Broken Sound (19 page)

Davey wanted to explode.  He saw the guitar on the couch and he pictured himself smashing it against the table, over and over, until there was nothing but flying splinters, dangling strings, and the smell of destroyed wood.  He looked back to the bedroom and didn’t want to scare Anna.

This wasn’t her situation and he refused to drag her into it.

Everything played in his mind, making him even more angry because instead of thinking about Anna and all the things they had done in the bedroom last night - and this morning - he thought of Cassy. 

Cassy and Donald.

Not that baby Donald had anything to do with this.  Davey could never blame him for anything happening.  It wasn’t Donald’s fault he was conceived... and the more Davey started to really consider it, he almost hoped Donald wasn’t his.

He found his laptop in the kitchen.  He only really used his laptop for video meetings or interviews when the band was split up across the country or world.  He opened it, typed in his password, and impatiently felt his leg bouncing.  Nothing could load fast enough but when it did and Davey searched his own name and found a breaking news story on some paparazzi entertainment web site, he growled and couldn’t read fast enough.

The first thing he saw were three pictures of himself.

He didn’t look right, he looked mad.  He realized it was the pictures Cassy’s friends had taken when he was at her apartment to see Donald.  All those cell phones, all those friends, acting irresponsible and disrespectful, especially with Donald trying to nap. 

Then there was a picture of Cassy, looking annoyed and hurt, with baby Donald hanging from her hip, crying.  Davey recognized the clothes and knew the pictures were from the same day.

Then the headline...

ROCKSTAR PAYS OFF ONE NIGHT STAND TO MAKE CRYING BABY GO AWAY!

“No!” Davey cried out.  “No!”

And that’s just what the article explained.  With quotes from Cassy, the story made Davey out to be a man he swore he’d never be.  He’d rather die than become his father.  The article talked about Davey sleeping with Cassy and never calling her again.  How she suffered through her pregnancy alone, with no help.  How she contacted Davey and after he tried to push her away, he finally agreed to come to her apartment.  The article said Cassy asked for some help and Davey showed up with money to pay her off.  As Davey’s mind screamed
It was a thousand fucking dollars!  Not a million!
,
he read an italic quote block...

He gave her a thousand dollars to go raise the baby!

Davey stopped reading for a second and hung his head.  None of it was true.  He didn’t pay Cassy off, not even close.  And the worst part of it all was that the end of the article explained that when baby Donald woke up crying from a nap, Davey hurried to leave the apartment and hadn’t been in touch since.  Since then, a DNA test had been ordered.

When Davey slammed the laptop shut, he felt tears in his eyes.  He saw a blurry vision of Anna and then held his eyes shut, trying to stay calm.

“Should I go?” Anna asked.  “I will... if you need...”

“I need you,” Davey said.

He opened his eyes, clear now, and waited for Anna to hug him.  She did and he took deep breaths.

“I’m so sorry for bringing you into my mess,” Davey said.

“I’m not in your mess,” Anna said.  “I’m here to support you, Davey.  Whatever you need to do.”

“They wrote an article about me,” Davey said.  “Made me look terrible...”

“Anyone with half a heart wouldn’t believe it,” Anna said.

“I have to call Peter.  I have to figure this out.  The final answer.  I need to know if I’m that kid’s father or not.”

Davey looked down at Anna. 

“Then do it.  I’ll be waiting for you.”

“My God, Anna, how can you be so beautiful and perfect...”

“... and broken,” Anna added, then smiled.

“We’re both broken, but we fit together.”

“Just the jagged curves of puzzle pieces.”

“You really should write lyrics,” Davey said.

“I guess I should go home and practice.”

Davey held Anna longer than he should have, making the moment harder when he finally let her go.  He held his hand out and made Anna linger, their fingertips the last to touch.

“Now it’s getting corny,” Anna said.

“Rockstars can be corny,” Davey said.

“Yeah, you work on that.”

Davey leaned against the counter and watched Anna gather her stuff and leave.  It shouldn’t have been this way and Davey wished for the first time in his life that he could go back and change the way the band had done anything to get where they were today.  He knew that a one night stand didn’t make Chasing Cross the mega band it had become, but it still mattered.

Davey looked at the computer screen, at the article.

Obviously.

Even though he knew he’d regret it, Davey read the article again. 

Somehow it mixed on the page and it caused Davey’s blood to boil.  He rushed back into the bedroom and found his cell phone right where he left it.  He touched the screen and growled.

He knew what he had to do, even it was wrong.

When Cassy answered the phone, Davey thought about just laying into her.  But he didn’t.  He held off, thinking of Donald.

“What happened?” he asked.

“With what?”

“Cassy, there’s an internet article about me.  Calling me a bad father.  That I... that I paid you off.”

“Davey...”

“I need to know what happened.  You set me up.  You told me to bring money.  We both know that money wasn’t pay off money.  I would never pay off the mother of my child.  You said you needed help and I wanted to help.  Then your friends show up and take pictures?”

“It wasn’t enough,” Cassy said.  “Okay?  It wasn’t enough.”

“What wasn’t enough?”

“The money.  You’re rich.  You give me a thousand dollars.  It offended me.”

“Cassy, I don’t even know if Donald is my son.  How can I just give you...”

“He’s yours,” Cassy said.  “He’s yours.”

“How do you know?”

“I got the results.”

Davey stiffened.  He swallowed hard.  He pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the screen.  There was no call from Peter.

“I’m sorry,” Cassy said.  “Okay?  Davey?  You left in a hurry the other day.  The baby was crying.  My friends... well, one of them suggested I email the site.  They called me right away, wanting the story.”

“You set me up,” Davey whispered.

“Before I knew the results!” Cassy cried. 

“How much did they pay you?”

“Five thousand,” Cassy whispered.

“You made me look like an asshole for five grand.  You said I paid you off?”

“I never said a thing.  I explained what happened that day and sent pictures.  That’s it.”

“And now Donald is mine...”

“I told you he was,” Cassy said.  “You didn’t believe me.  What was I supposed to do?”

“Wait for the test results!” Davey growled.

“I realize that now.  You don’t know what it’s like.  What it was like.  What it will be like.  I’ll always be that woman.  That slut that slept with a rockstar and had a baby.”

“I’ll be there,” Davey said.  “I swear.  I’ll be there.”

Davey closed his eyes and rubbed his face.  The words were coming faster than he wanted them to.  His heart and mind battled, trying to find the way to handle it.

“So... we can be together?” Cassy asked.

“Donald is my son,” Davey said, “I’ll do the right thing.  I’ll be there.”

“We can’t live here,” Cassy said.  “Not if they know where I live.  For Donald’s sake.  They’ll be all over us now, Davey.  Where can we go?”

“Whoa, wait a second,” Davey said.  “I have to make arrangements here first.”

“What kind of arrangements?”

“My band and stuff,” Davey said.  “I’m supposed to be writing with Danny...”

“Yeah, just leave us dangling then.  In danger.”

Davey’s mind scrambled.  He started to panic, afraid Cassy would hang up and do something more stupid than before.  He could only imagine how things would be spun if she went to a magazine with the test results. 

“Colorado!” Davey shouted. 

“Colorado?  What are you talking about?”

“I have a house in Colorado.  Small town.  Nobody knows about it.  Friendly people.  I’ll fly you and Donald there.”

“What about you?”  Cassy asked.

“You two can leave in a couple hours... I’ll be there tomorrow at the latest.”

Cassy sighed.  He could sense the relief coming over her.  He could picture the way she looked, like a snobby princess getting what she wanted.

Right now, he needed to get Cassy off the phone peacefully and get Peter on the phone not so peacefully.  He wanted to tear into Peter like he wanted to tear into Cassy.  With Peter, he could.  There would be no repercussions. 

“Davey,” Cassy said, “I promise, we’re going to be happy together.”

Davey winced. 

How could he even think Anna’s name right then?  How would it work? 

His heart already made the decision and it beat for Anna.

On cue, Davey heard Donald in the background of Cassy’s phone. 

He closed his eyes, feeling pain like he hadn’t felt since he was a kid.

Could he really be like his father and choose a woman over his son?  Or could he give it a shot with Cassy?  Force himself... find a way...

His heart raced and his mind finally spoke up, screaming the truth.

I love her... I love Anna...

**

Anna finally managed to take a seat.  She thought about making coffee but didn’t.  She thought about tea and told herself drinking tea wouldn’t take her mind off Davey.  She tried calling Ashley and got no answer.  She smiled, wondering if she should repay the courtesy to the credit card companies and perhaps call them.  Bother them.  Tell them her feelings and good fortunes, then laugh because they couldn’t take her love for Davey away.

Take that
,
she thought.

When her phone rang, she jumped at it, hoping it was Ashley.

It was Bill.

She closed her eyes and debated but found her finger already pressing the button to answer her boss’s call.

“Hey Bill...”

“Anna, I’m sorry to bother you...”

“No you’re not.  What time?”

“Can you?”

“Of course.”

“You’re a life saver, Anna.  I’m going to get you a raise.”

“You said that a month ago.”

“Oh, about that...”

“Forget it,” Anna said.  “I’ll be in.”

“Need you in an hour.”

As Bill started to hang up, Anna called his name.  “There’s a stipulation.”

“What’s that?  You want a certain section?”

“No.  But if I get a phone call, I have to go.”

“What kind of phone call?”

Anna’s doorbell rang.  She smiled, hoping Ashley had gotten her excited voicemail and hurried over. 

“I have to go,” Anna said.  “But I’m expecting a phone call...”  The doorbell rang again and again.  Anna stood up.  “...a friend of mine might need me to go out of town...”

“Well, whatever you have to do...”

“Okay, Bill,” Anna said and hung up.

The doorbell rang again. 

“Ashley?” Anna yelled.

The bell rang again followed by a few knocks. 

Anna hated when Ashley did this stuff.  She knew answering the door would mean getting basically tackled because deep down Ashley wanted Anna to be in love, married, with a baby. 

Anna opened the door.

“Ashley... I’m goi...”

Anna froze.  Her hands opened, her cell phone hitting the floor.  She covered her mouth, trying her hardest not to scream.  She’d been warned before about screaming.  Screaming meant punishment.  Bad punishments. 

Punishments she had to suffer through before.

Punishments she thought she’d never have to suffer again.

That’s what Davey said.

But Davey wasn’t there.

It was just Anna and...

“Eddie.”

(20)

Davey called Peter and left a message demanding a call back.  He didn’t go into details in the message because someone knocked at the door.  He opened it and found Danny standing there with a guitar and an amp.  Davey waved him in and finished the message with, “Don’t make me call you again, Peter...”