A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) (2 page)

“
Oh.
Okay.
”
Smithy laughed.
“
I guess I crossed some wires.
”

“
You
’
re still doing this to yourself?
After all these years?
”

Smithy picked up the guitar and put
it back in the case.
“
Hey,
man, let me live my way.
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Trent said.
“
For
everything. I
’
m not into
that. I never was.
”

“
Then
why are you here?
”
Smithy
asked as he stood up.
“
I
mean, you have tons of cash. You have the band. Why here? I figured you were
hiding some demons. We all do it, man.
”

“
Yeah,
I guess we do,
”
Trent said.
“
But I can
’
t have that stuff in my
apartment. I
’
m sorry.
”

“
No
worries,
”
Smithy said.
“
More for me, right?
”

Smithy laughed again and Trent
opened the door and ushered his old friend out. Trent closed the door and
locked it. He wondered if Smithy would even remember seeing him tomorrow
morning. Chances were, he wouldn
’
t.

Trent put his head against the
closed door and made two fists.

Some people buried their demons in
booze and drugs. For Trent, his demons were alive in his heart, on the paper in
his pocket, and in the one person that could tear Fallen Tuesday apart.

(2)

Sometimes Luke really hated being
the unspoken leader of the band. Fallen Tuesday wasn
’
t one guy and a band. It was five guys, five
friends who came together to chase a dream. Luke sat on a leather couch in a
room with food, drink, guitars, and a banner of the radio station hanging on
the wall. He was waiting for the rest of the guys to show up. Part of him
wanted to believe that the door would open and Trent would come walking in with
a smile on his face and be ready to rock out.

But that wasn
’
t likely. Trent hadn
’
t been seen since Frank bailed
him out of jail and he took off to California.

The door opened and it was Mack.

“
Whoa,
empty room,
”
Mack said.

“
How
’
s it going?
”
Luke said.

“
It
’
s going. Where are the rest of
the guys?
”

“
Scattered,
”
Luke said.
“
It
’
s
like we
’
re a house of cards
here, man. Take one away and we begin to crumble.
”

Mack ran a hand through his hair
and sighed.
“
Still no word,
huh?
”

“
None.
”

“
You
think he really was drinking and driving or whatever the hell the story is?
”

“
No,
”
Luke said.
“
I talked to Frank and he said
Trent was in his car with a drink and the car was running, but he wasn
’
t driving. All because of a
woman.
”

“
Chloe,
”
Mack said and his lip curled.

“
Don
’
t even say her name, man,
”
Luke said.
“
I
’
m
really annoyed right now with this. Why the hell did she come back? Why now?
Why get into this mess again?
”

“
Ask
Jake,
”
Mack said.
“
I
’
m
sure she
’
s sniffing around
him, too. You know how much she loved the attention, right?
”

“
It
’
s like being a teenager again,
”
Luke said.

“
Only
we have more money and can drink,
”
Mack joked.

“
Well,
your age never stopped you from drinking.
”

“
Good
point.
”

Luke walked to the window and
looked outside. He remembered the volatile days of the
trilogy of shit
.
Luke wasn
’
t sure who
actually coined that phrase, but it revolved around the intense relationship
between Trent, Jake, and Chloe. Everyone knew it was Trent and Chloe who were
together first, and that there was no intention of harm by Jake when he hooked
up with Chloe, but Chloe enjoyed pulling the strings on both Trent and Jake
whenever she wanted. She brought the band to the brink of collapse more than
once, but Luke really thought Chloe was in the past.

The band was so close to finally
getting back to normal. The radio shows were a hit. The new songs were amazing.
The record company even offered a free thirty second download of a new song and
so many fans flocked to the band's website that it crashed within the first
hour. What that meant to the record company was that there was a lot money to
be made. For Luke and the rest of the band, it meant the fans were anxiously waiting.

Now, with all the good stuff they
had going for them, they would have to take on a radio show without the full
band. Frank was insistent about keeping as many radio shows on the schedule as
possible, so that they don't lose any steam. As much as Luke disliked doing it,
he needed to do it for his own personal reasons. He loved playing those live
acoustic shows for the diehard fans. They stood by him while he recovered, so
they deserved the shows. And how could he turn down the rush of energy that
live shows gave him? That's what got him pumped for the studio so that they
could finish their album and finally get back to touring.

“
You
’
re thinking too much,
”
Mack said.

“
I
know,
”
Luke said.
“
I want to fix this. I want to
fix everything.
”

“
Something
you can
’
t,
”
Mack said.
“
Shit just plays out.
”

Luke looked over his shoulder.
“
So what do we do? Play without
Trent? Go into the studio without him?
”

Mack shrugged his shoulders.

The door opened again and in came
Gray, Jake, and Frank. Luke looked at Jake and Jake turned his head. Ever since
this crap went down with Trent, Jake had been quiet and distant. Luke knew it
was Chloe. The fact that she was in town rattled Jake. The fact that she went
to Trent first bothered Jake. And then there was the question of whether or not
Chloe was still in town.

What a mess she continued to make.

“
Okay,
guys,
”
Frank said,
“
we
’
re
ready in five minutes. The lines are jammed with callers. The station is going
to play the snippet of the song that crashed the site. You guys are going to play
the entire song acoustic.
”

“
I
like it,
”
Mack said.

“
I
’
m not sure about the questions,
”
Luke said.
“
You know what they
’
re going to be about.
”

“
Talk
it out,
”
Frank said.
“
Tell the truth.
”

“
What
is the truth?
”
Jake asked.

Frank looked at Jake.
“
You know, it
’
s kind of funny how Trent kept
telling me to talk to you about the truth.
”

Jake scoffed and waved a hand.
“
That
’
s bullshit.
”

“
Bullshit?
”
Luke asked. He was getting
heated.
“
Bullshit is that after
all this time Chloe can come back and still tear us apart.
”

“
What
the hell did I do?
”
Jake
asked.

“
Look
at you right now, man,
”
Luke said.
“
You
’
re flustered. You look like you
haven
’
t slept in days. You
can
’
t get it out of your
mind. She
’
s around here
somewhere, right?
”

Jake shook his head.
“
You don
’
t
…”

“
Answer
this,
”
Luke said.
“
Did you try to get in touch with
her?
”

Jake didn
’
t respond.

“
Christ,
”
Mack said.

“
Can
’
t we just push through this?
”
Gray asked.
“
We
’
ve
gone through so much already, do we really need to go back in time right now?
”

“
Answer
the question, Jake,
”
Luke
said.

“
What
I do at night is nobody
’
s
business,
”
Jake said.
“
Okay? I
’
m sorry Trent got in trouble, but I had nothing to
do with it. I
’
m still here.
I
’
m ready to play the show
out there.
”

“
Why
don
’
t we all catch our
breath?
”
Frank asked.
“
Then we can gather up in a few.
”

Jake walked to the door and ripped
it open. He was gone. Gray sighed and went after him. Luke crossed his arms and
Mack patted him on the shoulder.

“
Take
it easy, brother,
”
Mack
said.
“
You know how deep
feelings can run. It
’
s not
easy to let go, especially when things don
’
t
end the way you want them to.
”

Luke nodded and Mack excused
himself from the room.

Frank leaned against a long table
lined with food.
“
Did that
feel good?
”

“
No,
”
Luke said.
“
It felt like shit, if you want
to know the truth.
”

“
I
don
’
t know what my place is
here,
”
Frank said.
“
But you guys have a lot to lose yet
a lot more to gain.
”
Luke
looked at Frank.
“
And I
’
m not talking about money.
”

“
Sure
you are,
”
Luke said.

“
Okay,
I am. But it
’
s more than
money. You and I both know that.
”

Frank pushed from the table and
walked to the door. He gripped the handle, but just stood there.

“
What?
”
Luke asked.

“
I
hope you guys know how much you mean to me. Not financially, but personally.
You guys are my family right now. And it seems every time I turn around there
’
s a secret waiting to hurt all
of us. I
’
m kind of sick of
it, Luke.
”

“
There
’
s no secret here,
”
Luke said.
“
Chloe is a bad person. She tried
to tear the band apart many times and the hold she has over both Trent and Jake
is something I don
’
t
understand. I haven
’
t seen
Trent since before he was arrested. All I know is what I read about him.
”

“
Do
you believe it?
”
Frank
asked.

“
Not
for a second. He wouldn
’
t
drink and drive. I
’
m not
going to say whatever he did wasn
’
t
stupid, but he would never put someone else
’
s
life in danger.
”

Frank opened the door and left the
room.

Luke was right back to where his
afternoon started.

Alone.

*

Trent tried his best to keep his
hat down on the flight back to New York. In the airport, more than a few people
recognized him and chased him down for a picture and an autograph. They were
true fans of Fallen Tuesday and surprisingly, only one person asked about the
arrest. It was a woman who told Trent she didn
’
t
believe a thing she read about him. He thanked her, signed a piece of paper for
her, took a picture, and then rushed to get on the plane.

The entire flight, Trent tried to
sleep, but he kept going back to that night. He had been sitting at the bar,
trying to relax with the locals. Sharing drinks, stories, and laughter, it had
been one of those rare times when Trent didn
’
t
feel like a celebrity rockstar. Sometimes it felt good to just be a person who
wanted a cold beer after work. To be a guy who wanted to watch something sports
related on the television and let the night slip away.

Then someone had touched his
shoulder.

When Trent turned and saw Chloe
’
s face and that damn smile, he
almost fell over. She looked the same, just older. The same bright brown eyes.
The same small nose. The thin lipped smile. Oh, and the same way she bit on her
lip when she was nervous.

It was like Trent had taken a sip
of beer and was thrown back in time. Back to learning how to play guitar to
impress a girl. Back to the awkward conversations, dates, and all the awkward
moments of touching and exploring each other.

Trent thought he had done the right
thing that night, but he still ended up in jail. Now, in the silence of the
flight, he began to wonder why he hadn
’
t
just scooped Chloe up, taken her to a hotel, and showed her what it was like to
be with a real man all night long. Trent would be a liar if he said it hadn
’
t crossed his mind from time to
time what it would be like to run into Chloe now. The last time she saw him, he
was just the bassist in a band that didn
’
t
make money.

Trent closed his eyes again and let
out a deep breath. Next to him was a man in a suit with headphones on. Next to
that man was another man in a suit, sleeping. It surprised Trent that he
managed to fly from California to New York without being recognized once.

But then something happened.

Landing in New York and stepping
from the plane, Trent saw a frenzy of a crowd waiting for him. There had to be
at least twenty people standing there, cameras, recorders, and notebooks ready
to capture whatever saga was happening in Trent
’
s
life.

Trent made a phone call.