Journey

JOURNEY

"Good morning ladies. Can I start you off with coffee? Juice? Something stronger?" The waiter is cute, for being young. I want to ask if he's even allowed to serve alcoholic drinks.

"Come on, don't be such a killjoy." My sister complains when I ask the waiter for a coffee.

"If I have a mimosa now, I'll be asleep by the time I have to go in for my shift at the bar."

"Well, you order one and I'll drink them both." She sits back in her chair of the cute little bistro we're at for brunch and crosses her arms with a huff.

"You're the older sister, shouldn't you have some self control?"

"I never learned that." She shrugs and inspects her nails.

"No shit, it's how you ended up with that loser husband of yours."

The waiter snickers and we both shoot him a look. He clears his throat and asks, "So, two mimosas and a coffee?"

"Yes." we answer in unison as he scurries from the table.

"You're incorrigible and now you made the poor kid uncomfortable." I grab my napkin and lay it on my lap.

"It'll teach him not to laugh at personal conversations then."

Rolling my eyes at my sister, my exasperation quickly turns into a smile. "I'm so glad you're here this weekend. Why can't you move here?"

"If I move here, I'm bringing my loser husband."

I laugh at her. "Okay, he's not that big of a loser. I just don't like that he took you away from me."

"He can never do that. I'm always just a phone call away."

"A phone call and a plane ticket." I pout.

After my run in with Freddie at the bar last night, this brunch is much needed today. And I probably will drink that mimosa if only to take the nerves down a bit. He made me start thinking about a lot of things I had pushed out of my mind. A lot of things I swore I'd never go back to began resurfacing with a lot of ‘what ifs' bouncing around. He saw right through the wall I had erected, questioning me about my past. But him hearing me sing? Nope. Not ready for that one, at all.

"What happened last night? I heard you come in really late."

"I was trying to clean up and get out of there quickly but Freddie started asking questions." She watches me, just waiting for me to elaborate. "He heard me singing."

Her eyes get wide and she leans on her elbow getting closer to me on the table. "You were singing?"

"Just humming a little, a few words here and there. It was just me, or so I thought. I didn't realize he was spying on me."

She smiles and leans back in her chair as the waiter comes and places our drinks in front of us. "I had a brief convo with him last night."

"You did?" I squeak out.

"Yep. And I don't hate him."

I let out a laugh. "He is kind of hard to hate with those eyes of his."

She waggles her brows. "And that hair. And that body … girl, did you notice the tattoo on those arms of his?"

I giggle. "I know. I try not to look for long and get distracted." I breathe out. "I can't like him. He's a song writer. He's looking to leave. He actually told me last night he's looking for someone to write songs for. That's not me. I don't want that life anymore, Faith."

She reaches across the table taking my hand in hers. "You should be proud of your voice, . You worked hard for it. Don't let some asshole take it from you."

Well, if that line shouldn't be on the cover of my life story. I squeeze her hand but look down and play with my napkin before bringing my eyes back to her. "I know but I–" I stop mid sentence and focus on the table with a group of guys sitting two away from us. My sister turns around and I hiss at her. "Don't look!"

Of course it only makes her crane her neck more and when she turns her chair it makes a screech across the floor. The table looks up and the one guy I've been trying to avoid, throws up a wave and a smile that I'd love to kiss off his face.

God, he's hot.

She turns back around with a smug face as I watch Freddie stand and make his way to our table.

"Well, g'mornin ladies." He drawls out in that deep tone of his.

"Are you stalking me, Menotti?" I ask, trying to look anywhere but at him.

"Ya know my last name. Maybe I should ask ya that?"

Sitting back in the chair I throw my napkin on the table and reach for my drink.

"Thought you didn't want that?" my sister asks with a sarcastic voice.

"I'm suddenly very thirsty." I guzzle half the drink before placing it down on the table again.

"No wine?" he says.

"It's ten thirty in the morning.

He shrugs. "Life is too short not to enjoy it, ." He turns toward my sister. "Faith, thanks for the chat last night. I enjoyed spending a few minutes with ya and Butch." He knocks on the table. "I'll let y'all ladies enjoy ya breakfast. , I'll see ya in a few days." He winks, returning to his table. I watch him walk the whole way. His gait is smooth, his thighs thick and I'm quickly lost in the way his jeans accentuate his ass.

"Sissy. You've got it bad for the rock star." She says as she snaps her fingers to bring me back to our conversation.

I sigh and close my eyes. "I just need a guy to drink wine with and listen to good music. Is that so hard to find?"

"If you'd listen to the melody around you, I think you may have already found him."