All My Love

16

"Are you sure there won't be any problems between you and pagey?" I asked, worried.

"He'll get over. Don't coddle him. He's a man and I'm sure he's dealt with heartbreak before," John replied.

"What about you, John? Have you ever dealt with heartbreak?"

He remained silent.

I asked him again. He then turned away to look out the window.

"Sit down, Louisa. The plane will be taking off soon..." He said in a low voice.

"Don't change the subject on me," I replied, now in a much harsher tone. I was losing my patience.

"Lou, do I really need to answer that? I have you. That's all that matters."

"But John, if you have no idea what he's really going through, how do you expect to mend this friendship? It could tear apart the band if you don't get any closure. You're his friend. You need to talk to him."

"Well, you're his friend, too. And so are Percy and Bonzo. Why don't you guys help him?"

I shook my head in utter disappointment and frustration. How could he do this to his friends? If he acted like that toward his best friends of several years, how was I supposed to trust he wouldn't do the same to me in the future?

"Fine," I blurted out, "I'll talk to him."

John's face looked horrified. He really didn't want me talking to Jimmy. But I went anyways.

---

I knocked on the door leading to the bedroom.

"Go away," Jimmy mumbled.

"It's Lou. I want to talk, Jimmy. It's quite important."

I heard him let out a soft sigh as he opened the door to let me in," Well, step inside. We've got the whole flight to talk. But it'd be nice if you kept it brief."

I gently shut the door behind me as I sat next to Jimmy on the edge of the bed. I took a deep breath and began to speak.

"What's going on between you and Jonesy?" I asked softly, almost in a whisper.

"Boy, wouldn't you really like to know?" He said in a sarcastic tone. "I'll spare you the whiny sob story of poor little James Patrick Page."

"I could do without the sarcasm..."

"Sorry... I just don't know how to tell you. I feel like anything I say or do could be held against me by John."

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but say or do?"

Jimmy turned away and stared at the patterns on the wall.

"Jimmy...” I placed my hand on his shoulder to turn him around. He looked at me with his dark puppy eyes as he sniffled. Tears started to stream down his face, than he turned away again, cupping his hands over his face and trying to muffle his loud sobbing.

"Jimmy, I-”

"You don't know what it's like being thrown around, feeling like nobody cares for you," he started to raise his voice,"one girl after another, always thinking that 'she's the one; she's perfect'. But after you see the real them you realize that they were just using you to get things they want. Everyone thinks that because you're in a famous rock band that you can get all the girls. It's true but they're never the right ones. I saw the way you treat everyone. You're a saint compared to me. I see the look of pure love in your eyes when you look at John. That's something I never had. I thought you actually liked me though. I mustered up all the courage I could to ask you out. I didn't think John would react like that. And when you came to my rescue behind the building and took me to your house to patch me up? I knew you were different. There will never be another girl like you. I miss you, Lou. I'll do anything to win you back. That's how much you mean to me. That's why John and I haven't been getting along. He knows I still love you. He just hasn't bothered to tell you the important details."