11. Darcy
11
DARCY
“ A s you can see, it gets good light in the afternoons.”
I watched as Callum walked around the large, open warehouse. He observed the windows and nodded at my comments. He spun around and I saw him imagining different furniture pieces in the room or where he could put walls. Was he really serious about this recording studio thing?
“The ceiling is really high,” he said. “It would be difficult to soundproof the place.”
“It would,” I agreed, though in truth I didn’t know anything about recording studios and what the space might look like. Liz and I primarily stuck with residential properties but, in a small town like ours, it wasn’t uncommon for us to list some of the commercial buildings for friends or family.
“The last place was closer to the downtown area. That might be helpful for a new business.”
“It might …” I said, still trying to understand what he was looking for, “if you’re hoping for a lot of foot traffic ... is that the sort of thing you need for a recording studio?”
He seemed to really consider the question as he looked back at me.
“I guess you’re right,” he said. It surprised me to realize he might be taking my advice seriously. “Somewhere a bit further from Main Street might be helpful. A bit quieter. We might be recording late into the night, so we wouldn’t want to disturb anyone with all the coming and going.”
Callum walked toward the back where there were a few offices along the wall. This place used to be a newspaper office, with a big open space for reporter desks and a few private spaces in the back. The local paper had downsized quite a bit in the last few years, with most reporters working remotely, and they no longer needed such a big space.
“You do realize that Maplewood isn’t exactly crawling with musicians?” I asked. Callum was inside one of the offices, opening and closing the blinds on the windows that looked out onto the main room.
“Oh, it won’t be locals coming here,” he said. “It’ll be other artists I know.”
“And why would they come to Maplewood?” I asked. I liked our town, but it definitely wasn’t a tourist destination. It was a sleepy place where all the restaurants closed by nine p.m. I couldn’t imagine famous rock stars flocking to the town to record their next album.
“People are looking for an escape,” Callum told me. I had a feeling he was speaking from experience. “They want somewhere quiet where they can focus on the music. They’re going to spend ten or twelve hours in the studio. Where they sleep isn’t very important.”
We walked back to the open room, and I shifted on my feet, waiting for his opinion of the fourth property of the day.
“What do you think?” I asked. I was itching to get out of the place after an afternoon with Callum. He kept looking at me with an intense stare that made me instantly flash back to the previous night in his dressing room. I needed to drive back to the office and excuse myself to get back to work.
“It’s not right,” he sighed. “It doesn’t have the right vibe. Too cold.”
“Got it,” I said, holding my tongue. Every place we visited had some “vibe” problem. It was too clinical or too cold. One of the properties was too “spiritual”, whatever that meant!
“Let’s find another,” he said, and I inwardly groaned.
“That’s pretty much it,” I told him. “I’ve shown you what we have available in the Maplewood area. Anything else, we’ll have to go much further out.”
“No problem,” he said, smiling as he crossed to the door. “I’ve got all day.”
I felt anxiety and annoyance flood my chest.
“Callum!” I cried, finally letting my frustration out. He spun around, a slight smile on his face. “ I don’t have all day. I have to get back to the office.”
He crossed closer and gave me that stare again. I was suddenly on his dressing room counter, feeling his mouth on me, eager for more. I shook my head and forced the image out of my mind.
“Blow off work,” he said, his voice low. “We could just enjoy ourselves.”
His eyes fell down to my lips, and I thought he might kiss me. I wasn’t about to let that happen. Last night was a one-time thing, and I couldn’t let it become a pattern. Not when I knew he was only here for the summer. If I got too attached, I would be the one hurt when he left. I reminded myself of our date all those years ago, when he had no problem leaving without a word.
“I can’t,” I said, pushing past him and heading for the door. I didn’t stop. I simply set my sights on the car outside and made a beeline for it. He followed me and I locked the building up in silence. I was relieved that he stayed quiet while we returned to the car and had a silent drive back to the real estate office.
“Thanks for showing me around,” he said, getting out of the car. He finally seemed to realize that I wasn’t interested in spending my time with him. At least, I hoped he was starting to realize that. All this time together was starting to affect me in ways I didn’t like. I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if I just let him kiss me. If I just decided to give in to him one more time ...
The slam of the car door pulled me out of these thoughts, and I looked back at him.
“Thanks,” I said, but his confused face made me realize I had misspoken. “I mean, you’re welcome.”
“Hey Darcy!” The voice gave me a jolt of instant panic. I turned to see John, my ex-fiancé, walking toward me, grocery bags in hand.
“John,” I said as I breathed through a tightness in my chest. I hadn’t spoken to him in months. I had been so relieved when all the wedding business was concluded, and we didn’t have to endure strained phone calls and awkward meetings. After the final details of returning rings and getting addresses for his relatives who had sent engagement presents, I hoped we wouldn’t see each other again. Of course, I knew that was unrealistic. We lived in Maplewood, after all.
“I haven’t seen you in a while,” he said. His T-shirt was too tight, showing off the hard-earned muscles of his arms and his chest. It used to be enticing to me, but now I couldn’t see anything except a man far too full of himself to care about anyone else.
“Hey, man.” Callum stepped forward, putting himself between me and John. My eyes flipped over to the office door, hoping Liz might notice what was happening and come out to save me.
“Callum,” John said. John had gone to high school with all of us, so the two men knew each other a bit. Since Callum was older, their paths wouldn’t have crossed much, and I didn’t know what Callum knew about my past relationship with John.
“What’s going on, man?” I couldn’t miss the hint of threat in Callum’s voice. It made me wonder if he knew quite a bit about my history with John. Had Liz talked to him about it?
“I saw you were in town,” John said, flicking his eyes between me and Callum. “Sorry I couldn’t make the show.”
“No worries, man.” The words they used were friendly, but there was a darkness underneath them. I could sense tension building between them, an unspoken challenge that I didn’t know how to diffuse.
“So, what are you two up to?” John asked. He had likely watched us get out of the car together. I remembered that possessiveness he had when we were together, always suspicious of other men I was talking to.
“I was just showing Callum some properties,” I said, wanting to assure John that everything here was professional. But Callum spoke at the same time, talking over me.
“I don’t think that’s any concern of yours, man,” Callum said. “Not anymore, anyway.”
Yes, he clearly knew my history with John. And from the looks of things, he wasn’t very happy about it.
“Whoa, man,” John said. He put the brown paper grocery bag on the trunk of my car and I felt my stomach drop. The two men were squaring off against each other, clearly sizing each other up as they shared tense words. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“If you’re talking to Darcy, you’re talking to me,” Callum said. He stepped forward and John and Callum were face to face, their chests puffed up as they glared at each other.
“Knock it off,” I said, shaking my head. “Callum, let’s go inside.”
Callum took another second to scowl at John before sliding his eyes to where I stood next to him. With a slight laugh in John’s direction, meant to belittle him, he turned and followed me back toward the door of the office.
“You’re gonna let a girl tell you what to do?” John asked. Suddenly, Callum was back in John’s face and then, before we realized what was happening, he shoved him.
“Enough!” I yelled, but John was shoving back, and I knew a full-blown fight was minutes away from happening.
“I’m leaving,” I cried out. I rushed back to the driver’s side of the car and got in, slamming the door hard behind me. I refused to look in my rear-view mirror, afraid of what I might see there. I simply slammed the gas pedal and sped out of there as John’s bag of groceries flew off the trunk and scattered all over the pavement.