No Return

That was just great. The rental had broken down in the middle of the storm and of nowhere.He cursed his brother’s idea of renting that ranch to spend their ‘creative break’ away from spotlights and paparazzi. But he cursed louder his own idea of renting a car at Fargo airport, instead of taking a bus and meeting his brother at the bus station near the goddamn ranch.He checked his phone again, in case a stray miracle had given it back any coverage. Damn. It was as dead as it’d been since he’d driven deeper into the countryside and the storm. He looked out the windshield, but it was pouring so hard, he could’ve had frigging Godzilla right in front of the car and he wouldn’t see it.However, he was pretty sure he’d spotted lights up ahead before the damn car broke down, when the wipers still worked. According to his brother’s directions, that should be the bus station ten miles south of the town near the ranch.He had no way to know how far it was, and the wisest thing to do was hunker

Where was he? How long had he slept? His arm was numb under his body and his back ached. He sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand as the other reached for his phone. Ten-thirty, he’d slept about an hour. A chill ran down his sore back. It was cold there and he was already wearing the only sweater he had. And there was no coverage, of course, forget about internet.He remembered the coffee machine at the hall. Getting up wasn’t easy, but the promise of a hot drink pulled stronger than his weariness.He strolled across the waiting room, fishing in his pockets for change.The family was enjoying a late picnic of snacks and the old man mopped the floor near the closed booths. An hour later and he still hummed the same song. Outside, it poured like frigging end of the world.It was even colder in the empty hall. He shivered up to the coffee machine, so old it didn’t take bills, only coins. So he inserted one into the slot and waited for the buttons to light up.They didn’t, and his coin c

He dropped himself on the couch, still swearing black and blue. They could go to hell, the coffee machine and the fan. He was so pissed, he didn’t bother to check if his phone had any thread of coverage. As if.He’d downloaded his emails at the airport, so he thought he could kill some time reading them. He brought his legs up to the couch and turned his back to the waiting room and the rest of the frigging universe.The third email made him smile. It was from the head of the LA Squad. As usual, she wanted to know when they would be back home, so she could put up a signing with the local soldiers. She was a funny mental case that followed them since before their first album, and she never abused her privilege of direct communication with him.Even though he wouldn’t be able to send his reply unless he found a way back to civilization, he started typing it. Until something blocked the light. He glanced up to find the fan standing right in front of him, handing out a steamy paper cup to

“You have a guitar, right?”Silvia needed a moment to extract herself from her gloomy musing. “Yeah. Do you wanna play?”Jay shook his head with a playful smile. He’d weighted how mean it would be of him to do this, and his inner bastard argued he’d promised to make amends first thing next morning and it was still night, so. The fact that she didn’t recognize him annoyed him more than he was willing to admit, pushing his ego to team up with his inner bastard.“No, but bet you can play,” he replied in his most innocent accent.She stared at him for a moment, like wondering what was with him, then she shrugged and nodded.Jay noticed the rigid case she was opening looked brand new, and the guitar itself made him raise his eyebrows. It was a gorgeous electric-acoustic Fender. Who took such a beauty on a trip other than a music tour? His fingertips tingled to caress the velvet wood and the shiny metallic strings.Unaware of his cannibal-craving stare, she sat the guitar on her lap and che

Silvia sang oblivious to the rest of the universe.This was just like having Jim Robinson playing only for her.Jay was simply irresistible, he played so well, and his voice kept triggering avalanches of chills down her spine.And since they were complete strangers, and would never meet again after they left the bus station in opposite directions, she felt unexpectedly liberated. So she sang along like she’d always sung those same songs back home, in the shower or while she cleaned her house.Loving every minute of it.She didn’t remember ever coming across such an attractive, charming guy, with such a magnetic personality, nice and rude at the same time. A real bad boy, her little sister would have called him. She labeled him as a lovely bastard. Exactly the kind she always fell for.Good thing she still had eyes on her face, even after so much crying, to keep her from overlooking what was in plain sight. First of all, the age gap. Jay looked closer to her sister’s age than to hers,