Ford
He leaned forward and was about to ring the bell when Steve, her neighbour, popped his head out of his front door.
“Young man, I had a visitor today.”
“A rather unpleasant man who was very interested in how I felt about living next door to the long-lost Sie from Midnight Thunder.”
As his mind whirled, all he managed to say was, “Oh.”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him?” Ford croaked out.
“I told him I had no idea what he was talking about and to leave me alone. Then I shook my stick at him.” The old man grinned wickedly, which made Ford bark with laughter.
“Thanks, mate.”
“That is no problem. Although I would appreciate a ticket to the pub concert that I hear you and Sie are doing. Oh, and could you say thank you to her for the plate of food she left for me a few minutes ago? I was too slow to get to the door.”
“I will personally ensure you have tickets,” Ford said with a grin, despite the unease roiling in his stomach at the thought of the paparazzi going after Sie.
“If you don’t mind, I would also like one for my lady friend, Doreen.”
Ford nodded seriously. “Of course.”
“Now. I won’t keep you from wooing your young lady.” Steve gave him a jaunty wave and retreated back into his house.
Ford watched him go, amused by the older gentleman, but also worried about the news he’d brought. If Sie was letting everyone know who she really was, they would need to speak to Donnie about the best approach with the media going forward.
But tonight, he needed to push thoughts of Donnie aside and get to know Sie again and find out if Mai, the woman she’d become, felt the same way about him as he did her.
Holding his hand up, he rapped his knuckles on the door, shifting from foot to foot as he waited nervously for her. It was ridiculous; he’d dated some of the most desirable women in the world and had never felt like this.
As he waited for his wife to open the door, his palms started to sweat. His feelings for her were all over the place. He couldn’t imagine life without her, but at the same time, he was still angry about her walking away.
When she opened the door, looking tired, her hair a wild mass of curls, wearing pink jeans, a black t-shirt, and a tentative smile on her face, his anger faded a little more. And he realised that with time it would go completely.
“Hi,” she said shyly and pushed her glasses back up her nose.
His nerves peaked, and he shoved the flowers at her, growling, “For you.”
Sie reflexively grabbed the bunch and blinked at them, then lifted her gorgeous blue eyes up to his, a smile blooming on her face. “Thanks. You didn’t need to do this.”
“I know.” The next words slipped out before he could stop them. “I never gave you flowers when we first started dating. So I wanted to now.”
Sie’s smile faltered as she asked, “Is this a date?”
Ford didn’t hesitate; he nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I hope so.” He watched her with trepidation and sighed in relief when the smile was back on her face.
“Me too,” Sie whispered, then stepped back and indicated for him to come in.
“Nice front hall,” Ford said expressionlessly, not commenting that the last time they were in that hall, he'd grabbed her and kissed her. “I lost my wedding ring when I was here,” he blurted, still unable to believe it was gone.
“Your ring?” Sie’s step faltered.
Ford took a couple of deep breaths and admitted, “I always wore it on a necklace. I took it off that night and put it on. I dunno, it’s dumb, once I knew you were back, I put it on for the first time in forever. It was in my pocket the night I…” he hesitated.
The night I kissed you.
The night my life clicked back into place after so many years of being incomplete.
“Came over,” he finished.
Sie stopped suddenly and spun back to face him.
“I have it,” she exclaimed.
“What?” He stared at her. She had it?
“Yeah. It was on the floor in the hall. I thought you threw it down in disgust.”
“Shit, no. Never.” Ford stumbled over his words in his rush to get them out. “It must have fallen out of my pocket.”
Sie pulled a necklace out from under her T-shirt, saying quietly, “I always wore my ring as well.” She showed him their wedding rings sitting side by side on a silver chain. So similar to his.
He reached out and took the rings into his hand, smiling as he remembered their wedding day, and how Sie had bought both rings, woefully misjudging the size of his.
He couldn’t remember a day since she left that he'd experienced such pure happiness. He had achieved so much, but it always came with stress. Play the best show he could. Make the next album a hit. Keep his girlfriend happy, even when he wasn’t sure if they were there for him or Midnight Thunder’s frontman.
The day he married Sie was different. It was about the two of them. Their hopes and dreams for the future. He had been so sure that she would be by his side, whatever happened with Midnight Thunder.
He wished he hadn’t been wrong.
He still had hold of the rings and was staring into her eyes; he couldn’t look away from her.
“Ford,” Sie whispered. “We’ve got so much to talk about. We need to make it out of my hall.”
He nodded in agreement, but didn’t let go. “Yeah.”
Sie’s mouth quirked up at the corners. Her eyes darted between his and his lips. She wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her. Ford stepped away and dropped the rings to stop himself from snatching her up into his arms. They needed to talk before the kissing happened.
They held eye contact for a few breathless moments, then Sie turned back around and headed off toward an open door.
Calling over her shoulder, “I would give you a tour, but it’s literally an open plan living room and kitchen and a couple of bedrooms upstairs.
It would take three minutes and wouldn’t be very interesting. ”
Ford’s ears pricked up at the mention of bedrooms; he would be very interested in seeing her bedroom.
They needed to talk, he reminded himself.
He chuckled. “My unit in Sydney isn’t very big either.”
“But does it have a view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House? ‘Cause I’d take a small unit for those views.”
Ford flushed slightly when he admitted, “Yeah, it does.”
“That sounds amazing. I’m happy for you.” Sie reached behind her neck and unclasped her necklace. Slipping his ring off, she held it out to him. “Here.”
Ford stared at it, an image overlaying the current one: a girl with long dark hair, wearing a white dress, handing it to him with a broad grin.
Reaching out, he took it.
“Thanks.” His fingers grazed over hers, then he undid his own necklace and placed the ring back where it was meant to be and slipped it under his shirt. But not before he glanced at his ring finger and the thought crossed his mind—that was where it was actually meant to be.
“So, take a seat. I hope you’re hungry. I’ve chucked a lasagne and garlic bread in the oven. It’ll be ready soon. Can I get you a beer or a wine? I’ve also got sparkling water, or cordial, or—“
Ford cut off her rambling; he knew she was nervous. “I’ll grab a sparkling water, thanks.” His eyes didn’t leave her as she moved around the small kitchen, collecting glasses and opening the fridge.
It felt so domestic. It felt so right. When she placed the drinks in front of him, he blurted, “Shall we start from the beginning?”
Sie sat down opposite him, which annoyed him, as she could have sat beside him.
She stared at the table for a long time before her eyes rose to his. “Sure.” But she didn’t say anything else, and the silence between them stretched.
“Sie?”
“I don’t know how to start, as all I want to say is sorry, and that’s not going to get us anywhere.”
“It won’t,” he agreed.
“I left because I was scared.” Again, she stopped talking for a long time before she finally said, “I lost my family. I was scared that if I stayed, I would have lost you, too. At the time, it seemed easier to walk away from you than risk another loss.”
“You wouldn’t have lost me,” Ford whispered.
Her eyes were sad when she said, “The problem is I would have. I couldn’t carry on touring. Each one of those last shows I did nearly broke me.”
“I thought you were grieving.”
“I was. But it was more than that. My stage fright was crippling. Every time I went out there, it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I knew that if I quit Midnight Thunder, you would have quit too.”
Ford opened his mouth to deny it, then closed it again. If she told him she was leaving the band to settle into a small town life, he would have gone with her. He would have given it all up to make sure she woke up in his arms every day.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“And you would have grown to resent me.”
Ford again opened his mouth to deny it. Then he closed it again. Could he say with all honesty that he wouldn’t have grown to resent her if he'd given up the chance to be successful in music?
“Shit,” he groaned. “We were fucked.”
Sie chuckled ruefully. “Yup. I shouldn’t have left that way. I’ve regretted it every single day since I did it.”
“But if you told me you were going, I would have come too and been destroyed by constantly asking myself ‘what if?’. What if I stayed? What if we were successful and I missed out?”
“Yeah,” Sie agreed.
“Basically, we were fucked.” Ford ran his hands through his hair.
“Yep. But I still shouldn’t have run away. I should have given you a choice.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Ford said.
Sie chuckled. “You sound as confused as I am.”
“I really am. I hate that you left, but I know myself and the drive I have.” Ford took a few deep breaths and stared at Sie until he finally said, “We start again.”
“We do?” Sie’s voice trembled.
“Yeah.” He held his hand out to her. “My name is Graham Ford. I’m the singer for Midnight Thunder.”
Sie gazed at him, then her eyes dropped to his hand. Reaching across the table, she took hold of it, a smile twisting the corner of her mouth when she felt his palm was as clammy as hers. “I’m Maisie Jones. I’m a Consultant Paediatrician.” She hesitated before she added, “And musician.”
He shook her hand and didn’t release it at the end. “I never asked. Do you prefer to be called Mai or Sie?”
Sie was silent for a long moment. “Sie. I want you to keep calling me Sie.”