19. Ajay
ajay
. . .
H arrison and Liam are by my side as we wait in the private lobby for their jet to be ready. The three of us are standing at the large window with our sunglasses on, almost as if we were spies. What a fun job that would be, traveling around and doing covert missions. Maybe in another life because the one I’m currently living is booked solid between gigs and spending time in Bailey.
“If you need anything, call me,” Harrison says.
“Or me,” Liam adds. “I’ll be less fatherly, but you can still call if you need someone to talk to. I know a thing or two about being young, in love, and fighting for the woman you want to be with.”
“So do I.” Harrison leans forward and looks at Liam but unfortunately, I can’t see his eyes.
Liam scoffs. “What do you know? You met Katelyn, wooed her, she got upset for a whole two minutes and forgave you. What Ajay’s going through — I’ve been there, man — not you!”
Harrison waves Liam off. “You think you know everything.”
“More than you,” he mumbles. I try not to laugh but the two of them are pretty funny together. Add JD to the mix and it’s a downright party with side aching laughter.
“All I’m saying is that I loved, lost, loved again and wifed Josie up as fast as I could because I wasn’t letting her go.”
“Wifed her up?” Harrison looks confused. “I think you’ve been hanging around the kids to much. Wifed her up,” he mutters, shaking his head.
“When did you and Katelyn get married?” I ask him.
“Ha! They’re not.”
“We are… by law.”
This time it’s Liam waving Harrison off. “Common law, whatever.”
“Wait, you’re not married? But Elle has your last name.”
“Katelyn and I decided a long time ago that neither of us wanted to get married. I think it makes us both work harder at our relationship to be honest. I adopted the twins when they were little, about six years old and she adopted Quinn.”
“You can do that?” I ask. “Just adopt other people’s kids?”
Harrison takes his sunglasses off and turns so he’s facing me. “Peyton and Elle’s dad?—”
“My childhood best friend to be exact,” Liam adds.
“His name was Mason. He died in a car accident when the girls were five. Liam had come back to his hometown for the funeral and decided to stay. Quinn and I came to see him for Christmas that year… and well, the rest is history. And Quinn’s mom gave up her rights to him, paving the way for Katelyn to adopt him.”
I nod slowly. “I think it all makes sense, at least a little bit. Peyton, what does she do? Elle and Quinn talk about her every now and again.”
Liam chuckles. “Peyton is married to my son, Noah. You’ll meet him at a stop soon.”
“Oh wow, is that weird?” I ask them.
Both say no.
“So, you guys are best friends, bandmates and now fathers-in-law to each other’s children?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Liam says. “When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was paired with Harrison for the group. We just clicked. We’re family, right along with JD. He’s married to my wife’s other best friend, Jenna, who you haven’t met yet. They have a daughter, Eden, who competes in surfing competitions, so she travels with her a lot.”
“Wow, this band thing is a crazy dynamic. I remember Elle talking about the band becoming your family when we first started out.”
“It’s important because you spend so much time with each other that when there are wives or husbands, as well as children, it’s invaluable to keep everyone included in everything, to make sure everyone feels involved in the decisions the band makes,” Harrison tells me.
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
But it’s Liam who answers. “If Harrison needs time off to tend to something, the band takes the time off. We put rehearsing on hold when Peyton and Noah got married, and when football season starts, we all go to my son’s games as a family. We put real life in front of fantasy. I didn’t always and almost lost the love of my life as a result.”
I listen to everything that they’re telling me and begin to wonder if I’ll have an opportunity like this or if Whiskey’s going to be adamant about following through with the divorce. If she is, I’ll give her whatever she asks for because that’s the least I can do, even though she got us into this mess.
The plane moves slowly down the tarmac and comes to a stop. The aviation clerk tells us we can go outside now, and just as we open the door, Quinn comes barreling toward us.
“Oh good, you haven’t left.”
“Everything all right?” Harrison asks him.
“Yeah, just gonna hitch a ride south. I thought Ajay could use some support and Nola’s at her parents so she’s going to drive up and meet us there.”
I pat him on the back. “Thanks, man.” I don’t even know if I need help but the fact that he’s here means the world to me. Quinn and I make our way out to the plane and board, leaving the guys behind.
“How is 4225 West getting to the next stop?”
Quinn laughs. “This isn’t their plane. My dad rented this for you so you can spend time with your girl.”
“Are you serious?”
Quinn buckles himself into the seat. I choose to sit across the aisle and opposite him so we can continue to talk.
“If my dad hadn’t, Liam would’ve. He’s a sucker for a good love story.”
I look out the tiny window to see if they’re still in the lobby but can’t really see anything but blobs. Leaning back, I close my eyes and think of Whiskey, and how hard I’m going to have to work when I get back to Bailey.
At some point, I fall asleep and jostle awake when the plane lands. I look out the window to try and figure out where we are to no avail.
“We’re in Wilmington,” Quinn tells me. “Nola is meeting us here with a car rental.”
“Oh cool, I appreciate the ride to Bailey.”
He laughs and pulls his bag from the overhead compartment. “I sort of told Nola what’s going on, and she’s determined to be a matchmaker or something.”
“What do you mean?” I follow Quinn off the plane and down the stairs. We follow another aviation clerk into their lobby, where Nola’s waiting for us. Well, technically, she’s waiting for Quinn. I’m just the third wheel.
“Hey, Nola,” I wave at her once Quinn’s done hogging her attention.
She dangles a set of keys in front of me. “Your rental.”
“Um, thanks.”
“You can thank me after you see what I picked out.” She takes me by the arm and leads us outside and right to a brand new matte black Wrangler that only has a bikini top.
“Whoa.”
“Right?” she says, “I hope she likes going topless.”
Quinn and I pause and look at each other, waiting for Nola to realize what she just said. She’s opening the back door when she looks at us and asks what we’re doing.
“Babe, do you know what you just said?”
She smiles. “I do, now let’s go!”
When the sun rises the next morning, I’m already up, showered and dressed. I’ve had a nasty tasting cup of coffee that I brewed myself, and paced the floor of my room with my phone in my hand, waiting for an appropriate time to call Whiskey. I had planned to do it last night when we got into town, but after stopping for dinner, visiting multiple antique stores, and driving along the coast, we didn’t pull into Bailey until after sundown. I thought about calling Whiskey then, but figured she was at work. The thought of going over and seeing her played heavily on my mind as well, but I don’t want to get in her way. I know I have my work cut out for me today, trying to convince her to take a day off from work. I don’t know her financial situation and realize it might not be so easy for her to be carefree with me but I’m determined to try. Plus, being the manager at Bailey’s Bar and Grill May make it difficult for her to take any time off.
As soon as the clock turns to eight, I press her name on my phone. I know it’s still early, but I’m eager to hear her voice and desperate to see her.
“Ajay,” she croaks into the receiver and instantly the image of her in bed, wearing nothing but my t-shirt, comes to mind. I close my eyes and wish not only that I was there, but that I could think of anything else because those thoughts will only get me into trouble.
“I’m sorry that I woke you.”
“No you’re not,” she says. I chuckle because she’s right.
“I wanted to let you know that I’m in town.”
“I know.”
“You do?” I open the door and stand on the balcony, wondering if she lives nearby and saw me.
“Mhm… Dhara. She’s a huge fan and she saw one of your band members. I assumed he was with you.”
“Ah, yes. That would be Quinn, which brings me to the reason why I’m calling. His girlfriend is with him and I’m wondering if you’d like to go to the beach with us today. I realize you probably have to work?—”
“I’ll go,” she says interrupting me. “Can I meet you at Bailey’s in an hour?”
“I can pick you up.”
“No, I have to stop there for a few minutes so it’s just easier if I meet you there.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Okay,” she says, hanging up. I don’t want to question why it was so easy to get her to agree, but there’s a lingering thought in the back of my mind that this conversation will probably be the only part of my day that will actually be easy. Of course, I want to believe she wants to spend time with me, but this is likely the last thing she wants to do. The rational part of me realizes she’s only spending time with me because she has to.
I send a text to Quinn, telling him that Whiskey said ‘yes’. He responds, saying that Nola has already gone to the store, the cooler is packed, and that they’re ready to leave whenever I am.
I think I love Quinn’s girlfriend. At first, when he told me he had let her know what was going on, I was a little upset. But she’s his person, and she’s trying to help me get my person so who am I to complain? If I’m successful, I’m going to have to do something special for Nola.
The hour goes by painfully slowly. I convince Quinn and Nola that we have to leave fifteen minutes early to drive across the street. I’m pretty sure they’re humoring me when they both just smile and play along with my insanity. While we wait for Whiskey, Nola plays with the radio, telling me that she’s going to control the music from the backseat. Honestly, I don’t mind because it’s one less thing I have to worry about while driving.
I’m standing next to the Wrangler when Whiskey comes into the parking lot, she stops and starts for a moment before approaching.
“Is this yours?”
“It’s a rental,” I tell her. “But I might have to buy one because it’s fun as hell.”
She looks at Quinn and Nola, who waves. “Let me introduce you. Quinn James and Nola Boone, meet Jamie.”
They shake hands. “It’s nice to meet you,” Nola says. “I’m excited you could come. Spending the day with these guys by myself isn’t always fun, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah I imagine it’s all shop talk or moody brooding.”
Quinn and I both hang our heads. “Things could be worse, we could talk about video games all day,” I tell the girls.
“In which case I would take your credit card and go shopping,” Whiskey fires back. I know she’s joking but I like that idea a lot.
Even though the doors are off, I walk Whiskey to the passenger side of the Wrangler and wait until she’s situated before going back to the driver’s side. I’m completely mesmerized by the way she swiftly puts her hair up and checks herself in the mirror.
“What time do you have to be back?”
“I don’t,” she says. “We should go before all the good spots are taken.”
I do as she suggests. As I drive through town, Nola and Whiskey chat. It’s easy when there’s minimal wind and I like that I can hear them. I decide to take the back roads to the coast because it makes the drive slightly longer but more amenable to having a conversation. Once we’re out of town, Nola turns on the music. Through the rear-view mirror, I see Quinn scoff at what’s playing on the radio. I want to turn it off or tell her to play something different until I check out Whiskey, she’s singing right along to Dana’s voice.
“You know this song?” I ask her as we come to an intersection. Thankfully, we’re the only car there at the moment so I use this opportunity to talk to her.
She nods. “Yeah, it’s on the radio a lot. Let me guess, you know the singer?”
“This is my band,” I say with a chuckle. I watch as her face morphs into something that I can only describe as embarrassment. I lean toward her, my lips close to her ear. “Don’t hide from me, Whiskey.”
“I’m not,” she says quietly.
She turns and looks at me. She’s so close that I could kiss her. I want to kiss her, but I pull away. “I love that you know our songs. It means a lot to me.” I reach for her hand, intending to give it a quick squeeze, but she holds onto it for some reason and there’s no way I’m letting go.