C'Mon, Would It Really Be So Bad?

I Was Wrong

It took one phone conversation with my mom to change my mind.

I had called her one day to see how she was holding up, per usual, when she told me something that blew my mind. She told me that Ed had completely paid off her mortgage, car and wrote her a check to cover all of the court costs from her divorce.

When I asked her why, she told me that her and Ed had never stopped talking after we broke up. She said she didn't want to tell me for fear of making me upset, but told me how after everything happened with the divorce and heart attack, he had consistently been checking on her too and offered to do anything he could to help make it easier for her. She had been nothing but stressed to death since my dad left her, not having any idea how she could afford her house, car or court costs on her own.

I couldn't believe it. My heart completely melted and my stomach dropped. I felt like I made a huge mistake telling Ed I hated him and to never talk to me again. As soon as I hung up with my mom, I dialed Ed's number.

He didn't answer me. I texted him telling him I needed to talk to him and I saw that he read it, but he didn't text back. I tried to call him two more times, but now instead of it ringing, it immediately went to voicemail. He was deliberately ignoring me.

I didn't really blame him, considering. But I had to talk to him again. I had to tell him I was sorry and thank him for what he did. I had to tell him I didn't really mean all those hurtful things.

I didn't even know where he was. I looked on social media and didn't see anything. So I looked up his tour dates. And I saw that he was playing a show that night about 4 hours away from me. And before I could even think about it, I grabbed my camera, jumped in my car and started driving.

When I got there, I used my connections and my name at the door to lie and say I was working, showing them my older camera. Luckily they didn't ask questions and let me through. Ed was already on stage, probably about halfway through his set. I just sort of lingered around the stage, trying to stay out of sight and under the radar until he got done, every now and then acting like I was actually taking pictures.

And when I finally saw him walk off stage, my stomach knotted up and my heart pounded. I was terrified to face him after what I did last time, and I instantly felt stupid for driving so far and just showing up unannounced like this. I thought What if this is a terrible idea? And I wanted to turn around and run. But before I could stop myself, I just went for it.

"Ed!" I yelled across the way.

He didn't stop walking at first, only slightly glancing over in my direction. He probably thought it was just some fan yelling after him. But then he did a double take as I started to run towards him, and he stopped dead in tracks, as did the rest of his entourage.

As I got closer, one of them stepped towards me and held out his hand, signally for me to stop. I slowed down, trying to go around him. But he blocked me.

The guy looked back at Ed. "Do you know her?"

Ed looked from him to me and hesitated for a second, staring me down. Then he looked back to the guy.

"Get her out of here," he said.

The guy nodded and put his hands on my shoulders, moving me back. I instantly put my hands up on his wrists and tried to stop him.