Chapter Four: Interruption

It seemed like no time had passed before the leaves were turning and falling off the trees. One of the things that I initially loved about Appaloosa was all the trees and I loved them even more now. They were all different shades of red, orange, yellow, and green and a multicolor blanket covered the ground from the falling leaves.

I was promoted to band manager at work and I was learning so much not just from Johnny but from every one at the studio. I was spending some of my time playing the guitar and even writing some music. Most of the rest of my time was spent with Johnny. We’d go out to the club, jam at his house, and go for long walks along the beach.

I was getting ready for work one morning when my cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey sweetie. Whatcha doin?” Johnny asked.

“Oh I’m getting ready to head to work. What are you up to?”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to stop by after work and jam for a little bit.”

“Jam? Is that all you had in mind?”

“Well…”

“I’ll come over. But we’re only going to play guitars together.”

“Okay…” His voice sounded disappointed.

I laughed. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

After work, I headed to Johnny’s house. I had only been there a couple of times since we had started dating and I had yet to see his housemate. I found it kind of odd that Johnny didn’t talk much about him but figured it was because they were just housemates and not really friends. I wondered if I was ever going to meet the guy.

 I arrived at his house and before I could even ring the doorbell, Johnny opened the door and greeted me with a kiss.

“Hey sweetie, how was your day?”

“You know, the usual. The lead singer of the band wants to put all kinds of crazy demands for their performances and the musicians are complaining about the lead singer. Lots of fun stuff to deal with as the band manager.”

“Ah yes. The life of a band manager. Well, hopefully soon you’ll get a promotion and this will be a distant memory.

“I hope so. What have you been up to?”

“Well, I’ve been working on a song and I wanted to get your opinion on it.”

"Okay."

Johnny picked up his guitar and started strumming the strings. I always enjoyed hearing him play and sing. He was one of the most talented musicians I had ever heard. I often wondered why he hadn’t become a singer since his singing was effortless. I began to pay more attention to the lyrics and realized that the song was a ballad. He finished the song and looked at me.

“That was beautiful!” I told him.

“You really think so?” I nodded. “I wrote it for you.”

“You did? I..I don’t know what to say. I’ve never had anyone write a song for me…thank you.”

He put his guitar down and walked over to me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him.

 

He looked deep into my eyes and I stood there wishing he would kiss me. As if reading my mind, he leaned down and kissed me slowly.

My head was starting to spin from kissing him when all of a sudden the front door opened with a loud bang.

Johnny and I were so stunned by the sudden intrusion we jumped away from each other. As I looked over at the door my feelings turned from stunned to disbelief. Standing in the doorway was Chuck with an enraged look on his face.

At the same time that I recognized him, he got a look on his face that showed he was shocked by seeing both Johnny and I there.

“I’m sorry, Johnny. I didn’t think you’d be home right now. I didn’t mean to…interrupt you.” He looked right at me when he said the last part.

 

Johnny walked over to Chuck. “It’s okay. What’s up anyway? Something bad must have happened if you’re coming home like this.”

“I was out with Honey and we basically broke up. So you can imagine I’m not in a good mood.”

As Chuck and Johnny continued to talk about Chuck’s issues I stood there in disbelief. My brain was having trouble processing all the info that I had just received. As I came to the realization, I blurted it out interrupting their conversation.

 

“So…you two are housemates?”

 

They both stopped talking and looked at me shocked; like it was something that I was supposed to know. How would I? Johnny never told me his housemates name and Chuck had never mentioned his, except that it was a good friend of his.

 

I looked at Chuck. “Johnny is the good friend you told me about when we first met?” I then turned to Johnny “And Chuck is actually your friend; not just some housemate you share your house with?” I then thought back to the night at the record studio when Chuck had visited and he and Johnny seemed to get upset with each other. So that wasn’t just a random thing. This whole time I’ve been thinking that whole interaction occurred between two guys that maybe kind of knew each other, but instead it was between best friends and housemates.

 

“Why would you think that I wasn’t friends with the person who lives here?” Johnny asked me.

“Well you never mentioned him, really. I just assumed that meant that he was someone you knew but not a good friend and I certainly didn’t think it was… Chuck.” Chuck looked at me with a quizzical expression.

“I didn’t really think it was all that important to mention. I guess I figured you knew.” Johnny explained.

 

The three of us stood there looking at each other for several seconds, none of us really sure what to say. The silence was interrupted by Johnny’s cell phone ringing. He answered it and as he talked to whomever it was and walked away. That left Chuck and I standing there alone in our awkward silence. I finally tried to start a conversation.

“You said you and Honey basically broke up? What happened?”

 

He sighed and pursed his lips. “Without getting into anything too personal, we came to a joint decision that our relationship wasn’t what either of us were looking for. There wasn’t a big fight about it but it still doesn’t give someone warm fuzzy feelings to see any relationship end. So you can imagine I’m not in the greatest mood right now.”

 

I looked over at him and I actually felt bad for him. No one wants to go through what Chuck was dealing with. I really couldn’t blame him for being in a bad mood.

 

“I guess that’s always the risk we all take when we enter into relationships with people. If we decide to let that person in, we take the chance that it’s not going to work out and in the end we’ll be heartbroken. Sorry, that’s probably not what you want to hear right now.” I looked at him and he was looking down at the ground with a pained expression. Johnny reentered the room and apologized.

“Sorry about that. The record studio had a question about an upcoming recording session. Hey Chuck, you okay buddy?” Johnny looked concerned at Chuck. Chuck mumbled something and headed off to what I now knew as his bedroom.

Johnny turned to me “Hey Amanda, do you think that maybe we could meet up tomorrow night? I don’t just want to leave my best friend here with him feeling like this.”

“Sure. I understand”

“I’ll walk you out. I’ll be right back Chuck, I’m just walking Amanda out.” He called back to Chuck.

We walked out the front door and walked down the driveway.

 

“Do you think Chuck will be okay?”

“I’m sure he will be. From what I know about his and Honey’s relationship they weren’t that serious but it’s still painful when you breakup with someone. “

My cab pulled up and Johnny and I kissed. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He told me.

“See you then.”

I got in the cab and as it pulled away, watched Johnny walk back into the house.



The next night Johnny came to my house to pick me up. We had planned on hanging out at his place but when Johnny arrived, he suggested that we might want to hang out at my place.

“As you can imagine Chuck is still pretty upset over what happened. I think it might be better if we just hang out here instead.”

“Sure. Did he tell you anymore about what happened after I left last night?”

 

Johnny paused a little before responding. “Honey and Chuck have been friends for several years and didn’t start dating till recently. They weren’t even really sure about dating each other because they were worried about if things didn’t work out, that their friendship would suffer. Despite their reservations, they decided to give a romantic relationship a go. I can’t tell you what most of their time together was like, but I can tell you that from what I observed, it just didn’t seem like they had a spark. Even after they started dating it was more like they were friends instead of boyfriend and girlfriend. They were affectionate towards each other but not to the extent that other couples are.”

“Do you think their friendship will survive?”

“I think so. It’s going to be bumpy for a while but I don’t think Honey is one to keep grudges and I know for a fact Chuck isn’t.”

I was shocked by what Johnny had just said. Chuck didn’t hold grudges? That didn’t sound like the Chuck I knew.

“How about we sit on the couch and watch TV.” Johnny’s suggestion interrupted my thoughts.

“Okay. What should we watch?”

As we sat down and Johnny started flipping through channels, my thoughts drifted to something Johnny had said about Chuck and Honey’s relationship. It just didn’t seem like they had a spark. Even after they started dating it was more like they were friends instead of boyfriend and girlfriend. I tried to push it out of my head as Johnny and I sat on my couch, cuddling as we watched a movie. No matter how hard I tried though, it kept repeating over and over in my head.