Considering Claudia had taken them to a good place, and the online reviews didn’t say much about the nightclub they were about to go to, Deborah asked her about it.
“I’ve never been there,” Claudia said. “Too exclusive for my budget. But I’ve heard they throw VIP private parties on the third floor.”
Deborah flashed a cunning smile. “Wanna hop in as a scout?”
Claudia mirrored her smile. “Lead the way!”
Tim remained at the bar, to wait for Deborah’s call giving the green light for the nightclub. The call didn’t take long and he headed for the counter to pay for everybody’s drinks, leaving Ron and the bodyguards to take the group to their cars.
Jim gulped up his bourbon and got to his feet. His lips curled up when he saw Silvia dodge the others to come toward him. She flashed a merry grin, and before he could take her hand, she wrapped her arm around his.
&ldquo
Jim observed Silvia as they danced to Erasure’s Little Respect, wondering what the hell she was up to. Just like back when they’d first met, she was dying to touch him, yet she pretended she didn’t. But back then they were complete strangers.It couldn’t be those silly overexcited chicks, or the other girl back at the hotel. She was way above that. She knew they were just the joke of the minute and meant nothing at all. After all, they’d always been with somebody else over the last year, and that had never come between them. Then why on earth didn’t she just step up and take what she wanted?“Jim!”He raised his hand to let Deborah know he’d be there in a minute. His other hand pulled Silvia closer and circled her waist.“Get ready, woman. I’ll be right back to stay,” he said an inch away from her lips.She didn’t look away from his eyes, she didn’t shiver,
By four, only a few of them were still standing, because the rest were exhausted, drunk or both. Deborah’s legendary resistance to champagne had been seriously compromised that night, so she looked around for Tim to help her organize the group’s retreat. And found him completely wasted on a couch. Good thing Ron was still in shape to crawl down the stairs and ask the bodyguards to get the cars ready. Meanwhile, she took on the quest of kicking everybody up to their feet.Her dizzy head got suddenly clear when she found Jim had exceeded his alcohol to an extent she’d had only seen a couple of times before. He was declaiming something at the top of his lungs, while Silvia and Liam laughed and threw snacks at him from a couch.Deborah shook Sean, snoozing with his head on Jo’s lap, and pointed at his brother. He rubbed his face, shook Walt awake, and together they were able to push and punch Jim into the toilet. Gallons of fresh water on his head e
What they called the tech and junior crews had been working at the stadium for hours by the time the senior crew and the musicians were able to leave their rooms. They navigated their hangover the best they could and eventually found their way to one of the hotel restaurants for lunch.Soon they were all there, save Jim. Deborah counted heads one more time. Yep, he was the only one missing. She found out she still had his phone, so she called his room.Sean saw her look as she came back to the table and sighed. For a change, nobody but him dared to go knock on Jim’s door, especially knowing he wasn’t alone.“I’ll get him,” he said to Deborah, and turned to Jo. “Order my lunch, please.”Upstairs, he stopped before Jim’s door and paid attention. He couldn’t hear a single sound from inside the room. His brother was still sleeping. Sean knocked softly and waited. Nothing. He knocked again.“Ji
Jo enjoyed the ride to the west area of the city, to a neighborhood called Caseros, filming and talking with Silvia.Living a thousand miles away from Buenos Aires, and far from being into indie movies, Silvia couldn’t tell her much about the renown international indie festival that took place in the city every year. But she was more than willing to answer any questions about her country, their traditions and culture, and about herself too. So Jo asked away to her heart’s content.Claudia waited for them with Silvia’s sister and friends, who welcomed Jo like they’d known her for years and made her feel at home in just minutes.Silvia left them talking in the living room and hurried upstairs for a quick shower, hopefully even with hot water. The first thing she saw in her room was all her clothes, washed and ironed, folded in a neat pile on her bed.She went back downstairs with a change of clothes, an extra pack of cigaret
The guys in Silvia’s group joined the girls by the fence as the band played Weight of the World, their hard-rock hearts leaning to approving nods, even though No Return was much softer than anything they liked. And from the stage, Jim smiled when the girls danced, watching Silvia dance and sing as she’d done at the North Dakota inn, just for fun and just for him.“Okay, now let’s take it one by one,” Sam said from the tower.Jim handed the guitar to his assistant and jumped down from the stage with his microphone, just in case. Somebody gave him a bottle of water as he sneaked past the fence to join Silvia’s group. He shook hands and kissed cheeks as she introduced them, with that professional charming smile he usually wore for the meet & greet occasions. But he turned to her as soon as the introductions were over, forgetting about the others not a step away.“I think your friends know my songs better than y
“Sorry to water the mood, guys, but I’d like something to finish the keys,” said Sam.Walt looked up at Jim, who tilted his head with a little smile, looking at Silvia.She would’ve liked to fear for herself, but she was already all in for Jim’s game, so she just waited. She didn’t understand what he said to Walt and the others, but saw his sign when he met her eyes again, pointing at his ear.Pay attention? She did, and she only needed a couple of seconds to recognize Save Your Soul and join him, feeling like a child in Christmas as she sang the background vocals, making Tom chuckle and throw up his hands."Save your soul‘Cause I don’t need it anymoreMy devil eyes see better when they’reNot open, that’s for sure.You were my heart My saving grace
A shaken silence followed the end of the song. Everybody kept staring blankly at the stage, not registering that Jim jumped down from it and hurried to the fence to help Silvia down, take her by the hand and lead her away.All of them quivered, like jolting awake from a gripping but muddled dream. They seemed to remember to empty their lungs or fill them again. Their eyes met as they glanced around, questioning, still puzzled, wondering what had just really happened, why they were all so moved, when had Jim made that song.They all looked relieved to see the others were just as shaken. They tried a few steps to remember what was supposed to come next. And the two people that had shaken them like that came to the rescue, as Silvia’s voice echoed all over the stadium.“Son of a bitch! If you ever do this to me again—!”Jim’s laughter replaced her on every speaker. “Everybody heard that, y’know?”“
The space behind the stage was a fevered buzz of techs, assistants, security staff, reporters, VIP guests. The band had retreated to the dressing room to get ready for the meet & greet before playing.Jo rescued Silvia from the trailer steps and took her to join Claudia at a dark corner of the stageside, from where they could watch the show. But the other two refused to stay there. Their friends had taken the best spot against the fence, right in front of Jim’s microphone, and they intended to join them. Jo argued it could get rough in the pit sometimes, and they could get bruised out there.“Yeah, well, it’s a rock concert, not an opera,” Silvia replied.They made her confess she’d never watched the band from the audience since they’d released their first album, and they ended up convincing her to join them.Five minutes before No Return took the stage, Deborah saw Ron come running, pale as if he’d just seen
Silvia woke up to Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus.The sun was setting and she was alone in bed, tucked in soft sheets that smelled of lemon and the fat white comforter. Jim had left a few hours ago to let her rest, because after those weeks apart, it was plain to see she wouldn’t get any rest with him around.She’d fallen sound asleep, exhausted, and now she had the persistent feeling of being still lost in a dream. But she wasn’t. This was not the Black Rock. It was the Ashtray, her new home, and that music had to be a phone ringing.But not hers. She’d never used that song as a ringtone.She followed the music to the other nightstand, where she found a new phone still inside its open box with a red ribbon. And she laughed out loud when she grabbed it and saw the caller was My Personal J.“Hey, you awake?” Jim asked when she picked up, still chuckling.“Hey, you just woke me u
They staggered into the bedroom and fell on the bed as they kissed, their hands struggling to get rid of their clothes.Silvia pulled Jim to bring him on top of her, yearning to feel his weight. There was no other body to hers, no other hands to touch her, no other lips to drive her crazy, no other skin to stroke hers. She wrapped a leg around his waist, pushing him down, and moaned when she felt him inside of her, his fire sweeping it all away, and she gave in to his need and his exasperated anxiety.Because that was exactly how he was feeling. He’d never missed her body, he’d never needed her like this. Yet there he was, fighting himself back to keep from going off like a frigging teen, growing crazier with every moan he pushed out of her mouth, every move of her hips, every touch of her fingers, every brush of her lips. Like he would never have enough of her.Why was he feeling this way? Why nothing seemed enough? When had all bodies lost their ap
Silvia exited the Customs Office feeling stunned and a little dizzy. After such an emotional last week in Bariloche, she’d had to go through the long flight that had taken her to another time zone, another season, another country, another culture, another language. She looked around, feeling she was running on fumes and she was about to pass out any moment now.Jim threw the sign she hadn’t seen into a bin to come stand before her, hands in his pockets and a smile under his black cap.“Looking for somebody?”Silvia just dropped everything to fall into his arms. He held her tight, kissing her hair, and felt her shiver nonstop. She needed a whole minute to fight back her tears and get a little grip on herself. When he assessed she would be able to walk, he took her hand, grabbed the luggage cart with his other hand, and took both to the parking lot without a word.Silvia just let him lead the way. She was there, with him, finally. Sh
Silvia left before her friends and siblings even registered what she was doing. One minute they were all toasting to her for the hundredth time in the bar, and the next minute she was hugging every one of them, telling them how much she loved them. And then she was gone, all alone.She walked down the street, gazing up at the sky, admiring the colors in those minutes before the early sunrise. Her feet didn’t need to consult with her brain to head straight to the downtown beach, walk down the stone steps and take her right up to the lake shore.She sat down on the cold pebbles and lit a cigarette, face to the east. It was her last sunrise of the only life she’d ever known. The last sunrise with her lake and her mountains. Like so many times before, she wished she could capture every little detail as far as her eyes could see, carve it all in her memory and keep it inside of her, true and unchanged, forever unfading.She watched the sun come up behind
Tobias and Leandro had done their best to clean up the Black Rock before Silvia came back home. And the outcome made her smile, because the house was squeaky-clean and smelling of flowers. They were surprised to see Mika there too, but Silvia’s look kept them from asking any questions.Knowing the siblings needed time alone for their reunion, Leandro left for Beltane, to have dinner with Claudia. At the Black Rock, Mika went to the supermarket, to restock the fridge with something that wasn’t trash food and make dinner for the three of them.The moment she walked out, Tobias asked Silvia what had happened to their sister to make her lower that proud head of hers, admit her fail and come back home. It was just natural he would take mortal offense when he learned why Mika was actually back. But Silvia would have none of it.“I’m telling you the same I told your sister,” she said. “You don’t want me to keep treating you guy
It’d been six months since Silvia had last seen Mika, and one look was enough to tell her all her little sister had been keeping from her.Rob and Juan had planned a Saturday night out after dinner, but Silvia resorted to the such-a-long-flight excuse to stay behind.“Would you lend me a hand with the dishes?” she asked Mika.The others understood and took off, leaving the sisters alone.“I thought Lorena was coming too,” Silvia said as they picked up everything from the table.Mika hesitated, found her sister’s eyes and shrugged. “We broke up.”“Oh. You never mentioned it.”“It happened three days ago. I didn’t wanna write to you about it. It was your last days with Jim, and I knew we were meeting today.”They took everything to the kitchen and Silvia asked Mika to make mate while she did the dishes. The girl knew better than trying to beat
Silvia almost missed her flight, too absorbed staring at the tiny thing on the table before her.What on God’s green earth was that thing doing there, and in her keep?That white-gold band with a little, discreet diamond.An engagement ring.That frigging coward! Throwing it at her from ten feet away!But no matter the delivery method, Jim had given it to her.His mother’s, he’d said.Bring it back, he’d said.She felt lucky her brain was able to register the last boarding call. She looked up, startled, and jumped to her feet. She was about to hurry away when she remembered the ring. Actually, it was more like feeling a leash tugging at her neck, stopping her from walking away from the table.She spun around on her heels and scowled down at the damned thing.“You…” she growled.The moment she had it in her hand again, she realized how small and light it wa
It was sort of weird. Being with Jim usually involved having people around, but now they were all alone, making their way through the usual crowd in LAX. Come to think about it, both of them loved having an active social life. Maybe that was why she hadn’t needed any major adjusting over the last ten days in LA.…?Silvia would’ve punched herself best Fight Club style. She had only minutes left with him and she was pondering about their social habits? Really?She checked in for her flight and they headed to the boarding area in no hurry.“So you think you can be back by January ten.”“Yup. I gotta report to work with Jo on the fifteenth, but I want a couple of free days before that.”They walked a whole minute in silence.Silvia wondered why all of a sudden they didn’t seem to have anything left to say. Why were they avoiding eye contact? Why did she feel like getting into the boarding
“Hurry up or I’m calling a cab!”“Bet you’re dying to do it, you chicken.”“Please, Jay!”Silvia finished raiding the master bedroom one last time, to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.“Jay!”“Coming.”She snorted and went to canvass the ground floor. She was just done when Jim came down the stairs in no hurry.“Can we go before I have a heart attack, milord?”“Cool down, woman, we have plenty of time,” he said, grabbing her duffel bag on his way to the front door, where she waited with her rucksack. He paused at the doorway to poke her nose. “Really, such a rush to leave me.”Silvia wasn’t about to explain she was always that upset whenever she had a bus or a plane to catch, so she just scowled at him and followed him out.“Got everything? Tickets, passport?”Silvia ch