Worlds Collide

VIP

Brantley's POV:

Whatever hope I had been holding out that PJ would be able to find the girl with the angelic laugh was crushed when five minutes before the time I was supposed to start the VIP session, PJ walked into my dressing room alone. The look on his face told me all that I needed to know without having to even ask. He hadn't been able to find the girl.

"I'm sorry boss." He said, walking further into the room.

"It was a long shot anyway. No need to apologize for not being able to accomplish the impossible." I said, standing from the couch in the dressing room, tugging my black BRC hat down onto my head.

"Maybe she will be at the VIP session." Said PJ.

I knew what he was trying to do by putting that idea into the atmosphere. I knew he was trying to give me hope that the woman with the angelic laugh would be there and that all would be right in the world. But even as much as I wanted all that to be the case, I was beginning to think that it just wasn't in the cards for me. I mean, look at the track record I was running. The love of my life and the inspiration for almost every song I have written left me because my demons at the time were pulling me under faster than she could try and save me. I hadn't wanted the help at the time -didn't even see that I even had a problem if I'm being honest- but looking back now, I know that I am the only one to blame for her not being by my side right now. Last I heard, she was married with a couple kids, living the American dream.

And then there is the other woman that I was ready to spend the rest of my life with. Jana and I met right after I'd gotten out of rehab and gotten clean. She had been the first person to accept the new me and I had latched onto that. Even though I'd felt that there was just something missing in out relationship, I'd decided to spend my life with her because I thought it was what was meant to be. Hell, I even got down on one knee in a damn suit for her -something that anyone who knows me knows is out of character- because she said that was something she had dreamed about happing when she was proposed to ever since she was a kid. And even after doing all that, giving her the dream proposal, she decided that she was better off screwing her producer in order to get better roles in Hollywood. Guess sometimes your career and what you want out of it wins out in the end.

"I think you know as well as I do that that's just as much of a long shot as it was of you finding her in a crowd of women." I said, walking past PJ towards the door to the dressing room.

"Yee of little faith." Said PJ, a tisking sound coming from his lips as he shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with just how shitty my love life has been over the years." I said, turning to face him before stepping into the hallway. "Not that I'm looking for a relationship or anything, but you get what I'm saying."

"Yeah, I do." Said PJ. "But its like my mama always told me. The best things come to those who wait. If you want something, you have to learn to be patient and let God grant you the things that you're heart wants, because only He knows what you need. Just because you want something to happen, or you want things to play out a certain way, doesn't mean that it the plan that God has for you."

"I know." I said with a huff as I snatched my hat from my head and ran my fingers though my hair. "Let's just shelf the religious talk for now and get this VIP session and concert over with. The sooner I cross the California state line, the better." It wasn't that I didn't believe what PJ was saying because I did. I knew that his words were the truth. But they didn't do anything to lift my spirits and they did nothing to get me closer to what I wanted out of life so it was best to just drop the subject.

"If you say so, Boss." Said PJ, following me out of the room.

Once in the hallway, PJ stepped in front of me and led me towards the VIP room. I paused outside of the door of a split second to take a deep breath and put my game face on. Afterall, my fans weren't paying to see me in a piss-poor mood so the quicker I could shutter my emotions, the better.