I sat on the couch in front of a warm, rolling fire. I had built the fire in the fireplace all by myself and was rather proud of it if I do say so. The time was 8:25 and I could hear the door of the suite come open. I turned around knowing it was Roger returning from the studio rehearsal. He had a strange look on his face as he closed to door behind him.
"Hey. I’ve had four cocktails but I’m not hammered. How was rehearsal?” I asked him as he came inside, putting his wallet and his watch on the roud table just inside the door in the entryway.
“It was good.” He answered. “Got a lot done today.” He came into the room and walked over to one of his bags that I had sitting on the bar counter in the small kitchen. I hadn’t yet done anything with that particular bag.
“I made dinner reservations at 9:15...found a Japanese hibachi place I thought you would like. Sounds good, yeah?" I said as I flipped through a magazine in front of me. I could hear Roger unzipping the bag behind me. "You may want to check the bed if you’re lookin’ for…"
"Why did you hesitate to sign that paper?" Roger interrupted me. The question caught me entirely of guard and it came out of nowhere. He was referring to the marriage license of course. The tone of his voice said it all. I stopped flipping through the magazine before me. I felt a bit paralyzed. "Answer me." I could feel icy blue eyes on my back, burning into my head. I fiddled with my ring and turned around to face Roger.
"I...you know...needed to be sure I was signin' my new name in the right place. I'd never signed anythin' as Taylor before...I had to think about it." I answered him before turning around to face my magazine again. Roger laughed uneasily.
"That's bullshit. That's complete bullshit, Lydia. You've never lied to me so why you doin' it now? Why...did you...hesitate...to sign that fuckin' paper? Huh? Seven years? It's been seven fuckin' years, Lyd. And what? You and I can't figure it out after seven years? So, what the hell is it that made you..."
"A case of herpes, and of case a' syphillis...THAT....Roger...THAT...is why I hesitated to sign that fucking paper! I been thinkin’ about it all fuckin’ day and obviously you have too!” I had turned around and practically shouted the word at him. There was silence now. I laughed a bit condescendingly.
"Oh....now what? You don't gotta' fuckin' thing to say about that?" I could feel myself getting hot from the inside out as I watched Roger uncomfortably lean up against the barstool in front of the kitchen counter, his tongue in cheek and his knuckles against his lips. He blinked repeatedly. "You don't think that MIGHT be a fuckin' reason to hesitate!? You think I don't fuckin' know how the hell I ended up with somethin' itchy and unsettlin'!? Jesus Roger!" There was silence again. He took a deep breath.
"I…I wanted to talk to you about this earlier. I...I didn't know they had somethin'. There were...you know...there were like five or...somethin'...I...I don't know which of them had...I...you know what I...I told you 'bout this, Lydia. We talked about this. I told you what I did." Roger mumbled into his hand, chewing on his knuckle.
"Oh. Oh, I see. You told me about it...And I should be okay with that. Just two diseases that's no big...that's bullshit, THATS bullshit, THATS BULLSHIT, ROGER! You told me AFTER I WENT TO THE DOCTOR! I've never said anythin' before! That is your professional life and this your personal life...those are very different things!" More silence again as Roger chewed nervously on his thumb and eyed me. I was half standing with one knee on the couch.
"We...talked...about this...we agreed that what happens on tour, stays on tour and you have been supportive and..." I stopped Roger.
"It didn't fuckin' stay on tour, Roger! You brought it the fuck home...TO ME!!! To me...to me..." My voice trailed off becoming softer and softer. I had to stop and take a deep breath before I tore Roger's head off.
YOU ARE READING
Seducing Montreux
RomanceAfter seven years it had finally come to this. But, shouldn't there have been more accolade? Or at least some kind of acknowledgement? How had the lives changed for eight friends? How had it remained the same? It seemed as though these lives were re...