“No, you won’t,” she says cheerfully.“Anyway!My wife and I are gonna log off before we get blamed for whatever lovers’-quarrel/foreplay is happening here.Bye!”
The screen goes black.
Silence crashes over the room.
Adrianna crosses her arms.
Dangerous.Defensive.Hurt.
“Explain,” she says.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Just wounded.
And that’s somehow worse.
I step closer.Slowly.
“I’m not sure how much you heard, but clearly you didn’t hear the whole thing.”
“Then give me the whole thing.”
“I wasn’t saying all that to Trish or anyone else, Ad.”My voice cracks.“Those are lyrics to the song I’m writing.A song for you.About you.All you.Every word.”
She blinks, thrown.
I swallow hard, heart pounding.
“That line you heard?It starts here, ‘You’re the sun in my sky.My everything.I can’t get enough of you.Don’t leave me in the dark.I don’t want to be alone anymore, baby.You’re the spark.You are the spark.’”
My breath shakes.
“That’s you, Sparky.You always have been.”
Her lip trembles before she bites it.
“I thought you were talking to some, I don’t know, past lover or girlfriend.One of those supermodels you’ve been dating these past sixteen years.”
“No,” I say firmly.“I won’t pretend I’m a saint because I’m not.But I’ve never written a song for anyone else, Sparky.There’s only ever been one muse in my life.One woman.One person who could make the music come back.”
Her eyes widen, but she stays still.
Doesn’t run.
Doesn’t snap.
Waits.
So I give her the truth—raw and unfiltered.
“Adrianna, the second you walked back into my life, the songs started writing themselves again.Ever since I saw you again?”My voice goes rough.“You broke something open in me.You fixed it.And I’ve been scared to death of overwhelming you, so I kept my distance.Slept in the music room.Gave you space.”
Her throat works.
“And you think sleeping somewhere else is giving me space?”Her voice is soft but shaking.“Nathan, that just feels like more rejection.”
