Forever More
Part 1 - Hope
Chapter Thirteen
The alcohol that Rebecca had consumed was making her a bit dizzy as they took the elevator up to their floor. Still it felt so good as she stood in Scott’s embrace, kissing as they moved passed every floor.
That night as they made love to one another they were totally alone for the first time. They were off together with no responsibilities, no children five steps down the hall, no place or work to get ready for, no reason that Scott had to go home. They had the whole night to share themselves and Rebecca had the whole night not to share him with anyone else. Oh, how she loved this man!
The tour continued with Scott coming home for short visits whenever he could. The boys were always excited to see him and he was just as happy to be with them. He had been out on the west coast and during that time was not home for a three week stretch. That was the hardest on the both him and Rebecca and the boys who would ask him constantly on the phone when he would be back. It was almost as though he was a permanent fixture in their lives. Rebecca was delusively believing that herself.
Scott called nearly every day now and filled her in on everything that he was doing from radio and magazine interviews to television and some personal appearances. Sometimes she could not even believe that she knew him. Mentioning an early morning television interview he seemed so matter-of-fact and about the only thing that bothered him was that he had to get up at five in the morning.
One Friday evening he phoned about seven o’clock. He didn’t have time to talk to Kyle, "Just put your mom on the phone. I need to speak to her right away."
Rebecca took the phone from her son.
"What are you doing this weekend?" It sounded more like an announcement than a question.
"Well, ah, why?" She was curious now.
"I’m in New York tomorrow. How would you like to see New York?"
This was all so sudden. "Sure!" she exclaimed into the phone, her mind thinking faster than she could speak. A million things to arrange but she didn’t care. Scott and New York, she was there!
"There’s only one hitch," he sounded hesitant, "You have to call and get a flight yourself. I’m on my way out of here right now and I can’t even call."
"Ah, what do I do?"
You just call the airlines and tell them that you want the next flight out to New York. That isn’t the best thing to do but we don’t have a lot of options here. Here’s my credit card number." He repeated it to her over the phone.
"What if they don’t accept this from me?"
He laughed, "They will. Look, I’ll call you as soon as my flight lands and see what you found out. Good luck!" He hung up.
Rebecca stood with the receiver in her hand. "Oh, boy! Now what do I do?"
She picked up the phone book and called the airport in South Bend and after holding for what seemed forever and being transferred several times she was able to secure a flight out from there at eleven o’clock the following morning with a plane change in Detroit and then on to New York.
Turning her attention next to her children she had to make arrangements for them to stay with a girlfriend for the weekend. That went much smoother. Her friend was pretty excited also.
People at work knew about Scott as Rebecca had filled them in on his life and times on the tour as told to her. Her girlfriend knew and so did her sister-in-law, Ellen. She was not really comfortable letting her mother-in-law know too much about this new relationship in her life. If they boys had ever mentioned Scott being there in the mornings she never asked Rebecca about it.
Scott called back after two that morning and Rebecca told him what flight she had and when she would be arriving. Things would be different this time and he would be able to meet her at the airport. Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. There would be a familiar face when finally she got off the plane.
Just as planned she stepped out of the exit ramp and Scott was there waiting for her with a big smile and open arms. He took her bag and they headed out to hail a cab.
The drive to the hotel was exciting for her as they passed under what seemed towering buildings and Scott pointed out anything that might impress her. She could tell that he was enjoying this thoroughly. He truly was looking forward to showing her the town. "Tomorrow we can spend some time shopping. Would you like that?"
Did he really expect her to answer?
The hotel was so grand, the room was so beautiful but all Rebecca wanted was him. They had been together only once since she had flown to Montreal to meet him and that was over a month before. They wasted no time getting reacquainted. The mood was so playful and they found themselves tickling and laughing and quite comfortable with their frisky behavior. Scott even joked that he needed to save some energy for the show that night, but "What the hell!" he laughed as he dove back under the sheets burying his face into Rebecca’s stomach and making her scream with delight.
That evening when they left for the concert venue it was in a waiting limo. Rebecca was much impressed. Others from the show joined them and she even recognized a few faces from before. They remembered her also.
The atmosphere back stage was almost the same as before except everything seemed so much larger. More people filled the area before the show. That night Rebecca would not sit in the audience. Scott brought a stool for her that he situated nearer stage. From there together they watched the two performers before him. There were always people coming over to talk and occasionally Scott would take off to talk to someone, but for the most part he kept very close to her, most of the time standing behind her with his arms around her waist. If anyone back stage wondered if they were a couple up till that point they knew it then. He was no longer hesitant about showing affection for her around people connected with tour. Often he would reach around and kiss her.
When it came time for him to go on Rebecca marveled at how calm he was. He was in his element. This was all second nature to him. She was sharing that.
The show was wonderful again and she could not help but become physically more attracted to him as he sang and played and worked the audience to his own personal satisfaction. The man was a true professional. Rebecca loved every minute of it. Often he would look her way and give her a smile, a grin or a wink. She felt on top of the world as she sat on that stool watching her man doing what he enjoyed most.
After the show the party back stage also went much the same way. Too many people to speak too, too much noise to even hear yourself talk, too many beautiful women hanging on or about Scott. Once when they were separated Rebecca overheard one of the women, a gorgeous blonde who seemed to be spilling out of a tube top and hanging on Scott’s arm, ask him where Linda was. "She’s back in Chicago. She had a shoot this weekend and couldn’t make it."
Rebecca’s heart sank. That was why she was there. Linda wasn’t coming so at the last minute Scott had included her. The room suddenly grew even larger as Rebecca began to feel herself sink into the crowd. Linda would have been there in the room that afternoon with him instead of her. Linda would be there right now and she could just see her easily moving about the crowd greeting everyone she knew and fitting right in.
By the time Scott found her again Rebecca was rather quiet and he noticed right away and asked what was wrong. She assured him that everything was alright as she could tell that he was still in a very up-beat mood and she did not want to be the cause of its ruin.
"Well, I think we’re about ready to go. Chuck knows of a party at the Markham Hotel and I guess we’re all gonna go over and check it out."
Soon they were back in the limo with a few more people crammed in and on their way. Rebecca was still very quiet and she could tell that Scott was worried but they had no time to talk. She sat nearly shoved behind him and crowded on her left by some girl who not only made her feel very uncomfortable, but who seemed to have her skirt pulled up to her naval.
Soon Rebecca became aware that someone had started passing around some marijuana. She tired to sink further back into the seat. This was all new to her. The crowd that Rebecca had run with in high school and later never did any of this. She wasn’t necessarily a prude and she would never force her beliefs on someone else but she could never quite understand why anyone would even care to do this. She had always managed to have a good enough time without any enhancement such as this.
The girl in the short skirt took a hit and obligingly offered it Rebecca’s way. She declined and the girl passed it back the way it came. Scott, however, had just received one from across the aisle and Rebecca watched as he put it to his lips. She felt she would die. This was not her lifestyle. She did not travel in these circles. Not only that, it had never occurred to her that Scott did.
As she sat there she began to feel how stupid she must be to not think that he did. Rebecca sunk deeper in behind him and felt nauseated. She just wanted to hurry and get to wherever they were going and get out where she could breathe again.
Scott was aware that she was behind him and tried to get her to sit up. When they finally reached their destination everyone piled out and Rebecca was so grateful to breathe the night air. They all made their way as a group to the lobby and into elevators.
Crammed in the back corner of the elevator Scott had his arms around Rebecca and whispered, "You upset with me?"
"No." she lied.
"Its just pot, no big deal," surmising that was the start of her fading behind him in the limo.
Rebecca could hardly believe what she was hearing. She felt ill again, but not wanting to upset him she responded, "No, that’s not it. I’m just not used to this, you know."
He knew what she really meant and he could read it in her face. Rebecca did not want to talk about it right then. She had people pushing into her who obviously did not share her views on the subject and were turning around to see who this person was who was such a prude. She was embarrassed because she felt out of place, hurt because she learned something about Scott that she didn’t want to know and still feeling like she was replacing Linda at the last minute. She was sure Linda would have joined the party in the limo.
Stepping out of the elevator Scott was aware that Rebecca was not going to have good time where we were headed. It was a private party in a suite and as they walked in Rebecca felt even more out of place. The room was filled with people who had obviously started partying long before they arrived. As their group disbursed about the room in different directions the reactions to the new arrivals seemed to echo through the whole room. "All right! Come on in! There’s a bottle with your name on it!"
What ever you wanted it was flowing freely. So seemed the women and the drugs as Rebecca realized that not only did that aroma from the limo fill her nostrils again but she saw that cocaine was evident in another room.
Scott already had a beer shoved in his hand as they made their way through the party goers to a clearing near a far wall. With his arm around her waist he whispered in Rebecca’s ear. "We won’t stay long. Just let me see a few people and then we’ll go, OK?"
Her awkwardness in this situation seemed to be of great concern to him. She was offered a drink but declined. He was offered a joint but declined. It seemed quite obvious to everyone near that she must be the reason Scott was not his usual fun-loving, free-spirited self. Rebecca almost hated that she was causing problems for him. Who was she that when he had brought her into his world was coming across as being judgmental?
"We don’t have to go," Rebecca spoke into his ear so that he could hear over the music that blared from large speakers.
"No, its OK." Then slipping both hands around her waist snuggled in her ear, "It’s YOU that I want to spend the evening with, not this bunch." Rebecca felt somewhat better. Still, however, paranoid that at any moment the police would burst though the door and she would be spending the night in jail and charged with who knows what. It was obvious she was the only one who felt that way.
Some other people, couples, that Scott knew made there way over to their corner. Scott introduced her once again as only Becky. As they talked it became quite clear that these people did know Linda because they made reference to her by name and inquired as to her whereabouts. Scott was not so easy with his explanation of her modeling shoot in Chicago in front of Rebecca and led them down a path believing that she was not their because he was with Rebecca now and he emphasized that point as he continued to hold her from behind and sway her body to the beat of the music.
Scott finished off another beer and refused a third as they started inching their way toward the door. More people grabbed him and it was another good half hour before they reached their destination, Scott finished up that third beer that he had decided to accept along the way. The limo was gone and Scott tipped a hotel attendant to hail them a cab. The ride back to the hotel was rather quiet. Scott would occasionally mention where they might have lunch the following day or their planned shopping trip. He knew that he had fallen from grace.
