Share
The Guitar
Related chapters
No Return Love & Hate
They were playing one of Jay’s old songs when he realized Silvia was singing the background vocals. He looked up at her and raised one eyebrow, both mocking and questioning. She raised both—what?—and nodded for him to keep playing. He did.“Well, what about those BG vocals?” he said when the song was over.“Oh, I love their arrangements. If you can take it, I’d rather go for that.”“Be my guest.”But he still couldn’t bring his inner bastard to behave, so he picked Save Your Soul. And she sang the higher voice along with a contagious spark of joy in her eyes. Jay leaned a little forward to sing:But who are we supposed to be? She smiled in the following pause and leaned a little forward too, chuckling when he sang, like asking her:And who am I supposed to be today?Her lips pursed in an ironic smile as he charged on with the chorus, nodding for her to join him.I give back all that’s been givenI take back all that’s been takenI could never go on this way again…She hit all the rig
No Return Just a Hit
Silvia sang oblivious to the rest of the universe.This was just like having Jim Robinson playing only for her.Jay was simply irresistible, he played so well, and his voice kept triggering avalanches of chills down her spine.And since they were complete strangers, and would never meet again after they left the bus station in opposite directions, she felt unexpectedly liberated. So she sang along like she’d always sung those same songs back home, in the shower or while she cleaned her house.Loving every minute of it.She didn’t remember ever coming across such an attractive, charming guy, with such a magnetic personality, nice and rude at the same time. A real bad boy, her little sister would have called him. She labeled him as a lovely bastard. Exactly the kind she always fell for.Good thing she still had eyes on her face, even after so much crying, to keep her from overlooking what was in plain sight. First of all, the age gap. Jay looked closer to her sister’s age than to hers,
No Return Ten Less
Right from the hall door, Silvia saw Jay had fallen asleep, curling up on the couch. It was a miracle he hadn’t knocked the guitar down to the floor in his sleep.She left the paper cups on the coffee table, put the guitar in its case and searched her bag for her trip blanket.Jay’s jacket was still dripping on the back of the other armchair and it was plain to see he was cold. She tucked him in, grabbed her latte and went back to her armchair. Out the windows, the platform lights drew static white cones that the rain pierced in a hypnotic dance.Silvia glanced at Jay and sighed with a mild smile.She’d never been a fan of spite sex, but this gringo sure made the idea appealing.If only she’d been ten years younger and ten pounds slimmer.Then she would’ve felt authorized to wish she were sitting on the couch with him, resting against his side under the blanket.For starters.She turned to look out the windows again, as the endless night crawled its way through the storm toward the mo
No Return Help Marching On
A soft touch on his shoulder woke Jay up. The first thing he registered was daylight, the next was the man standing by the couch, looking down at him with an apologetic smile. He tried to sit up and found Silvia’s head resting on his chest, and his own arm around her shoulders. One of his legs was stretched over hers under the blanket.The man realized he could hardly move and crouched down by his side to speak in whispers.“Sorry to disturb you. We’re leaving, but I’m afraid we have no room in my brother’s car for you guys. Is there anything we can do to help?”Jay understood this was the father of the family that had spent the night there like them. He tried to move again and asked the man for a minute.“I’ll be at the hall,” the man said, straightening up.Jay turned to Silvia. There was no way to leave the couch without waking her up. He managed the easy part—removing his leg from over hers. But as soon as he tried to gently pull out his arm, trapped between her back and the couch
No Return The Bruises
Hearing his brother’s voice felt like the best thing that had happened to him in ages. He told him about his situation and his brand new plan to leave the bus station in three or four hours.“I’ll call you when I get to town.”“You’re gonna have to spend the night there, ‘cause I can’t go get you right now. They warned us the road to town is flooded.”“Don’t worry, bro. I’ll wait for you.”“Hope you have some fun, ‘cause you’re missing it big here, man. Jo brought Fay and some more girlfriends along, and we’ve been partying around the clock ever since they got here.”Jay chuckled. “Sons of bitches. Tell those babes I expect a nice welcome.” He saw Silvia coming. “Gotta go now, bro.”“Take care, bastard.”Jay disconnected and handed out the latte to her with a bright grin, telling her the breaking news.She took a moment to reply, surprised to see his eyes were actually blue, clear and pale like water. “That’s great, Jay! You’ll be on your way in a while!”“Hell yeah! Can’t fucking bel
No Return Complicated
Jay rested his shoulder against the window by her side, giving her the latte. She looked so calm, so composed, like she’d never told him what had happened to her, or like it hadn’t happened to her at all. But he’d seen the bruises.“There you go, with that song again,” he said softly.She smiled to thank him for the coffee and shrugged. “Yeah, it’s just catchy.”Break Free? Jay almost choked on the word. “Catchy?”Silvia noticed he’d taken offense and quickly added, “Well, not really. It’s actually gloomy, that’s why it’s catchy for me.”“You make a funny use of adjectives, y’know?”“You think?”“Don’t pull my tongue, ‘cause you don’t wanna hear my inner bastard.”“It’s okay, I like him.”“That’s why you are where you are, woman.”“You’re right, maybe I don’t like him that much.”They chuckled together.After having their coffees, they decided to give a personal touch to their corner of the waiting room. They turned the couch around and placed the coffee table before it. That way, ins
No Return The Icing on Your Cake
After moving around while they talked, changing spots on the couch, the coffee table, or standing by the windows, they sat together again for a five-fork lunch of snacks and soda from the vending machines. Then Silvia retreated to the end of the couch and curled up there with a cigarette, watching Jay speak.She wanted to remember as much of him as he could. Because, in a very straight and non-dramatic fashion, he’d saved her. His company had allowed her to take the first step to leave the hurt behind and start moving on. He’d given her something to recall on her long way home, other than that insane, violent episode that had shattered all her dreams for good.He patted her feet, pointing at his own legs. “Rest them here before your knees cramp,” he said.She squinted—what? Jay’s smile could’ve melted the iceberg to save the Titanic. In minutes.“Hey, we’ve already slept together, right? No need to be shy.”Silvia could only chuckle, and did what he wanted. They talked for another thi
No Return Emotional Rescue
“Hello?”Jay and Silvia jumped to their feet, turning to the hall door. A stout prototype of the all-American farmer grandpa stood at the doorway, water overflowing the brim of his hat to rain down on his thick jacket to his rubber boots.“You’re the ones needing a ride to town?”“Yeah! That’s us!” Jay replied.“Then bring your stuff and let’s get out of here while we still can.”The old man spun on his heels and strode away down the hall.Jay stopped Silvia when she was wearing her jacket. He’d already figured out that what had made her refuse to go back to town was that she didn’t want to face those people again, after starring on such a scandal.“Here,” he said, handing her his own jacket.“And what about you?”“Guess you’ll have to keep me warm.”The loud honk from outside made Silvia shrug and accept the jacket. Jay replaced her woolen cap with his black cap and smiled.“There. They shouldn’t recognize you like this.”Silvia froze, finally understanding what he was doing, and loo
Latest chapter
