Chapter Thirteen #2
And I didn’t just mean the people singing along; I meant the opportunity the man in the corner was giving me, because I remembered where I knew him from now.
He was the guy who’d hit me while in the midst of a heart attack.
Not only did he look hella healthy now, but he also looked determined too, when I dared to meet his gaze again and caught him continuing to watch me.
This time, I nodded instead of looking away.
When we finished our set, to continued requests for more songs and Wolf in the wings, shaking his head no and pointing to his watch, I knew it was time for us to relinquish the stage.
That was fine with me, I knelt at the edge of the stage and motioned for the guy to come to the back, knowing we’d never be able to hold a conversation with other people around.
“What are you doing?” Tony hissed in my ear as I straightened up. “Dude, you did not just see the look on Pressley’s face. Not cool, seriously.”
“It’s not what you think,” I hissed back, leaning closer to speak directly in his ear so no one else could hear us. “He’s the guy that hit me. I just want to talk to him for a minute.”
“Oh, oh shit, sorry, fuck, I didn’t…” Tony stammered.
“No worries, let’s just get the fuck off the stage. I’ll make it right with Pressley after I finish speaking to him.”
“Okay,” Tony said, walking off the stage with me.
Wolf had stopped the guy just inside the doorway until I hurried over to explain that I’d invited him back. Great, now I got a second look of disappointment in less than a minute, and all I was trying to do was close the door on a chapter of my life that I needed to leave in the dust.
“Thanks,” the guy said as soon as Wolf walked away.
“I wasn’t sure at first if you recognized me, then I saw you flinch and realized you absolutely did.
I thought maybe I should leave at that point, but with the way people had packed the place, I didn’t think I could make it to the door without being a bigger distraction. ”
“No, it’s, um, it took me a moment before I remembered where I’d seen your face before, and it didn’t exactly come with the most pleasant memory.”
“I bet,” he replied. “It’s why I came tonight.
When I saw your name on the flyers that went up for tonight, I figured it would be the only chance I’d get to tell you how sorry I was about what happened.
The day was going along like any other day, rushing through breakfast and lunch with my phone to my ear, lining up building supplies in between fussing with contractors about why certain projects weren’t completed on time.
I’d been popping antacids for days, figuring that I was just dealing with the worst indigestion of my life.
My wife had been after me to go see my doctor.
I wish I’d done a better job of listening to her back then.
She was gracious enough not to say I told you so when I woke up in the hospital.
She’s amazing like that. I felt lower than dog shit when I found out that I hurt someone when I’d lost control of my car.
I’d never once considered that I might be having a heart attack.
One quadruple bypass and a great many lifestyle changes later, I’m just grateful to be able to stand here and look you in the eye and tell you how sorry I am that you got hurt that day. ”
“I’m glad you were able to get help in time,” I said.
“You and me both. You guys sounded amazing up there. I’d heard you were a musician and that you’d gotten cut up by glass during the accident, but by the time I was in any shape to reach out, you’d moved, and the guys there claimed to not know how to find you.”
“You went to my old apartment in Portland?”
“The place over a bar, yeah, I did, and I even spoke to the bartender. He said you’d moved out, but that he didn’t know where you’d gone either.
I didn’t want to go into full-on stalker mode and pay one of those websites to give me your new address, so I let it drop, at least until I saw the flier the other day.
I wasn’t even supposed to be up here in Seattle, but a project hit a snag, and I drove up to help my guys figure it out.
Saw the flier in a diner around the corner and felt like fate stepped in to finally give me the chance to apologize. ”
“Damn, that, umm, does sound like there was some divine intervention involved,” I muttered, feeling stunned and a bit humbled to know that he’d been carrying the incident around with him the same as I had.
“I don’t want to take up too much of your evening; I’m sure there are plenty of other people waiting to talk to you,” he said. “Thanks for not asking someone to boot my ass out of here, not that I’d have blamed you if you had.”
“No, I, umm, appreciate you coming down here tonight,” I said.
“I’ve umm, there have been plenty of times when I’ve been pissed off about what happened to me, but they told me pretty early on about the heart attack and you trying to pull the car over only to hit me in the process.
Maybe I’d have heard danger coming if I hadn’t had my music up so loud.
I guess for whatever reason, fate just meant for us to collide that day.
I don’t hold a grudge against you or anything; I’m just glad that we both survived it. ”
“Me too. I’d never have been able to forgive myself if I’d killed you.”
“Pretty sure that would have sucked for me too.”
Laughing was a far better end to this encounter than the ambulance rides we’d received after our previous one.
He made an awkward lurch forward that I finished for us both, hugging him and being hugged in return, before watching him disappear through the door that led back into the club.
Him coming here tonight meant the world to me.
Maybe now I could finally just let it go, since there was no undoing it.
Life really had smacked us both that day, and from the sound of things, both of us had changed.
Maybe the future I’d been heading for back then would have been filled with disappointment and regret.
We’d clearly not had the staying power to survive a rough patch in the road. Would this band?
Goddess willing, we’d have a long-ass time to find out, though personally, my vote would be for never.