Page 111 of Serenade Me

Chapter Forty-two

Marius

One Month Later

She didn’t come back.

I waited. But she never walked through the hotel door again.

Not once to say she’d forgiven me. Not once to say she was wrong. Not even once to say goodbye.

I really did think she’d come back.

But the day turned into night. And when I woke up, it was still just me in the bed.

So I got up and pretended like my life was just as it always had been. One day after the other, without her.

One night after the other, reading and rereading the letter she’d had Jez give to me.

“What is this?” I’d asked him, when he’d handed it to me.

“I don’t know, man. She… she wanted me to give it to you.”

Given it to him, when? When had he seen her? “When? Where is she?”

“She’s gone. She’s gone for now,” he’d said. And nothing more.

“When is she coming back?”

“I don’t know, man. Maybe never. I don’t know.”

“Jez… please. I have to know.” I’d pleaded with him.

“I know. I’m sorry. But, it’s what she wanted.”

“Tell me where she is, Jez. Fucking hell, don’t pull this big brother crap on me right now.”

He’d patted me on the shoulder and pointed to the letter. “Just read the letter. I’m sorry, man. I really am.” And walked away.

They found the Maestro a few days after we left Nice. He was still following the tour bus, thinking Anca was still with us and was caught skulking around the parking lot by one of the crew. He was armed. The police have no doubt that with all the evidence we have against him, he’ll be put away for a long time. I thought then that she would come back and join us, at least to be around people who could support her through the legal proceedings, but Jez hired her a lawyer who took care of everything on her side, and she never came back.

And every time I asked where she was and how I could get in contact with her, the answer was the same - read the letter. Meaning, give her space.

***

Today is the last concert on the tour and it goes by without a hitch. Why shouldn’t it? We could do it blindfolded. Cadence filled in as guest performer for the last week of the tour. And after today’s tour wrap up party, she and Sebastian will fly back to Australia for a few weeks while she sees out the school term, and he can stay home and pretend to be a kept man for once.

The crew is packing up all our touring equipment as I sit here, watching our stage life get put away in trunks and trucks until the next time we’re on the road. Hundreds of lights and sound equipment. Music stands and cables. Thousands and thousands of feet of cables. Where did they all come from? It’s somewhat depressing watching it all get put away to gather dust after months of use.

“Hey,” Cadence says, coming over and sits on an equipment trunk next to me. She hands me a beer and we clink bottle necks.

“Hey.”

“Watching life pass you by?” she asks.

“Feels like it. Who knew there was so much… stuff? What happened to the dream of it being just four guys and our instruments, playing whatever the hell we wanted, to whoever the hell wanted to listen to it?”

“What happened was a lot of ‘whoevers’ wanted to listen to the ‘whatevers’ you were playing and willing to pay a lot for the privilege. It’s a good thing. Look-” she points to the tens of people working, “You’re keeping all these people in work.”