Destiny Rules

Part 7

Lindsey stood with his arms crossed, staring at some middle-aged man, who was trying his best on a guitar that he was thinking of buying. Lindsey couldn't even count how many times he'd wanted to rip out one of the beautiful instruments they had at the store from some loser's grip. It was a shame that they all carried loads of cash with them, so all Lindsey could do was smile and pretend to be enjoying the absolutely atrocious sounds coming from a Gibson Les Paul or an Ibanez.

"I don't know." The guy scratched his beard and turned the guitar over in his lap. "I mean, it's beautiful."

You buy it for the sound, Lindsey thought. "Sure is!" He said, nodding his head. "And we've only got one left. Once they're sold out, it's quite a waiting list to get one of these."

"Hmm... Can you get me a discount?" He grinned up at Lindsey, who forced a smile back.

Yes, he could and usually did for young kids, who saved up by mowing lawns, had talent and a dream. "Tell you what." Lindsey began. "You take it and I'll throw in a free lesson."

"Are you saying I need lessons?" The guy frowned and Lindsey thought, oh shit. "Maybe I am a bit rusty." Lindsey relaxed, realizing he hadn't just screwed up. "Alright, deal."

Pleased with himself, Lindsey showed the customer to follow him up to the counter. He heard the bell ring when somebody opened the door. "I'll be right there with you." He said without looking up. 

Lindsey said goodbye to the middle-aged loser and thinking that it was turning out to be a great day, he shifted his gaze over to a woman looking at a couple of Rick Turner's. Somewhat surprised, Lindsey cleared his throat to speak up.

"That's an unusual choice." 

"One of a kind sound." Stevie smiled shyly as she turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Day ruined. "I thought, I made it pretty clear that-"

"Oh my God, Lindsey, I come in peace!" Stevie interrupted him, holding her hands up. "I was... around and thought I'd come in, say, hello."

"That's bullshit." Lindsey folded his arms over his chest. "How did you even know where to find me?"

"You told me." Stevie shrugged, reminding him of that night they ran into each other. "You didn't think that I'd remember where it was, huh."

"Honestly?" Lindsey nodded. "Yeah. I'm not even sure why I told you. I didn't expect you would actually come down here to see it for yourself."

"I'm here because I had no other way to contact you. I don't know where you live, I don't have your phone number." Stevie was trying to see through him, to understand how he truly felt about seeing her again after all those years, but she failed to do so. He was not letting her in and it upset her, the connection they once shared now seemingly lost.

"Why would you even want to contact me?" Lindsey asked, cocking his head to one side slightly. He wanted to be and appear indifferent about Stevie suddenly coming back into his life and maybe he was doing a good job at fooling her, but himself? He hadn't stopped thinking about the five minutes they had together that night.

"Uh, well..." Stevie swallowed uneasily, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm just gonna-" She paused, unsure of how to say it. "I'm just gonna spit it out."

"Please. I'm at work if you haven't noticed." Lindsey urged her to continue.

Stevie briefly looked around the empty store and decided to keep any comments to herself. "I don't know if you know, but uh, I'm- my new album is coming out real soon." Lindsey gritted his teeth. "An-and then I'm going on tour."

"Oh, so you came to throw that in my face?" Lindsey laughed humorlessly. "Stevie, seriously, I-"

"I want you to join me." Silence. "To open for me." She added as if that wasn't clear enough.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lindsey couldn't believe the audacity. "I know that you've got this great career and people fucking love you, but you do not have to come here and humiliate me like that."

"Lindsey, I'm not!" Stevie yelled out and followed after him when he turned to walk away. "It's unfair how things turned out and I feel guilty that it's me and not you, who-" She stopped herself. "Lindsey, you're so incredibly talented and I know that you don't like hearing about it, but I'm the one, who can help you this time. Please, I-"

"I don't need anything from you." Lindsey cut her off. "Like I told you the last time we saw each other, I don't want your pity. I'm doing just fine."

"I can give you a stage, Linds, and you can do what you love most." Stevie kept talking as she approached him, leaning against the counter. "You deserve-"

"What? What do I fucking deserve, Stevie?" Lindsey asked, his voice raised. "To be an opening act for my ex-girlfriend, who's now a superstar and I'm a nobody? No, I don't deserve that."

Her eyes glazed over with tears, she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Don't say that. I didn't mean it like that." Stevie shook her head. "I'm not trying to humiliate you or laugh in your face, or whatever else you can think of. I just-"

"You should just leave." Lindsey pushed himself forward to once again move away from her. "I'm serious. Go and leave me the hell alone."

Without much else left to say, Stevie did as ordered. For now.