Come On And Love Me

Part 20

Paul stood outside the bedroom door and shook his head as he listened to you yell at Robbie for the interruption. The cock block disappointed the singer, but he didn't think it needed a screaming match over it. Moving away, he pulled his Blackberry out of his pocket and searched through the contacts, landing on his ex-wife's phone number. He stared at the time on the screen, thankful that his son would be in from school so there would only need to be a couple of words exchanged between Paul and Pam, before Evan was on the line. Pressing the call button, Paul sat down on the couch, trying to ignore the fight from the opposite room. After a few rings, a snappy voice came across the line, making the singer take a deep breath in.

"Hey Pam, is Evan around you? I wanted to check in on him and see how school was going." Paul said,

"Why did you leave for New York a week before the first date of the tour?" Pam asked.

"Pam, check your wedding finger. Is there a ring there?" the singer asked.

"No, of course not. What does that have to do with my question?" She asked again.

"If there's no ring there, your last name is no longer Stanley, so I mean this with as much as respect as I can muster, mind your own fucking business. Now again, is my son nearby so I can talk to him. It's not my week with him, and you know the schedule changes when the tour happens." Paul replied.

Pam scoffed into the phone before the line went silent, making the singer pull the device away from his ear to make sure the woman hadn't disconnected. The sound of happy screams and running feet made Paul chuckle and grin as he waited for Evan to pick up the phone. Suddenly the screams stopped, and yelling mixed with yelling. The singer knew all too well that in the little boy's excitement something had been knocked over or spilled, pissing his mother off. After a few minutes, a sniffle came through the other end, breaking Paul's heart.

"Hi, Daddy" Evan weeped

"Hey, Bubba! How was school? Are you enjoying your time, and do you like the teacher?" Paul asked, hoping to cheer the boy up.

"My teacher is really nice, but I haven't made any friends yet, but that's okay, right? Mom says I need to push myself," Evan replied.

"That is perfectly okay, Evan! You are just in your first week of school. You will make friends before you know it and guess what? In two weeks, Daddy will be home for a show. So guess who I am going to come see before the show?" the singer said.

"Really! Is the tour all over now and I can be back with you for a bit?" Evan asked.

Paul put his hand on his forehead, rubbing his temple with his fingers, not sure of how to really answer his little boy without breaking his heart. Pam mumbled something in the background, making the singer's ears perk up again. Evan and Pam bickered back and forth, just as you and Robbie did in the room behind him, making the older man's head throb. The singer cleared his throat, hearing Evan hush his mother, making Paul a little proud of the boy.

"Ev listen, the tour is just getting started, but you will visit me as much as you can. I'll be home by thanksgiving, okay, and you know you can call me anytime you want. I love you, and miss you so much." Paul said.

"I love you too, Daddy. Hold on though because Mom wants to talk to you." Evan replied, before the line went silent.

The singer let out a low groan and stood up, walking outside, so you wouldn't be able to hear his own screaming match that was about to go down. Paul leaned over the railing and listened to his ex-wife bark orders at Evan as though she hired him as help and not her child. He tapped his boot on the sidewalk as he heard the clicking of heels walking across the tile floor of his old house.