The Eye of the Storm - Sequel to The Oncoming Storm

Chapter 3

The show had ended, the crowd had left, the bartenders left, Morris and his girls had left, the band members left... it was just Prince and Jess left. Prince sat on the stage, a single pool of light from a single spotlight illuminated him from above as he silently cleaned and polished his white cloud guitar. Jess sat at the empty bar sipping the last of a fruity alcoholic drink. She watched Prince intently with her alluring green eyes heavily lined with black eyeliner. Her ruby lips curled into a smile when he finally looked up at her.

"You know, you really broke my heart," Prince said abruptly, breaking the silence.

"I had to or else you would've broken mine," Jess purred, a tantalizing smirk formed on her lips.

Their eyes locked from across the room. Under the spotlight, the green flecks in Prince's hazel eyes sparkled and flickered.

"So don't you got a girlfriend you have to be home to?" Jess spoke.

Prince sighed, "Wait right here, I'll be back," before disappearing backstage. He carried his guitar down the steps to his room and set it back on its stand. He looked around the dimly lit room. The bed was still made, there was no Apollonia... but there was a note by the lamp on Prince's desk. The note read...

"Prince, sorry I couldn't make it tonight. I was really tired after working all day... hopefully you won't hold this against me this time. I thought it'd be best if I just got some much-needed sleep, so I'm staying at my bandmate's place again since it's really loud in the club tonight. See you tomorrow, Love, Apollonia."

Prince sighed and put the note in his desk drawer. He hated the thought of having to spend another sleepless night alone. He turned on his heels and headed back up the steps. When he stepped out on the stage, Jess was sitting on the side of the stage with her feet hanging over the edge. Prince walked over to her and sat down beside her. The two sat in silence for a while, staring out across the dimly lit club.

"It's so different here when it's completely empty," Jess broke the silence.

Prince nodded his head and said in a low voice, "It's like a completely different place."

"So, do you still live in your folks' basement?" Jess asked.

Prince looked down at his feet and signed heavily. "No. When my dad died, my mom went nuts and sold the house. She disappeared for a while... but now she's in some mental institution."

"Jesus Christ, Prince, you can't catch a break. I'm so sorry all of that had to happen, I really am. I remember when I heard the news your father... shot himself, I wanted to call you and talk to you and just see if you were alright... but... well I figured you probably didn't want to talk to me."

They sat in silence for a little while longer before Prince said, "Hey, you wanna see where I live now?"

Prince stood up and motioned with his finger for Jess to follow him. He lead her backstage and down the steps. He turned on all the lights and showed her his room.

Jess looked around and said, "Wow, this is cool! You actually live under the club?"

"Yep! I call it my home office," Prince smiled.

Jess walked around and nosed around through Prince's things. "So doesn't your girlfriend live with you?"

Prince's demeanor changed. "She does... but she's staying at her bandmate's house tonight."

Jess could tell by the tone of Prince's voice that he wasn't too keen on talking about his girlfriend. "What's wrong, Prince? What's bugging you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Nothing. Why do you have to pry at my brain?"

"I'm not prying at you. I'm just trying to make sure you're alright."

"Well I'm fine. Thanks for the concern."

Jess picked up Prince's acoustic guitar and sat on his bed with it. She played a few basic chords and then smiled up at Prince. "Will you play me a song like you used to?"

Prince sat next to Jess on the bed and took the guitar from her. He strummed it and sang, "Jessica, she's a bitch! And she needs to get her big ass off my bed!"

Jess laughed and lightly hit Prince on the shoulder. She pretended to be offended and said, "First off, my ass is not that big. And second, you know I don't go by Jessica anymore. It's been Jezebel since before we were even dating."

"Well you know I go by the Kid but you never called me that. So to me, you're just Jess."

"Oh don't act like you've never called be Jezebel before... you know what I'm talking about. I specifically remember you screaming 'Oh Jezebel fuck!' before." Jess winked at Prince deviously.

Prince remembered exactly what she was talking about... and the flashbacks ran through his head... that steamy night... her body against his...

Prince shook the memories from his head and glared at Jess. "Listen, if you're thinking you can squeeze your way back into my life, you're wrong. I'm not fucking letting myself get hurt by you again! I don't trust you!"

Jess looked at Prince with offended eyes. "Excuse me, but I am not just some dumb easy fuck! If you think I'm just here to get some, then you're insane! I know you have a girlfriend and if you think for a second that I'm trying to break you two up, then you can go fuck yourself!"

"Then why are you here? What made you finally decide to talk to me after a year of not even acknowledging my existence!?" Prince pressed.

"You wanna know the real reason? Then fine!" Jess spat. "You're bandmate Wendy came up to me one day and told me she's worried about you because you've been acting strange. And she wanted me to see if I could find out what's wrong. She told me she had a hunch it had something to do with your girlfriend."

Prince was silent. He looked away from Jess's intense eyes. He sighed. His demeanor changed from angry to somewhat sad. "So... so you mean... you don't really actually care about me... you're just being Wendy's little snoop."

"No, Prince, that's not true at all... I mean, the reason I finally decided to approach you and talk to you again was because Wendy put the idea in my head... but when she told me she was worried, I knew it was probably something serious since she was coming to me of all people... And I really felt genuinely concerned about you. I'm here to help and to be a friend. A shoulder for you to lean on. We use to be so close, and I don't think that closeness has to go away just because of our... our falling out."

Prince closed his eyes and laid his head against Jess's shoulder. Jess ran her fingers through Prince's curly hair and leaned her head against his.

Prince broke the silence and joked, "Hey, won't Mr. Cigarettes-and-Tattoos be worried you're out so late?"

Jess laughed, "Oh God no! I dumped that asshole months ago! He was so gross!"

"Admit it! You were just dating him to try to make me jealous!" Prince smirked.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Maybe... did it work?"

"...Maybe." Prince tried to hide his smile.

The two talked for hours upon hours, catching up on things and talking about deeper emotions. Jess got Prince to open up to her... and he doesn't open up to anyone. The only other person besides Jess that Prince has ever really opened up to is Apollonia.

As the night wore on, Prince and Jess ended up falling asleep together in Prince's bed. And it was the best night's sleep Prince had gotten in a long time.