The lost son ~John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer

84. You're with me the whole time

Have you got any suggestions for a name of a band? 🧐 I may use it in another chapter...
***

I was driving my car, singing along to a Foo Fighters record:

"I'm a one way motorway
I'm the one that drives away
Then follows you back home
I'm a street light shining
I'm a wild light blinding bright
Burning off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
I'm a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight
I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?"

I was on my way to pick Maggie up from school. I was so fucking proud of her. She's been working her ass off to graduate early and she finally made it.
I bought her a single red rose and put the tickets to London inside an envelope. I was gonna give them to her at home. I couldn't wait to see her reaction.
The previous day I broke the news to John. He wasn't exactly thrilled but he said that he's happy as long as I'm happy, and if that's where I wanted to live, I should go for it.
"Josh! Look!" Maggie said and showed me her diploma.
"Congratulations! You're officially the smartest person I know." I joked and handed her the rose.
We hopped into the car and I drove us to Christine's house.

I couldn't eat dinner, my heart was in my mouth. I was scared that Christine would hate me for stealing her daughter away from her.
"Josh, what's wrong? You barely touched your food." Maggie's mom asked me.
"Yeah, I've got something to tell you. We both have." I said and looked at my girlfriend.
A smile appeared on Maggie's face.
"Oh, God, my daughter is not pregnant, is she?" Christine asked.
She was horrified of what I was gonna say.
"No!" Maggie yelled. "Come on, babe, you're scaring me!" She turned to me and said.
"Just... This is for you. I hope it's what you wanted." I told Mag and gave her the envelope.
Her eyes widened when she saw the tickets. She grinned.
"Wow. Yes, this is exactly what I wanted. Mom, now that I graduated, I wanna start living my life my own way." Maggie told Christine.
"Of course, honey. What was in that envelope?" She asked.
"Tickets to London. I'm moving out, mom. Me and Josh are gonna start a new live for us there." Maggie explained.
Christine started sobbing.
"I'm sorry that it turned out this way..." I said to Mag's mom and gave her a hug.
"It's okay, I knew that this day would come. Maggie, this is where your dad always wanted to go. So, go and fulfill your dreams, you're gonna make your dad so proud." Christine said.

*

We decided that we'd stay in a hotel for the first couple of days and, in the meantime, we'd be looking for a flat for rent.
During the flight I felt as if I was going on a regular vacation or I was gonna play a show in London and come back in a couple of days. However, as I stepped outside the terminal, I understood that it was real. It was my life now.
"It's really happening..." I said to myself.
"Yeah, baby. We're opening a new chapter. Just you and me." Maggie said and squeezed my hand.
"Just us. Forever and ever." I said and kissed her passionately.
Then reality hit us. I was no longer a member of a famous band who has a private driver. We waited for a taxi for ages but to no avail. It was raining heavily and we were soaking wet.
"Fuck it!" I said and kicked the bench we were sitting on.
"Josh, what the fuck! Do you think I like being cold and soaking wet? Calm down. Let's just walk there or take the bus." Maggie suggested.
I nodded and put one of my guitar cases on my back. I put another one on my shoulder and grabbed two suitcases filled with clothes. Poor Maggie also had to carry her guitar on her back along with a huge suitcase.
We got lost three times before we arrived at the hotel, wet, cold, tired, and hungry.

"So, what do you imagine your life to be like here?" I asked Maggie after we just had hot sex in the hotel bed.
"Very different. I want us to be regular people. I'm sick of strangers telling me I'm a groupie or that you're gonna dump me because you're famous." Mag said, laying naked on my chest.
"I want that too. We need to start looking for a flat to buy." I said.
"No! A regular 24 year old can't afford to buy a flat. And I really wanna have a roommate. We're gonna look for rooms for rent." Mag told me.
"Are you sure? I've never had a roommate before but I've heard some horror stories from my dad..." I expressed my concerns.
"We can always find another place. Please, Josh, it's been my dream..." Mag said and kissed me passionately.
"Okay, whatever you want, my princess." I answered and tickled her.
"No, no, please!" She laughed, twitching and kicking me.
"I'll stop if you promise me that our every fuck is gonna be as good as this one." I told her.
"I promise!" She screamed.

We spent the rest of that day in bed. We were exhausted and jetlagged but we couldn't sleep, so we started looking for a room.
"What do you think about this one?" Maggie asked me, showing me an ad on her phone.
"I don't like it, it's too far from the city center." I said.
"Well, I'm done, I checked every ad I could find. What if we don't find a place?" Maggie asked.
"Don't you worry, it's not like I'm poor." I told her.
"See? I hate that attitude of yours. You've never had to work hard for your money. There are people who dig coal for 12 hours a day and they'll never see the amount of money you get for playing one show." Maggie told me.
"So you think that being a musician is not a real job? That I don't get tired while touring around the world? It's a fucking hard job." I argued.
"I never said it's not. But you should be grateful you can do it because not many can." Mag told me.
"You know, I used to think like you. But then I got sick of people telling me that I get paid for doing nothing. I know it's not the hardest job in the world but I do sacrifice a lot. And it takes a toll on my mental health. I hope you know that I don't like to brag about how much money I have. I didn't wanna argue with you, honey, but I want you to understand my perspective." I said.
"I do, Josh. I'm proud of you. I'm sorry for being grumpy. I'm just frustrated that we can't find a place to stay. I'm sick of this hotel room. I wanna decorate our place and make it feel like home." Maggie told me.

*

Two days later, when we were walking through a park, Maggie found an interesting ad.
"Josh, look at that place. I found a spacious room with a big balcony on the third floor of an old apartment house. It's so awesome!" She said and gave me her phone.
"Oh yeah, I like it." I said as I looked at the ad.
The room had brick walls and old wooden floor. It was totally my vibe. There was a bed, an armchair, a sofa, a big wardrobe and a book shelf. It was all that I needed.
"Whoa, did you see those posters in the kitchen?" I asked Mag as I scrolled through the photos.
There were Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd posters hanging in the kitchen.
She nodded and smiled.
We'd share the kitchen and bathroom with another tenant.
"It says that there's one more room in this apartment and someone's living there." I told my girlfriend.
"I know. I hope she's a girl and that these are her posters." Maggie told me.
I shook my head and laughed at her. I called the number and learnt that a real estate agency put up that ad and they had a lot of people asking about that room. I knew Maggie loved it, so I told them I could pay upfront for 3 months of rent and the deposit. The lady on the other side of the phone was very happy and agreed to meet later that day.
"It's ours." I told Mag.
She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me.
"Thank you, honey. I love you so much." She said.
I went to the nearest ATM to withdraw the cash. I needed 4000 pounds, 2400 for the rent, 1000 for the deposit, and 600 extra, just in case.
The ATM only had 3000 in it, so I had to use another one to get the rest of the money. Then I realized that I had to pay for the hotel room, so I tried to use the ATM for the third time when my credit card got blocked.
"Oh, no. No, no, no! Fuck!" I yelled and punched the wall.
"What's wrong?" Maggie asked.
"They blocked my card due to suspicious transactions being made! I can't believe it! How am I gonna pay for food? We're so fucked." I said.
"I've got some money on my account... Like a thousand..." Maggie told me.
"I don't want you to pay for anything. I'll figure it out." I stated.
"I know you will. It's gonna be alright, you need to calm down. Let's go or we're gonna be late." Mag said and took me by the hand.
We hopped on the bus and headed to the location that the real estate agent sent me.