is a rock star, sometimes. That part,” she curled her lip back and shrugged, “I didn’t so much care for that. But when you get to know the guy inside. He’s the one I love.” She giggled at a random thought, “You know he studied to be a plumber, didn’t you?”

Stacey chuckled, “Yeah, I’ve heard that.”

“Well, I know this sounds awful, but sometimes I wish he was. The only problem there being that I never would have known a plumber from Buffalo.”

“So you’ll just have to settle for a rock star.” She laughed and shook her head, “Gen, you are the strangest woman I’ve ever known.”

“C’mon, let’s get my stuff put away so we can get you home and give those extravagant toys to your kids!”

They shuffled in to the living room and sorted through the random junk and dirty laundry, assigning each its own pile. Gen started on doing the wash while Stacey checked out the previously undiscovered treasures in Gen’s suitcase. Concert shirts, caps, various goodies that she’d collected on her week as a groupie, and a note. It was written on hotel stationery in a quick sloppy scrawl, but was legible. She felt like a real cad for reading it, but hey, she was Gen’s best friend; they had no secrets, or so she thought.

I meant it when I said I’d be there no matter what. I may not be a plumber, but I’d love for you to fix hot dogs for our kids. And I promise I’ll take you out for that night on the town. It was worth it. I’d do it again… and be honored if you were the mother of my child.

Gennie wandered back into the living room to find Stacey sitting slack jawed on the couch holding a piece of paper. As soon as Stacey saw her she just gaped at her. “What’ve you got that’s so incredible?” Gen asked.

“I… I’m really sorry. I found this in with the rest of your junk. I couldn’t help but notice what…I think you ought to read this.” She surrendered the sheet of paper but before Gen had a chance to look at it she added, “He calls you Genevieve?”

Gen pushed her eyebrows together in a frown. “Sometimes,” she uttered as she studied the letter. She read it to herself several times before she looked up again. “Stace, I didn’t tell you something last night.”

“You…uh…um…” she didn’t know what to say. “Gen…I’m sorry. So this isn’t just a love letter?”

She shook her head. She wondered when he had the time to write it. They’d fallen asleep and he’d gotten up so quickly. So many questions ran through her head right now. Tears dropped on the paper and smudged the ink. “Where did you find this?”

“It was stuck in your bag with some other stuff. I almost didn’t notice it.” She pulled Gen over to sit on the couch. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s not much to say. We weren’t especially cautious that last night. The heat of the moment and all…” she sighed.

“He doesn’t have any I guess. He made a big promise I hope he intends to keep.” She was beginning to see things the way Stacey did last night. It was all a line, an act. He would never call her. She should consider herself lucky if she actually ended up in Buffalo- if he got that information to her.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes heavenward. “I have no earthly idea. There’s the romantic side of me that reads that note and wants nothing more than to be the woman in that letter. Then there’s the side of me that is screaming- ‘You can’t have his baby! You barely know him. You can’t be a mom!’ What kind of father would he be? He’s on the road so much. I have no desire to be a single parent.” She burst out in tears while Stacey put her arms around her in a soothing motherly hug. “I can’t have a baby Stace. I can’t be doing this! I can’t!” These were the noisy, messy sobs she’d thankfully avoided on the plane.

“Then don’t worry about it. Things will work out the way they should. Just have faith in him.” She wondered if, under the same circumstances, she’d have faith in this errant musician, but it didn’t matter. She said she’d be supportive of her friend to the end and that is precisely what she intended do. If she had to help Gennie raise a dimple chinned baby Rzeznik here in Oklahoma, that’s what she would do.

A week went by, and so far, Stacey had been correct in her assumptions. No phone call. She admired Gen’s ability to get up every morning, much less go to work and do her job. Gen was heartsick and it was obvious. She’d chosen to keep her affair a secret at work. No one knew why she seemed to be so depressed lately. Most people assumed it was just the effect of coming back from a brilliant vacation.

“Gen, honey, I’m so sorry,” she voiced her regret, but wasn’t quite sure why since Gen didn’t sound too despondent considering her announcement.

“A travel agent. He said he’d been asked to make arrangements for me. I’m flying first class to Buffalo on Thursday.”

She was almost ashamed to admit it. “Yeah. I know what you’re thinking. You’re dying to tell me to stay home. Be done with him. But I really want to see him, even if it is just one more time. Call me crazy, but I’m in love with the guy. I oughta give it at least this shot. You never know. Maybe it’s for real.” She sighed. “Well, gotta go. Just wanted to clue you in.”

Gen was excited, but still missed him terribly. She decided to do something to recharge her batteries. She didn’t know if she could stand to watch her videotapes another time. They made her miss him more. So she opted to check out the Daily Goo. There were her messages all along. Why hadn’t she come here earlier? She knew Robby did all the work on the site, but when they were on the road John occasionally gave him ideas on what to write, especially if he was nearby while Robby typed it. She read through the archives. There were obvious references- A special hello to our friend Gennie!…We miss ya! To the more obscure- Can’t wait to get home to Buffalo….gonna see lots of friends we’ve neglected over the past few days…weeks…years. To some that only she would appreciate – ...Time to head off to bed…if you can’t sleep try a Lullaby….but watch out for spiders!

She imagined Robby laughing his ass off as he typed some of them, just like she was laughing now.