Lucky Break (20 page)

"Oh. I thought..." She was disappointed.

"How quickly you've gone from virgin to sex goddess," he teased. "Don't you worry, I'll gladly make it up to you later."

 
She felt sexier than ever thinking about how this gorgeous rock star that everyone wanted, wanted her. Pulling off her t-shirt she got into the shower with him. He moved aside to let her under the warm water as he rubbed the soap between his hands, making it lather.
 

"I thought you were done."

"I am. But someone needs to bathe you," he said before rubbing his soapy hands over her shoulders.

She giggled as he kissed her then turned her around to face the water. He lathered up her back, then slid his hands down over her butt. She shrieked with surprise.
 

"What?" He said innocently.
 

Next he pressed his body against hers as his hands moved around to her soft stomach, the delicate curve of her hips, then up and over her full breasts. Every inch of her responded to his touch. She couldn't help it.

He pinched her hard nipples between his soapy fingers and she felt his erection press against her behind. Unable to control herself, she giggled as his hands continued down between her legs.

"You really are a bad boy," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Isn't every shower you take like this?"

He laughed then ran his hands under the water and helped rinse her by rubbing his firm hands down her entire body. Kneeling in front of her as he rinsed her feet, his eyes travelled up her body slowly, turning her on even more.

"I have to keep reminding myself we'll have plenty of time after tonight's show," he said.
 

Kissing her on the delicate skin below her belly button, he stood up and turned off the water. He sighed as he grabbed two towels and handed her one.

"Well since you bathed me does that mean I can dry you?" Lucky asked as she looked at his still hard member.
 

"No. Then we'll never get out of here," he said laughing as he wrapped the towel around his waist.

They took a cab to Central Park and walked along a path that took them around a large pond and boathouse. Jude held her hand as they continued walking, his fingers entwined with hers.

"Up ahead is Strawberry Fields," he said.
 

"Oh cool! I always wanted to see that."

As they approached there was a bearded man with chin length wavy brown and grey hair, playing Beatles songs on an acoustic guitar. They stood with several other people and admired the Imagine mosaic which had a peace sign made of red and yellow roses over it.

After, Jude led her through a curved covered walkway and towards one of the park exits. Across the street were tall apartment buildings, many with intricate stonework and carvings towards the top.

"That building on the corner is the Dakota."

"Where John Lennon lived?" She asked.
 

"Yes. And died."

They were quiet for a moment as they looked at the building. Beside them were other people silently looking towards the Dakota as the traffic and other people continued to walk pass.

Without a word Jude began walking towards the street, still holding her hand. They walked past several horse-drawn carriages until they reached a white open carriage, being pulled by a large, pale grey horse. Jude helped Lucky climb into the carriage.

The driver sat in front and steered the horse down the street and back into the park. Lucky was giddy with excitement.

"This is awesome, Jude! Thank you. I never told anyone but it was always a dream of mine to take one of these Central Park carriage rides.

"There's so much I want to share with you. So much for you to see and experience," he said as he slid his arm along the back of her seat and around her shoulders.

Suddenly she was painfully aware of how sheltered she'd been her entire life. She didn't have any experiences except for the few things that happened recently on tour.

She had to break it off. Just end it before it got even more complicated. Definitely end it before he ended it. It was only a matter of time before he got bored of her.

The simple thought of his leaving, made her chest ache and feel heavy. Worried his feelings were only a "tour thing" like Kat told her always happens on tour, and never leaves the tour, she knew what she needed to do. She had to end it with Jude before he ended it with her. If he beat her to it, the pain would be intolerable.
 

"Olivia," Jude said, his face suddenly serious. "I want to talk to you about tomorrow...and all the days after that."

"Good, me too."

"I've loved spending this time and getting to know you. I don't want that to change–"

"Right, nothing should change. We met on the tour, it stays on the tour," she said.

"What?"

"I know what your life is like. So many women you can't even keep track of the one you married."

"But–"

"And now that the tour is done you can spend your time however you used to spend it."

"Olivia–"

She couldn't let him speak. This was the hardest thing she ever had to do and it would be worse if he did it first. Her heart felt heavy, and she felt a knot in her throat, but she knew he wouldn't stay with her. She had a great time with him, but it couldn't last forever.

"Thank you for playing my tour. You made my dreams come true by being there. And thanks for...being you. I'll always remember our time together."

"You're ending it? Just like that? Out of no where?"

"You said so yourself, the tour is over."

He stood up as the carriage came to a stop in front of their hotel. She tried to not look directly at him, afraid she would crumble, but she felt his hard stare.

"Well then you can keep this as a souvenir."

He pulled a small blue Tiffany box from his jeans pocket, handed it to her, got out of the carriage and went inside the hotel without turning back. As she stared at the box for a minute, she wondered why she broke up with him. Was she that certain he'd leave her? But she couldn't see why he would stay.

She flipped up the box lid and tears streamed down her face as she saw the ring. It was simple, yet beautiful. A thin band of bright platinum. Encircling the ring the words "I love you" repeated in script.

"I love you too," she whispered.

***

It was minutes before their last show and she hasn't seen Jude at all. She needed to make it right. Wearing a pale blue empire waist dress and Jude's ring, she spun it around her finger nervously as she looked for him.
 

The show was about to start and Lucky felt lost. How could she be so stupid? Why did she let such a stupid idea fill her head?

"Lucky, we have to get on stage," Dylan told her.
 

"But Jude.."

"He's already out there."

She spent the show trying to catch his eye, but nothing. He played the songs but didn't veer off or try to jam like they had in their last performance. As she thanked the crowd after their last song, she saw him disappear off stage out of the corner of her eye.

She searched for him but came up empty. Like a ghost he was gone, leaving her with only a shiny souvenir.

GOING TO CALIFORNIA

Chapter Twenty-Two

"It's strange being home," Lucky said to Jordan as she unpacked. "So much has changed but everything here is the exactly the same."

Lucky's room hadn't been redecorated in years. She still had the white canopy bed and pale pink walls from her childhood. Her room never bothered her, she rarely spent much time in it.
 

"Yeah it is. Feels like we were gone so long."

"That's because so much happened. I can't believe all that time we were gone and you didn't tell me you moved out."

"I didn't want you to worry. You had the tour anyway. Plus you know me, I don't like talking about stuff like that."

"We've been best friends our whole lives, you're more important than a tour. Have you heard from your mom?"

"I got a text from her last week. It said things weren't bad for me, and she misses me. Said I can always come back," Jordan said then rolled her eyes. "On the other hand, my cousin said my mother is bragging about how she threw me out and won't ever take me back."

"Would you ever go back?"

"Hell no. I can think of other tortures I'd prefer."

"You know you can stay here until you move out to California."

"Thanks, but it'll only be a couple of days. Need to get my stuff out of storage and ship it out. Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to moving away. This city looks different now. Grayer. Worn down. There's nothing here for me anymore."

"I'm surprised Dylan didn't come out."

He was going to but got a studio offer that needed him right away. I know it's stupid, but I miss him."

"It's not stupid. I miss him too," Lucky said quietly as she thought about Jude.

"You haven't heard from him?"

"No. And why would I? I made it clear we were over. I just don't know how I convinced myself to do that. How stupid am I? He was literally a dream come true, my first love, and I sent him packing."

"You could call him."

Lucky shook her head then looked down at the ring he gave her. "Probably better I don't. There's no way it would last anyway. He's probably already fallen for someone else."
 

"What are you going to do next?"

"I don't know. Maybe look for a place. I'm not sure where though. Maybe I'll go out to LA too so I'm nearby for recording. I know I have to get out of here. It's just..." She looked around her bedroom. "This is the bedroom of a child. That's not me anymore. I need to be on my own."

"Lucky! Pick up the phone!" Her mother yelled from the bottom of the stair case.
 

"Wait. Did they take your cell away again?"

"Yup. Apparently I don't need it if I'm home."

"And you didn't say anything?" Jordan was shocked.
 

"What's there to say? There's no point arguing with them."

"You need to stand up for yourself, Lucky. They need to see you're an adult."

Lucky shrugged. She didn't want to admit it to Jordan, but she gave her cell phone to her mom to hold. She knew if she had it, she'd constantly check if Jude called or she would break down
 
and call him. Either way she'd feel like an idiot, so this way was better. She picked up the phone in the hallway.
 

"Hello?"

"Lucky, it's Richard Black. I've scheduled you on Friday to start recording your next album."

"Friday? That's in a couple of days. I just got home."

"Be glad you're getting a couple of days. Normally you wouldn't even get that."

"Ok ok. At least I liked working with Chuck. It'll be good to see him again."

"No, no Chuck this time, I did even better. Black Dog has entered an exclusive deal with Eel Pie Studios."

"Are you kidding me? You really only care about the money don't you? He better be good. I did a lot of work on these songs on the road. They're really personal."

"He's heard them. Thinks you've got a lot of talent and is looking forward to working with you. Heard some problems with your first record he knows he can fix. I'm telling you, he's the best. You'll love him."

"Alright, alright. He better be the best. Not that I have a choice."

"Your flight leaves Friday morning. I'll have a car meet you."

Lucky hung up the phone and went downstairs. She hoped to get some downtime so she could get over Jude. Having to head right back into the studio to sing those songs, wasn't going to help.