Kate couldn’t believe she was about to see Gage Stevens again.
After almost five years, she would finally come face to face with the man who had once been ready to give her the world. His world. Only this time, he was a mega-successful rock star and she was some down-and-all-but-out columnist working for a New York entertainment magazine.
Kate Preston had been the stereotypical good girl. She had great aspirations for college and beyond; dreams of becoming a world-renowned novelist. Funny how she had fallen for the hip and cool rocker Gage Stevens without so much as a second thought.
They’d met soon after she’d graduated. She’d been hanging with her friends at a local club where Gage and his band had been playing. Gage was the gorgeous lead vocalist who’d caught sight of Kate in the dancing crowd. After his performance, he’d sought her out and asked for a date.
Back then he’d just been one of those indie band types who performed at a few local shows and bars every so often. He’d been charming and without question, he was the most handsome man Kate had ever met. He pursued her with a relentless zeal that had her succumbing in the end despite the fact that she’d never have imagined them being compatible.
Kate had never really met anyone quite like Gage. He swept into her world and tipped it completely upside down. Well, swept was an understatement. He had crashed into her life like a destructive wave determined to crush even the smallest rock on the shore, consumed her very being, and before too long, he was all she could think about.
He believed that nothing was as important or worth worrying about except your dreams. He was also very romantic; he surprised Kate constantly with unexpected dates and heart-warming antics. It had been so easy to fall for him. Especially when he was also such a thoughtful, generous and passionate lover. The nights she’d known in Gage’s arms had been impossible to recreate with anyone else – not that she’d dated that many after Gage in the past five years.
The truth was that no man had ever come close to Gage since she’d left him all those years ago. For the last five years, Kate had regretted breaking up with Gage Stevens – more so than ever in the last few months, though she wasn’t quite sure why.
At the time of their breakup she’d thought she was being realistic when she’d told him, all those years ago, that his dreams of being a rock star would get him nowhere and that he needed to get a ‘real’ job.
But now that he was a rock god and her own career in journalism was stagnant, she didn’t need a soothsayer to tell her how wrong she’d been.
And now for the first time, Kate was attending one of his concerts.
Sold out, Gage performed that night to hysterically screaming fans. His stagecraft had been breath taking, his voice and music so powerful live as it was in studio recorded music. He moved so naturally, thrilling the watching crowd to a fever pitch. It was so easy getting caught up in the moment. The atmosphere in the arena was incredible and Eva could understand now why Gage was the rock star he was. Even though she’d known Gage years ago when he’d just been a struggling rock act, she couldn’t help feeling star-struck. On the stage, above that crowd, he came alive like no other performer she’d ever seen.
Song after song seemed to send the crowd into more of a rock ‘n’ roll-induced fever. The roaring crowd knew every line of every song as they sang along. Songs of passion, desire, rebellion and heartbreak. Kate couldn’t deny, even to herself, that she loved his music. What was there not to love?
The grinding beat and the thrash of the guitars, the frenzied drums and then of course, Gage singing in that deep, raspy voice that stirred the blood and left her heart exploding in her chest.
Everything was pulsing; kaleidoscopes of lights bursting around from the screens around the stage. Such powerfully charged choreography and showmanship. Now Kate understood what it really took to be a mega-star. It didn’t look so easy from where she stood in the crowd. Gage Stevens more than earned his rock god status and after four hours of high-powered performing, the live show was over.
Being made to attend one of his concerts and meet him backstage for an exclusive interview had been something Kate had been dreading for weeks. She’d done all she could to get out of the assignment but her editor had insisted, especially when it was known that Kate used to date Gage Stevens.
Kate had mentioned it several months ago to a friend and co-worker – who obviously hadn’t been able to keep the tidbit to herself. So when the chance came up to get to interview him for their magazine, her employers had easily picked her.
In all the past few years or so that Gage’s career had sky-rocketed, Kate had not attended any of his concerts once. And now that it had been part of the assignment to do so, she was glad the assignment was half over.
Now all she had left to do was meet up with him for the interview, get it done as soon as possible and then escape back to her ordinary life. If she was lucky, everything would be wrapped up in an hour or less.
And if the fates were on her side at all, he wouldn’t even remember who she was. He wouldn’t recognize her and she could carry out her duty professionally and quickly. One could only hope.
Now heading backstage armed with her pass, Kate squeezed through the sea of eager female groupies in their scanty get-ups, all hoping for a chance to get access to Gage or any of his band who’d exited the stage finally just half an hour ago.
Hefty security guards had their hands full keeping away the mob of beauties. Once Kate was cleared, one of them let her through and led the way to Gage’s dressing room.
Kate’s heart started to beat faster as the time drew near to come face to face with Gage again.
She went through the maze of corridor after corridor following the muscle-bound security guard, her head in a whirl. For days she’d racked her brain on how she could handle this. Friendliness and humor, or professional charm and poise? They hadn’t exactly parted enemies but Kate couldn’t help having a wary feeling Gage Stevens might still hold a grudge. After all, she’d dumped him just when he was at his all-time low professionally.
* * *
The last time she’d seen him; he’d been broke and had been about to get kicked out of his place. His band hadn’t found a paying gig in weeks and yet Gage had stayed hopeful that things would get better – just later rather than sooner.
“I can’t go on like this,” Kate had said with anguish as they’d sat in the half-filled eatery having a breakfast she was going to pay for, again. Kate had been an intern at a local newspaper and hadn’t minded having to stick the tab most of the time, but she really wanted Gage to do more for himself.
He was so smart, confident and good natured. He could be anything he put his mind to. Instead, he held on to his musical dream with a band that couldn’t even seem to keep itself in the studio time needed to make their first album “demo”.
“Babe, I know what you’re thinking,” Gage had replied, his curvy lips slanted in that gorgeously winning smile. “But you’ve got to have faith. If not in my music, then in me. I’m not going to fail.”
“Maybe…maybe if you put this same enthusiasm in some other endeavors,” Kate remembered saying hesitantly as she tried not to make him feel too bad. “You told me you were studying programming in college before you dropped out to focus on your music. What if…what if you tried to complete your degree? Or get another job? At least till this music thing can get off the ground.”
A frown had marred Gage’s smooth, broad forehead. “Music thing? Kate, rock is my life. I live and breathe it. Sure, I’m good with computers but I’ll never be happy cooped in some cubicle for the rest of my life. When I play, and sing, that’s when I feel the most alive. I’m not going to start slaving over a desk or a bunch of computers just to get by. It takes passion to succeed and I can’t see myself having passion for an IT career or whatever else you think I should be doing.”
Kate noted his irritation from the way he dumped his napkin on the table and pushed his half-eaten plate away.
A shuddering sigh escaped her. “You’re wrong, Gage. It takes more than passion to succeed. It takes a sense of responsibility, of knowing when to grow up. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t even want to see when it’s time to change the dream for something real, and worthwhile. I’m thinking we should just…part as friends before this gets any deeper and one of us gets hurt.”
Even now, five years later, Kate could remember the bottomless, shadowed look that had taken over Gage’s whole expression. He’d seemed shocked, dismayed, angry and betrayed all at the same time.
“You’re breaking it off, like this?” he asked, looking around at the surroundings with its low buzz from the few other clients in the trendy food bar.
“Don’t make it sound like that,” she said in a hushed voice. “If you could just…agree to at least consider trying something else…”
“Then what, you’ll give me a second chance?” he asked, suddenly smiling wryly. He took her hand, pressed it warmly with his fingers. Kate felt warmth and still, an ache at the same time. It was then she knew that though she still loved him, she couldn’t continue to be with him.
“You know your problem, Kate? All work and no play,” Gage admonished, thumb rubbing on the sensitive curve between her thumb and index finger.
A rush of sensual awareness shot up her arm at his caress, and she quickly pulled her arm away. Gage might be the sexiest man she’d ever met; but there was more to life than hot sex, a handsome face and a charming personality. Futures could not be built on that.
“You on the other hand, are the exact opposite,” she said calmly, gathering up her things. “You’re all about play, aren’t you?” Kate sighed raggedly.
She’d always been teased by him and his friends as being much too serious; a pessimistic who hardly saw the bright side of things. Kate loved to have fun like everyone else but she also knew what it was to not have a stable life. Her father had been so much like Gage.
Kate’s father had got on in life with his looks and personality for as long as he could. But he’d been unable to cater for his family while sticking to his dead-end vocation as a writer. Kate’s mother had ended up working two jobs and sometimes three just to keep the family going. And now, Kate wasn’t about to make the same mistake by falling for someone just like her father. The Dreamer. Dreams didn’t pay bills and they certainly didn’t provide for the future. Kate felt she deserved more than that.
That sunny day, she’d risen from her chair to gaze down at Gage, her eyes filmy with moisture even as her chin squared with resolve. “I’m sorry we weren’t good for each other.”
And she’d meant it. She was sorry that she couldn’t be the happy-go-lucky, rock band-supporting carefree Kate Preston that Gage and his pals wanted her to be. And she was sorry he couldn’t be the normal, everyday working guy ready to earn a proper living the way she thought he should.
Gage’s eyes had narrowed and she could see his hands clench on the tablecloth before he stretched the palms flat as if to deliberately calm himself. At last, he said quietly, “If you walk away from me now, I hope you know it’s for good? Because there’ll be no going back. It’s over. But if you stay, and sit down and talk, and work at this, then we still have a chance.”