Once a Lover Vol. II Rocker Girls Series

Chapter 15

Margie

West Hollywood, California: the one place Margie never wanted to see again, yet here she was. Her hand went to her forehead as she watched the traffic from the darkened window of the limousine. The way everything looked, it was as if she'd never left. The streets still looked the same, the people... She thought, for some strange reason, that everything would look different to her but it didn't. It was only her experience in life that had made her grow up and change her view of the world.

There was a time in her life that to be in a limo with Jones was thrilling. Now, it brought back too many memories of the past. It had been a long time since she'd been back to the home that she and Jones once shared together, and she was nervous about seeing it. When she'd moved out and into Addison's place, the home she shared with Jones was no longer hers.

Even when she was stupid enough to take him back to her bed after he'd come home from their tours, she would never go back to that house, never. They would hook up at her place, or she'd tell Jones they could get a room somewhere. It was one thing to say he wanted them to be together; it's a whole other thing if they acted like they were. That would destroy her.

She sighed as she watched a woman walk on the sidewalk, barely clothed, with some weird dog that was dyed bright pink. Jones always knew how to get under her guard, that's why she was here in the first place. After a night of passion like she hadn't had in such a long time, in the morning he told her about the charity party he and the guys had to go to.

Margie had no interest in seeing the guys again, and she made sure that Jones knew the truth about that. But, if she was really going to marry Jones and have a life with him, the band was going to be part of that equation.

But now that she was here and she was really going to see the band after everything that had happened, she internally cringed. Could she really be nice to Howie, after he made Tia fall apart to the point where Addison had her committed for a couple of weeks to a hospital to help her recover? Only to get herself back together, and then what—to have him come back into her life at her wedding, crazy!

Then there was Dax, one big problem that was destroying Mindy and toying with her affection. It was sick how he pulled her along and let her think that he loved her. To Dax, Mindy was nothing more than one of the girls for him to screw, and now Mindy was so screwed up.

Everyone knew who Dax was in love with—Addison. But Mindy was clueless and so was Addison, and God help Dax if Jimmy ever found out the truth. But the rest of them, they all knew the secret that Dax hid. No one talked about it because they hoped he would finally give up on Addison and move on, or just fall in love with Mindy.

Lynn had once told her that Nickels was a big reason for Jimmy and the cheating. Or as she put it, he was the instigator of the whole Crystal Gross scandal that went down. Addison and Nickels always loved each other like brother and sister, but those two grated on each other's nerves as well. Margie always knew it was Jimmy who made the final decision to cheat, but deep down she blamed Nickels, too.

A smile then crept onto her face. Lynn had made Nickels suffer like no one else could have for the part he played in what Addison went through. So, she thought having to deal with Nickels wasn't going to be a big deal. Just knowing Lynn was playing with his head, well, it was much easier for her to tolerate the sight of him again.

Now she'd come full circle. She sat back in the seat watching the scene go by as they drove down Sunset Boulevard. Yes, there were lots of good memories of home too. Playing their first gig, touring with the guys, eating at their favorite pizza place. But even as she remembered those happy thoughts, the bad ones took over.

They were still so fresh in her mind that it caught her off guard. After a year of being gone from home, Jones, and having another relationship; all the pain and betrayal would've disappeared at the absence of her old life. But they hadn't, they were still there and it was making it very difficult to see past the love she had for the man sitting next to her, who was just as quiet as she was at the moment.