Connor kept looking at me without saying a word. I didn't know what he was about to do or say, but I was mad. I wasn't mad because of the frappuccino on my white shirt, but because everywhere I was going, he was there. I saw Caitlin and Malcolm giving strange looks to each other. Aaron and Lawrence weren't with them.
"Now I remember you." Connor said when our gazes met again. "Are you Abigail or Stephanie?" He asked. "Oh, stop! I know who you are!" Seeing his humor, I decided to stop him, slapping him in the face. He was an asshole.
"I'm sorry, china, the fact is you perfectly know who I am, and I don't like those who become a dick to enhance something that doesn't even exist." I winked. "The play was good, by the way. Why don't you dedicate yourself to theatre?" I joked, blowing on my hand as a winning sign. He caressed his cheek with his hand. His expression was shocked.
"Hey, conquistador." Caitlin's mother was Spanish. I loved when my best friend teased people with Spanish words. "I can see you're kinda flirting with my best friend, but if you end up in her circle you're fucked up, so keep calm." She said.
I took her arm. "I will tell you everything later, don't worry." She nodded her head.
"We were looking for you, Tracy." Malcolm said.
"Oh, you don't even believe your own words." I laughed. "If you were looking for me, why didn't you come to my office? Let's be clear, none of you knew my shift ended at four. The most obvious place was my office. But, what a casualty, I'm on the beach with my best friend and you were looking for me in the same place. Wonderful, Malcolm. But I call it stalking." They lowered her head. Connor was still silent after my slap.
"While we were walking, I was thinking that maybe you'd like to come to our rehearsals today." Malcolm said. Maybe he was afraid of my comeback. I didn't want to go, and not because I didn't want to hear them, but because I didn't want to spend another minute with that hypocrite.
While I was about to say no, Caitlin interrupted me. "That would be great! I love live music!" She clapped her hands and I flashed her. She laughed.
I didn't want to do it, but then I remembered that Caitlin was really sad. I couldn't make her any sadder. What kind of person would I have been? I accepted, huffing.
We arrived in a rehearsal room. It was a big room, full of musical instruments with red walls. There were two electric guitars and three acoustic ones, two basses, many microphones and a big drum kit. I widened my eyes seeing all those drums.
At that moment, Aaron and Lawrence appeared. I smiled, because Aaron was the most responsible one among them. Maybe someone would have taken care of them.
"Good, everyone's here, even Lawrence and…" When Connor was about to say Aaron's name, Caitlin moved up. Her eyes were stuck on the guy and her expression was shocked. She brought her hands to her mouth, while I was confused.
"Aaron?" Caitlin gulped, as if she was about to cry. Her lip was trembling and a tear ran down her face.
"Caitlin?" Aaron was immobile. His hands, clenched in two fists, were slightly trembling. His chest was following the beat of his breath. His eyes were widened.
"Cait, could you explain?" I asked her, getting closer to my friend.
"What? Tracy, do you know her?" Aaron asked me.
I nodded my head. "Of course I know her. She's my best friend since I was two." I said. "Can you please tell me how you know her?" I pointed at him, because I couldn't understand anything.
"What, Tracy? Do you know Aaron?" Caitlin asked me, in tears. Her cheeks were wet.
I nodded my head again. "Yeah, I interviewed him this morning." I lowered my gaze. "He has a band with them and he's the drummer." I said.
"Okay, okay! Caitlin and I used to have a relationship." Aaron admitted.
"And we could still have a relationship, if your little friend was stuck in his place." My friend said. "It was the only thing I expected from you, Aaron, I gave you everything and the only thing you could do was to put another woman in the bed you and I used to sleep in, fuck!" She screamed hysterically, and I pushed her off Aaron.
"Oh my God, mate! She's Caitlin? That Caitlin?" Malcolm asked him. He nodded his head without saying a word.
"C'mon, Caitlin. Everybody makes mistakes." He tried to apologize, taking her arm, but she pushed him off, flashing him with her gaze.
"Stop pretending nothing happened. I remember everything about that day, I will never forget it." She said, "I was meant to be there, not her. Did you forget it?" She closed her eyes, crying her heart out against my shoulder. I hugged her.
"Guys, stop!" Lawrence screamed suddenly. "Aaron, no one could know that Caitlin, your former girlfriend, was Tracy's best friend." He gave him a pat on his shoulder. "And Caitlin, no one's reasonable while he's drunk. Remember it." He said, looking at her, and she stopped crying. "You can solve your problems when we're not doing rehearsals." He went among the instruments with the other ones, me and my best friend stood there.
I sat next to her. "Cait, don't cry anymore. Even though you know what I think about love, I'm sure Aaron's reasonable about certain things and you're reasonable about other things. You just have to compare them." She smiled at me
"That's why you're my best friend." She hugged me. I loved her, I couldn't stand seeing her hurt.
The guys distracted us, sitting on the stools and keeping their instruments safely. They started playing something. Everyone had a good voice, even Connor, even though he was unbearable, he could calm me down when he started singing. Seeing him playing the bass, I watched his hands and that weird feeling came back. His eyes were constantly on mine, looking for a reaction, and all I could do in ten minutes was admire the way his lips were moving and the way his long fingers were playing the chords. Something was happening.
When they stopped, Caitlin clapped her hands like a child. "You've been great." She said happily.
"Yeah. You're not that bad, I suppose." I said.
They smiled. I stood up and I asked where the bathroom was. Malcolm showed me a hallway and he told me to follow it then to go left. I followed Malcolm's direction and I found myself in a spooky place. When I couldn't hear their voices anymore, I started to worry. That place was bizarre.
Suddenly, I felt a hand taking my arm and I found myself in front of him. His almond shaped eyes were constantly admiring my lips, while I was still trying to focus on the situation. He bit his lip, getting closer to me.
"I've got you now."