Chapter 32
After we wrap, Eli and Sweeny talk us into going to a club to celebrate the monumental day. It doesn’t take long to see more evidence of how much has changed.
The lights, the crowds, the glamor… it’s all lost its appeal now that we’ve found something richer. There’s nothing wrong with any of it, but it no longer feels like a necessary release or offers a high like it used to.
Hanging out and being treated like royalty for a few hours is fun, but nothing more.
Entering suite 403 with my best friend and girlfriend feels like more of a reward than anything else that happened tonight.
Once we’re settled on the couch, Callie slides the remote off the coffee table, then hesitates.
“You okay?” she asks Luke.
Concerned, I lean past her to check his expression, but relax at his soft smile.
“You know, a year ago I wouldn’t have been able to do what we did tonight without getting wasted and making a dick of myself,” he says in a reflective tone. “Six months ago I wouldn’t have been able to even make it through those doors at all. And then tonight…”
He casts a brief glance at me before resting his gaze on her. “I think I’m a different person now.”
Warmth blossoms inside me. Hope.
He is. But so is Callie. So am I.
“We all are, man,” I say.
“We are,” Callie agrees. “You don’t have to be a ghost anymore.”
Luke returns a weak smile and settles back against the cushion. I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but for the first time in a long time, I’m not afraid of it.
“So what do you guys want to watch?” Callie asks, brightening the mood.
“Anything is fine with me,” Luke says.
“There’s still another season of Dead Head, ” I suggest just to watch her eyes do what they’re doing now.
“You promised I’d get to choose the next show!” she argues.
“So why did you ask what we wanted to watch?” I counter.
“I…” She stops and angles toward the TV in an adorable pout.
Luke smirks as I release a triumphant grin. But we’ve only just begun.
“Not that it matters,” I direct at Luke in a conversational tone. “She’ll be asleep fifteen seconds in no matter what we choose.”
“Hey!” she cries, smacking my chest.
I laugh and pull her into me.
She pretend struggles for barely a second before relaxing against me with a sigh.
Still wrapped in my arms, she returns her focus to the screen to scroll through the menus. I rest my lips on her hair, and my gaze collides with Luke’s.
His knowing grin sinks deep into my soul .
He motions toward Callie with his eyes. “Told you so,” he mouths.
I return his smile. There’s no point arguing.
He did.
And when I glance down at Callie, I almost burst out laughing.
Luke’s smile grows when he notices what I just did—Callie, out cold in my arms.
I tip a grin at him.
“Told you so,” I mouth back.
“Casey!”
The panicked cry jolts me awake. We stayed up late watching some Hollywood action flick starring Andis Carver. Callie picked it after her two minute nap she insisted didn’t happen.
We eventually all fell asleep on the couch, but now she’s running toward me with a terrified look on her face.
“What? What’s wrong?” I ask in a groggy voice.
“It’s Luke! He’s gone!”
“What do you mean he’s gone?”
“I don’t know. He’s not here! I was worried about him and went to check on him and he’s not in his room, not in the office!”
“Okay, calm down. Maybe he just left to get breakfast or something.” But nothing in my voice sounds like it believes that.
I slip my arms around her, trying to calm myself and think at the same time. There must be an explanation.
“Oh, god, Casey. What if he was saying goodbye last night?” she whispers.
I go rigid, and her arms cinch around me.
No. Not possible. No way.
“No he wasn’t. He’s fine. He has to be fine. ”
Fuck!
“I’m going to call the front desk and see if they can give me any information. Callie, it’s going to be fine. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
Do I believe that? I have to.
I circle the couch to get to the room phone. My hands are shaking as I dial the front desk. Logic is telling me we’re overreacting. There are a thousand reasons why Luke wouldn’t be here. But history is telling me something else, and in the human psyche, history usually beats logic.
“Front desk, how may I help you?” a deep voice says.
“Hi, this is Casey Barrett from room 403. We’re trying to get in touch with Luke and are wondering if he mentioned where he was headed this morning on his way out.”
“Good morning, Mr. Barrett. I just started my shift, but I can ask the staff who were in the lobby this morning. Do you mind holding?”
“Sure, yeah, I can wait.”
Callie’s intense gaze is locked on me, pleading for an update.
“They’re going to ask the lobby employees if any of them saw or spoke to him,” I say.
Her teeth sink into her lip. My knee bounces against the edge of the couch.
“Mr. Barrett? Are you still there?”
I stiffen back to attention. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Excellent. I Just spoke to Reggie who’s been at the door since six. No one could have left without him noticing. He said Luke left the building about an hour ago… carrying an old chair.”
“Wait, what? Really. Did he say where he was going or what he was doing?”
“No, he didn’t. Reggie made a joke about the chair, but Luke just smiled and kept walking.”
“Okay. Thanks. ”
“Would you like me to check with anyone else? I can keep looking into it.”
“Um, no, that’s okay. Thanks for your help.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
I hang up, feeling numb. What the hell is going on?
I turn to Callie, more confused than before.
“What is it?” she asks in a strained voice
I clear my throat, not sure where to begin. “They said they saw him leave about an hour ago carrying an old chair. He didn’t talk to anyone.”
She freezes, then bolts down the hall. I run after her and stop when I find her staring in horror. Scanning the room from over her shoulder, my blood goes cold when I spot the empty corner.
“It’s gone,” she whispers.
Her chest moves in a sharp inhale. Then another. And another. Soon, the empty room echoes with her tears.
“Callie…” I say softly. My own voice is raw and weak.
She twists around and falls into my arms.
I wrap her tight, for my own sake as much as hers.
My world feels like it’s rocking out of control. I’m still not sure what’s going on, let alone what to do next. Callie must have theories to react the way she is, but she’s too upset to share them at the moment.
We need to calm down. Regroup. Come up with?—
A loud clatter fires down the hall.
Callie shoots up straight, and our gazes lock for a split second before we take off in the direction of the noise.
Luke stares at us in bewilderment when we launch ourselves at him. I don’t even notice the stuff he’s holding until he almost drops it.
“What’s this?” he asks through a soft laugh.
I don’t know how to answer that. I just know that nothing seems as important as holding onto these two people right now.
“You were gone,” Callie murmurs. “We were so scared. ”
Luke attempts to extricate himself from the ambush, but Callie isn’t allowing it. His baffled expression turns amused. “I went to get breakfast,” he explains, waving the takeout bag at us.
His smile fades as he scans our faces. “Wow, you guys were really scared.”
“The chair was gone,” Callie says, still clinging to him. “The lobby employees said you left with it.”
She finally frees him, and he deposits the food on the counter.
“Yeah. I returned it,” he replies in a casual tone.
We go still.
“You returned it?” Callie repeats.
I’m just as confused.
He nods with a shrug like we’re the ones not making sense. “To Jemma’s. I shouldn’t have stolen it in the first place.”
“But…”
“I don’t need it anymore, Callie. It’s not who I am, like you said.”
With a muffled yelp, she launches herself at him again. Her tears wet his shirt as he hugs her back, crossing an exasperated look to me.
If he’s expecting an ally, he can suck it.
“Dammit, Luke,” I mumble. “Can you leave us a freaking note next time?”
His grin almost makes me forgive him for scaring the shit out of us.
If there’s French toast in that bag, maybe I will.
“Want to hear the master? I just got it back from Julian.”
Luke glances up from his guitar, his eyes igniting with excitement.
“Sure. Of course. How’d it come out? ”
I shrug. “Don’t know. Just came in. I thought we should listen together.”
His expression fills with warmth, but he doesn’t say anything as he nods.
I drop to the bed beside him with my laptop and hand him a pair of studio headphones. I insert my custom in-ears, also plugged into the splitter jutting from the computer.
I already have the .wav file saved on my desktop.
Once he has the headphones on, I start the track. Crisp piano explodes in our ears. Percussion, guitars, and finally…
Luke’s voice.
An army couldn’t tear my gaze away from his face when his shiver-inducing vocal breaks through.
His eyes widen a fraction. His lips hang open just slightly before tipping up in a smile.
His gaze cuts to mine, and the smile slides into a grin.
My joy slips out in return.
He blinks a few times, then settles an absent stare on the floor to truly listen.
I do the same.
At the turn after the first chorus, he motions for me to stop.
I press the space bar and pull out my left earpiece.
“The guitars sound muddy in the turn. The rhythm is drowning out the lead,” he says.
“Agreed. What about your vocal? A little more reverb?”
“Yeah. It’s also sounding too compressed.”
“You think? I kind of liked it.”
He shrugs with his “we can argue about it later” look, then does the finger twirl telling me to continue playing.
As I shove my earpiece back in and press the space bar, another smile forms deep in my gut. It spreads quickly, surging into my chest, up my neck, and onto my lips.
Luke doesn’t notice as he listens intently to a song he’s created, like he’s done thousands of times over the years .
Except he hasn’t.
Not like this.
Callie once told me Luke and I are both brilliant, but together we’re untouchable.
She was wrong.
No matter how good it was, our music would have always been missing something. And when Luke grins during the final chorus, I know he hears it too.
We finally found it.
The missing piece.
The anchor and the dreamer who crashed into our lives and changed countless destinies with her stubborn light.
Her name is Callie Roland. She’s a poet. You’ve never heard of her.
But you fucking will.