Chapter 10
Wednesday, June 20 St. Louis
Maria sighed as she packed the rest of what she would need in Connecticut. It was early and the bus was parked in an empty parking lot not far from the airport. A limo was waiting to take Maria to the airport where she’d catch her flight.
"Do you have everything?" Mike C. asked. He was the only other one up.
"I think so. I’ll be back in a couple of days," she said. The week had been a long one. She had taken some of the group photos and she had sat down with the guys to do a portion of the group interview, but it wasn’t done yet. Maria had actually started writing her article and all of the profiles were done, so she was ahead of schedule.
Maria looked around and frowned. "Bye, everyone!" she said loudly. "Don’t get up or anything." Mike smiled. Maria felt someone grab her leg and looking down, she saw Jacob’s hand holding onto her calf. He poked his head out of his bunk and looked up at her.
"Have a good trip," he said. His eyes were still half closed, but he managed to wink at her. Maria smiled down at him. They hadn’t ‘done’ anything else since the night in the pool at her father’s house. They had been too busy and Maria still wasn’t sure what they had between them. There was definitely something between them, but Maria was still confused where her feelings for him were concerned. Jacob had only missed that one show in San Francisco due to his illness and he had performed again with the same energy he always had the very next night. His eye was also better, as was Maria’s cheek, although there was still a slightly visible bruise. Alex had covered it up with makeup, though, so it was hardly noticeable.
"Bye, Maria." She turned to see Trevor looking at her as she passed his bunk. She smiled and rubbed his arm gently.
"See ya, Trevor," she said. She turned around. "And Alex, behave yourself!" she called to her. Alex’s hand came out of her bunk and she waved. Maria laughed. After everyone else gave her heartfelt, yet tired, ‘goodbyes,’ she exited the bus with Mike. There was a light rain falling. It was a pretty dismal day.
"I’ll see you in Detroit," she said to Mike.
"Have a safe trip," he told her, smiling. Maria got into the limo and headed for the airport.
Southport, Connecticut
Sarah woke up and smiled. Maria was coming home today. She couldn’t wait. Her stuff was already packed and she planned on leaving with Maria the minute she had her high school diploma in her hand. Sarah got dressed and ran down to get some breakfast. Her mother was already up and had waffles waiting for her.
"Good morning, honey," Caroline said, smiling at her.
"Hi, mom. What time will Maria get here?" Sarah asked. Caroline sighed. Sarah had been talking about nothing but Maria since Maria had called to tell them her plans.
"Later. You have graduation practice at ten, you know," Caroline informed her youngest daughter.
"I know," Sarah said, irritably. She sensed that her mother wasn’t thrilled that Maria was coming. The two of them didn’t get along anymore. Sarah understood why. Maria had taken on a lot of responsibilities after their parents had split and Sarah believed that she was very bitter about it. Sarah didn’t blame her, though. She felt badly because she hadn’t made it easy for her sister and for Maria to invite Sarah to live with her was unexpected to say the least. Sarah planned on making it up to her big sister.
Orlando
Susan sat at her desk. Kyle came in and dropped a folder onto her desk.
"I’m glad that everything worked out with your mother," he said. She smiled.
"It was touch and go for a while, but she’s getting better," she told him.
"Have you heard from Maria?" Kyle then asked her. Susan shook her head.
"No, and I’m actually a little worried. I…" she stopped when she saw Geoff come into her office. His face was bruised, as if he’d been in a fight. "Good Lord, what happened to you?" Susan asked him. Kyle turned to look at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I’m fine, but Maria might not be," Geoff replied. Susan frowned.
"Why? What happened?" she asked.
"Look, I don’t want to cause any trouble. That’s why I waited a week before I came here. But I’m worried about Maria. She’s not herself. She’s getting into something that she shouldn’t. Now, she won’t listen to me, but I know that she respects the two of you and she’ll listen to you," Geoff told them.
"What’s going on?" Kyle asked. "What happened, son?" Susan looked at Geoff closely. She knew that Geoff had cheated on Maria and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was just here to start trouble.
"I went to see her. I found out that she was staying with her father in San Francisco for a couple of days. Anyway, she’s in too deep with these guys…that band that she’s with. One of them attacked me," he said. Susan laughed. Kyle shot her a look.
"Geoff, tell us the whole story…the real story because I don’t think that any one of those guys would just attack you without being provoked," Susan told him firmly. Geoff turned to Kyle, seeing that he would get no sympathy from Susan.
"Really. This guy was all over Maria and when I told him to lay off, he hit me," he said. Susan didn’t believe a word of it.
"Which one?" she asked.
"The one with the dreads," he said. "He was out of control. I don’t like the idea of Maria being with them another day, much less another month. I love her and I don’t want her hurt." Kyle nodded.
"I’ll look into it," he said as he left the office. Susan stood up and stared at Geoff.
"I know what you did and I think that you’re here to cause trouble for Maria," she said. Geoff shrugged.
"Believe what you want, but I’m only looking out for her," he said and turning around, he left. Susan frowned. Jacob would never just ‘attack’ anyone…that Susan knew. She picked up her phone.
St. Louis
"Hey, man," Dan said to Trevor as he joined him at the table in the front of the bus. Trevor smiled.
"Hey, Dan. The weather sucks," he said.
"Then why are you smiling?"
"I don’t know. I guess, I’m just in a good mood," Trevor answered.
"I thought that you’d be bumming since Maria left," Dan told him. Trevor shrugged.
"It’s gonna be weird not having her here, but she’ll be back in a couple of days. I think I’m gonna ask her if she wants to, you know, do anything with me, when she gets back," he said, nervously.
"What about Jake?" Dan asked. Trevor shrugged.
"Haven’t you watched them this past week? Nothing’s going on. They were just fooling around. It’s nothing serious," he said. Trevor was trying very hard to convince himself of that. He remembered Maria telling him that she had feelings for Jacob, but it appeared, at least this past week, that she wasn’t doing anything about those feelings, so Trevor might as well move in and see what happened.
"Okay. But Trev, if there is something going on, don’t be too upset. I mean you know that there might be, right?" Dan asked.
"Yeah, dude, I know. It’s not like I haven’t been shot down before," Trevor told him. Dan nodded. He felt badly for Trevor, who longed to have ‘someone.’ But Trevor was tough and would get over it in time if Maria didn’t go for him, which would probably be the case. Dan knew that she had something going on with Jacob. It was too obvious.
Mike M. appeared and sat beside Dan. "Guys. You have a meet and greet before the show tonight, so we’ll be leaving earlier than we usually do." They nodded. Mike’s cell phone rang and he answered it. Trevor and Dan exchanged a look when they saw Mike frown and nod as he listened to whoever was on the other end.
"Of course. I’ll speak to him. Thank you. No, I’ll keep a closer eye on them," Mike said before hanging up. Without a word, he got up and headed for the sleeping area.
"I wonder what that was all about?" Dan asked.
"Jacob, I need to talk to you," Mike said. Jacob rolled out of his bunk. He stood up and looked at Mike.
"What’s up?" he asked.
"I just received a call from Kyle Walsh. He’s a little upset."
"Why?" Jacob asked, pushing a dread behind his ear.
"He heard about what happened a week ago and is worried about Maria," Mike told him. Jacob sighed, and then frowned.
"Who told him?" he asked.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, Mike, it does. If Maria’s boyfriend told him, I’m sure that his version of what happened wasn’t what really happened," he said.
"Walsh is under the impression that this Geoff guy caught you all over Maria and when he tried to pull you off, you attacked him." Jacob laughed.
"And he believed him? That’s bullshit, Mike," he said.
"That’s not what happened," Ashley added from his bunk. "That jerk is lying!"
"Look, fellas, all I know is that Walsh is upset and he’s ready to end Maria’s assignment right now. Just let her do her job and leave her alone, okay? There will be a lot less problems if you just work with her and that’s it," Mike said.
"What do you think we’ve done?" Jacob asked heatedly. "And don’t tell me that you believe that I threw the first punch, because I didn’t." Jacob was starting to get angry now. Mike looked over at Ashley.
"That’s right. The jerk punched Jacob, then he, like, tried to drag Maria away and Jake was just helping her out. Her boyfriend went ballistic and Jacob just defended himself. That’s what happened," Ashley told him. Mike nodded.
"Fine," he said, turning back to Jacob. "I know that you would never do something like just start a fight for no reason, but please try and remain professional with Maria. I know she’s pretty and you guys are getting along, which is good. Just don’t get along too well, if you know what I mean?" Mike slapped Jacob on the shoulder, turned around and headed back to the front of the bus.
Jacob closed his eyes and sighed. "Dude, that Geoff guy is trouble," he said. Ashley nodded.
"What are you gonna do?" he asked. Jacob shook his head.
"I really don’t know," he answered.
"So, Erik, I know nothing about you really," Alex said as she lay on one of the seats with her head in his lap at the back of the bus. "Other than you’re an amazing performer, a great guy and a great kisser." Erik smiled.
"What do you want to know?" he asked. Alex smiled up at him.
"I don’t know. What about your family? Are you close?" she asked. Erik nodded.
"Yes. Very. That’s the hardest part about this for me…not seeing them. My mom actually raised me by herself until I was ten, then she got remarried. I don’t think of my stepfather as a ‘stepfather.’ He’s my real dad as far as I’m concerned. I just met my biological father last year. I also met my stepbrother and stepsister that I never even knew that I had. It was hard, but rewarding too."
"Wow. I had no idea," Alex said.
"Maria didn’t tell you? I talked to her about it during my interview with her."
"No, she probably wasn’t sure if you wanted me to know. When it comes to her work, she’s very private and doesn’t just divulge information. You have to yank it out of her," Alex told him, smiling. Erik laughed.
"What about your family?" he asked. Alex looked away from him.
"Um…they’re nothing special," she said. Erik frowned. Alex suddenly sat up. "I’m going to get something to eat." She left in a hurry. ‘What did I say?’ Erik thought.
Connecticut
Maria watched as the trees flew by. It was sunny and warm, but the limo had adequate air conditioning, so Maria was comfortable. She sighed. She was almost ‘home.’ Another twenty minutes and she’d be there. Her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"I’m away for two minutes and all hell breaks loose?" Susan asked.
"’Hi’ to you too, Susan. What’s wrong?" Maria asked.
"Geoff was here," she said. Maria rolled her eyes.
"I’m sure you saw his beautiful face," she said, sarcastically.
"Do you want to tell me what really happened?" Susan asked her.
"Jesus, it was a week ago. I really don’t want to get into it. What did he say happened?" Maria asked, curious as to why Geoff would go to her workplace.
"He said that he caught Jacob all over you and when he tried to get him off of you, Jacob attacked him." Maria laughed.
"No kidding? That’s not how I remember it happening," she said.
"Kyle was upset."
"He believed Geoff? You have got to be kidding me. Jacob wouldn’t just attack someone for no reason," Maria told her.
"I know that and you know that, but Kyle doesn’t. Now, I want your version. What happened?" Susan asked seriously.
"Well, I was actually the one who was all over Jacob," Maria admitted.
"Lord, give me strength," Susan muttered. Maria smiled. "Why?"
"Um…well, I’d had a bad day, you know? And Jacob looked good and we have been having this kind of attraction thing going on, like, I’m attracted to him and I knew that he was attracted to me, so I went for it," she said. "I didn’t plan on Geoff coming in. I was mad that he was even there and I told him to get lost, but he didn’t and he came in and, well, he saw me kissing Jacob and went nuts. Jacob was just protecting himself and me. Geoff started the fight."
"Wonderful. How’s Jacob?" Susan asked.
"He only got a black eye and a small cut. He kicked Geoff’s ass," Maria said proudly.
"What am I going to do with you?" Susan asked. Maria laughed.
"Not much right now. I’m in Connecticut, you know. Sarah’s graduation is tomorrow and the Mikes were nice enough to let me attend," she said. "Oh, how’s your mother?"
"She’s doing better everyday. It was scary for a while, but she pulled through."
"What was wrong with her?"
"She had pneumonia and the congestion was really bad in her lungs. She’s scheduled to be released from the hospital as soon as Saturday, though," Susan told her.
"That’s great. Look, don’t worry about me, okay? Geoff is just being a bastard. He’s jealous, that’s all. We broke up. It’s over between us. I told him that and I guess he can’t accept it," Maria said.
"Maria, please don’t cause problems for Jacob. I like him. He’s a nice guy and doesn’t deserve to be used," Susan said. ‘Wow, she’s honest,’ Maria thought.
"I like him too, Susan. A lot. I wasn’t using him either," she said.
"I’m glad. Okay, have fun at Sarah’s graduation. Tell her I said ‘congratulations.’ I’ll talk to you soon," Susan told her.
"I will. Bye, Susie," Maria said and hung up. She looked out the window again. Maybe her being away from the group would give her a chance to figure out her feelings for Jacob.
Sarah waited impatiently by the front door. When she finally saw the limo pull into the driveway, she was out the door in a second. Maria opened the limo door and stepped out. Before she could even look around, Sarah was pouncing on her.
"You’re here!" Sarah squealed in delight. Maria laughed as she hugged her sister.
"I sure am," Maria said, releasing Sarah. "Calm down. Gee, I never thought that you’d be so happy to see me." Looking past her sister, Maria saw her mother coming down the porch steps. Caroline walked over and hugged Maria lightly.
"It’s good to see you," Caroline said.
"You too, mom," Maria said politely. The limo driver put Maria’s things on the porch and drove away. Sarah dragged Maria into the house. It was an older house with a long wooden porch. There was a lake in the back yard with a short, rickety dock. Maria entered the house and she was overcome with memories. A staircase was directly in front of her when she walked in. The dining room was to the right and the living room to the left. Next to the stairs was a hallway that led back to the kitchen. Family pictures lined the wall going up the staircase. Newer pictures of Sarah, Joey and Maria had replaced many pictures that Joseph had been in. Maria shook her head.