Faded Away

|TWENTY-THREE|

"Hi, how are you ma'am?" An older man asked me as I walked through the old saloon style entry to an almost run down bar.

"Could be better, I guess. And you?" I pulled up a seat in front of him. It was the cliché moment in an old western where the heartbroken cowboy drinks his sorrows away. In this instance, I was the heartbroken cowboy but drinking until I was stumbling around was not the plan. I just needed a place to think not drink, so maybe driving to a bar wasn't the best place to go. The man seemed a bit confused by my response as if he had never been asked how he was doing. Maybe the "how are you?" was a cue for barflies to spill their troubles.

"W-well, I'm doing fine. What can I get you?" He dried up a glass and set it in front of me upside down on top of a napkin.

"The good stuff." The man laughed at my clever joke and pulled out a Miller Lite for me. I cracked it open watched other people play pool and drink. I tried to use the burly bikers as a distraction for my thought about the issue at hand but it didn't help as much as I hope it would.

"Penny for your thoughts?" A tall cowboy mused as he sat on the stool next to me. He had piercing blue eyes and a wide, goofy grin. His facial hair was kept to a thick scruff. He removed his hat and placed it on the bar.

"I'm good. Thank you." I said politely.

"No you ain't. A pretty woman like yourself doesn't come to a bar, drink and blankly stare at bikers for fun. Let me guess, you and your husband aren't on the best of terms?" He took a sip from his long neck bottle before gazing at me intensely.

"We're not married but you could definitely say that we are in quite a predicament. He just came home a few days ago and I'm just upset with him. I don't know if I can deal with the craziness that comes with him."I sighed and rested my head atop my arms on the bar.

"Craziness? Well he is a man. We all screw up."

"I know that. It's hard being in love with someone who is constantly in the limelight. Luke means the world to me but I feel like our relationship is on the back burner sometimes with all the touring, guest appearances, award shows. Love hurts, I guess." I sighed. He practically spit out his drink and seemed shocked.

"Luke? As in Bryan? The country singer?" His astonishment when I nodded to answer his questions made me laugh a bit.

"Well I'll be damned. I didn't know Luke Bryan was dating someone." He chuckled.

"Yeah no one did pal. Which is why I'm sitting here drinking in this bar." I raised up my beer in the air before taking a huge swig of it. Soon after, I felt a strong buzz after a few more drinks. I felt numb and it's was okay so I kept ordering drinks for the cowboy and myself. The last I remember was stumbling out the saloon style doors with someone supporting me.

[•]•[•]•[•]•[•]•[•]•[•]•[•]•[•]•[•]

After hours of driving around looking for Jackie, I wound up spotting her Jeep at a hotel right outside of Nashville. I ran inside hoping to find her at the check in desk, but my hopes were crushed when I saw an empty lobby.

A man sat at the front desk and seemed surprised when he glanced up at me from the computer screen. I briskly closed the distance between us and rested my forearms on the marble countertop.

"Hi, could you tell me what room Jackie Brookes is in?" I asked.

"Usually, we can't give that kind of information out but you seem a bit distressed and you are Luke Bryan so I'll make an exception." He typed away on the keyboard, then he reached around behind him. From a slot in the shelves that were mounted on the wall, he pulled out a golden key with a white tag attached to it. He handed it to me with a small smiled on his face. I looked at the key in my hand and saw it was room 319 written in black marker.

"Thank you very much, sir. I'll be sure to get you some tickets and passes for any show you want. Here, I'll leave you my manager's phone number." I scribbled the telephone number on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that. I understand your situation, son. Just make things with her right. I don't require any type of reimbursement, I'd do it again in a heart beat." He smiled wide. I was baffled and stood there with my mouth probably open. "What are you waiting for? Go get her back!"

"Right. I-I really appreciate this." With that, I made my way to the elevator and glanced at the room number once more. Room 319. It was ironic and it almost felt like some sick joke actually. The quiet ding of the elevator arriving at the third floor pulled my from my thoughts. As the doors opened, I pulled my hat down low and prayed no one happened to be walking out of their room and recognized me. I kept my gaze on the repetitive carpet design, that made it seem like I was walking faster than I actually was while occasionally glancing up to check on the room number. I began to reach the end of the hallway where Jackie's room was at when a door swung open. A man wearing a cowboy hat, about my height exited the room. I quickened my pace as he closed the door behind him. He seemed intoxicated by the way he swayed from side to side. To my horror, he was leaving room 319. A sense of fury coursed through me and I pushed him against the wall. His eyes widened as he finally registered what was going on.

"Woah man. Calm down." He breathed. The scent of whiskey hit my face and it added more fuel to my fire.

"Calm down? What the hell were you doing in that room with her?" I spat. He didn't offer any type of explanation and I felt my heart sink. I let go of the collar of his shirt and let him walk away. I pulled the key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. The room was completely dark except for the moonlight peaking through the window. Jackie's sandals were thrown on the floor by the door. I continued further into the room and saw her fast asleep in the king sized bed. I noticed that she was asleep on the right side where she usually did so I could hold her in my arms while we slept. My heart ached at the thought of the man in the cowboy hat touching Jackie where only I had touched. Or his lips on her skin where mine had been. I couldn't handle the thought of it. I sighed and I slipped off my boots along with my t shirt and jeans. I pulled the covers and slid into the bed next to her. I wrapped my arms around her. I felt the material of her flannel and jean shorts against my skin. I lifted up the covers and saw that she was fully dressed. I nearly cried tears of joy. I couldn't believe that for a second, I thought Jackie would cheat on me like Lily did. I reached for my phone and snapped a picture of her sleeping peacefully. Without a second thought, I posted the picture on every one of my social media outlets. I captioned it, "my one, my from now on..." before turning the phone off and setting it on the bed side table.  

I began to drift off to sleep as I listened to her steady and gentle breathing. I knew it was going to take a lot of thread to sew back up this rough patch but it was worth it. Jackie was worth it all. I couldn't handle the thought of being without her like the previous 5 years. My eyes had finally shut and I began to slip away into my dreams.

Author's Note:

Hi. Hello.

I finally updated so yay! Also, I made a new cover so please be sure to check that out and let me know what you think. 

Anywho, please leave some comments and/or feedback about the chapter. Its pretty short but I'm trying here.

Have a good night y'all. :)

-Sam