A Witness to the Music
Part Four
After he shut the door, I was so encapsulated in the
air that still held his scent that I don’t even really remember hobbling over
to the bed. I just remember laying
there, my face buried into a pillow that Kyle had been holding at some point
earlier in the night, re-enacting everything that we had done and talked about
in my mind.
At some point, I dozed off.
But sleep was simply in and out all night long.
Strangely enough, though, this didn’t bother me.
I guess that’s because when I would wake, there would be this lump of
excitement in my chest and a smile as big as Texas across my face.
Naturally, my dreams and thoughts were completely of him.
Seeing him in concert. Meeting
in the ice room. Bowling.
Chinese food. That smile and
those eyes.
Shortly before 6am, there was a knock on the door.
My initial response was to ignore it, thinking that it was all part of my
dream. Then when it continued, I
figured it was probably the same pranksters from the night before.
Surely there wouldn’t be somebody knocking on my door this early
in the morning. The sun wasn’t
even up, yet. Then the light
knocking began to get harder. Cripes,
somebody is really there.
Rolling myself off of the bed, I made my way to the
door. My ankle was finally better,
because even with walking there was no pain.
And there was no need for a robe or anything of the like, seeing as how I
had fallen asleep in my clothes.
I opened the door as far as the safety chain would
allow, only to have my dreams come true. Kyle
was standing there. Only problem
was, mixed with a tired version of his smile, there was a not-so-good look upon
his face. “Hold on,” I told
him, as I unlocked the chain.
He came in, but appeared to be almost in a rush.
“Lex, I really hate to be doing this.”
“Do what?” I mumbled, yawning and rubbing my
eyes. “And why are you awake so
early? You just left here only a
few hours ago.”
That’s when he took my hands and walked me over to
the foot of the bed. As we sat, he
began to explain. “You remember
that we have the final show of the tour in three days?
Uh, two days now.” I
nodded, still half asleep. “Well,
anyway, our manager woke us up this morning to tell us that there is some
problem with this venue, and we all need to get there to figure out if the show
can still go on as planned. I
don’t really know too much by way of details.
All I know is that we need to get there, and we need to leave soon. I am so sorry, Lex, but our plans for the next couple days
are going to have to wait.”
Okay, that woke me up. Could this really be happening?
Those lumps of excitement quickly turned to feelings of my heart being
somewhere in the middle of my throat, causing my mouth to turn as dry as cotton.
Sounding like someone lost in the desert, all I could manage to ask him
was, “So, does this mean the end of what we were barely even able to start?”
With a tender chuckle, he gently caressed my face.
“Heaven’s no. I felt too
strong of a connection with us to just drop it all.
As I lay in bed last night, I barely slept.
All I could manage to do was see your face.
Odd thing was, every time I saw you it was at a different show.
I actually saw you at each concert you were at these past years, but it
didn’t all come together until then. There
is no way I am letting you go now that I finally found you.
That is, if it’s alright with you?”
Once again, he charmed me. I leaned over, gave him a soft, small kiss and told him,
“This is NOT a problem of mine. I
just hope that you are ready for me! Or,
maybe I should be asking if I am ready for you – just when is it that you have
to leave?”
He looked straight and deep right into my eyes,
patted my knees, and told me to stay where I was. Next thing I knew, he was wheeling in a room service cart
covered in a gorgeous golden cloth with quite an extravagant breakfast laid out
upon it. “I have just enough time
for breakfast. I didn’t know
exactly what you liked, so I ordered a little of everything.”
I didn’t know where to start!
Before my eyes was a feast made up of eggs, bacon, two kinds of sausage,
and just about every type of fruit and pastry imaginable.
Filling in the holes were coffee, tea, and a variety of juices.
Yet smack in the middle of the display was a vase.
Held within were two of the most beautiful roses that I had ever laid my
eyes upon. One was a brilliant
crimson red, the other a creamy white with edges that were almost the same red.
“This all looks so wonderfully delicious.
And these roses … they are so beautiful!!”
“I am so glad that you like it,” he blushed.
“When I saw those, I just knew that they would be perfect for us.”
Propped up at the bottom of the vase, on a little
golden tray, was an envelope with my name in his handwriting.
I reached down to pick it up, but he asked me to wait.
“I have a difficult time with saying goodbye.
So if you could, please wait until after I have left before you open
that?”
I understood that.
Not a problem at all. Especially
considering all the trouble he had gone to in such a short amount of time, I was
just thrilled that he was even sitting in front of me!
But he wasn’t to be there for long.
It seemed like we had just began to eat and relax when we realized that
the time had come for Kyle to go.
I could feel that lump returning to my throat; only
this time I didn’t bother stopping the tears.
I knew he had to go, and I completely understood.
But that didn’t make things any easier on either of us.
He stood, tenderly took my hands in his and brought
me up to his level. Leaning towards
me, I could feel his heart beating vigorously through the palms of his hands.
My sadness was forgotten as he neared my face; his breath was warm and
tantalizing. Our lips touched, and
as if all in one sweeping motion, his soft-yet-dominating hands broke their grip
with mine and grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for quite the carnal
embrace. I wanted him now more than
ever. But, amidst all of this
passion, a single tear fell down my cheek. Our first real, true display of what we really felt for each
other, and he would soon be walking out the door with the possibility of me
never seeing him again. How was I
going to deal with this?
Kyle took a step back. “Ah, Lex. It
wasn’t ‘that’ bad, now, was it?” he sweetly joked, wiping away the tear.
“Like I said, I don’t do goodbyes.
So once I am gone, please read the note.
I kind of told you a little white lie about last night.
I didn’t sleep at all. Instead,
as soon as I heard that we were leaving early, I began writing to you and
planning all of this. I pray that
this isn’t the end of what we have just started.
I’ll see you soon.” I
tried to respond, but he just put his fingers to my lips to hush me.
Looking over at the roses, he just smiled. “I’ll see you REAL soon.”
And with that, he was out the door.
I didn’t know what to do. It was almost as if I could still feel him holding me against
his body. I was just completely in
a daze. The only thing that was
going through my mind was the last thing he said as he walked out the door.
“I’ll see you REAL soon.” Why
did he say it that way? Not just
soon, but real soon. He knew that I
couldn’t afford to drive to the next show, let alone pay for tickets and
another hotel room. That’s when I
remembered the roses and the letter. He
had said they were perfect for us, and that he wanted me to wait to read it
until after he had left. Guess
there’s no time like now. Maybe
this explains it all.
I walked back towards the bed.
Passing the cart, I grabbed the note, and a croissant, and lazily lay
down. He must have dusted the
envelope with his cologne, because it smelled magnificent.
On the back was a small wax seal bearing his monogram.
I peeled it off carefully and slid out the note.
For a guy, he certainly had beautiful penmanship!
Taking a nibble of my pastry, I began to read. It wasn’t long before I realized that my French roll was so
insignificant, for I held in my hands the most stunning letter of sentiment and
romance that had ever been written or received. Tears, once again, made their way down my face as I read his
emotions. I would see him again.
Soon. I would greet him with
the same style of roses, for now I understood what he meant.
I understood, and I was falling in love.
©C.M.Bolyard, 2002
