“He’s gone,” is her only response, and I know she means her husband.
Zane, back when he was her boyfriend, played gigs here every now and then. They would hang out here a lot, and when Mel needed a job, I brought her on.
I sit on one of the stools in front of her, and when she looks down at me, she explains, “They signed the deal, and he left.”
“Why aren’t you with him?”
As she lets her head fall, she says, “Because he didn’t want me to be.”
I clasp my hands together, not knowing what the hell is wrong with Zane. “I don’t understand.”
She wipes the tears from her eyes and sits up a little straighter. “He said he was tired of hearing me bitch about something he’d been working towards for years. He knew I didn’t want to move to L.A. My life is here. My whole family is here. I didn’t want to leave all that, but it was pissing him off. He feels like I’m not supporting him.”
“Do you support him?”
“I don’t know, Ry. Honestly, between you and me, even though I don’t want to be alone, I’m kinda glad for the break. We haven’t been on the same page for a while.” After she says this, she hops down behind the bar and walks over to refill her cup of coffee. “Want some?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
She pours it black, like I always take it, and sets it in front of me as she stands on the opposite side of the bar top.
Taking a slow sip, I then ask, “So, why are you here?”
“I just had to get out of the house, and I knew nobody would be here. That is, until you decided to crash my pity party,” she jokes, laughing at herself. “What are you doing here at six a.m.?”
“I’m on my way to the Athletic Club. I needed to pick up some paperwork to drop off to my accountant later today.”
“You coming back?”
“Nah. I’m gonna take the day off.”
“That sucks,” she complains.
“Why?”
“‘Cause Michael is boring as hell, and he’s been in a shit-ass mood the past few days,” she tells me.
“You know why?”
“Not for sure, but I overheard him on his cell the other day.”
“Eavesdropping?”
She starts laughing, and says, “You know it! But anyway, from what I heard, I think . . . and don’t say shit about this, Ryan. Got it?” she warns.
“Yeah, whatever. Just say it.”
“I think his wife is having an affair.”
“That f**kin’ sucks.”
“I know. But you didn’t hear that from me, and I’m not saying it’s true. It’s just what I pieced together from what I heard,” she defends.
“Well, for his sake, let’s hope you’re full of shit and your eavesdropping skills suck.”
The ringing of my phone interrupts us. I look to see that it’s Gavin before I answer.
“Hey, what’s up?” I say.
“You at home?”
“No. I’m at the bar.”
“Even better. I wanted to drop off some tickets that I can’t use for a concert this Saturday.”
“Dude, I’m not in the mood to hit up another club.”
“No club, man. It’s a private concert over at Spines.”
“The book store?” I ask.
“Yeah. My boss gave me a few tickets, but I had another work thing come up, and I have to bail. You want ‘em? It’s for The xx. They’re in town for a couple days before their overseas tour,” he explains.
“Yeah, definitely, man,” I respond. That’s one band I’ve been dying to see, but never had the chance before now.
“Great. Don’t go anywhere. I’m about five minutes away.”
“Later,” I say before hanging up.
After Gavin dropped off the tickets the other day, I wound up running into Jase when I made it to the gym. We spent a couple hours lifting, and he took a few of the tickets off my hands, saying that he would go with Mark and bring along one of his friends, who I assume is the same person that Mark was telling me about a while back. We also made plans for the three of us to head down to Mount Rainier to go hiking next weekend.
After talking to my mom, I’m now running a bit late. I take a quick shower, fix my hair, and throw on my typical dark jeans, grey shirt, and black boots. I make my way downstairs and grab my jacket before I head out. The night is misty as I drive across town to Spines, a local book and music shop that has managed to stay open and alive while most of the others have closed.
I swing by one of the many espresso stands in this town and grab a cup of coffee. I don’t plan on drinking tonight, so I need the buzz of caffeine to keep me going since I was up so early this morning.
I pull into Spines and park my jeep. When I walk in, the place is dimly lit, with people everywhere. The store is small, so even though there aren’t too many people here, it feels like there are. The band is already playing, and I leave my jacket on one of the coat racks before spotting Mark.
He’s by himself, hanging out next to a low bookcase, and I make my way over.
“Hey, Mark.”
He turns around and claps my arm. “Hey. You just get here?”
“Yeah. Where’s Jase?” I ask.
“He’s grabbing a few beers,” he responds. “There he is,” he says as he looks over my shoulder.
When I turn around, I’m taken by surprise when I see that Jase’s friend is her. Her eyes catch mine, and she coughs against the sip of beer she just took, looking shocked to see me just as I am her.