The following story can best be classified as "Creative Non-Fiction." The events the story are based upon ones that took place, but the names (where included), locations and descriptions have all been changed to protect the innocent (as they used to say on "Dragnet").
This is part 3 of a 4 part series, the first part being 'First Chance at Fifteen Minutes of Fame,' the second part being 'Second Chance at Fifteen Minutes of Fame.'
All characters in the story are at least 18 years old.
* * * * *
Second Chance at a Second Chance
I see an announcement for a band I really like and have multiple copies of all their recordings, both on vinyl and on cassette tape. That night, I have a recurring dream of meeting the lead singer, but everyone I have told about the events in the dream don't believe me and think I have made everything up.
A second night with the same dream and I am up early, waiting for the ticket office to open before I go to work. I refrain from speaking of the dream to anyone and it fades into the back of my memory where it belongs.
The show is on a Saturday night, just like in my dreams, but the venue is much smaller, only about four thousand people inside instead of the thirty thousand plus in the shows I have convinced myself are a figment of my imagination. It is General Admission again, but I don't remember the press of the fans as I watch the concert.
After the warm up band finishes their set and the intermission is underway, I spot my estranged wife there with her boyfriend. Even though I had been waiting in the beer line for ten minutes, I rush over to her. I pull some paperwork from my jacket pocket and thrust it in her face. I have been carrying the divorce papers around with me at all times for the past several months, ever since I saw her the last time and she agreed to grant me the divorce. I am surprised to run into her here. She hates this band because I like them so much.
She signs the documents because I am granting her everything she asked for just to get her out of my life. I consider skipping out of the concert to go get drunk in celebration of my freedom, but something keeps me here: The flashbacks from my dreams firing in rapid succession, to quick to make them out.
I work my way up to the front of the crowd, using my size to bully people out of the way. I see members of the band peeking out to guage the crowd size before disappearing again. I can hear someone tuning guitars backstage when a security guard taps me on the shoulder. Initially I think I have hurt someone's feelings or maybe their toes in my quest to gain a better spot and try to ignore him.
He is persistant and when he yells into my ear, required because the dun of the crowd is that loud, telling me someone wants to speak to me. He leads me sidestage and leaves me behind the security fencing when a blonde approaches.
"It's you, isn't it?" she asks and I recognize her as one of the members of the band.
I am about to deny everything when I recall a vision from my dreams of her wrapping an arm around a short brunette in a bus, tears streaking the mascara lining her expressive eyes. "Oh, God," I mumble. "It's true."
She looks at me questioningly. "You broke her heart," she scolds and everything floods back in a rush, overwhelming me.
The memory which hurts the most is my promise we would see each other again. I never thought it would be almost five years before it would happen. "Do you want me to go?" I ask.
"That's up to you," she replies. "But if you stay, I don't want her to see you before the show." I want to argue with the blonde. I want to see her now. I don't want to wait. But then I think about it. No matter the outcome of a reunion, she will have as much difficulty concentrating as I am.
I nod.
I wait backstage, enjoying the music and the scene more than I ever did when I was working at the concert venue. I truly listen to the music and to her vocalization. Her voice is more mature, more sensual, yet it still retains the innocence it has always portrayed. I fall in love with her all over and it scares me. I am not sure of anything that has happened in the interim. There are no paparazzi following each and every moment of anyone famous. The internet is still relatively new, where only nerds like me use it to tap remote computers to solve massive problems with programs written specifically for that purpose, or to access on-line porn, the driver of the push for faster internet speeds. Cameras are not in everybody's hands as they will be in a few years. Even cell phones are barely out of the analog age with the first generation digital ones available but not widely supported by the cell providers.
I have no way to know if she has a boyfriend, had gotten married like I did, and divorced tonight when the ex signed the paperwork earlier, nothing. I am truly frightened I cannot live up to her memories. She is nothing more than a dream to me; come alive.
I have crept closer to the edge of the limelight throughout the performance to get a glimpse of an angel in a little black dress. And now I am too close.
She is singing the encore and I know every word of every song she sings, singing along when she looks over. She stops in the middle of the bridge before the final words of the choral closing of the last song of the night. She stands there, staring. The blonde takes over the lead as the song ends.
She stands there until the spotlight dims, leaving only the back lighting.
The guitar tumbles from her body and the impact echos through the auditorium as the back lights fade. I feel something hit me so hard I am knocked to the ground. The house lights come up and she is atop me, kissing me, holding me. Tears of joy are streaming down her face as I wrap my arms around her and kiss her back.
"Hi," I manage when she stops and looks down.
"You asshole!" she screams and slaps me as hard as she can and then is kissing me again. I know I deserved that and I am glad it is out. She murmurs my name and smiles.