A Dream for Two (10 page)

***

Wrapped in her terry cloth robe Elise wandered forlornly around her main living area. With a glass of wine in hand she looked out at the city from her main window. A thousand lights sparkled in the early evening darkness. Each light represented another apartment, another person, another life. But despite being surrounded by all these people Elise felt completely alone.

Below her numerous cars snaked their way along the streets, many drivers resorting to angrily hammering on their horns. When she’d first arrived the level of noise had shocked her but now she was so used to it that she barely noticed it at all. The car horns, the shouting, the screech of sirens just felt like background noise now. If the world suddenly stilled and was silent, as it was back at her grandmother’s of an evening, she wasn’t sure how she’d feel, probably on edge. At her grandmother’s all you heard at night was the gentle sound of crickets calling out for one another. It was such a peaceful place. Elise’s life had been simpler back then. She’d been stuck in a job she loathed but she’d been happy. She hadn’t known then how it felt to have your heart broken, how dangerous it was to love someone so completely that they became like oxygen and without them you couldn’t breathe.

Leaning forward Elise breathed onto the glass of her window. Her breath misted and raising a finger, she drew a loose heart and within it the initials E and D and beneath that the word “4eva.” Then she kissed the image. No matter what happened, she would always love Dylan Cornish. He was a part of her now. She just hoped that deep down, he knew that.

Elise pressed her face tightly against her pillow and sealed her eyes shut. The knock came again at her apartment door, this time more persistent. Whoever it was she didn’t want to see them, they could just go away. She figured it was probably Jake, coming round to see why she hadn’t attended her spa day which he’d arranged for her. But she couldn’t go. A few back rubs and scented candles wouldn’t help her get over the fact that she’d seemingly lost Dylan.

Rolling on to her side Elise tightened herself into a ball and burrowed deeply beneath her duvet. She wished she could shut out the entire world and have nothing exist beyond the reassuring comfort of her bed. Her eyes ached from crying and she was sick of constantly checking her phone for messages and being continually disappointed. If Dylan hadn’t got in touch by now then it was obvious that he wasn’t going to.

When she wasn’t sulking in bed she was stalking his band’s movements on line. She saw through their Twitter account that they were now in California as part of their tour. Elise considered calling Gloria and asking her to check in on Dylan but she decided against it. A part of her was too terrified to discover if he’d gotten over her, if he’d already moved on to someone else.

According to their online presence the band members were having a great time. There were pictures of them partying hard on their tour bus. There was an image of Dylan holding a bottle of beer and grinning directly into the camera. He looked so happy and carefree, not like a guy who had just lost the love of his life. Elise knew what it all meant. She wished he would just call her and give her closure. She felt like she was living in some strange limbo where she couldn’t let go of the faint hope that perhaps he did still love her, that perhaps they were actually still together. If she hoped hard enough, maybe it would come true?

Elise hugged her legs against her chest and sighed deeply.

The knocking came a third time.

“Go away!” Elise yelled dramatically although she doubted that they could hear her from her bed. If she wanted them to leave she’d have to answer the door. Groaning she threw off her duvet and stood up. She was wearing her favorite shorty pajamas. She hadn’t taken them off for almost forty-eight hours. All of the curtains were drawn in her apartment, casting everywhere in unnatural darkness. She didn’t want to see the sunlight. It wasn’t welcome there.

Yawning, she moved through the shadows covering her apartment towards the front door. She was so indifferent to whoever was standing on the other side that she didn’t even bother to check the digital caller screen. Instead she just unlocked the latch and threw open her door.

“Yes?” she asked tersely, anticipating that she’d find Jake there pretending to be concerned about her welfare.

But where Jake should have been standing was someone holding a huge bouquet of white lilies. The arrangement of flowers was so huge that it obscured the delivery guy’s face. Elise eyed the flowers dubiously. Were they from the label to placate her for her recent seemingly ill-tempered behavior? She didn’t need pity petals.

“I’m not expecting a delivery,” Elise was about to shut the door when a familiar voice quipped:

“I thought girls always wanted flowers.”

Elise felt her heart seize in her chest. Was it him?

The lilies were slightly lowered to reveal the man holding them. Elise gasped in delight when she saw Dylan’s sparkling blue eyes and his thick dark hair.

“Dylan!” she uttered his name, growing tearful. But why was he there? His band was currently in California performing a number of sold-out gigs. The tour was a roaring success, surely they needed their front man?

Pushing all her questions out of her mind Elise stepped outside and allowed Dylan and the lilies into her apartment. She saw him glance around and take in the relative darkness.

“Did you turn into a vampire while I was away?” he asked, smirking slightly.

Elise laughed and then looked down at her pajamas which she’d been living in for two whole days. She suddenly felt unbearably gross. She sneakily cupped a hand over her mouth and checked her breath and hoped that her hair wasn’t too crazy. 

“Anyway, these are for you,” Dylan shyly handed her the flowers. Elise took them from him and inhaled deeply. The collection of lilies smelled heavenly.

“They are beautiful,” she gushed. “Thank you so much.”

She carried them over to her kitchen area and then glanced back at Dylan.

“But I don’t feel like I deserve flowers,” she admitted, her shoulders slumping. “And how are you even here? Aren’t you meant to be in California?”

Dylan’s jaw clenched at the influx of questions.

“I’m sorry, I know I’ve no right to pry.”

“No, you’ve every right to pry,” Dylan came over and placed his strong hands upon her slender shoulders.

“You’re my girlfriend,” he declared proudly. “It’s a girlfriend’s prerogative to pry.”

“So I’m still your girlfriend?” Elise melted beneath his touch as tears misted her eyes.

“Of course,” he gave her a sexy, lopsided smile.

“But what about what I said on the radio?”

“It’s okay,” Dylan told her soothingly. “I understand why you did it.”

Elise could no longer meet his gaze, she felt too ashamed.

“The label kept putting the same pressure on me,” Dylan continued. “They said it would help the band’s image if we were all single and seemingly playing the field.”

Dylan drew Elise into him and she rested her head against his shoulder. She inhaled deeply, intoxicated by his scent which she’d missed so dearly. For a moment they just stood in one another’s arms, relishing how it felt to be together again. But eventually Elise leaned back so that she could look up into his piercing blue eyes.

“But why are you here?” she wondered aloud. “I mean, shouldn’t you be with the band?”

“Yeah, I should,” Dylan nodded.

“Then why are you here?” Elise repeated. It made no sense. They had a gig that very evening, he’d never make it back to California on time to perform.

“I quit the band.”

“What?” Elise pushed him away from her and stared at him in shock. “You quit the band?”

“Yeah,” Dylan shrugged nonchalantly and shoved his hands into his jean pockets.

“Why?” Elise cried. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I realized the price I’d have to pay if I stayed in the band.” He took a step towards Elise and cupped her face in his hands.

“If I stayed in the band I risked losing you.”

“But the band was your dream!” Elise insisted.

“No,” Dylan shook his head and smiled wistfully at her. “The band was my dream once. But it was never really about the band, it was about the music. And I can still love music whether or not I’m in the band. But I have a new dream now. And my new dream is you.”

He leaned towards her and their lips met. Elise swore she felt a spark tingle her bottom lip as they came together and kissed. She’d missed the power of his kisses. Dylan cupped her face tightly as he kissed her. The kiss reverberated throughout Elise’s entire body, making her tingle all over. It was the sort of kiss which left you weak at the knees.

“Dylan,” she breathed his name dreamily as they parted. She’d been so terrified that she’d lost him, that she’d made too grave a mistake to rectify in saying publicly that she was single.

“What will you do now?” she wondered.

“Let’s leave tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow,” Dylan suggested. Taking her by the hand he led her through the apartment, towards her bedroom.

They stayed in there, locked in passionate embraces for two days. When Elise finally emerged bleary-eyed and euphoric, she threw open her curtains and finally let in the warming rays of sunlight. The sun streaked across her apartment, bathing everywhere in golden light. It gave the whole place an almost ethereal look.

In her bedroom she and Dylan had formulated a plan. A plan which would allow them both to pursue their dreams of a music career but also be together. And Elise realized now that being together was the main goal, as what good was a dream if you had no one to share it with? She felt full of purpose and her whole body glowed with joy. She hummed to herself as she turned on the kettle and prepared some blueberry pancakes for Dylan. 

They had a plan and it was a great one. Now they just had to go out into the world and execute it.

“No! Absolutely not!” Jake cried fervently from across the meeting table. “It would be total career suicide!”

“I don’t agree,” Elise shook her head stubbornly.

“Elise, sweetheart,” he tried to reason with her. “You don’t understand the industry like I do. You are all set to be a great solo artist, why rock the boat now?”

“Because I know it’s the right thing to do,” Elise said with certainty.

Jake bunched his hands into fists in frustration.

“A male and female duet hasn’t hit the big time since Sonny and Cher!” he seethed.

“We’ll make it,” Elise smiled sweetly.

“Elise, please reconsider,” Jake pleaded. “I’d hate to see all your talent go to waste.”

“My talent isn’t going to waste,” Elise scowled at him. “I’m actually expanding on it.”

“The cost to re-record your album with him on it will be extortionate,” Jake let his head fall into his hands in despair.

“As we negotiated, any additional costs can be taken against future royalties,” Elise replied factually.

“But there will be no future royalties!” Jake lamented. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

“I think you underestimate the music-buying public,” Elise told him calmly. “People want to hear great music filled with passion, and that’s what Dylan and I have.”

“You have passion in the bedroom, maybe, but on a record? Do you know how difficult it is to capture that? It’s like lightning in a bottle!”

“Well then, we’re just going to have to try.”

***

Being in the recording studio with Dylan was a completely different experience than recording alone. Elise no longer cared that she was inside all day, sitting in a booth. She laughed so hard her cheeks ached and sang with more depth and emotion than ever before. It was as if having Dylan there amplified everything that was good in her. She wanted their recording sessions to never end.

They re-recorded her whole album as duets and then added a new song, one they had penned together about making love survive. They called it “Endure.” It was to be the first single they released as a couple.

“I can’t believe we are actually doing this together,” Dylan gushed excitedly as he wrapped an arm around Elise’s waist and stood waiting to be called on set to record their music video. A warehouse outside New York had been transformed to look like a Parisian street and both Elise and Dylan were already in costume.

“I know,” Elise declared dreamily as she leaned against him.

“I mean, does this even look like Paris?” Dylan asked her. “You’d know, since you’ve been there.”

Elise smiled. It was true, she had been to Paris. In fact she’d traveled all over Europe. The little girl who lived with her grandmother and never left her home state was now well traveled. Her life was completely different from what it had been twelve months ago when she was still working at Curtis Cleaning Products. Those days felt like a lifetime ago, like they belonged to someone else.

Elise had enjoyed a whirlwind of success, and she was loving every minute and didn’t want it to end. It all hinged on how well “Endure” would be received. At every turn industry insiders kept telling her it would fail, that it was a bad idea to team up with Dylan Cornish, that he’d tarnish her reputation.

“We’re ready for you,” a woman with a microphone attached to her head and holding a clipboard came over and addressed Elise. She looked harassed. Elise nodded. It was her turn to go and perform for the video.

“Break a leg,” Dylan teased as he planted a soft kiss on her lips before letting her go.

Elise had to wander forlornly along the Parisian streets, wearing a long, beautiful dress. She sang directly to the camera for the first part of the song, and Dylan was filmed separately singing his part. They came together for the final third, encouraged by the director to openly flirt with one another in an attempt to film the sparks between them.

After seven hours of flirting, walking towards the camera singing and generally hanging around on set, the video was complete.

Rather than being exhausted Elise felt elated. She threw her arms around Dylan and he held her tightly.

“Video done!” she gushed excitedly into his ear.

“Yeah, we nailed it.” Dylan kissed her gently on the lips.

“I’ve got to hand it to you guys.” The director came over, wearily rubbing his temple. “When I was given this project I had my doubts but you’ve got some real chemistry. You look great together on screen. I really hope this works out for you.”

“Thanks.” Dylan said, shaking the director’s hand. Elise beamed up at her boyfriend. He looked so different in his shirt and trousers befitting the 19th-century period of the video. His usually messy hair had been tidied up and styled and he was clean-shaven. His beloved leather jacket was waiting for him back in the dressing room. He looked handsome and intense but he was still Dylan. Elise could still see the crinkle by his eyes when he laughed. Each moment she spent with him she fell even deeper in love. Whether or not their partnership in music worked out she was spending more time with him and that was what mattered most.