“Nope,” I lied. “I wasn’t sure you would even answer the door this morning, so I didn’t think of much more than breakfast.”
“I’m surprised I let you in. I wondered if you were going to do some sort of Valentine’s Day ambush on me, and you certainly did.”
“Hey!” I said. “I already told you this isn’t about V-day.”
“And you’re not a good liar.”
I laughed and said, “Okay. What’s next is I was going to order lunch in because I hoped we’d be naked in bed. You changed that by falling asleep on me. Typical guy. Gets his rocks off and falls straight to sleep.”
“In my defense, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Today is a rough day for me.”
Just as I was about to kiss him and tell him I would make sure it was a good day, the doorbell rang.
“Would you mind answering that, Teagan? I don’t want to deal with anyone except you today.”
“Sure, baby,” I said. I bounced to the door and received the biggest shock I’d ever got in my life.
“What the hell do you want, bitch?” I shouted at God damned Lindsay Taylor.
She stepped back as if my words physically hit her.
“Is this Smith Carlisle’s house?” she asked meekly.
I looked her up and down and she wasn’t dressed like a mega-star celebrity. She had on simple leggings, sneakers, and a puffy overcoat. Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail.
“No!” I growled and slammed the door.
Smith came around the corner and smiled, “Pretty rough on the Jehovah’s Witness there, weren’t you?”
The bell rang again, and I said, “Don’t open it.”
He looked out the window and said, “Jesus Christ, what the hell is she doing here. Just let her in. The faster I deal with this, the faster she’ll be gone.”
I glared at him and said, “I won’t let her ruin our day. She needs to just go.”
“I’ll see her and that’s the end of it, Teagan,” he said forcefully, as if that had some kind of effect on me.
“Let me make her go,” I demanded, angry that he wouldn’t listen to me.
He shook his head no. I grabbed my purse and coat from the table and walked into his garage. As I was waiting for the garage door to open he begged, “Don’t go. It will…”
I didn’t hear the rest. I was out the door and in my house in seconds. God damned Lindsay Taylor.
I threw myself onto the couch and cried. It was irrational but I thought he was going to fall back under her spell, and I lost him. I couldn’t be there for that. I couldn’t let him see my heart break for him.
Why did she have to come back at that moment? I had my breakthrough with him. He played piano for me. He let me be with him on Valentine’s Day. It was all falling into place until God damned Lindsay Taylor showed up on his doorstep.
I could see it in my heart. I just knew at that moment she was spreading her legs and reeling him back in like some kind of succubus, taking advantage of him in his weakened state. I cursed her name and vowed I wouldn’t be there when she hurt him again, and she would. She was the worst kind of bad for him. She had no respect for him. She wanted only wanted him for his songs. Only she didn’t know she broke him. She was a user; she didn’t love him. She couldn’t love him and do what she did to him.
Then I had the worst thought yet; what if he finished the song. Would her coming back to him be the salvation I wasn’t? The thought tore at my heart.
I don’t know how long I was motionless on my couch, but the piano began playing at Smith’s house. It was loud and angry, as if he were banging on the keys as hard as he could again; and then it softened. What he played next was beautiful. The melody weaved seamlessly with the chords that came from his fingers.
I walked to the wall and touched it. It may have been my imagination, but I felt the vibrations from his playing coming through the wall into my hand. I cried as the melody started again and was even more beautiful the second time.
I wondered what song it was as I knew I never heard it before. It had a majesty about it that would make Meat Loaf jealous, and then it stopped. I sat against the wall, desperate to hear more. I felt as if it were the swan song of my brief love affair with him, and I didn’t want it to end.
There was a knock at my door. I ran to it and threw it open, begging God to let it be Smith.
“Can we have lunch now?” was all he said.
“Where’s…”
“Gone.”
I looked at him and he smiled widely, “For good.” He took my hand and said, “Come on, I have a song to finish while you order lunch.”
“You mean…”
He nodded. I grabbed him into a hug and sobbed into his shoulder. After a few moments, I calmed and said, “Maybe cut out the first part, it sounded angry.”
He laughed and said, “That’s the point. It’s a song of rebirth. The angry bit was the pain leaving my soul to make room for the beauty to come back.” He kissed my forehead, “You are coming back, right?”
“I have to. Someone needs to return a certain favor.”
He chuckled and said, “I don’t know, I don’t have a lot of experience with that either. I always figured if they wouldn’t do me, I wouldn’t do them.”
“Oh, dear Smith. I am going to have so much fun while you build some experience.”
“Me too, baby. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Smith.”
We kissed a kiss of promise. I knew he was finally over her and had moved on. I never asked him about their last conversation and what finally purged her from his life and released his inner demons. It didn’t matter to me. All I knew was I had him to myself, and he was able to share his talent with the world again. Life was good.