Destiny Rules

Part 3

Lindsey sat in a tiny room, which the owner of the bar called 'the backstage area', strumming his acoustic to warm up his fingers, eyes closed. He hadn't thought about what went wrong exactly in a really long time. Unsure of why it was tonight that he felt anger simmering deep within him, he tried his best to shun those thoughts away. In the span of ten years, he went from a hungry wannabee musician to an internationally famous rockstar and back to that same insecure guy, questioning his every move and whether the life choices he'd made were the right ones. Just that he was ten years older now. And alone. 

"Are you ready?" A voice from the doorway brought Lindsey back to the present. The voice belonged to a woman, whom he recognized from the last time he played there - one of the bartenders. 

"Uh, yeah." Lindsey nodded. "I'm gonna change my clothes and I'm ready."

"Great." The woman replied without much enthusiasm and held out her hand. "I'll bring it out."

Confused, Lindsey looked around and quickly realized that she was reaching for his guitar. He gulped, considering asking the woman to treat it with care, but decided against it.

Five minutes, maybe ten, later Lindsey stepped out on the small stage to a few lazy claps. The room was dimly lit and he was grateful. In case there was someone who recognized him, he wouldn't have to see the pity on their faces. A wannabe musician to a rockstar, back to a wannabe musician.

"I'm Lindsey Buckingham." He introduced himself, looking a little nervous. "I'm gonna play some of my original songs for you tonight." He added with a shy smile. "I hope you like it."

The volume of the chatter barely went down. Lindsey sighed farther away from the microphone, cleared his throat then took a deep breath before his fingers started picking at the strings of his beloved instrument. 

A couple of songs in, Lindsey managed to capture the attention of some people. Feeling slightly more confident, he began playing a song he had recorded with Fleetwood Mac. Even though he hated admitting it, he still felt bitter about how things went down with the band. If he were honest, he wasn't even entirely sure what happened. One day they're touring the world, the next they're saying goodbye to each other, promising to keep in touch. So, no. Lindsey didn't particularly enjoy playing anything from that time of his life, but he hoped that a drunken record producer or someone like that would eventually show up at one of those bars, realize that it was the Lindsey Buckingham playing and offer him another golden ticket.

As Lindsey scanned the room during the beginning of yet another Fleetwood Mac song, his eyes moved past someone he thought he knew from years ago. He didn't want to make it obvious, so he quickly and briefly lifted his eyes up again and... no. There was absolutely no way. He desperately wanted to look away, but she just held his stare and he was unable to tear his eyes away from her. Lindsey was paid for a full hour, but he wanted nothing more than to flee. He was close to just dropping and leaving his guitar on stage and running out.

Lindsey didn't dare look the same way again. He mainly stared at the floor until the very last song on his short setlist. Experiencing several different emotions at the same time, the most prominent one being jealousy, Lindsey took a bow, thanked his mostly uninterested audience and stepped off. He couldn't care less about the free drinks he was promised, the only thing that mattered was collecting the envelope with some cash, left behind in 'the backstage area'. Once he'd done that, he put his guitar in its case, grabbed his bag and turned towards the doorway to-

And there she was. 

"It's been a very long time." Stevie spoke up after a lengthy pause between them.

"I'm- I, uh..." Lindsey swallowed uneasily. "I'm not sure we know-"

"Linds." Stevie shook her head slightly. "Don't, please."

It was stupid of him to pretend not to know her. He had never been able to forget her.