Valeries punch sent Elijah reeling but it didn't knock him down. Valerie chalked that up to being tired from the trip. She rubbed her hand while Elijah regained his composure. The small crowd that had gathered around him and the band he managed, Riverband, now backed up.
"I guess I shouldn't ask if you missed me." Elijah said rubbing his face a little bit. "Its been quite a while Val, I thought it would be better between us now."
"Oh you...you..." She muttered. "Why couldnt you be in a nude commune like I heard you were?" She grumbled. She turned to leave. Elijah cracked a smile.
"I sunburn easily?" He said with a wry grin that made Valerie want to sock him again. He grabbed her hand this time. "I was ready for you this time." He said rubbing her clenched fist. "You sure could use some ice. But then again you already seem cold enough."
"Whats going on?" Mike said coming up behind Valerie. "What happened?"
"Nothing." Valerie said. "I gotta go." She spun and moved past Mike who followed her.
"Keep in touch!" Elijah hollered after her. He turned to the band behind them. "You got a twenty minute set left. You will perform even if I have to move your lips for ya." He pointed to the stage. Nigel numbly nodded and made his way to the backstage.
"Lets go, you lot. Quicker we can play the quicker we can get back to partying." Nigel said dragging a blonde party girl with him. Cassidy shook her head with look of wonderment on her face. She then turned to look for Valerie.
"You punched a guy?" Mike asked as Valerie rubbed some ice over her knuckles.
"Its a long story." Valerie sighed.
"Tell me, we got a long time to the next gig." He sat straddling the back of a chair. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."
"Funny you say it like that." Valerie laughed. "Remember when we met?"
"Like it was yesterday." Mike said. "And?"
"I told you about a guy." Valerie said. "Do you remember now?"
Couple of years ago....after a weird day
"I was engaged." Valerie had said. "For about two years." She said. "We would have been married if not for the thing."
"What thing?" Mike asked.
"The thing that my ex best friend Mary Sue hit on him and he didnt turn her down. They probably dated for half our actual engagement."
"So THIS is that Elijah?" Mike asked. He had found out his name sometime later from Chris. "The one who broke your heart."
"Yeah." Valerie said. "I managed to forgive my friend, but I've never managed to forgive him."
"Well that is obvious." Mike said. He stood up. "Where are you going now?"
She stood up and threw the melted ice into a nearby empty cup. "I'm gonna go watch the show."
"With Elijah in the audience?" Mike asked.
"If I manage to stay away from him, which might be hard cause he manages the other act, my visit here will go smoothly."
"And will it?" Mike said with half smirk on his face.
"Hell no." Valerie sighed. "When has anything with us been smooth?" She moved to the door. Mike grabbed her and held her tight.
"If you want to talk...."
"I know where you are." Valerie said. "Thanks."
"Ditto." Mike said ruffling her hair. She looked at him with a "why?" expression on her face. "It was getting so damn dull here." She smiled a little and headed out to the audience. As she left Mike noticed a slip of paper on the ground. It had a phone number on it.
"Val musta dropped it." He said picking it up. It had a letter "A" and a phone number on it. He looked in her direction as she looked for a seat far and away from Elijah. She finally sat with Cassidy at the bar. He tucked the paper into his pocket and looked for a phone to use. He looked around backstage for several minutes while the song "Jealous again" played onstage, for some reason fitting the moment. He finally found a phone inside what had to be a business office. He took the paper out of his pocket. He dialed the number quickly and waited for someone to pick up the line. After two rings there was an answer.
"Hello?" The voice said. It was Andrew, Chris's husband. There was silence. "Okay Val you can't have an emergency already."
"Its not Val." Mike said.
"Oh hi Mike." Andy said.
"Why does Val have this number for emergencys?" Mike asked wondering if it had to do with "Mike emergencies" or what here.
"She wanted a number to call to check up on Chris." Andy said. "So she will know when the babys here." He explained to Mike. "But you called instead which is definately unexpected."
"She dropped the number, but I think its a good thing she does have it." Mike said. "I have something to talk to you about that I can't talk to the other guys about."
"Now I told you to go to a doctor for that!" Andy joked. He laughed but stopped when he noticed that Mike hadn't joined in on the laugh. "Whats up?"
"Who is Elijah?" Mike said.
"Elijah is there?" Andy said. Mike could hear him sitting up. "Oh my god."
"What?" Mike said.
"What do you want to know about Elijah?" Andy said.
"The whole story." Mike responded.
"Well at some point I'm sure he was born." Andy said.
"Not that. I want to hear about Valerie and Elijah, the whole story. Everything." Mike replied.
There was a long pause. Was there more to what happened than what Valerie had told him? "You may have sit down."
"I am." Mike said.
"Its a long story." Andy said.
"I'm ready." Mike said.
