Forbidden Secrets (Completed ✅)

Forty Three

He grinned at her in an attempt to make her smile
"You need to get ready to leave" Steph reminded Joe as she got in the cab
He nodded in response
"Three days" she mumbled through the glass window as she held up three fingers.

Jordan jerked his head around in shock when he realized who the beautiful woman was standing beside Joe on the busy side walk. He met Chad's gaze.

"What...I....was that?" he muttered as he pointed back at the slowly vanishing side walk.
Bubba turned in his seat to look at Jordan with almost the same confused gaze.
Chad just stared out the window with a hand to his chin. "Yeah that was her" he said to the tinted glass as he remembered the meeting just minutes ago "and she put my balls through the fucking ringer" he laughed absently.
Jordan slapped his arm in an attempt to get his attention "Come on man did she say anything to you?"Jordan demanded as  he ran a hand through his hair

"Did she ask about me at all?"

Chad looked over at him

"No man there wasn't time for chit chat"

He shook his head at Jordan's dejected look

"She did a really good job though" he said trying to make him feel better

Jordan punched the back of the seat hard

"A good job" he scoffed  "she's supposed to be doing a good job for me not him"

Bubba finally spoke from the front seat "I talked to her this morning" he admitted as Jordan looked at him in shock

"I didn't tell her we were in Boston  because I thought it would make her more nervous about today, but she did ask about you"

"What did she say?" Jordan asked  expectantly
"She just asked how you were" he held up a hand to stop the barage of questioning "I said that you were having a rough time and told her to call you" he finished before Jordan could ask
"Do you think she will?" Jordan asked them both
"Jordan lets be realistic for the moment" Chad said diplomatically

"She is busy with Joe and you have to start concentrating more on your career" he gave a frustrated sigh when he saw Jordan rolled his eyes

"We have had so many offers and you keep turning them down"

"Don't you understand?" Jordan almost screamed "I don't give a fuck, I could care less anymore, none of it means anything to me anymore" he spat bitterly  with his head in his hands.

Chad and Bubba didn't know what to say as they rode back to the hotel in silence. Jordan kept expectantly waiting for his cell phone to buzz but it never did.
They walked into the hotel and Joe grabbed his arm.
"What?" Jordan asked as Joe pulled him to the side
"You got to see her" Joe said staring him in the face
"I want to but what" He broke of running his hands in his hair "she won't fucking talk to me"
"Get Bubba to call her or something" Joe said as he went to the door "You can't just leave this like it is" he added as he went into the lobby
When he got to his room his threw himself on the bed almost like a child that had been punished. Chad appeared in the doorway.
"We need to leave for sound check at 5:00" he said to Jordan's back
"I am not doing sound check, Joe can handle it" Jordan waved absently from the bed
"J come on man this is your life, please at least participate" Chad said pleadingly
Jordan rolled over quickly and shot him a melevolant look "there are only a few things in this world that are worthy of being my life and a few minutes ago I just left one on a crowded sidewalk so you will excuse me if I don't play puppet for you at the moment" he finished as he rolled back over onto his stomach with out waiting for a response.
Chad stared after him with hurt in his eyes. He knew he was wrecking his chance of ever being the star he knew he could be but he guessed if he didn't want it then he couldn't force him.
"Alright" he sighed "then you need to be ready at 8:00 so we can go to the show" he said as he turned around to leave.
Jordan buried his face into the pillows and closed his eyes. He tried so hard to block out the image of her shocked face as she saw the SUV from the sidewalk. He knew she was here in the city at this very moment and just the thought made him want to roam the streets until he found her. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. He had a show to do tonight and he needed to focus. Chad was right his career was going to suffer if he couldn't pull himself out of this mess and soon. He knew that she wouldn't be happy if he let his career fall to the way side. He ran through his set list in his mind and made sure he could visualize all of the dance moves with the cues. He had to make his set longer tonight because he didn't have an opener so he was having to add some songs that he rarely did. He knew the fans would like that since they had made a big fuss that he no longer did some of their favorites. Because of her, he thought. It always came back to her. He pushed out of bed and made his way down to the lobby. The nervous energy he had wouldn't allow him to stay still for long. He looked at the city around him and wondered where she was. He wondered if she was thinking about him at all. He was aimlessly wandering around the city and he found himself in front of the venue that he was supposed to be playing tonight and decided to go inside. The staff were shocked to see him and he sat at the bar and had a beer. He had all but quit drinking before shows because it made him too emotional and he just couldn't handle it. He took his beer with him and took a walk around the place. It was huge compared to what he was doing this time last year. He leaned on the railings of one of the balcony seats and looked down at the stage. He had always wondered what it was like for the fans. He laughed. He guessed that was what had intrigued him so much about Stephi was the way she showed him her perspective on things. He knew that his life was different and always would be because of her. The emotion that was always just in the background flooded his throat. He pushed away from the railing and made his way down to the stage. His keyboard sat in its case to the left. He opened it up and started setting it up when one of the young stage hands rushed up to help him. He thanked him and asked him to turn on the speakers for him. He ran off and after a moment Jordan heard the hum from them as he sat down in front of his keyboard. Using the emotion from earlier he sang one of his banned songs and could feel the tears brim in his eyes as he played. Stirred by his emotions the staff began to gather in the seats at the front of the stage to listen. He went from one song to another as the memories of her and how she so loved his music played in his mind. Jordan  had special memories of each of the times they had listened  to them together. The staff began clapping as Jordan began  one of his oldest songs. One he  rarely  performed. This one was Steph's secret favorite she had always told him, and he had never told her that it was his favorite of them all. He abruptly stopped and got up. The staff that were watching clapped curiously for him but weren't sure why he had stopped so suddenly. He knew what he was going to do. He just had to see her again and he knew how now. He pulled out his cell phone and called Joe hoping he hadn't changed his number.