20 Questions

Chapter 58

The music stops so I assume they are switching performers. Sliding around on the barstool, I face the bartender and slowly sip on my wine. If the bartender from the lodge doesn't show up soon, I am going to leave. It was a mistake coming here. The noise is annoying me and I'm tired of being around people. They all seem to be enjoying myself and as hard as I try, I can't do the same. My head is aching, but my heart is hurting worse. I don't know what I was thinking coming here...not just to this loud ass karaoke bar, but Aspen in general. A smart girl would have quickly come to the realization that she wasn't wanted with the lack of calls or texts, the change in flights and the absence of a plan to return to this goddamned place, but I suppose I'm not that bright. I was blinded by love and it made me into the biggest fool of all. I'll finish this glass of wine that most likely came from a box and march my antisocial ass right back to the lodge.

As I take my few remaining sips of wine, I hear a familiar melody on the guitar. It's one of my favorite songs and I sincerely hope whoever is performing a Journey masterpiece doesn't butcher it because that would be the moldy cherry on top of this shit sundae. A male voice begins to sing, caressing the words with a sweet tongue and a lustful tone. The voice is sultry and smooth and.... familiar.

Highway run into the midnight sun

Wheels go round and round, you're on my mind

Restless hearts sleep alone tonight

Sending all my love along the wire

They say that the road ain't no place to start a family

Right down the line it's been you and me

And lovin' a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be

Oh, girl, you stand by me

I'm forever yours, faithfully.

For a moment in time, the world ceases to spin on its axis. The voice - that resonating voice phrasing this melodic masterpiece - is the one I have been longing to hear for far too long. My chest aches as my heart beats violently against my rib cage, the sensations vibrating throughout my body, life being breathed back into me like I've been frozen for all of eternity only to finally be woken by a kiss of epic proportion. My eyes brim with tears, fighting to escape. My head is swimming with emotions and memories swirl around of crooked smiles, blue eyes, lovemaking and bathtub marriage proposals. My face flushes as my ears devour the deep baritone that I have yearned to hear for twelve long and agonizing months. I don't have to turn around to know that my life has changed forever.

I brace myself for impact, my heart soaring higher than the plane that crashed our worlds together. The lyrics revive my lifeless heart and I feel the shattered parts of my soul slowly start to piece back together. I slide slowly around on the barstool, so unsteady that I nearly collapse on the floor. My eyes drink in the face that I have seen only in my dreams at night, a face that I never stopped searching for and praying I would kiss again.

He came back. He came back for me.

My hands cover my mouth, a smile covers his face. I begin to cry as he mouths I love you to me and I return his devotion, a devotion that I feel so deep in my body it stings. His eyes glisten as he croons the powerful chorus, the perfectly orchestrated lines that connect us so profoundly.

And being apart ain't easy on this love affair

Two strangers learn to fall in love again

I get the joy of rediscovering you

Oh, girl, you stand by me

I'm forever yours, faithfully.