The Road to L.A. (32 page)

              “You haven't even heard the title of the song.“

              "Oh yeah? do enlighten me," Carly said sardonically.

              “It’s called
Come Back To Me
.”

Carly sighed into her pillow, not wanting to be confronted with anything Jake-related this early in the morning.  She turned on her side to look at the twin.

              “And why did you feel that this bit of information was of such vital importance that you had to wake me up?  I was having a great dream.”

              “Don’t you get it, Carly?” Amanda asked earnestly.  “The song is directed at you.  He misses you and he wants you back.” 

Amanda retrieved her phone that Carly had set on the nightstand. 

              “Lemme look up the lyrics and read them to you."  After a brief moment of silence, Amanda continued, "'That summer day, that she left, my only solace right now, is knowing that she’s out there doing okay, I must’ve been out of my mind, to let her get on that plane, and disappear right out of my life.’”

              “Okay, fine,” Carly conceded.  “But if those lyrics are because of me, then why isn’t he here now?  Why hasn’t he called me in a couple months?"

             
“I have to go pick up Aaron from the airport.  He's flying in for the long weekend.  But I suggest that while I’m gone you seriously think about what good it is doing you sitting here and missing him when you guys should be together.”

              “No,” Carly said.  “Don’t make this my fault.  It’s his fault he hasn’t made an effort to make it right.”

              “No,” Amanda said as she stood in the doorway, “you’re just being stubborn.  And that stubbornness is going to keep you trapped in a self-imposed rut.  Just let go of your damn pride for once and be the bigger person.  Life is too damn short.”

With that, Amanda left. 

Carly sat in bed for a few moments contemplating her friend’s parting words.  She thought about him, wondering if he really wanted her to come back.  But images of him standing outside the Hollywood Hills mansion that night, rejecting her, brought her back to reality.  She decided that he had made his choice that night, and there was nothing left to say or even second-guess. 

*                                          *                                          *                                          *

Jake was lying on the sofa when he heard the doorbell ring.  He looked around to see if anyone else was around to answer it, and when he had come to the conclusion that he was the only one around, he reluctantly heaved himself off the sofa.  He opened the door and found Roy standing before him, a huge grin on the college football star’s cheery face.

              “Hey!” Roy exclaimed, giving Jake a handshake.  He then slipped past Jake to inspect the grandeur of the house.  “Nice crib!”

Jake shut the door and turned around.  Before he could physically prepare himself, Roy had captured him in a bear hug.

              “It’s good to see you, too,” Jake said, laughing. 

Roy followed his friend into the living room and watched as Jake slumped down on the sofa again. 

              “What’s wrong with you?” Roy asked.  “You look like a damn bum who’s getting ready to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.  Is it still because of what happened with Carly?” 

Jake simply shrugged his shoulders, almost regretting having told Roy about the incident with Carly outside the mansion.  He really didn't feel like talking about it anymore and wanted to forget.  Just then, Hayden and Danny joined them.  They each shook hands with Roy and offered him a beer, which he graciously accepted.

              “Heard your setting some records out on the field,” Hayden remarked after taking a sip of his beer. 

Roy emitted a loud chuckle and said, “Hell yeah!  They can’t run that team without me.  Even better, it looks more and more like I’m going to get that draft into the NFL.  My agent says that with my talent, there’s no way a team wouldn’t wanna pick me up.”

              “Yeah, I’m always hearing about you,” Danny acknowledged.

              “My concern, though, is for this guy right here,” Roy said.  He pointed at Jake. “Is he always like this?”

              “No, only when he’s sober,” Hayden said, snickering. 

Jake threw Hayden a steely look that bespoke of physical violence. 

              “Jake, you look like a damn zombie,” Roy chided. “I’ve never seen you like this before…looking all pathetic.  You obviously need to go make things right with her.”  

              “She wouldn’t wanna talk to me.  She was really pissed at me when she left,” Jake mumbled despondently.

              “Bro, quit feeling sorry for yourself,” Roy demanded.  He added, “Besides, if you really wanted her back and she’s that important to you, the least you could do is try instead of sitting around and soaking in self-pity.”

Jake finally got up and walked to the front door.  He came back with a set of keys. 

              “These yours?” he asked Roy, who nodded in response.  “I’ll be right back.” 

With that, Jake turned and left. 

Several minutes later, Roy heard the sound of his Hummer’s engine coming to life and then revving as it spun around the driveway.  He lurched forward and ran to the front door just in time to see the black sport utility vehicle turning the corner onto the street.  Hayden and Danny suddenly appeared, and all three inspected the empty driveway. 

              “He took your car, dude,” Danny remarked with a slight look of surprise on his face. 

Roy whimpered while pointing at the open gate that led out onto the street. 

              “No worries, man.  He’ll take good care of it.  Plus, he said he'd be right back.” 

Danny put his arm on Roy’s shoulder to comfort him and said, “You did tell him to go make things right with her.  I have a feeling that’s where he went.”  

Roy continued to whimper.   

“Looks like you’re stuck with us for a while,” Danny said, grinning widely. 

Roy turned to look at Danny and immediately chugged his beer.  If he was going to have to spend a couple of days with Jake’s crazy buddies, he would definitely need to be in an inebriated state of mind. 

Chapter Twenty-Six

             
Carly and Jeremy preoccupied themselves with cleaning up the bar so they could close for the night, while Travis was holed up inside his office taking care of administrative tasks.  They had been extremely busy tonight, and Carly could hardly wait to get home.  She had worked a few hours overtime to earn a little extra money, so by two-thirty in the morning her feet were killing her.  She was glad she wouldn’t have to work tomorrow and was looking forward to hanging out with the twins.  She couldn’t wait to see Aaron.  She hadn’t seen him in such a long time, and she knew he could always be counted on to make her smile.  Jeremy had finished restocking the bar when he informed Travis he was leaving. 

              “See ya later,” Jeremy said to Carly as he hurriedly grabbed his coat and left.  She waved at him and then continued to wipe the tables with a damp rag.  Travis had also finished his tasks early and grabbed the trash from under the bar to throw in the dumpster on his way out. 

              “You gonna be okay here by yourself?” he asked, handing her the keys to the building. 

              “You sure you want to entrust me with the keys to this place?” she asked.

He laughed and poked her side.               

              “Hey, I own this place.  If anything goes wrong, it’s all on me.  Besides,” he added, grinning at her, “I don’t think you’ll steal anything.”

Carly scoffed and glanced at the equipment in the DJ booth.  She said, “Well, don’t be surprised if you find the karaoke equipment missing by tomorrow morning.  I don’t know if I can stand to hear another bad karaoke performance.” 

Travis chuckled and winked at her before leaving her alone inside the deserted building.  After he had dumped the trash, he scanned the parking lot for any abandoned vehicles he would have to get towed and almost immediately spotted the SUV parked not too far away.  He made his way over to it and noticed a tall, young man with an athletic build leaning against the passenger-side door.  His hands were in the pockets of his black leather jacket and he appeared a bit nervous. 

              “Jake!” Travis exclaimed when he had gotten close enough to make out who it was.  Jake nodded.

              “What are you doing here?” Travis asked.  He had an idea why. 

              “Waiting for Carly,” Jake answered.

Travis approached his competitor and narrowed his eyes at the rock star’s face.

              “What do you want with her?”

Jake’s eyes began to swirl fiercely in response to Travis’ harsh tone, and he purposely denied Travis an answer to his question. 

Travis glared at Jake and said firmly, “I just want to put it out there that Carly is a prize.  I know a million guys who would love to be with her.”

              “Including you?” Jake asked blatantly, stepping forward.

              “Look, man, I don’t want to start anything with you.  I’m just letting you know she’s a good girl.  And if you really want her, you better make your move now and be damn serious about it before someone else does.”

              “Look,” Jake began, “I know all this.  That’s why I’m here.  It took me a long time to get here.  But I did it because I know she’s worth it.” 

              “Damn right she is,” Travis shot back.  “Don’t hurt her again, Harmon.  She doesn’t deserve that.” 

Jake nodded to indicate he understood, then watched as Travis turned and walked away.  Jake was again left alone in the deserted parking lot, and he shifted nervously as he thought of the right words to say to her.  He wanted to apologize for his behavior and for his utter stupidity for allowing her to walk out of his life.  More than that, he wanted to get down on his knees and beg for her forgiveness - no matter how badly his pride would suffer.  True suffering was what he had gone through for the past several months, not knowing if he would ever see or talk to her again.  He silently cursed himself when none of the right words came to mind.  Finally, he looked up as the front door opened and Carly stepped outside.  He had forgotten just how beautiful she really was.  He longed to hold her tightly in his arms and kiss her softly and tell her just how precious she was to him. 

She locked the door and started walking to her car.  But before she had made it even three feet, she looked up and gasped aloud when she saw him walking toward her.  Her mouth was agape as she was overcome by utter surprise at his presence.  She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

              “Jake, what are you doing here?”

He had finally reached her and said, “I’m here because of you.  I want to talk about what happened in L.A.”

The anger of that night and the months that had passed since without a word from him came back full-fledged, and she frowned at him. “You want to talk now?  After all this time?”

He noted the angry tone of her voice, which pierced him like the cold blade of a knife. 

              “What is there to talk about now, Jake? You made your choice then.  You could have had my undivided love and devotion, but you chose to walk away from it.  And now you come months later to say you want to talk?  I don’t think I have anything to say to you.” 

With that, she walked past him to get to her car.  He made one last attempt and said aloud, “Carly, I’ve realized I can’t live without you!”

She turned to face him, the tears welling in her eyes.

              “Jake, you don’t realize how much you hurt me.” 

              “I know…I’m sorry,” he replied.  He was struggling to contain the desperation in his voice.  He felt he was losing her, and it was killing him.

Carly scoffed and said, “How can you say that you’re sorry when all these months have gone by without a word from you?  If you were truly sorry, why did you wait so long?”  The tears started to stream down her cheeks.

              "I didn’t know how to react to all this, Carly.  I was confused and fucking stupid.  And for that I’m sorry.  But I’m telling you now that I know for sure that I can’t live without you.”  He moved toward her, prompting her to step back.  He noticed her retreat, and it stung him.

              “Carly, ever since you left L.A. that night, I couldn’t get you out of my mind.  You were all I thought about, day and night.  Nothing made sense without you.  I’m telling you, right here and right now, that I…I love you.”

She heard those glorious words, but her own stubborn attitude took control.

With the tears still falling from her eyes, Carly said, “Damnit Jake, how I would’ve loved to have heard those words from you that night in L.A.  How I craved those words from you.  But you backed away, tossed me aside, and now it’s all too late…it’s too late, Jake.”

              “It’s never too late, Carly.”

She nodded her head.  “Yes, it is.”  

              “Carly,” Jake pleaded, half-choking on her name as the desperation finally consumed him.  “Please.”