“I think you’re fooling yourself, Lena. The same man who declared you were his future wife in front of a room full of his relatives is now your muse for this album. Yet, this isn’t the start of a relationship?” She rolled her eyes before digging her fork into her rice again. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m for real,” I insisted. “Gabriel Townsend is not getting into my drawers.”
Jodi burst out laughing again, causing a couple of patrons to glance our way. I dipped my head, hoping to avoid being noticed by anyone.
Before she was able to recover from her laughing fit, my phone buzzed. It was a text message from Gabe. Who’d taken it upon himself to plug his number into my phone.
Wolf:Do you prefer Chinese or Thai food?
I started to reply but then stopped, my thumbs hovering over the keyboard. Biting the inside of my lip, I stared at the message.
“That’s him right now, isn’t it?”
Jodi’s question had me peering up at her. Seeing the shimmer in her eyes from her laughter, I made a decision.
“No,” I said and closed out of my message app. I tossed my phone into my bag and continued to eat the rest of my meal.
Sometime later, Jodi and I finished lunch, and she headed back to the office. As I watched her leave, I couldn’t help but recall her insistence that there was a budding relationship between Gabe and me.
I couldn’t let that happen. For my sake and his.
Chapter 10
Lena
After lunch, I wasn’t quite ready to go back to the house again. The thought of staring at another blank page, with Bessie sitting in my lap silent because I couldn’t think of a single new chord to play, was too damned daunting.
Instead, I wandered the streets of downtown Harlington. The city turned out to be larger than I expected. About fifteen minutes into my exploration, I spotted a store that displayed a range of musical instruments in the window.
I felt drawn to it. The charming sound of bells sounded above my head when I pushed through the door.
“Good afternoon,” a man with a warm smile and rosy cheeks greeted me as I entered.
“Hello, are you the owner of this place?” I asked, glancing around at the guitars on the wall, the various keyboards on the left side wall, drum set in the corner, sets of speakers to my right, and so much more. While the instruments and equipment filled much of the store's space, it didn’t feel overwhelmingly cluttered.
“Sure am,” the man answered, sticking out his hand. “Name’s Bradley. Been the owner of this place for the past twenty-five years.”
“Hence the name.” I pointed toward the window behind me, indicating the name Bradley’s Musical Mayhem painted on it.
“You’re a smart cookie.” He laughed at his joke.
I smiled. “Mind if I have a look around?”
“Not at all,” he said, holding out his hand. A phone, somewhere in the store, rang. “You let me know if there’s anything I can help you find.” He hurried off to answer the call.
I took my time inspecting the displayed instruments. One of the rock guitars he had hanging up on the wall caught my attention. It was a sparkly pink and purple shade. Yet, I didn’t consider getting it.
I was more of an acoustic girl.
My problem wasn’t the guitar or any equipment. The problem was my damn brain. The more I thought about it, the more my heart lurched in my chest. My emotions threatened to peak, and I was horrified to discover my vision blurred from watery eyes.
The truth was, I felt betrayed. Not by the media or my stupid ex or anyone else. But by my mind. I’d relied on my creativity for a career, to matter in this world, and now I couldn’t do the one thing I always thought I was destined to do on this Earth.
That hurt so much more than my break up with a man I’d been with for nine years.
“Did you find anything you might be interested in?”
I wiped my eyes, surprised by Bradley’s sudden reappearance. In all likelihood, it probably wasn’t sudden. I’d gotten lost in another world.
