Page 73 of Serenade Me

Chapter Twenty-four

Marius

Jez steps out into the hall from Anca’s room before I can pretend I wasn’t pressed up against it, listening.

“Hey, man…” I say, trying to come up with an excuse for being there.

He reaches over and slams me against the wall. It’s more the shock of it that renders me speechless than the force.

“Stay away from my sister, Marius. I mean it. I’m not going to say it again.”

He stares at me, pupils locked on pupils for a moment, unwavering. Dead hard.

And then he pushes off me, and is gone.

Fuck.

***

Meditation is not working.

Yoga is not working.

My chai latte that may or may not be generously spiked with rum is definitely not working.

My brain is splitting in two knowing Anca’s sitting just a few feet away in front of me on our private charter plane, and Jez, just a few feet behind.

He’s been staring me for the last few hours, I can feel his eyes boring into the leather of the seat. As if he knows every indecent thought I’m having and is just waiting for me to get up and declare it or ravish his sister right in front of him.

We spent the day in Annecy rehearsing for our big concert in Nice tonight. Not that I could concentrate. I spent half the time telling myself that I couldn’t do this to my Jez, not after everything he’s done for me. Not just as a bandmate, but as a friend.

Then I’d turn, and there she’d be, and with just a slight glance, my whole body would jerk alive. She’s only been a part of my life for a few days, and already I can imagine the whole future ahead with her.

But I can’t do it.

I can’t do it, Jez.

So I sit here, torn between the two of them, body and mind in constant turmoil, staring straight ahead, until I can tell her. It’s got to end.

“Fuck-a-doodle cock!” Dennis’s voice rings out from his seat in the back.

“Whoa, calm down old man, you’ll have an attack… in that spot where others have a heart!” Brad jokes as we all get up and huddle around our manager.

“Shush, B!” Hailey admonishes him before handing Dennis a drink, “What’s going on Dad?”

“Just got an email from the guy on the ground in Nice. The theatre’s been shut down by some inspector. We’re out a venue tonight.”

“Shit crickets!” Hailey curses, and I catch Jez’s eye as we both suppress a laugh; she sounds just like her Dad. For a moment he forgets and flashes me a grin, but it fades fast and his face turns hard and he looks away. The act makes my heart constrict and I physically feel ill. We argue and banter all the time, but even when we argue over something more serious it’s never something that stops us being able to communicate.

“So – what do we do? Do we have to cancel?” Sebastian asks.

Dennis sighs and looks up at us without answering. He looks tired and despondent. “They said there’s no way they can get the venue open in time for tonight.”

I don’t need to look up at my friends’ faces to know that they’re all scrunched up like mine. The last thing we ever want is to disappoint our fans. We have the same memories of having saved and then lining up for tickets, traveling for hours to get to a town for a concert, only to go home, never getting to see your idols. Things out of our control happen all the time, but it doesn’t stop it from downright sucking.

“Guys?” Anca’s voice cuts through the silence. “I think I have an idea. I’m not sure it’s doable but it might be worth giving it a try.”

“Sure, spill it.” Hailey tells her.