Like We Never Loved At All

New story I decided to post. I wrote this awhile ago, it was actually on BillyHeads before it shut down, and it has a sequel that I will post after. Beware, this is one of my more intense stories.
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Like We Never Loved At All
Tracy Bonzo


Chapter One

Ayla McKinley was waiting impatiently outside of a Friendly’s Restaurant for her boyfriend, and fellow tour partner, Billy Gilman to arrive. He was usually late for their dates anyway, so she wasn’t too concerned, but she always looked forward to spending rare time with him away from the stage. Her blue eyes looked up and down the street anxiously as a slight wind blew light brown hair that hung loose past her shoulders.

She glanced at her watch again; he was fifteen minutes late. As she was about to reach for her cell phone to call him, she saw his black rental car pull into the parking lot and park next to her own rental car. She smiled at him as he got out, but he just returned it with a slight grin.

“Hey Bill-Bill,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. She grabbed his hand in hers and started walking towards the entrance, but she didn’t notice Billy resist. He followed her reluctantly inside, regretting his agreement to a weekly date, no matter where they were for a show.

A waitress grabbed two menus and led them to a corner booth, in which they sat across from each other.

“What can I get you to drink?” She asked them.

“Tea for me,” Ayla said.

“Pepsi,” Billy requested.

The waitress nodded and went off to get their drinks while they looked at the menus. Ayla grabbed Billy’s hand in hers as she opened it up and began to scan the page. Meanwhile, Billy opened the tri-fold of the menu and pretended that he needed both hands to hold it up. Ayla glanced at him strangely for a second, but shook it off.

A few minutes later, the waitress brought their drinks and took their order. While they waited for their dinner, Ayla tried desperately to hold Billy’s hands, but he always found some excuse to pull away; such as fiddling with his wallet or kneeling to tie his shoe, or something else that he thought up on the spot. She didn’t understand why he was pulling away from her, but she tried to ignore it. She was sure that he would talk to her later on that night, or tomorrow.

When their food finally did arrive, they ate mostly in silence. Although Ayla tried to make interesting conversation, Billy would only respond with one word answers and keep his head down as he picked at his food.

“Billy, what’s wrong with you? You’re not acting like yourself,” Ayla finally said when she could stand it no longer. He finally looked up at her and shook his head. He didn’t say anything, and the look he gave her was as if she should already know the answer.

“I’m gonna go back to my bus, I’m really tired,” Billy said getting up. He motioned for the waitress to get their check and reached for his wallet.

“Billy, what’s wrong?” Ayla cried as she stood and grabbed his arm. Billy shook her away as he pulled out forty dollars.

“Here, use this to pay for the bill and the tip,” he said stuffing it into her hands and half jogging out of the restaurant. Ayla stared after him, so lost in her thoughts that the waitress had to shake her arm several times before she broke from her trance.

“Here is your check ma’am,” she said, and then realizing that Billy was no longer there, asked, “Wasn’t there a young man here a minute ago?”

“Oh yeah, he…uh…he had to get to an important meeting,” she lied to the waitress. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with him, and she didn’t feel like talking to anyone about it, especially a complete stranger. She had to know herself first.

Ayla paid the bill and told the waitress to keep the change before running out, hoping there was still a chance that Billy was out there. Maybe he just had to calm himself down and was waiting for her to come out after him. She prayed that he was out there, but as she went out, the spot next to her car was empty.

“Oh Billy…what did I do?” She said aloud, almost willing Billy to be there and comfort her, but nothing happened. Tears welled up in her eyes as she sat down on a bench and tried to gain control of her emotions.

this is another good one!

Chapter Two

Billy drove off in the black Pontiac he had rented for the weekend, his thoughts clouded as he wondered what exactly was wrong with him. He loved Ayla, but maybe he didn’t. Lately he had been thinking, and he wondered if he really did love her like he thought he did. They had only started dating a little after starting the tour together, and they had never known each other before that. How could it possibly be love after dating for just four months, knowing each other for six? Things had been moving way too fast for Billy, and he needed to somehow slow things down. Even if met becoming distant to her, he had to break away from the stranglehold she had on him.

A few minutes later, Billy arrived back at the tour bus, but he decided not to get on. He went on and told his bus driver, who was preparing his own bed for the night, to tell Ayla not to wait up for him that night. He wouldn’t be able to sleep on the bus that night, so instead he parked his car on the opposite side of the hotel parking lot and went in and reserved a room for the night. He didn’t care at the moment what anyone would say. He had to be alone to think on his feelings.

~*~

When Ayla arrived back at the tour bus and heard the message from the bus driver, she immediately got worried. Where was Billy? And why wouldn’t he be back that night? What had she done to get him so upset that he was becoming distant?

She picked up her cell phone and dialed his number, and she prayed that he would pick up. She had to know what was wrong with him, what she had done to get him so upset.

“Oh please Billy, pick up,” she cried when she got his voicemail. “What did I do? I’m sorry Billy…I-I love you.”

~*~

Billy heard the click of her cell going off and immediately picked up his cell and listened to it again. He had wanted to pick it up when he heard her voice and reassure that it wasn’t her fault, but he couldn’t. How do you tell your girlfriend that you need more space, especially when you’re touring together?

“Oh man, we have a show tomorrow night,” he said, suddenly remembering. “And we have to do a duet, how can I survive that?” Billy swore and kicked the edge of the bed, but immediately regretted it as a searing pain made him yell in frustration. It seemed that nothing was going right for him that day.

Billy went to bed that night thinking about what he had to say to Ayla, and how he would explain it to her, but as he finally drifted off in an uneasy sleep, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do it. He loved her too much, but he needed space for awhile, and that would be impossible until the end of the tour. But would he be able to last that long?