One Night

Chapter 15

Chapter 15
Piper thought she had once experienced the most joy that she ever could in her life, until her night with Evan. Music used to be her only joy, and seeing her songs hit the top of the charts left her ecstatic.
Waking up next to Evan made those moments pale in comparison. At no point had she expected it, and that made it all the more special.
She wiggled closer to him, and Evan’s eyes slowly opened to greet her. The way he gazed at her made her skin flush. She recalled exactly how wonderful he had made her feel the night before.
“Good morning,” he rumbled.
She smiled at him, “morning.”
“I want you to know that wasn’t exactly my goal last night,” he admitted sheepishly.
“It wasn’t?” she asked with an unexpected giggle.
“No, and I don’t regret a moment of it, do you?” he looked doubtful as he peered at her.
“There’s nothing to regret,” she admitted.
He sighed, and a lazy smile filled his face, “that’s all of my worries sorted.”
For a moment, they both lay there looking at each other. It was a moment filled with deepening emotion that made Piper realise that she was way beyond just having a crush on him.
She beamed at him. Here was a man who wanted to spend  time with her and share his life. She couldn’t wait to have a chance to show him how much she looked forward to every moment with him.
“Ev, we need to chat. Where are you?” Mauve’s voice interrupted the moment.
Evan made a startled oath, and Piper leapt from the bed, “damn it all,” he muttered, “I never should’ve given her a set of keys.”
“Why is Mauve here?” Piper asked as she tugged her clothes on.
“With Mauve, one can never tell,” Evan said with a sigh.
“Seriously, Ev, get out here,” Mauve raised her voice as she started hammering on the bedroom door.
“Stop it, Mauve, seriously, stop it!” Evan said when he pulled the door open.
“What the hell?” Mauve declared when she spotted Piper.
“Stop acting all dramatic,” Evan shook his head.
“I see that you’ve been keeping busy, so maybe you missed this,” Mauve thrust her phone towards Evan.
“What’s going on?” Piper asked.
“Your friend has already managed to stab us in the back,” Mauve snarled.
“What?”
Piper reached for her own phone, only to find many missed calls from Shiana. Her heart started to thunder in her chest, and dread tightened her limbs. Something had happened.
“Mauve, what have you heard? I need to know before I ring Shiana,” Piper asked, and Mauve’s glare drove daggers into her.
“Only that Shiana will release a new album soon. It’s big news! But I guess you two were too busy to worry about such insubstantial things,” Mauve sneered.
“Stop it,” Evan glared at his sister.
Piper ignored them as many thoughts ran through her mind. There was only one person who would have the contacts to make such a press release, and it wasn’t Shiana.
“Colah,” Piper grumbled before she opened her phone to ring her friend, “Shiana, what’s going on?” she asked when the phone answered.
“Dad knows. How does he know, Pip? I didn’t tell him. What are we going to do now? He’s been trying to ring me, and then mum started as well. They’re going to come here and question me. Help, Pip, please, what do I do?” Shiana couldn’t hide her frantic tone.
“Firstly, why are you apparently releasing an album?” Piper asked.
“What? How would I ever release an album without you knowing about it?”
“There’s been a press release about you releasing a new album.”
“It’s dad, it’s got to be dad,” Shiana said, her voice dropping into defeat, “why won’t he leave me alone?”
“Alright, you need to pack a bag, so you can stay here with me and Gram,” Piper decided.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mauve growled, but Piper ignored her.
“He’ll figure out where we are eventually, Pip,” Shiana admitted.
“Maybe, but we’ll meet him as a team and tell him where to stuff his making a new album ideas. He can’t do anything without your face and my voice. No matter how many press releases he wants to make, he still doesn’t have us,” Piper firmed her voice.
“I didn’t think of it that way,” Shiana cheered up.
“Then pack a bag and come join us here.”
“Alright, I’ll see you soon. Thanks, Pip,” Shiana said before hanging up.
Piper turned to see a furious Mauve and Evan holding her back. Today looked like one where she’d have to put out a lot of fires.
“Say what you want to,” Piper told her as she crossed her arms and readied herself.
“You don’t see anything wrong with any of this, do you?” Mauve demanded.
“I know my friend,” Piper replied.
Mauve snorted, “you know her so well that you didn’t figure out that she only acted as a stuck up bitch for all of those years.”
“You’ve got me there, and I won’t deny that, but I’m willing to give her a chance,” Piper said confidently.
“Why?”
“Mauve, sometimes in this world you have to give people the benefit of the doubt. This is me doing just that. If it all falls apart then you can tell me how foolish I’ve been,” Piper stared her down.
“I will, don’t you worry. This,” she pointed between Piper and Evan, “we’ll discuss now.”
“No, we won’t, Mauve, because it’s none of your business,” Evan added to the conversation.
Mauve glared between the both of them before storming towards the front door muttering under her breath. The slam of the door made Piper flinch and then sigh. Nothing wanted to go right.
“I swear, she never grew out of temper tantrums,” Evan said with a shake of his head.
“She has a point about the Shiana stuff and I know how this must look to her, to all of you, in fact,” Piper waved a hand through the air.
“Do me a favour and don’t start acting as dramatically as her,” Evan said as he pulled her into his arms.
“I didn’t plan on it. Drama just ends up coming my way, whether I like it or not,” she complained, “I should go and tell Gram that I’ve invited Shiana to live with us.”
She sighed again but made no move to leave his embrace. Evan held her tighter as she thought over what to do next.
“How about breakfast and then go talk to Bridget?” Evan suggested.
“Sure, that sounds nice,” she replied with a smile.
Evan left a soft kiss on her lips before turning towards the kitchen. Tugging on her hand, he made her follow him as she stared dreamily up at him. She loved how he could take all of the drama in her life and make it feel it was less important. With the simplest touch, he could rid her mind of all her worries.
“What would you like? I have all kinds of stuff,” he said as he gestured to his fridge and cupboards.
“Toast, please, if you have bread,” she replied.
“That I can do.”
Sharing breakfast with Evan had a wonderful intimacy that Piper enjoyed. He served up her food with a flourish that made her laugh, and they ate together with comfortable conversation between them.
Piper found herself nervous to return home. She just knew her Gram would say something. With heart thundering, Piper farewelled Evan, picked up her discarded guitar and walked home.
To her surprise, she didn’t find her Gram waiting for her at the front door. She wasn’t even in the kitchen. Instead, she found her grandmother in the back garden.
“Hello there, Piper,” Bridget waved an arm with soil covered trowel in hand.
“Hey, Gram,” Piper replied.
“Should I ask why you didn’t come home last night? Or can I guess,” Bridget said cheekily.
“I’m a grown woman, Gram. I’m not always going to be at home,” Piper tried to sound diplomatic but it contained guilt.
“Hmmm, I see. Maybe I should ask Evan all about it,” Bridget teased.
“On the subject of home, I hope you don’t mind me asking Shiana to come and stay with us,” Piper tried to change the subject.
Bridget showed no surprise, but as if she had expected such an occurrence. Piper puzzled over that until her Gram started explaining.
“What did Colah do this time?” Bridget asked.
“You do seem quite versed on Colah’s behaviour,” Piper raised her brows.
“He can’t control you or Shiana anymore and that has unsettled him,” Bridget chuckled.
“How do you know?”
Bridget tapped her nose, “he has rung me numerous times since you came to stay here. He’s looking for you but I always say that I haven’t seen you.”
“Really?” Piper couldn’t hide her shock.
“Once Shiana moves in and he starts ringing about me seeing her, I’ll deny it just the same.”
“Gram, how many times has he rung you?” Piper asked in alarm.
“He only has my mobile and he rings every few days. I imagine the number of calls will increase once Shiana’s here, but I just told you that.”
“I think I needed it more firmly in my head,” Piper replied thoughtfully, “what does he hope to achieve when he finds me?”
“To lure you back in, so he has everything in his neat control again. People like him never give up. They always think they can get people back after screwing them over,” Bridget said as she returned to her digging.
“I’d never go back to him stealing my music and putting his daughters face on it,” Piper protested.
“You now have the strength to walk away and that’s what I’ve been waiting for. Colah will get all that he deserves with you refusing to have anything to do with him,” Bridget thrust her trowel triumphantly in the air.
“I guess so.”
“I hope you’re aware that he’ll eventually figure out that you’re here, especially when Shiana goes missing,” Bridget warned.
“He’s already spreading around that Shiana will put out a new album soon.”
Bridget chuckled, “I can’t wit to see how that works out for him. If he doesn’t have you or Shiana then I don’t know how he can claim anything. He’ll end up with the reputation of a man who can’t back up what he tells everyone and that will amuse me no end,” Bridget smiled.
“If he does figure out that we’re here, then I’ll just have to face him and deal with the situation,” Piper stated, even though she didn’t look forward to that confrontation.
“Good for you, my girl. I’m proud of you,” Bridget said with another warm smile.
Piper’s heart lightened as she stared at the one person who had always supported her in this world. Knowing her grandmother felt such pride in her warmed her heart. The woman she had always looked up to believed in her and there was nothing more wonderful.
“When he does find you, don’t give the bugger anything,” Bridget raised her trowel again and gave Piper a firm nod.
“I haven’t seen him since I was at my place in the city.”
“He knows how to talk the right way to try and lure you in, so beware of that, and don’t let him,” Bridget insisted.
“I’ll try not to, Gram. Don’t worry, Shiana and I will make a plan for when he gets here.  We’ll make sure to have everything prepared,” Piper assured her.
“He’ll be your biggest battle, so you’ll have to be.”
Piper paused and leaned over to help her grandmother tug at the weeds. She considered the older woman with great care. Realising that she’d missed something had her raising her gaze to peer at her Gram.
“Why do you think that, Gram?” Piper asked as she tossed the weed she had pulled into the bin.
“That man has fought me on everything concerning you since he first heard you sing. I had wanted him to take you on long before he did, but he refused. Then he took over not only Shiana’s life but your life too. Both of you let him, with no thoughts beyond the fame, have complete control of your lives. He ran everything and he will want that control back,” Bridget firmed her voice.
“Gram, how often have you argued with him about me?” Piper asked quietly.
“Many times, my dear, many times.”
“I’m sorry you had to do that,” Piper admitted as she reached out to touch her Gram’s shoulder.
“You’re my family, and there’s nothing wrong with defending your family,” Bridget reached up and tapped Piper’s hand, “I’ll warn you now that if he tries something where he separates us, he will make sure that you lose contact with me. Don’t let him into your life, Piper,” Bridget’s serious tone gave Piper a fright.
“Gram, you can’t be serious,”
Bridget pulled herself to her feet and clasped her dirt covered hand around Piper’s shoulder, “I am. He’s now learnt that he can lose you, so if he ever gets control of you again then he will make sure that we lose contact. It will happen without you even realising, so take care around him,” Bridget’s eyes bored into hers.
Piper’s chest clenched with dread and she trembled at the fear she felt. Had Colah really had that much control over her? She recalled how frantic Shiana had sounded on the phone earlier. Was that a part of Colah’s control?
It stunned her to realise that Colah had been that much of a tyrant. Somehow she had never noticed or taken enough care of what he did or how he acted. She hadn’t acted in her own best interests by letting him treat her that way.
“You’ve really opened my eyes to him, Gram. I never saw him as such a manipulative and controlling person,” Piper mused.
“I never would’ve let him into your life if I knew him better, but he always treated you and Shiana so well, until his greed kicked in. It’s a shame that money can turn people’s heads so easily,” Bridget shook her head.
“It’s just money. I was happier to have my music out in the world, that’s what mattered to me. The money is a nice part of that, but it isn’t all of it,” Piper said.
Bridget beamed at her, “That’s my girl!”
“You always gave me opportunities to shine, Gram, and I want you to know how much I appreciate that,” Piper pulled her into a hug.
“You deserve all the good coming to you, my girl. After the way my daughter treated you and that no good father of yours,” Bridget scowled.
“You took me in and looked after me, Gram, and I appreciate that more then you could ever know.”
“It doesn’t change that what they did was wrong,” Bridget’s voice grew strident.
“We’ve had this conversation many times before,” Piper pointed out.
“Sorry, dear. It’s just not the way I brought my daughter up. She’s become a disrespectful shrew of a woman.”
“I was just to much for her to deal with,” Piper’s shoulders slumped.
“No, you weren’t, Piper! The pair of you could be twins with how you were when growing up. She was a teary baby. She was an argumentative teen. None of this is on you. Her temper tantrums could deafen the neighbourhood because she was that loud. The difference is that your Pop and I dealt with her outbursts, whereas she put you in the to hard box and stopped caring. I’ve never been more ashamed in my life then by seeing the way she treated you. There is a good side,” at this Bridget smiled.
“And what’s that?”
“I got to have a daughter who I could truly feel proud of. Someone who would never do what her mother did and that’s you, Piper,” Bridget said warmly.
Tears filled Piper’s eyes at her grandmothers absolute faith in her. They hugged and Piper squeezed her grandmother close.
The sheer love in her heart could never have any containment. For the ups and downs this morning had brought, she was left with wonder and an overwhelming love. Yes, her life had contained a lot of rejection but now she could bask in the wonderful warmth of a grandmothers love.
One night blissfully spent led to a morning of infinite wonder