Divine Intervention: One Shots

He Don't Love You Right

It was three days before release day. He was sitting on the couch just staring at the album in his hand. He kept shifting his eyes from it to the record player and back again. I had only heard the singles he had released and I was itching to hear the rest. I watched him, silently hoping he would decide to play it. The small smile that played at his lips caught my eye as he turned the album over and read the song titles. He looked at me as if he was just noticing that I was in the room. “You are all over this, did you know that?”

That line caught me by surprise. “I am?” He chuckled and nodded.

“You are. In fact,” he slid the disc out of the sleeve, “let’s see if you can figure out where." He put the record on the player and slowly lowered the needle. “I have been dying for you to listen to this. At least the tracks you haven’t heard.” He winked and turned the volume up.

I was stunned by the beauty of what I was hearing. I shouldn’t have been, but I really was. The fans were going to go nuts. He was playing with every inch of his vocal range and it was all stunning. I almost forgot that I was supposed to be listening for any hint of me. The song titles didn’t give much away so I was concentrating hard on the lyrics. I was so incredibly lucky to get to love and be loved by this amazing musician. I wondered if he realized how truly talented he is.

I was grooving happily to Floating On A Dream. It was both wistful and motivating. Try To Get It Right was 100% who he was. Into The Blue had a bittersweet message but a very light musical backdrop. When I’m A Fool shook me a bit. I love when he sings in that deep register. My Queen was pretty but it didn’t have the feel of a traditional love song. The one that really stuck with me was He Don’t Love You Right. The lyrics were so heavy and the chorus was so haunting. I couldn’t stop the tears as they flowed from my eyes. 

He turned off the record player and sat next to me on the couch. He met my eyes, his face very obviously searching for my opinion. I threw my arms around him and told him how beautiful all of the songs were. He kissed me softly and searched my eyes. “One of them made you cry.”

I nodded and searched for the words to give him my thoughts. “Am I allowed to ask for the story behind He Don’t Love You Right? Most songs along those lines usually fall along the lines of he doesn’t treat you right, but I can or will. This one doesn’t. This is just a very sincere message.”

He half smiled and wiped away the tear that slipped out. “It’s the oldest song on the album. I wrote it shortly after I left the group.” He pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “Can I tell you a secret?” I nodded. “That was a message I had for you. We hadn’t been talking long, but this is what ‘Ava’ wanted you to hear. At that time I didn’t want to replace him. I just wanted you to know that you deserved better, but I didn’t know if it was my place to tell you. There is a lot of my heart and soul in my music, and this one is no exception.” He let me go and reached for my hand. “I want to show you something.” He led me over to the desk and pulled out some sheet music. “Before this song had an actual title, it just had a working title so that I could make notes on it.” He handed me the sheet music and I cried even more when I saw my name where the title normally goes. “I had to include this song on my very first full length album. You are the foundation. It’s always been you.” He had tears in his eyes this time when he pulled me back into his arms.