GuiTara

🎵~43

🎶All my life, I thought I knew ~ Nico & Vinz

●Tara Afua Henrie●

A few hours later

Some days, I wish I had the ability to fly up and lounge on the clouds.

Just to sit, relax and forget my problems for at least an hour or two.

Today was one of days.

As I sat on a non-functioning air condition unit on top of Glow Records with a can of beer in hand, I replayed the incident that happened in Refugio's office this morning and asked myself, what could I have done differently?

Stop Jax from kissing you? My subconscious remarked and I nodded in agreement. I mean, it was the root cause. Everything else that followed was a domino effect. A domino effect of doom.

I took another sip of my beer just as a gust of wind swept through, carrying the faint sounds of traffic from the street below. It was quiet up here, a temporary escape from the mumble-jumble Luca and Refugio were currently having downstairs.

"Nice hide-out."

My head whipped around to find Carlos approaching from the stairway that led back into the building.

"Thanks," I replied with a small smile. "Though it's actually Luca's hide-out. Found him smoking pot up here twice."

Carlos laughed, walking over to sit beside me on the unit. "Really? No kidding."

"Yeah," I said, grinning. "I caught him red-handed both times. He tried to play it cool, but you know Luca."

We both chuckled.

"Want some?" I offered him my drink, and Carlos happily took the can.

"Sure." He took a sip, and immediately pulled the can away in disgust. "Argh! What is this? Pee?"

"Ew, no." I swatted his head before snatching the can from him. "It's ginger beer. A bit too strong for the moment, but its grounding me in the present so..." I made a show off taking a large sip so Carlos could see how much I enjoyed the drink.

He just shook his head, the expression of digust still on his face. "You really need to improve your taste in alcohol."

"Yeah, right," I laughed and emptied the can.

Carlos absentmindedly rubbed his face, the side where Eden had slapped him and it prompted me to ask, "How's your cheek?"

He shrugged, attempting to downplay it. "Meh, I've experienced better slaps."

I raised an eyebrow. "No, you haven't."

He smirked, then leaned back slightly, giving me a mischievous look. "Ok, maybe not. But it made me sound badass, didn't it?"

"Not in the slightest bit," I mocked.

He just grinned. "Eeh, worth a shot."

We sat in silence, enjoying the phenomenal view of Mexico City in its daytime glory.

"Men, what a shitty day we've had," Carlos said with a sigh. "All the drama in the world and it's not even twelve o'clock."

"I know right," I mumbled, my mind drifting back to the office incident. "She's gonna quit, isn't she?"

"After that outburst? Definitely. Nothing is gonna stop her now." He casually slid his hands into his pockets.

I slowly shook my head, eyebrows pulling into a frown. "I should've known."

"What?"

"About Jax." I clarified. "The constant stares, the compliments. I should've known he was into me. I just... didn't pay much attention because--"

"You were interested in someone else." Carlos completed before sending me a meaningful look. "Like I said downstairs, it's not your fault, Tara. Jax is a fucking asshole. Once again, he let his emotions affect the band and this time... it's for good."

He let out a dejected sigh. "I really thought this was going to be our big break, you know. That we were finally gonna get that spotlight we missed when we first broke out. But I guess I was just imagining things. After all, Jax and Eden didn't even want to work with you in the beginning." Carlos hang his head after shooting me a small smile. "This split... this split was inevitable. After what Bria and Ricardo did to us... me, Jax and Eden, we all knew the band wasn't gonna last. In fact... the real reason we're splitting up is because The Stars of the Future was never meant to be a band. We were just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode."

Carlos looked up to the sky, as if lost in thought. "But we did have a good run, though. Working on the album, performing at the fair and on TV, all the meet-and-greets we had with fans... it was nice." He shot me a warm grin. "I know Jax and Eden will never admit it, but I'm a hundred percent sure that all three of us, especially me, we had an awesome time working with you, GuiTara."

The comment made a small smile blossom on my lips, shredding all the guilt away. "I had a super awesome time working with you guys too. Especially you, Carlos."

"Aww, c'mon. Bring it in." He opened up his arms and I couldn't help chuckling as I wrapped my friend in a hug.

"We're gonna get through this, T," Carlos said against my head. "I don't know what's gonna happen, but I'm with you. We're gonna keep pushing forward and never look back." He pulled out of our embrace to extend a fist. "Together?"

A smile spread across my face as I bumped his fist. “Together.”

Carlos grinned, but then his stomach growled loudly, cutting the moment short. He blinked, looking down at his abdomen like it had betrayed him.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Alright, serious moment's over. Let's go, I'm starving." He quickly stood up.

Still laughing, I shook my head. "You're always hungry."

"What can I say?" He shrugged with a smirk. "I'm a rockstar drummer. I need fuel, always."

I stood up from the unit and gestured towards the stairway. "Come on then, let's grab something to eat before you start gnawing on your own arm."

Placing said arm on my shoulders, Carlos pulled me to his side, telling me about the time he tried to live on nothing but tacos for six months. A silly story, but it was nice.

For the first time all day, things felt a little lighter, and despite the chaos awaiting us downstairs, I was glad I had Carlos by my side.

******