Like a Dream Come True

By the time Lianna awoke on Saturday morning, Eddie was already up making coffee in the kitchen. “Morning,” she smiled as she entered the room. “You know, for the amount of alcohol I drank last night, I feel surprisingly well. What makes me think that all your TLC with the crackers and the painkillers and the water did that?”

Grinning back, Eddie shrugged. “There’s not much to do where I come from,” he told her. “So, as teenagers, we drank a lot. Learned a lot of tricks to avoid hangovers as a means to survive. Here’s some coffee,” he added as he handed her a steaming cup. “Cream, no sugar, just like you like it.”

Sitting down at the kitchen table, Lianna watched as Eddie poured himself a cup of coffee. God, how much easier would it be for her if she just felt for him the way he felt for her? There would be no media, no touring, no fans, no Frankie. “Oh well,” Lianna thought sadly to herself. “You can’t tell your heart who to love.”

“You’re looking a little deep in thought for nine in the morning,” Eddie sat across from Lianna. “Thinking about Joseph again?”

Biting her lip, Lianna felt a wave of guilt. She had been so selfish last night, talking about Joseph to Eddie of all people. “No,” she lied. “Just trying to remember if I did anything completely embarrassing in front of my coworkers last night. Was there any table dancing that you remember?”

“None,” Eddie told her. “And believe me, that would be something I would not soon forget.”

Laughing, Lianna looked appreciatively at Eddie. “Thanks for the party, Eddie,” she told him sincerely. “And for… everything you’ve done for me. You are one of the best friends I’ve ever had.” Lianna was pleased to note that, this time, when she used the word friend, Eddie didn’t flinch.

“I’m glad you think so,” Eddie replied. “You’re a great friend, too. But enough with the mushy stuff. I’m going to head out of here soon. I have to meet with a group from school for a project around lunch. Do you have any plans today?”

Looking over her shoulder out the window, Lianna noted that it was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining, but being that it was October, the air was probably pleasantly cool. It would be the perfect day to be outside. “I think I may take a day to myself to walk around the city,” Lianna told Eddie. “I haven’t done that in a while.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Eddie stood up and brought his empty coffee mug to the sink. “I’m envious. I’ll be in a tiny apartment with three pseudo-intellectuals arguing over the multidimensional facets of childhood psychology.”

“Sounds like a party,” Lianna joked. She rose up to follow Eddie to the door. “Listen, I really do want to thank you again for last night. I had a great time, and I hope I didn’t ruin your mood by getting drunk and babbling after everyone left.”

“Not at all,” Eddie insisted, putting on his coat. “You babble wonderfully, and I’ll be glad to listen anytime.”

Reaching over, Lianna hugged Eddie. He smiled at her, a little sadly, and then left without saying anything else. As soon as the door closed, Lianna bit her lip, and thought about how lucky she was to have such wonderful people in her life. She also felt guilty, as she had been sulking for some time now about Joseph. She decided that she would try to figure out, once and for all, what she was going to do about him, so she could move on with her life one way or another.

-----

It had been a wonderful day to walk around New York, but when Lianna finally got home, she was exhausted and her feet hurt. Luckily, she had splurged on herself while she was out, and now she was about to put her purchases into good use.

Running the water in the bath along with some bath salts she had purchased, Lianna walked back into the living room to get the rest of her things. She had purchased a book she had been meaning to read for some time, as well as a CD she had heard good things about. The final icing on the cake would be a leftover bottle of champagne. Of course, she had no intention of drinking as much as she had the night before, but a couple glasses while she soaked in the tub and read would be nice.

Hitting ‘play’ on the waterproof CD player that hung on her shower wall, Lianna heard relaxing music fill the air as she lit some candles around the room. Undressing, she pulled her hair up into a clip and slowly slid into the warm water. Reaching over, she took her book and glass of champagne, and she settled back for a quiet night alone.

At exactly that moment, Lianna’s cell phone went off. She glanced towards her purse, wondering if she should ignore it. After all, she could call Eddie or Madison back later. Still, she had a nagging hope that it wasn’t either of them calling. Reaching out of the tub, she checked the caller ID and her heart skipped a beat as she saw the word ‘blocked’.

“Hello?” Lianna asked softly.

“Hi,” Joseph’s voice was warm as he greeted her. “Is this a bad time?”

Looking around the bathroom, Lianna had to giggle to herself. Here she was, relaxing in a warm bath, soothing music playing in the background, a glass of champagne within reach – there actually couldn’t have been a better way for her to deal with a possibly stressful conversation if she had planned it. “No, not at all,” she told Joseph. “So, how are you?”

“I’m doing okay,” Joseph sounded a bit more relaxed than the night before. “The tour is going well, and from what we hear, post-production is almost finished on the album. It should be out by early December, which is good because that means they can push it in time for Christmas sales. So, how is your job going?”

Biting her lip, Lianna couldn’t help but smile at herself. By asking about her job, Joseph was trying, at least a little. “My job is good,” she told him. “It keeps me busy, and I’m learning a lot. I don’t get my review for another month and a half, but I think that my boss is pretty happy with me so far.”

“That’s great,” Joseph replied. “I’m really happy for you. I’m glad you have something that you’re good at, that you enjoy doing. That’s really important.”

Silence fell between them while Lianna tried to think of something to say. This normally simple task was turning out to be more difficult than she had originally intended. “So, Tavian and Madison are going to visit his family in Boston for Thanksgiving,” she told Joseph.

“I know,” Joseph said. “Tavian told me. He’s really excited to introduce her to his parents and brother. He’s got a really close family, like you.”

Puzzlement overtook Lianna. “You talk to Tavian?” she asked. It wasn’t that she felt like Tavian should have told her, per se, if he was talking to his best friend of five years. Still, she wished she had known; she wished that, all those times she wondered how Joseph was doing, she had known she could just ask Tavian.

“We’ve talked a few times,” Joseph told her. “Don’t be mad if he hasn’t mentioned it, though. I asked him not to tell you. I didn’t want you to feel weird hanging out with him, like you were making Tavian choose sides in what happened between us, because he did choose sides, and he chose the right side. There was no way to take my side in what happened; I was completely wrong. But he’s still willing to be my friend, and I appreciate that a lot.”

Lianna felt a lump forming in her throat at the same moment as she felt tears stinging her eyes. God, either Joseph was the world’s best actor, or he really was sincere in what he was saying. In which case…

“What about me?” Lianna asked softly. “Would you want to try being my friend?”

The only sound Lianna heard over the line was an intake of breath, like Joseph was trying to figure out how to respond to her. “I don’t know how to put this,” he said gently, in a way that made Lianna feel like her heart was dropping into her stomach. “But we were never friends. I wanted more from you than friendship from the first time I saw you. And now… I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am you’re willing to talk to me; I want to know that you’re doing okay and that you’re happy. But, considering how much I still love you, how much I’m in love with you… I’d be lying to say I want to try being your friend. I know that probably sounds completely dickish, considering what I did, but I want to be honest with you.”

Tears were now freely flowing down Lianna’s cheeks, and she didn’t know how to respond. A small part of her felt relieved – elated even – to hear Joseph tell her how much he loved her. But another, much larger part of her was overwhelmed with anger. “So, you don’t want to try being my friend? You’d prefer we either work it out or not be anything to each other?” she asked, the resentment evident in her tone. “Well, I didn’t want you to do what you did, either. I guess neither of us is getting what we want.” She couldn’t say anymore, though, as she refused to let Joseph hear her sob, so she had to hold her breath.

To Lianna’s surprise, Joseph wasn’t annoyed by her outburst. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “After what I did, I have no right to ask anything of you. And you even considering being my friend… I’m sorry; I was being a selfish prick – again. Lianna, if there’s any way for me to stay in touch with you, I will. I’ll always wish we could work it out, but if all you can offer is your friendship… I’ll learn to deal.”

Swallowing hard, Lianna felt her anger begin to melt away a bit at Joseph’s words. “I appreciate that,” she told him. “Because just talking to you is so hard for me… I can’t even think about anything else right now.”

“Fair enough,” Joseph told her. “Well, let me ask you this, then. Would you consider coming to see us play at the beginning of next month? The tour ends on the first Saturday in November, in the City. Tavian’s coming, although Madison probably isn’t, from what he says. Seems she still hates me – and rightfully so. But I’d love if you came with Tavian, you know, as my friend.”

“I can’t,” Lianna immediately spit out.

“Oh,” Joseph sounded both surprised and disappointed by the outburst. “Oh, okay. I mean, that’s fine. I understand-”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Lianna took a big sip from her champagne glass before continuing to explain herself. “It’s just that… I can’t… see… her. I can’t, Joseph. I can’t be there, knowing Frankie will be there.”

“She won’t,” Joseph said. “Listen, I know this is a sensitive issue, but I have barely spoken to Frankie since… that day. I let Zip handle everything with her now. I wish I could fire her, but that’s not my decision, and I can’t expect the band to cut her loose because I fucked up. But I do know that Zip told her to NOT come to the City show, sort of as a favor to me.”

Taking in a deep breath, Lianna felt a little bit better hearing Joseph speak. Since they had broken up, Lianna has spent many sleepless nights in bed wondering if Joseph and Frankie were together at that moment, wondering if he was giving Frankie the same looks of longing and desire he had given to Lianna when they were together. To know he was barely talking to her made Lianna feel much better. “Well, if she’s not there, then…”

“Thank you, Lianna,” Joseph sounded thrilled to hear her apprehensive agreement. “And we can all hang out afterwards, you know, as friends.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Lianna could feel her shoulders finally relaxing a little. “That sounds nice,” she replied softly. “I’d like to see you perform again. You’re really great on stage.”

“Thanks,” Joseph said with a trace of bashfulness in his voice at the complement, which took Lianna by surprise. He had always been so cocky and arrogant when they were together; a simple statement like that would never have made Joseph sound shy and embarrassed. “Speaking of going on stage, though, I should get going. We’re due on in about fifteen minutes.”

Lianna was surprised by this, since she hadn’t heard any voices or noise in the background. “Where are you?” she asked.

“I wanted complete privacy,” Joseph chuckled. “So I am in the employee parking lot, in a car I found unlocked.”

Laughing, Lianna shook her head. “You’re likely to get arrested,” she warned teasingly.

“It’d be worth it,” Joseph told her.

Lianna was glad he couldn’t see her cheeks tinge pink. “Well, then, you should get going,” she told him, uncomfortable – although not completely unhappy – that he still had the same power of her that he always had. “And I’ll make the plans with Tavian to go to the show.”

“Okay,” Joseph sounded sad to wind down the conversation. “Well, then I’ll be seeing you in a few weeks then. Lianna… take care of yourself.”

“You too,” Lianna said, knowing that the words didn’t actually represent what each person really wanted to say to the other. “And I’ll see you soon.”

As she hung up her phone and tossed it back into her bag, Lianna leaned back into the tub and took a big sip of her champagne. So, Joseph wasn’t sleeping with Frankie; he wasn’t even speaking to her much. And Lianna and Joseph were going to try to be friends. And they were going to see each other in just over three weeks. Damn, how things could change in one night.

-----

“Well, I think it’s dumb.”

“Thanks for not holding back, Madison,” Lianna said dryly. It was now Tuesday evening of the following week, and the girls had met up for dinner again. “It’s just going to see him play. Besides, Tavian will be there. What could possibly happen?”

Looking at Lianna through squinted eyes, her face portrayed an ‘oh, please’ expression. “I don’t know,” Madison was sarcastic as she took a drink of her wine. “You could see him, forgive him, and get back together with him, and then in six months, when he gets used to having you around again and taking you for granted, you two could have another fight and he could sleep with someone else – their wardrobe consultant, maybe?”

“Xavier isn’t really Joseph’s type,” Lianna tried to bite back her smirk, but failed miserably. “Really, Maddy, I appreciate the concern, but I’m not a little girl. I can make this decision by myself, and I have. I’m going to see Joseph play, period. And I know how much you did for me the first time around, but I’d appreciate if you drop this for now. I’m not going there to get back together with him.”

“Fine,” Madison grumbled. “But I’m telling Tavian not to let you two out of his sight the whole night.”

Looking with gratitude at her friend, Lianna nodded. “That’s fair,” she smiled at Madison. “And thanks, really. I know everything you are saying is out of concern for my well being.”

“Like hell it is,” Madison denied this. “I just gained five pounds the first time you and Joseph broke up from all the beer and pizza and ice cream and chocolate; I can’t afford to gain any more weight.” Immediately, her eyes dropped down, and she began reading over the menu with interest.

Lianna knew that Madison already knew what she wanted; she just didn’t want to look at Lianna when expressions of compassion and concern were going to be obvious in her eyes. She’d rather pretend that she was hard and inflexible at the moment. “I love you,” Lianna told her.

“Shut up.”

-----

The following week, Lianna was riding down the elevator at the end of the day with Sandy. “So any big plans tonight?” Sandy asked her conversationally, her voice a thankful relief from the awful muzac version of the theme from Titanic playing over the speaker system.

“Not really,” Lianna said with a shrug as she tied a scarf around her neck. It was becoming increasingly colder as the days passed. “My friend, Eddie, is meeting me out front so we can go out to eat.”

Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, Sandy smiled wickedly, revealing a row of perfectly straight bleached white teeth. “Eddie? That absolutely adorable puppy dog of a man that was at your birthday party, following you around from room to room and looking at you like a piece of filet mignon?”

Shaking her head, Lianna let out a short laugh. “You’re not going to let that go, are you?” Lianna asked. “How many times do I have to tell you? Eddie and I are just friends. We’re not together; we’re not going to be together. Don’t you have any male friends that you don’t sleep with?”

Rolling her eyes, Sandy gave a smirk to Lianna. “None that look like that. Any single girl that gives up the chance at a roll in the hay with a looker like that-” she told Lianna. “And speak of the devil…” At that moment, the doors to the doors to the elevator opened to reveal Eddie waiting patiently. Lianna hoped he hadn’t heard Sandy’s comment, and she gave Sandy a hard stare to silence her in front of Eddie.

“Eddie, hi,” Lianna smiled at him, approaching him to give him a small hug. “You remember my boss, Sandy, from my birthday party, don’t you? She was the one laying into the Shiraz all evening.”

“Very funny,” Sandy smirked. “You know, I still haven’t written out your ninety day performance evaluation yet, so I’d watch myself if I were you.” She turned her attention to Eddie and gave him a friendly nod. “It’s nice to see you again, Eddie. You know, I don’t even usually get to see co-worker’s spouses this often, and you’re just Lianna’s friend, isn’t that right?”

It was clear that Eddie was uncomfortable, so Lianna tried to diffuse the situation as neatly as possible. “Well, we have reservations at seven, Sandy,” she said, taking Eddie’s arm. “So we should get going. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Sandy watched as Lianna quickly rushed Eddie down the crowded sidewalk. Suddenly, she noticed a camera flash go off.

“Excuse me,” the photographer said to Sandy. “But do you know Ms. Long?”

“I’m her boss,” Sandy ran her fingers through her hair and looked at the man with a smile. “My name is Sandra Lewis, but everyone calls me Sandy. And who might you be?”

------

Lianna was at work that following Friday, working on a presentation she would have to make to her department the following week, when her phone rang. “Lianna Long. May I help you?” Her voice was cheerful; she felt like she was finally getting a hang of her new position, and she was proud of the work she had done on this project.

“Hey, Lianna,” an uncomfortable voice came over the line. “It’s Eddie.”

Knowing they didn’t have plans for that day, Lianna was unsure why Eddie would be calling her in the middle of a workday. “Is everything okay, Eddie?” she asked, concern evident in her voice. She hoped nothing was wrong with his family.

“Well, sort of,” Eddie sounded incredibly uncomfortable, only making Lianna more nervous. “I’m going to guess you haven’t read Page Six of the Daily News today, have you?”

Feeling her stomach drop, Lianna’s head began spinning. What was in the gossip column this time? Was it about Joseph and Frankie? Or was it possibly about him hooking up with another random celebrity? Even if it was some arbitrary person, Lianna didn’t really feel like knowing something that would upset her this early in the day. After all, she was supposed to see him the following weekend. “If it’s about Joseph, I don’t want to know, please.”

“It’s not,” Eddie said softly. “It’s about… us. You and me. It’s a story about how you’ve ‘bounced back’ from your relationship with Joseph with the help of a – quote, unquote - new lover. Me. And there are a few pictures of us having dinner and walking together. And it states that I stay the night sometimes. And there’s some other stuff, but I think you should read it yourself.”

Shock hit Lianna at this information. She really had thought that if she and Joseph were broken up, there was no chance she would end up in gossip columns anymore. “Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll check it out a little later. But thanks for letting me know, Eddie. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to approach me about it without me knowing what was going on.”

“Of course,” Eddie told her, his voice gentle and kind. “And if there’s anything I can do…”

“I know,” Lianna smiled a little to herself. “Thanks, Eddie. And I’m sorry you ended up in the papers because of me.”

“Please,” Eddie joked. “This only takes up five or six of my fifteen minutes of fame. I still have plenty left. Besides, if the worst thing I’m ever known for is being wrongly connected to a beautiful girl, I’ll look forward to my life. Take it easy, Lianna.”

As Lianna hung up the phone, she shook her head. Why couldn’t her life just go back to normal? After all, she wasn’t even seeing Joseph anymore. When would she be able to get her own life back?

-----

Refusing all day to read the paper, despite the looks she was getting from coworkers off and on, Lianna headed home on Friday night with a severe headache. She picked up the paper from the newsstand near her corner and trudged up to her apartment. Once inside, she flung off her jacket and scarf and sat down on the couch.

The first few paragraphs said just what Eddie had told Lianna, but what the final few said were what really hurt. There were statements from a “source close to Ms. Long” which gave intimate details about how Lianna had “nearly had a nervous breakdown” after Joseph had “ditched her to sleep with his hot manager”. There were also several statements about Lianna needing to get over her heartbreak by “jumping into a (mostly sexual) relationship with her longtime friend”. The article finished by saying that Lianna probably “got over the humiliation of being dumped” by her “rock star boyfriend” by “sleeping around for the last couple months”.

Although she expected to be saddened by this article of lies and misrepresentations, Lianna instead felt two things: anger and fear. Anger for herself, for being made out to look so weak and so easy. Anger for Eddie, for being treated as a nothing, an unimportant boy-toy. And fear – fear that Joseph would read the article and think it was true, think she was that weak and pathetic, that she slept around to get over him.

-----

It had been difficult for Lianna to fall asleep that night. Tavian and Madison had called, worried about how she was reacting to the article. Eddie had called twice, just to make sure she was okay. Finally, around 1am, Lianna had fallen asleep, only to be woken by her ringing phone ten minutes later.

“Fuck,” Lianna said out loud, reaching over to grab her phone. When she saw the ID marked ‘blocked’, she felt a sudden cold nausea move over her body. Was this Joseph, calling to say he had read the article? “Hello?” she answered weakly.

“Hey, Lianna,” Joseph’s voice was soft and kind. This immediately made Lianna feel worse, since it probably meant he hadn’t read the article yet. “Did I wake you?”

“Sort of,” Lianna told him. “I had a hard time getting to sleep.”

“Because of the article?” Joseph asked. When he got no response for a minute, he continued. “I’m sorry to call so late, but it took a while to take care of things.”

“What things?” Lianna had no idea what Joseph was talking about.

“Someone showed me the article online,” Joseph explained. “So I called Tavian, and he explained everything. Then I called my lawyer, who called the paper. They are going to print a retraction tomorrow. I know it can’t undo any real damage, but they’re so afraid, they’re never going to print anything about you without written consent again. I just felt so bad, Lianna. If it hadn’t been for me, none of this ever would have happened.”

Immediately, tears filled Lianna’s eyes. Joseph had done all of that without even talking to her? And, even after his efforts, he still felt guilty, like he was the one responsible for the paper printing lies about her. “I… I don’t know what to say,” she choked out. “I just…”

“I understand if you’re still mad at me about this,” Joseph told her earnestly. “I just wanted to call and apologize. I hope you’ll still come to the show next week.”

Shaking her head, Lianna felt something very familiar – safety in Joseph. “So you… you didn’t believe the article?” she asked. “Not at all?”

“Of course not,” Joseph replied with surprise. “You told me that you and Eddie were just friends, so when I saw the article, I realized that the story had been twisted. I didn’t call Tavian first because I didn’t believe you; I just thought you might have been mad at me for pulling you into all this media shit in the first place, but I wanted to see how you were.”

Sniffling, Lianna leaned back into her pillows. “I’m fine,” she told Joseph honestly. “I appreciate everything you did, and I don’t blame you. And… and I’m really looking forward to seeing you next weekend, Joseph. I’ve missed you.” What she said had more meaning than the words – she had missed him, of course, but even when she was with him the last couple months they were together, she had missed the way he had made her feel – the way her was making her feel right now.

Without saying anything for a moment, it was clear Joseph was trying to figure out what Lianna meant. “I… I’ve missed you, too.”

“Thanks again, Joseph,” Lianna said with a grin, suddenly feeling incredibly tired and like she could sleep for days. “But I should get some sleep now. I’ll see you next weekend, okay?”

“Okay, Lianna,” Joseph sounded happy to hear her enthusiasm. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Joseph,” Lianna said with a smile, already beginning to doze off. As she hung up the phone, she bit her lip. Maybe they could work things out, after all.

-----

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO PUT UP. I KNOW IT WAS A LITTLE CRAPPY, BUT I’VE GOT SOME STUFF GOING ON PERSONALLY RIGHT NOW THAT’S TAKING UP MY TIME. BUT NOW THERE ARE ONLY THREE MORE CHAPTERS – AND I HAVE SEVERAL ACTION-PACKED MOMENTS PLANNED FOR THEM! SPECIAL THANKS TO MEMORY CHASE, LADY RAIN, DISSAPEAREDCAT, DARK DRAGON, CU-KID, ADAEE AND AFICI0NADA. ALSO, A FEW COMMENTS FOR PARTICULAR PEOPLE:

KALI – THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE LONG REVIEW! I’M GLAD EDDIE SEEMS TO BE EXCEEDING YOUR ORIGINAL EXPECTATIONS. I REALLY LIKE THAT CHARACTER, AND I DIDN’T WANT READERS TO DISLIKE HIM.

CARIAD – YOU’LL FIND OUT THE ANSWER TO THE L/J/F TRIANGLE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, SO STAY TUNED!

SOUTHERN – I GOT YOUR E-MAIL. THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT.