door when he did, then Brandon would know. He’d know everything. I’m not overly sure whether I should be thankful for the interruption or not.
By the time he came back through to the kitchen with Corey, I’d managed to compose myself and stop the tears from falling.
“Alright, we’re all set,” I turn towards Brandon and see him climbing into the driver’s seat. He throws me a smile, and fastens his seat belt before putting on his shades and switching on the ignition. “Do you want me to put some music on?”
“Yeah, sure.” I smile and nod once, before fixing my gaze out of the passenger side window.
The reason why Corey dropped by Brandon’s place was because a friend of his, Jay, needed a replacement singer for tonight. They have a gig lined up in one of the bars over in Seattle, but their lead vocalist came down with a virus. Without a singer, they wouldn’t get to play. Corey pleaded with Brandon for well over a half hour and until he was blue in the face, trying to convince him to change his mind.
When Corey mentioned how much money Brandon would make for just a couple of hours singing, he looked disappointed. I could see that he wanted to do it, but then he went ahead and told him no anyway. I could see in his eyes right then that he still blamed himself for what’s been happening between us over the past week.
And, that’s when our plans for the evening changed.
I know how much Brandon needs the cash, especially now that he’s started studying at college. His tuition fees are pretty expensive, and without any financial help or support from his mom and dad, he needs all the money he can get a hold of. I guess that’s why I was surprised when I saw the locket he gave me for our anniversary. It must have cost him a small fortune.
So, I told him that he should do it. He immediately shook his head and refused to cancel our plans again, but when I told him that I’d like to go along with him and watch, one of his most breathtaking smiles appeared wide over his face.
Staring out of the window, I’m deep in thought, and when he reaches over and places his hand lightly on my thigh, my whole body tenses up. “Holl’s, are you alright?” His eyes dart between me and the road as he continues to drive towards the bright lights of Seattle.
It takes us just over an hour to reach the city, and around ten minutes to find a parking space within walking distant from the bar, “Are you nervous?”
“Nervous?” he asks and looks down to his hand while tapping a few keys into his cell. “Nope. Not nervous. I’d say that I’m more excited.” He leans over and kisses me on the lips, before sliding his shades up into his hair and jumping out of the car.
“Excited is good, ” I climb out the other side and walk around to meet him at the front of the car.
He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me tight up agains t him, “Yes. Yes it is. And you wanna know why I’m so excited?” I place my hands flat on his chest and nod a yes. “Because, for one, I get to sing in front of my beautiful girlfriend for the first time. And, not only that. Each and every word that I sing tonight will only be for her.” He smiles and places a feather light kiss on the end of my nose.
His cell phone rings out, and while keeping one hand firmly wrapped around me, he grabs his phone out from his pants pocket with the other, “Hey, Neil. What’s up, bro?”
Neil. Every time I hear his name it makes my skin crawl and I instantly feel like I want to hurl.
I swallow hard and instantly move out from Brandon’s hold. His eyebrows furrow and he shoots me a questioning look, but I move away and walk back over to the front of the car to grab my purse from off the seat inside.
After a few minutes, Brandon ends the cal l and heads straight over to me, “You ready to go in?”
I nod and smile as he wraps his right arm around my waist , before he ushers me inside.
***
He sounds amazing. Really amazing . I knew
Learning to Kill: Stories