PART 1:
Chris is sitting in his hotel room in New York City. He’s at the foot of the bed, looking down at his feet, and dressed in all black with white sneakers. The room is dark. The only light coming in is from the sun rising over the buildings. His blue eyes are filled with confusion, sadness and anger. Guy quietly walks in and leans against the wall. “Hey.” He says quietly.
Chris looks up and smiles. “Hey.”
They pause for a few minutes until Jonny takes a few steps forward. “Listen, about last night. I-”
“Don’t worry about it.” Chris says firmly while standing up. “It… it’s fine.”
Guy furrows his brow. “No,” he shakes his head violently. “no it wasn’t fine.”
They stare at each other for a few seconds, then Chris chuckles. “Come on, man. Just forget it.” he slaps Guy on the shoulder.
“I just want you to know that it was nothing. It was stupid, and-”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Chris snapped. His eyes were staring straight into Guy’s.
Guy nodded. “Fine. Well when you’re ready to talk, let me know.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Chris mumbled, staring at the wall.
They paused for a few seconds before Guy slowly walked out the door. Chris sighed as soon as the door closed, sat back down on the bed, and reached for the mini bar.
PART 2:
ONE WEEK EARLIER
The boys shuffled off the stage as the crowd cheered for more. Chris collapsed on the dressing room couch in a pool of his own sweat as the three others went for water. “Good show.” Phil said as he walked into the room. “You know the audience gets kind of pissed when you only do ten songs.”
Chris shrugged and wiped his face with a towel. “Well what can we do about it?”
Phil shoved his hands in his pockets. “Write another album.”
The four of them all turned to Phil. It had only been a year since they wrote Parachutes, and they were in the middle of a tour. “W…” Will shook his head in confusion. “We’re in the middle of a tour.”
“So? Write on the road. I hate to tell you, guys, but you’re going to have to get used to something now.”
“What’s that?” Chris asked.
“Fame.”
A couple of hours later the guys decided that they’d try to write some new songs, and see where it went. Then they got ready to leave. “Hey, Chris.” Jonny said as they were walking out the door. “Will and I were going to go get a beer. Care to join?”
Chris smiled wryly and shook his head. “No man, there’s something else I have to do.”
“Oh, oh okay. Good luck, man.”
A few minutes later Chris was at the top of her street. London looked like a ghost town late at night. The wet streets made everything look so much darker, and it was so quiet. The center of London, and not a noise to be heard. His stomach turned as he walked up to her front step and reluctantly knocked on the door. There was some rustling inside, then the glow of a light being turned on from the window. She quietly opened the door and smiled. “Hi.” she said quietly.
Chris tried not to fidget. “Hi. Did I wake you?”
She shook her head. “No." There was a pause for almost a minute."Have fun tonight?”
“Natalie.”
Chris and Natalie’s relationship had been nothing that you would call an actual relationship. It all started a few weeks ago when Natalie started complaining about Chris always being away. After that, they’d been fighting like an old married couple. They were slowly drifting apart and frankly, they had no idea what was keeping them together.
A few seconds later Natalie opened the screen door for Chris, and he walked into her living room. Natalie switched off the T.V. and leaned against the couch. Chris awkwardly shifted his weight and leaned against the stairs. “Are we going to talk about this?” he said.
“Oh Chris.” Natalie snapped.
“What?” he quickly replied. “Come on, you know this is awkward, I know this is awkward. We can’t spend our time like this. We have to talk about it some time.”
Natalie glared at him. “What is there to talk about? You, you’re always away and frankly I’m fucking sick of it. Don’t try to deny it but you know this was going to happen.”
Chris’s anger turned to sympathy. He did know that he was away all the time but, he wanted her to care more about what he did. Frankly, he thought she was quite selfish but he never tried to make her think he was right about anything. He put a hand through his short, cinnamon brown hair. “Hey, I’m sorry.” he said, and took a step closer to her.
She folded her arms and let out a shaky sigh. “What is happening to us?”
That statement left them both quiet for a few more seconds. “Hey,” Chris said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “if you want, I’ll ask Phil to postpone next week’s gig in New York.”
Natalie looked up and smiled. “Really?”
Chris smiled back and rubbed her shoulder with his thumb. “Really.”
They looked into each other’s eyes for a few more seconds then Chris felt Natalie’s arm stiffen under his grip, so he slowly let go. “Well, em. I better get going. You should get some sleep.” Chris said.
“Okay. Good night.”
Chris walked out of her house and down the stoop, and felt his heart start to ache. He was disappointed that she didn’t ask him to spend the night. He just wanted to be around her but… something else inside him was asking himself what the hell he was doing with her. They surely weren’t right for each other, so they were just pulling at loose strings. After that, Chris knew he wouldn’t sleep so he walked down the chilled streets of London down to the pub.
PART 3:
Chris awoke to the sound of his phone ringing the next morning. His head was pounding and his ears were ringing from all the drinks he had the night before. That was basically the way he dealt with Natalie. Drinking. He rolled over and picked the phone up off the receiver. “Yeah.” he moaned.
“Chris?” Guy said. “Chris where the hell are you? It's four o' fucking clock!”
Chris shot up and looked at the clock. “Oh fuck, I had such a late night.”
“That's fine. Fine. I just want to tell you we're going to be leaving for New York a little early. Phil was able to get us another gig in at Radio City Music Hall and we have a radio show that morning.”
“Guy.” Chris said, putting a hand on his aching head. “I can't go.”
There was a pause on the other line. “You're joking.”
Chris shook his head as if Guy was there. “No, no man. I had this fight with Natalie and I promised her-”
“Natalie? Is that the reason?”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
Chris could hear Guy trying to hold back his anger. They'd known each other for a long time, and even when they weren't together they knew when they were angry. “Chris.” Guy said. “I, I need to talk to you about Natalie.”
Chris's back stiffened. “What about her?”
“She's not right for you, man. And I think you know that.”
“Guy-”
“Let me finish.” he inhaled. “The boys and I have been talking and we all know that this has been affecting you for the past few weeks. Ever since we went to France you two have been so tense with each other. Is that the relationship you want? You should be with someone who makes you happy, not depressed. For some reason, I don't know why, Natalie can't accept the fact that you're a musician. That's the kind of person we fight against. It's why we do what we do, Chris. Please don't get mad at me. You're like a brother to me, and I just hate to see you this way.”
Chris knew Guy was right. He'd known for a long time but, he'd had such problems with relationships in the past. Chris had met Natalie right after he'd had a really bad breakup, and he was vulnerable. He needed compassion and he found that in anyone. Now he was realizing that he should have broken up with Natalie a long time ago to save each other. “God, you're right man.” Chris admitted. “I'm such an idiot.”
“No!” Guy yelled. “Don't say that. You're not an idiot. You were just trying too hard. Chris, you can't force something to be right.”
“I guess I'll talk to her today.”
“Okay.” Guy said calmly. “Just get yourself together and be at Will's by 5 tomorrow morning. You're a good guy, Chris. Remember that.”
Chris said goodbye to Guy and got ready to do something he'd been regretting for two months. He dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, and headed out to Natalie's for the last time.
PART 4:
“Chris!” Natalie said, happier than usual. “I'm so glad you're here.”
Chris furrowed his brow. “You are?”
She smiled brightly and nodded. “Mmhm. Come in!”
Chris opened the screen door and walked into Natalie's apartment. Something was different. She sat down on the brown leather couch and gestured for him to sit next to her, so he sat. “Chris,” Natalie said. “you and I have had our differences. And you know, last night was just stupid. I want to thank you for being so compassionate about my feelings. I want a fresh start.”
His bright blue eyes widened. Chris had no idea what to say. He came here with the intention to break up with her, and he thought she'd be okay with it. This changed everything. “Chris?” Natalie said, gently putting a hand on his scruffy cheek. “Chris are you okay?”
Chris pulled away slightly but nodded. “Okay.” he whispered.
“Oh, wonderful!” Natalie yelled. “I want to put everything with your silly “career” behind us and just be ourselves. Obviously singing isn't a profession so maybe I could get you that job at my dad's restaurant like we were talking about.”
Chris was stunned. When he first met Natalie she kept talking about how music isn't a profession but he asked her to stop, so she did. I guess she thought that a “fresh start” meant he doesn't have feelings. “You can't talk like that.”
Natalie shot him a confused look. “Like what?”
“Stop downing my profession.”
She furrowed her brow. “Music isn't a profession.”
Chris stood up and paced the floor. “You know what? I'm done.”
Natalie stood up and waved her hands in the air. “What is wrong with you? I didn't do anything.”
“See? It's always me!” Chris yelled for the first time in their relationship. “You never do anything wrong cause you're fucking perfect, right? Okay, I'm leaving.”
“Why?”
Chris looked puzzled. “Because we aren't right for each other, Natalie. Am I the only one who sees that? We don't get along, you hate music and I'm sorry. I can't be with someone who hates music. Goodbye.”
Natalie started yelling something as he slammed the door behind himself. When he looked around the street, things seemed a little brighter. Chris's heart wasn't hurting anymore, and finally he felt like himself again.
Guy walked into the bar around midnight. He sat down at the counter and ordered a scotch. He was worried about Chris. Their relationship had been a bit odd lately, since Chris had had his mind on so many things that had to do with Natalie.
“Hey.” Guy heard a voice say to his right.
He looked over to see Natalie sitting next to him. Her golden blond hair was soaked from the pouring rain and she was dressed in a black tank top and jeans. “Hi.” Guy said quietly. “How are you?”
“Well your friend broke up with me today.” she said, ordering a martini from the bartender.
Shit. Guy didn't know what to say after that. “I'm so-”
“Don't say you're sorry.” she said, taking a gulp of alcohol. “You're his friend so I'm sure you were one of the ones who probably talked him into it. Don't take this the wrong way but he's a bastard.”
“Another drink?”
A few hours later Guy could barely walk from all the alcohol running through his veins. Natalie and him had been talking about basically everything except Chris, and despite his best friend's feelings he was beginning to like her. The two of them walked outside arm and arm around three A.M., laughing at absolutely nothing. When they got to Natalie's flat she started fumbling through her purse for her keys. “Shit.” she mumbled. “I know they were in here but you know, I can barely remember what I did this morning.”
They stared into each others eyes for a few seconds before Guy took another step closer, until he was about an inch away from her lips. They stood there like that until she made the move and pressed her lips against his. He pulled her small waist in and wrapped his hands around her. She put her fingers through his hair and started to kiss him more intensely. A few seconds later they heard someone cough next to them. They pulled away from each other to see Chris standing ten feet away from them with his jaw open.
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