FicWad

I called Donna the following morning when I was alone on the bus. Alicia and Christa had gone with the guys to check out the venue. I noticed immediately that Donna sounded strange.
She came right to the point. “I need to talk to you about Gerard. Is he with you right now?”
“Nope, I’m on the bus and he’s checking out the venue. What’s wrong?”
Donna took a deep breath, “I don’t know for sure. I went to see Helen and it was so strange. She seems to have it in her head that Gerard is the reason Merri ran away.”
“Why would she think that?”
“I guess because the package Merri sent home is full of drawings of him. She seems to think that they were seeing each other back when Merri disappeared.”
My heart was starting to accelerate. “Did Merri send a letter with the pictures?”
“No Helen showed me the box. It just contained drawings of Gerard.”
“Well maybe she had a crush on him. You know the cute older guy across the street kind of thing.”
“I never noticed anything like that. Merri was actually closer to Mikey cause they had classes together until she went away to Art school.”
“So I don’t understand. Why are you upset?”
Donna cleared her throat. “Well I guess I’m just shocked. Helen didn’t come right out and say it but I can tell she thinks that Gerard and Merri were having an affair.” She paused a moment, “I’m sorry Laura. This isn’t something I should be talking to you about.”
“Donna, I’m fine with this discussion, really. What Gerard did in the past has no affect on our life now.” Shit, I almost chocked on that line.
“It’s just no one has ever gotten as close to Gerard as you. That’s why I thought you might know something. Helen is pretty upset. I don’t want her to think that Gerard made her daughter go away.”
My head was starting to pound. “Like I said, maybe she just had a crush on him. I mean just cause she draws pictures of him doesn’t mean they were really together.”
“One of the pictures is a nude drawing of Gerard.”
Holy shit. Donna seeing a drawing of her son nude was pretty fucking creepy. “Why on earth did Helen show you that?”
“Cause I said the same thing you did. That Merri probably had a crush on Gerard back then. That it was nothing more than that.”
“So I’m sure she could draw that sort of picture of lots of people she’s never seen nude.”
“Yeah that’s what I said but when I glanced at the drawing I saw Gerard’s birthmark.”
Crap, crap, crap. I knew what birthmark she was talking about and that was something you wouldn’t see unless you saw him without clothing. I coughed; “Oh” was all I could think to say.
“Laura, I’m sorry I even brought this up. Like you said what difference does it really make? It was years ago. I guess the truth will come out when Merri gets home.”
I closed my eyes and leaned back. Fuck, the truth on that one was safe if it could only be told when Merri got home. I talked to Donna a few more minutes then went to the counter and poured myself a cup of coffee. I had to put this out of my mind for now. There was a huge Meet & Greet scheduled for tonight and I had to pull it together.

I was checking out the room that was being prepared for the Meet & Greet when a pair of arms encircled my waist. “Wife are you finished working yet?”
I leaned into him, “Almost. I got to get this right. The lead singer of this band is a pain in the ass. Things have to be perfect.”
His laughter tickled my ear, “You have such a nice ass I wouldn’t want it to suffer from any pain.”
My body heated at his words, “Down boy. I’m almost done. What are we gonna do for lunch?”
“Catering is setting up or we could go out and grab a bite to eat.”
I checked that last item off my list, “Whatever you want.”
He lowered his hand to stroke the V of my legs. “This is what I want.”
I looked around to make sure no one was watching. “Sounds good to me.” I turned in his arms and nipped at his bottom lip.
“Gerard we need to talk.” The anger in Ray’s voice made me jump.
“What?” Gerard asked. I moved out of his arms to stand next to him. I noticed that Christa was standing a few feet behind Ray.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me that Helen got a card and package from Merri?”
“How did you find out?” I asked.
“Mikey just mentioned it to me. He remembered that I knew Merri too.”
Several workers employed by the venue walked into the room. “We need to finish this discussion somewhere else?” I said.
Ray nodded. We all walked outside. There was a stand of trees not far from the bus and the four of us walked towards it. Once we were sure no one could overhear us Ray spoke again. “Why didn’t you tell me and what the fuck is going on?”
I looked at Gerard but he was staring at the ground. “We think that Helen must have finally cracked.” I said.
“She sent herself the card and package?” Ray sputtered.
“She said she got a card in the mail. Same with the package. That doesn’t really mean she did. Donna went to see her. The package she showed Donna was just a box. That doesn’t mean it really came in the mail”
“And it had drawings of Gerard in it, right? That’s what Mikey told me.”
“Yes, it had drawings of Gerard in it.” I was struggling with myself trying to decide if I should tell them all of what Donna had said.
“So you think Helen has gone crazy and is pretending that Merri sent this to her? Why? I don’t understand.”
Gerard was still staring at the ground. I reached out and took his hand in mine. “Look we all know Merri didn’t really send anything.”
“Okay but why the pictures of Gerard?” Christa asked finally speaking.
“Maybe in her mind she is trying to find a reason for Merri to have left. When I was at Helen’s house she told me that Merri had an art studio in an upstairs room.”
Oh my God I thought Ray was gonna have a coronary, “You were where?”
Shit, forget he didn’t know I’d talked to Helen. “I visited Helen. I went to the house and she came over and introduced herself. She had seen me there with Gerard.”
Ray shook his head in disbelief. “Well fuck, want me to take you to the spot where I buried her? Fuck, you seem to be involved in every aspect of this. Hey, Gerard you’re bitch here running you now?”
Christa sucked in her breath at Ray’s words. I balled up my fist. As I swung Gerard grabbed my arm to stop me. He pulled me to his body and held me tightly. His voice was deadly, “Don’t ever call her bitch again.” He whispered in my ear. “Calm down, okay?”
I nodded, “You can let me go. I’m not gonna hit him.”
Ray was looking angry and confused. He took a deep breath, “Laura, I’m sorry but what he hell is going on? What else don’t I know?”
“That’s it.” Gerard said as he put his arm around my shoulder and led me away. I glanced back to see Christa hugging Ray.
“He’s right you know.” Gerard said as we neared the bus.
“What?”
“You’re taking care of me just like he did. Making sure I don’t lose it. God, I’m so fucking worthless.”
I stopped and turned him to face me. “No, it’s not true. We are handling this together. You and I. We will continue to handle this together. I would trust you with my life, Gerard. That’s how much I believe in you. You are strong not weak. Don’t forget that.”
He smiled at me. “So now you’re my cheerleader?’
“Cheerleader? Hell yeah. Hey, that’s a great movie idea. But first we got ‘Exit To Eden’, don’t we?’
His arms wrapped around me. He took a deep breath and I could see he was trying so fucking hard not to lose control.
“Gerard, it’s gonna be okay.” I whispered. “Don’t think about it.”
He nodded but wasn’t looking me in the eye. I gently turned his face to mine.
“Stay with me right here in the present. Don’t slip back.”
“Okay Laura. I just wish Mikey hadn’t told him.”
“I know but he did.” I leaned foreword and kissed his lips. “Exit To Eden”
He smiled slightly. “Oh yeah, that reminds me. You like leather, don’t you?”
I hugged him tightly, “Oh, hell yeah.”