I furrowed my eyebrows, confused at why she would describe it like that. “Look, Glory, I’m sorry if I came on too strong back then...”
“What are you talking about?” She practically screamed. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. You have proven to me that men are absolute jerks and cannot be trusted.” She turned and reached for her car door, but then she turned back. “And that song, Collin. Are you kidding me? I told you things I had never shared with anyone, and you completely demeaned me by writing them into a song!”
“You did once say that you wanted someone to write a song about you,” I offered feebly.
“Not a song like that, Collin!” She exclaimed, tears beginning to stream down her face. “Not a song that capitalizes on the worst moments of my life! A song that commercializes my pain!”
“Glory! Please let me explain!”
“No! You’ve done enough, Collin! I never want to see or hear from you again!”
And with that, she climbed into her car and drove off, nearly taking out a parking meter as she sped down the street.
I took a shaky breath. I had lost her. I had really lost her this time. I wanted to crumple to the ground and cry for hours, but I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, are you okay?” Logan asked.
“No. Not at all.”
Logan sighed. “I know this really sucks, but you’ve got to go back and finish the show.”
I groaned. That was the last thing I wanted to do, but it was my livelihood, and I couldn’t let the rest of the band down.
“Okay, let’s go,” I said hollowly.
“I’ll buy you bucket of ice cream to drown your sorrows in after the show,” Logan offered.
I managed to laugh. “Thanks.”
I walked with Logan back into the theater, knowing that I would have to plaster a smile on my face and perform for all those people when I had just lost the best thing that had ever happened to me.
*****
I sat on my bed in my hotel room, feeling drained and numb. I had managed to finish the show, even though I had felt like I was on the verge of tears the entire time.
True to his word, Logan had bought me some ice cream, although he had eaten most of it. Now he was sitting on the bed opposite mine, looking like he didn’t know what to say.
“You know, she was really hot. In a scary, angry-lady kind of way,” he ventured.
I closed my eyes. “You’re not helping.”
“Okay, then I’m going to go to bed. But if you feel like you want to talk, just pour some water on my face because you know I’m a heavy sleeper.”
He turned off the lights and got into his bed, but I just sat there, mentally going through all the scenarios where I could have done things differently. Scenarios that didn’t end with Glory running away from me. I shook my head. It was no use. I had made poor decisions, and now I was dealing with the consequences. And while I was frustrated that she wouldn’t listen to my explanation, I had to acknowledge that the fault was mine. I should have never lied to her.
I held my head in my hands. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while. So I did what I always did when I needed to process my emotions. I grabbed my guitar and headed up to the roof of the hotel to write a song.
Chapter Twenty Three: Glory
I rolled over in my bed to check the time. It was 1:30 in the afternoon. A part of me wanted to stay in bed and wallow in my misery all day. The other part of me really needed to pee. I stumbled out of my bedroom and down the hall. I had just sat down on the toilet when Piper burst through the bathroom door.
“Glory! What happened last night? Where did you go?”
I rolled my eyes. We had been living together for too long.
“Piper!” I scolded. “We’ve talked about this. No conversations while I’m going to the bathroom.”
She groaned and shut the door, but she was ready to accost me again as soon as I was done.
