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What About You
Jim played good boy the whole week, letting Deborah drag him around anyway she liked, and gave her the red light on Saturday, after the signing with the Squad.
“I’m taking Sunday off, to start working on the new songs with the boys on Monday.”
Deborah didn’t argue, knowing she could consider herself lucky she’d been able to clear so many pending issues over the last five days. So she only reminded him about the online Q&A they had scheduled for Wednesday, and the fundraising dinner on Thursday evening.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jim grunted, starting his truck.
On Sunday, he and Silvia spent the whole day at his place, phones off. And she would always remember it like both an amazing and a spontaneous, natural moment between them, that helped her keep in mind how much room she found in him to be herself.
“I think it’s the first time ever we’re together without a clock ticktocking over our heads,&rd
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Sean drove to Santa Monica in the warm noon, feeling more than ready to play until dinner time nonstop. However, he couldn’t help wondering if Jim would be able to focus on their music, knowing Silvia downstairs and waiting for him. Not the musing he would’ve chosen, but it was better than wondering how many corny love songs Jim had made over those three weeks of marital bliss.He saw Tom’s car on the driveway and found the bassist had made himself at home at the porch, smoking a joint while he read something on his phone.“He’s home,” said Tom, seeing Sean’s stormy scowl as he got out of his car. “Guess he’s already upstairs, ‘cause I heard him play.”That would explain why Jim hadn’t heard the doorbell. Sean produced his spare keys and opened the front door. They’d hardly walked in when they heard Jim’s guitar pouring down the stairwell, as if he hadn’t closed the door to
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Liam and Walt joined the rehearsal on Tuesday, and the whole band spent six hours straight locked up in the attic studio. By the time they put their instruments down, Silvia had texted Jo to join them there and they had already ordered food for all of them. The musicians were tired, so they left shortly after they finished dinner.Jim was glad to see Silvia shake her head when he tried to help her in the kitchen. He would’ve liked to lay back on one of the loungers at the deck, or the living-room couch, or his bed, but he stayed sitting at the isle to keep her company, dropping by Twitterland while she put some order around.“I dated my flight today,” Silvia said out of the blue, in a carefully casual tone.“Already? What’s the rush?” he asked, chuckling at a tweet from a Polish fan.“I’m leaving on Friday, Jay.”He looked up, taken aback, to find her filling a trash bag with empty cans.
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Deborah hated it every time Silvia picked up Jim’s phone, leaving her no choice but to accept her words excusing him. But on Wednesday, she was glad to hear her pick up. Deborah confirmed Jim remembered the live stream scheduled for that afternoon, and smiled to herself when Silvia used the plural about being in her office in a couple of hours.She disconnected and called Ron over. Her assistant didn’t hide his disbelief as he wrote down on his phone the list of errands she needed him to run in the next ninety minutes. She didn’t give any explanation, but she was determined to turn around the unwavering negative buzz about Jim’s new chick, and the fundraising dinner the next night was an excellent chance to do it.To keep the Q&A from going on forever, only Jim, Liam and Tom would take part of it. Sam had everything set at the conference room by Deborah’s office, so the musicians would go straight there.As soon as she had the three of them sitting for makeu
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It took Silvia a couple of minutes to get over the relief of escaping Deborah without needing to get rude. Then she realized her savior was the last person she would’ve ever expected, and now she was alone with him in his car, while he cursed the traffic under his breath.She didn’t have the slightest idea why Sean had intervened on her behalf or where they were going, and his evident foul mood wasn’t exactly an invitation to ask anything. She hadn’t forgotten what Jim had told her about him back at her home, but whatever Sean had said to his brother was between them, and nobody was more of an outsider than her when it came to Sean.He drove toward the studios area without even glancing at her, to pull over at a narrow street outside a hidden bar. Silvia managed to not jump out the moment he stopped the car and saw him go straight to open the bar door and hold it for her, so she could only walk in.It was a small shadowy place, with a few
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“Now you believe me?”Jim chuckled while Silvia kept shaking her head slowly, eyes out the windshield.He’d joined her and Sean at the bar by the time they were done with their beer, and his brother had left without a word, just nodding goodbye at them with one last glance at Silvia.Jim took the way to his home, hearing her incredulous account of her close encounter with the eldest Robinson.“I mean, from the moment I left you to your Q&A, it all felt like I’d stumbled on an acid and it fell down my throat, getting me lost on a bizarre trip,” she said, making him laugh. “All of a sudden I’m wearing a frigging Versace! And diamonds! What the hell! And a minute later, I’m having a beer with Sean?” She threw up her hands, feeding Jim’s laughter. “You know what’s the craziest thing of all? Seeing you walk into the bar was the most reassuring thing to
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The sun touched the bedroom window looking south about noon, waking Jim up. He threw an arm across his face to shield his eyes and felt around with his other hand. The bed was a complete mess, all the covers fallen to the floor, and he was sprawled on it flat on his back. His hand landed on Silvia’s shoulder and slid down her skin in no hurry, as he registered his sore back, his stiff thighs, the exhaustion nesting in every muscle.The night before had been just crazy.He and Silvia had a pending conversation about her promise to come back, and Jim didn’t want to leave it for long-distance communications. But looked like she didn’t want to talk about it, so every time he tried to bring it up, she managed to distract him. And after those three weeks sleeping together, she knew how to keep him distracted alright.Until he’d just given up trying to have that conversation and sought some payback for so much distraction. Which was why now he f
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No Return One Cigarette
That was just great. The flash flood had reached the Interstate, forcing the incoming buses to turn around, so the service had been cancelled until further notice.She felt a sudden urge to smoke. Considering it was pouring, the bus station staff overlooked those nicotine addicts with a little survival instinct left, and allowed them to smoke at the entrance hall, indoors and safe from the wind and the rain. She gave her luggage a concerned glance: rucksack, duffel bag, guitar. Why the hell had she kept the guitar? Only a few people remained at the bus station, but hard statistics dictated that a single person was enough to snatch all of her things away. She realized that was a third-world thought. Was she not in “The Shiny City Upon The Hill”? Just in case there was another third-worlder around, she asked the man at the nearest ticket booth if he could look after her stuff for a while. “I’m leaving in fifteen minutes, ma’am,” he warned. More than enough. She lit a cigarette as s
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