Lori nodded, “Jake added her to the list after the workshop he ran at the high school. She was backstage that night. She kept the towel Jake used when the guys came off stage before their encore. She also took his worn vest tee after the show. I think it was on a table in the dressing room. Jake took it off before taking a shower.”
“Could he have gifted it to her?”
“No,” said Lori firmly. “We saw her in a local restaurant wearing it and Jake was really pissed about it. He never spoke to her. He just insisted we leave.”
“Thanks, Mrs Power. That has been very helpful.”
“Not a problem.”
“We’ll leave you to get on with your day,” said the male officer, rising to leave. “Thank you for your assistance with this.”
“Thanks for the update it. Appreciate it.”
Once the two officers had left, Lori returned to her study and sat staring at her design. Her concentration was shattered and, again, she started to go back over the recent events in her mind. She began to question just how compliant Jake had been. Had she been too hard on him? He’d admitted having sex with another woman- that was enough. Reaching for her pencil, Lori felt a soft fluttering feeling inside. She ran her hand over her stomach and smiled as she felt another flurry of activity.
“Yes, little bean,” she whispered. “I feel you but you’ll need to stay my secret for a little while longer. Let’s not tell your daddy or your brother and sister just yet.”
Reaching for his water bottle, Jake let out a long sigh. He’d been in the studio for eight hours and had only recorded two out of the four songs they had planned for the day. Glancing over at the whiteboard, it dawned on him that this was the last of the “easy” days. The only songs left were the more emotional ones and the two ballads. With only four days of studio time left, he knew the clock was ticking.
“Jake,” called through Dr Marrs. “Again, from the top on Tip Of Your Tongue.”
“Jim, I need a break,” he replied. “Give me a half-hour.”
“Time’s running out. Get Tip Of Your Tongue done and we’ll call it a night,” countered the producer. “Another hour and we can be sitting watching TV with a beer.”
Laughing at the vision this created, Jake said, “You make us sound like an old married couple.”
“From the top, Jake,” suggested Jim. “Or no beer for you tonight.”
“Fine,” relented Jake as he screwed the lid back on the bottle.
As he stepped back into the vocal booth, Jake felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. The message could wait. Taking a deep breath, Jake placed his hands round the mic stand and gave Jim the nod. Closing his eyes, he focussed on the lyrics struggling to keep his emotions at bay. Tip Of Your Tongue reflected all the moments that the band had reached out to offer words of support to Rich only to have their good intentions flung back at them. He could visualise almost every moment that was reflected in the song. Behind his closed eyes, he could still see Rich’s angry look; sense his frustration; feel his pain. If only they’d understood his friend’s demons and been able to reach him……
“Awesome!” declared Dr Marrs as the last note faded out. “Time for that beer.”
“Thanks, Jim. Boy, do I need it after that,” sighed Jake, taking the headphones off. “That was tough.”
“You ok?”
“Yeah,” assured Jake, walking across the room. “Lot of memories in that one.”
As the two men sat in the kitchen with their beers, Jake remained lost in thought. When they’d crossed back over to the house, Jim had ordered pizza before fetching them both a beer.
“To Rich,” toasted Jake, raising his beer bottle. “What I wouldn’t give to have one more chance to talk to him. One more beer.”
“Would he have listened though?”
“Probably not,” conceded Jake sadly. “I could see all those attempts to reach out as I sang that one back there. Can still feel him shutting us all out. Pushing us away. His bunk became a cocoon. A coffin.”
“He’s still with you, isn’t he?”
Jake nodded, “Every day. I can still hear him giving me shit for things. If he’d still been here, this whole Nicole thing would never have happened. He wouldn’t have been as stupidly naïve as I’ve been.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. She played us all.”
“I guess,” he agreed. “But Rich had a way of making me see sense. He cracked the whip.”
“He sure did. This record would’ve been done a week ago if he’d been here.”
“Probably.” Jake paused. “What have we left to record?”
“Door To Another Life, Got My Eye On You. Nature’s Heartbeat, Gone and Shattered Hearts.”
“And not an easy one among them,” sighed Jake, running his hand through his hair. “Six songs. Four days.”
“Could do with another take on Back In The Day too.”
“Seven,” nodded Jake. “OK, I’ve got this. Three tomorrow then we’ll see where we’re at.”
“Minimum three.”
Jake nodded as he drained the last of his beer.
While Dr Marrs fetched two more, Jake remembered that he had an unread message on his phone. He pulled the phone from his pocket and checked the screen. There were a few notifications plus one text message from an unknown number. For a moment his blood ran cold- who was sending him messages from an unknown number? A little nervously, he opened it.
“Think we should talk. Lx”
His bruised heart swelled. Finally….
“Sure. Anytime. You tell me where and when. J x,” he replied with trembling fingers.
Realising it was late, he knew there would be
