Fate Brought Billy Gilman to Me Part #2
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Fate Brought Billy Gilman to Me
Part #2
By Paul S. Stevens
The emptiness, loneliness and heartache I was feeling continued to grow more intense with each passing day. I devoted many hours each day trying to contact Billy. I ruthlessly explored every lead I could find and followed each and every one of them through to the same inevitable conclusion. Every attempt I made ended in utter failure. The only thing I discovered with absolute certainty was Billy Gilman was very well protected and impossible to get to. My only hope now rested on my friend Roy's self-proclaimed abilities. I would have to wait until Billy had a reason to go to the Academy of Country Music in Nashville before Roy would have his chance to deliver my message. I hounded Roy about our deal every day until he finally got his opportunity. It had taken about a month, but he finally got to see Billy in person. True to his word, he got the message to him on my behalf. Roy called me that afternoon to tell me he had finally gotten to see Billy and had passed my message along. It wasn't but an hour later when I finally got the call I'd been hoping for since that unforgettable day when fate brought Billy Gilman to me.
Billy told me right off how he had spent several days in a state of deep depression not knowing what to do after we had been rudely ripped apart from one another. I told him how I almost went mad trying to find a way to contact him. I knew that if it was going to happen, it was going come from my tireless endeavors because it would've surely been impossible for him to find me. Actually, finding him wasn't the hard part. The hard part was getting past the layers of protected boundaries that surround most celebrities from the general public. I was fortunate to have had my friend Roy Dickerson who was able to bypass the walls of security to get my message to him.
During our phone call, Billy filled me in on the many things that had happened in his life since we had seen each other last. Changes that were prompted by the conversation we had in that elevator. One of the major things to happen was that he put a modest down payment on a small house in Charlestown**. This was about twenty minutes travel time from his family's home in** Hope Valley**,** Rhode Island**. He had spent the last month slowly moving everything in. He now had the independence he so desperately needed. Now that we had reconnected, he was anxious to spend some quality time with me and have me see his new place. He told me he was going to be in** New York City next week on a business trip. He was going alone this time and would meet his agent and promoters there. He suggested I fly out and spend some time with him there. After his commitments were fulfilled, he would drive the two of us to his new place. Once there, we could make-up for lost time. I nearly got an erection just hearing him say that last part.
This came at the perfect time for me. It was the middle of summer and I was still due for some vacation time. After I confirmed my vacation days with my boss, Billy and I worked out all the details of the trip. For the first time in a month, I had something to look forward to. Life was worth living again!
The week passed by excruciatingly slow. I spent my days and nights in a fog thinking only about seeing Billy again. It wasn't until I was on the plane that the reality of my trip finally sank in. I was on my way to New York City and very little was going to get in my way now!
Upon landing at LaGuardia Airport**, I was greeted by what looked like a uniformed chauffeur that was holding a sign saying simply "Barrett".**
"Hi," I addressed him. "I'm Barrett, Barrett Jenson"
"Greetings sir," he answered in a proper British accent. "Can you please confirm your identity by stating your reason for coming to New York City and who you are here to meet with?"
"I'm here to visit with William Wendell Gilman III**... son of Bill II and Fran Gilman... born in Westerly, Rhode Island on May 24th, 1988," I said all in one breath, "and I'm here at his request!"**
"Can you also submit a ten thousand word essay?" he said sarcastically.
"I have it here in my bag somewhere, do you need it now?" I quipped back, pretending to riffle through my belongings.
"I can see why Master Gilman chose you as a preferred acquaintance," he said. "Let's go retrieve your luggage sir.
"Actually, this is everything I brought with me," I indicated, lifting up my carry-on.
"Jolly good sir," he said, "this way to the limo."
We weaved in and out of the crowded terminal as we made our way to the parking lot outside.
"By the way," I inquired, "Master Gilman? Billy's twenty one years old now. Shouldn't you be calling him Mister Gilman now?"
"Okay, you caught me," he said totally changing his voice and dropping his phony British accent.
"I don't understand," I said completely confused.
"I'm not his chauffeur, although I might as well be," he admitted, "Billy can't afford a chauffeur. He can't even afford the Hotel Shuttle right now. I'm Derek. I'm helping out by paying for half of the expenses and keeping Billy grounded by being his roommate. I'll be driving us to the Hotel!"
"Roommate?" I said with surprise. "Billy told me he'd be coming to New York alone. He didn't say anything about having a roommate with him." Derek made no attempt to answer this last question.
"Here's our ride," he said as we walked up to his 2003 Ice Blue Toyota Camry.
Things were getting stranger and stranger by the minute. How is it possible that Billy couldn't afford a real Chauffeur and Limo, or even the Hotel Shuttle? And who was this Derek guy?
I put my suitcase in the back seat and got into his car. Derek set off to drive us to the Sofitel New York Hotel in Midtown New York City where he and Billy were registered.
"Well, I'm sure you have a thousand questions," Derek began.
"At least that many," I answered.
"Okay, Shoot," he said.
"To start with," I began, "how do you know Billy?"
"Billy and I are childhood friends, best buds so to speak," he said. "I live a couple of doors down from his family's place in Hope Valley and have been neighbors and friends of the family for fifteen years. Billy and I are about the same age and we went to school together, for a while that is, until he got so busy that he started to need home schooling."
"Wow," I said. "It's nice to know that Billy has a long time friend such as yourself." Even though I didn't know this guy yet, I still tried to be cordial.
"Thanks," he said off-handedly. "Anyway, he asked me to come with him on this trip so he wouldn't be alone. The truth is, he needed someone to share expenses with because he wasn't going to be able to afford this trip on his own."
"That brings me to my next question," I said. "Why does Billy need financial help?"
"Well," he said, "his parents have been in control of all his finances ever since he became famous. They were planning on signing over control of all his bank accounts and investments to him when he turned twenty-one. That was just a few months ago. Before they had a chance to meet with their lawyers and transfer those assets into Billy's name, he got this wild idea to go buy a house and move away from his parents. Of course his parents were totally against this idea. Since his parents were basically in control of every aspect of Billy's life and were also his business consultants, he basically fired them. They were totally against him doing this as well and they had a huge blow-up. Billy went through with his plans anyway and he put the little bit of money he had towards a down payment on a house he found in Charlestown and promptly moved out! Things just flew out of control from there and his parents cut him off without a dime. If they can't work out their differences, Billy will have to sue his parents."
"Holy Shit," I remarked, "that wasn't supposed to happen."
"What I have been able to gather so far is, some S.O.B. he met in a fuckin' Hotel elevator in Los Angeles talked him into all this," he said with a bit of hostility.
"Oh shit," I muttered under my breath.
"Oh My God, you're from Los Angeles**, you're HIM," he said with contempt. "You're the guy aren't you? You're the elevator guy."**
"Yeah, I guess I am," I timidly answered. "I assume he didn't tell you?"
"No," he snapped back. "I don't think I would have agreed to come to New York if I knew."
"Believe me, I had no idea any of this would happen," I confessed. "It was not my intention for this to come between Billy and his family. I wasn't trying to cause trouble for anyone, especially for Billy. He told me that our conversation was exactly what he needed to hear."
"Oh My God," he said again. "You guys did it in that elevator too, didn't you?"
"Fuck!" I said. "Have you got some kind of crystal ball or something?"
"No! I just know Billy," he stated. "This is just the kind of shit he'd do."
"I have to do something to fix this," I said mostly to myself.
"You're probably here for the sex!" he said.
"I resent that remark!" I emphatically said.
"Not you!" he said with disdain, "Billy. Billy probably brought you here for the sex. My advice to you is, Fuck him and Leave him!****"
This guy was really starting to piss me off. He was talking like he was Billy's Guardian Angel out to protect Billy from himself and the rest of the world. Seeing that this guy knew Billy so well, I spewed out my next confession with out thinking about the consequences.
"Billy and I are in love," I said confidently.
Derek started laughing at my last remark and I was getting increasingly infuriated with him.
"What's so fuckin' funny?" I asked.
"Billy says he's fallen in love with everyone he meets. Especially anyone with a cute face and a big cock," he said.
I was seeing red now. This guy was insulting me and Billy, who was not even here to defend himself.
"Oh no you didn't," I growled. "If you weren't driving, I'd punch your fuckin' lights out!"
"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch," he sarcastically sneered, "besides, I'm not saying anything that you won't discover for yourself while you're here. If you think he loves you, you better prepare yourself for the worst. I love Billy too, but my relationship with him is strictly platonic. I've known Billy most of my life and we've been close forever. I'd like to be closer to him someday, but right now he's far too promiscuous for me to get involved with him in that way. He's moved away from his parents now who were the ones who've pretty much kept him in line. They know about his promiscuity, but not about him `coming-out' and flexing his new-found sexual muscle. Now that he's separated himself from them, it's going to be up to me to try to keep him focused and on the right path, and that's going to have to start with getting his career back on track! That's what we're here for and I'm going to see to it that this remains his primary focus."
What Derek was saying about Billy falling in love with any good looking guy with a big cock sounded familiar. Roy had made a similar comment to me when he first learned about Billy and me and now I was hearing it again from this guy. Was there any truth to it? For now, I chose not to believe it and put it out of my mind!
"This is all very hard to believe," I told him.
"It's okay not to believe me," he said, "just be careful."
Our conversation was over for now as we pulled into the parking lot of the Hotel where I was finally going to get to see Billy again.
I followed Derek to the room we'd all be sharing and deposited my carry-on bag into the closet. Billy was not there when we arrived so I figured he was busy taking care of the business he had come to New York to transact.
"I'm going to go down to get a bite to eat in the Lounge," I said to Derek. "Do you want to join me?"
"No thanks," he said. "I've got a few things to do before Billy returns. You go ahead. He should be back by the time you're finished. I'll give you my key card so you can get back in if nobody's here when you return. I'll get a replacement card for myself at the front desk later."
I took the key card Derek offered me and made my way down to the Lounge. I sensed a cold loathing from Derek and began to see that things were probably not going to go well from here. I needed to get those thoughts out of my head and start thinking happier thoughts. I was here to visit Billy and I wasn't going to let this Derek guy get in my way of having a good time. As I was finishing up with my lunch, I saw Billy enter the Hotel. I got his attention and he came over and gave me an extremely heartfelt hug and then sat with me for a couple of minutes.
"Oh my God, It's so good to see you again," I began.
"I thought I was going to die waiting for you to get here," Billy confessed. "How was your flight?"
"Once I was in the air and the reality that I was finally on my way had sunk in, everything just mellowed out," I said, "however meeting Derek was a bit unsettling. I'm afraid he figured out our little secret about the elevator and I unwittingly confirmed his suspicions."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Billy assuaged. We won't need to keep it a secret for much longer. And don't mind Derek, he's a long time friend of mine and he's only looking out for my best interests. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad got a hold of him before we left and they put him on a mission. They made him promise to watch out for me and I'm afraid he's taking his role a bit too seriously."
"Then let's try to forget about all that for now," I said. "How did your meeting go?"
"Let's go up to our room and I'll tell you all about it," he suggested. "I need some time to unwind anyway so we can kick back and relax while we catch up."
I paid my bill and we got up and headed for the elevators. When the doors opened, we both looked at each other for a second. The memories of our first encounter in a stuck elevator came flooding back to us.
"No way... do you think... could it possibly?" he stammered, "can lightning strike twice?"
"Well... this is a different Hotel... and we're in a different city," I offered, "but anything is possible." After a moment of contemplating this conundrum, we both shook our heads `No' and laughed as we entered the elevator.
When we arrived at our floor, Billy noticed a group of ten or twelve teenage girls standing at the far end of the hallway. He quickly pressed a button at random on the elevator panel so the elevator doors could close and allow us to avoid a confrontation. One of the girls looked down the hall and recognized Billy standing in the elevator and shouted out his name. At that point, the entire group turned and started running towards us screaming and carrying on. The carriage doors seemed to take forever to close as the mob of crazed fans quickly approached us. The doors finally did close in the nick of time and we were on our way up to a higher floor three flights up.
"That horde was in here earlier today," Billy said. "I had security remove them but apparently they got back in somehow."
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"They're probably going to try to follow us on the next elevator," he said, "so our best bet is to get out and walk back down to our room using the stairs."
The doors opened on the twenty-sixth floor and we got out and headed for the stairs. As we ran down the hallway, the occupant of room #2614 opened his door as we passed by and he spoke to us.
"Hey, are you two trying to hide from those crazies?" the voice asked. We both turned to see who it was and discovered it was Jesse McCartney. "They almost got ahold of me earlier."
"We were trying to get to our room when they spotted me," Billy said. "We very narrowly escaped with our lives."
Jesse laughed and said, "Come on in. You can call security and wait it out in here until you can get an `All Clear' from the staff."
"Thanks," Billy said as we went into Jesse's room. "That would be better than what we were going to do."
"What were you guys going to do?" he asked.
We're three floors below you," Billy said. "We were going to use the stairs."
"Oh, don't do that," Jesse said. "I already tried that. All of the doors are locked. I had to go all the way down to the seventh floor where I found a door that had a block of wood holding it open. If it weren't for that, I would've had to go all the way down to the parking level."
"Thanks for the tip," Billy said as he looked around. "So this is what the Executive King Suite looks like. Nice room!"
The room was gorgeous. It had a breathtaking view of Times Square through its huge picture window. Inside the room, it had a couch and love seat facing a large flat screen television. It also had a King Size bed, hot tub and fully stocked bar. On the opposite side of the room there was an executive computer workstation with a large desk, stereo and full size refrigerator. Next to that was a door that connected to an adjoining room. I'm sure Billy was much more accustomed to having a room like this than the one that he had settled for. I was starting to feel bad that Billy was in such a financial predicament and I was the one responsible.
"You'd better call security now," Jesse said.
Billy picked up the phone to make his call. While he was doing that, Jesse and I made our personal introductions.
"Hi, I'm Barrett," I said. "I'm Billy's friend from California**."**
"I'm Jesse," he said.
"Yes, I know," I said. "You're Jesse Abraham Arthur McCartney... son of Ginger and Scot McCartney... born in Ardsley**,** New York on April 9th, 1987**. You are of Irish, English and Scottish decent. You have a younger sister named Lea Joyce McCartney and a younger brother named Timothy (Timmy) Glover Mark McCartney."**
"Oh shit," he responded, "you're just like those crazed fans Billy and I are running away from."
"Oh no!" I said. "You've got nothing to worry about with me. I just happen to have a knack for names and dates, that's all."
Billy finished his conversation with the head of Hotel Security and told us that they would ring this number once the problem was taken care of. I asked Billy and Jesse if they wouldn't mind if I took a little nap while we waited for that call since the jetlag was starting to catch up with me. Jesse told me to be his guest and feel free to lie down on the bed. I did exactly that, and the two of them sat down over at the couch and had a bit of a chat. I listened to them until I felt myself drift off to sleep. This is some of what I heard.
"I'm glad I caught you out in the hallway here," Jesse began. "I was hoping to talk with you while we were both here in New York**. I've had this idea for a concept album I wanted to present to you, a sort of a combination of our singing styles. I'd call it a Pop Rock Country Western Hybrid. It would be just you and me. We'll call it `Jesse and Billy'... you know, like Jesse James and Billy the Kid. I got the idea from your song `Billy the Kid' from your Self Titled Album."**
"Wow," Billy said. "I didn't think you were familiar with my work."
"I like to keep my ear to the ground," Jesse said. "I think it's important to keep up with what my contemporaries are doing."
"I'm impressed," Billy said. "How do we start?"
"I figure that I could write a few songs, you could write a few and then we could collaborate on a couple of duets. As you said in your song:
Racing down the highway
Road's open wide
Two modern-day young guns
On a steel horse ride
"That's us, `two modern-day young guns', we can build on that idea," Jesse concluded.
"And what a brilliant idea it is too," Billy said, "We should do it for sure."
"I just recently confirmed my studio time for late November through early December of 2010 to begin recording my fourth studio album, Jesse said. "We need to be ready by then. That way I could work on both projects at the same time."
Shortly after this I was out like a light and soon after that, it got wonderfully quiet. I was feeling very comfortable and had been asleep awhile when the phone rang. As it rang a second and third time, I opened my eyes to see why no one was answering it. I soon discovered I was alone in the room so I got up off the bed and picked up the call.
"Hello," I said.
"Sorry to bother you sir," the voice said, "this is Tom Hatch, head of Sofitel Security. Your difficulty with the uninvited guests has been dealt with. We discovered that one of them had snuck past the front desk and made their way to the seventh floor. That person placed a wooden block across a locked door on the seventh floor stairwell. Then they walked down to the parking structure were they let the lot of them in. The entire group of them walked up the emergency stairway to the floor with the unlocked door. Once they were in, they were free to go anywhere in the Hotel they wanted. Apparently they got word that several young Hollywood Celebrities were going to be here today and they were just looking for some autographs. Unfortunately they had gotten a little too enthusiastic."
"I see," I said.
"Please accept our deepest apologies," he said in conclusion. "We've remedied the situation and tightened security. I guarantee this won't happen again."
"We appreciate your efforts," I told him, "Thanks again!"
"The management has asked me to inform you that a complimentary fruit basket will be sent to your room to make up for your inconvenience," he added.
"Please have the management deliver it to Mr. Gilman's room #2320," I said looking at my printed key card to confirm the room number.
"As you wish sir," he replied, "#2320. If there's anything else we can do for you, don't hesitate to call. Please enjoy the rest of your stay with us at the Sofitel."
After our conversation ended, I hung up the phone and started wondering where Billy and Jesse could have disappeared to. Now that the security problem had been resolved, I was ready to go back to Billy's room and spend a little quality time with him. There were only a handful of places they could've gone. I sat back down on the bed and thought about whether I should wait for them to come back or go looking for them. I looked across the room and remembered the adjoining door and thought to myself that this would be an appropriate place to start. I walked over and opened the door.
"Oh My God," I gasped to myself.
I looked into the room to find Billy, bent forward holding his ankles and howling both in pleasure and in pain with Jesse, absolutely plowing Billy a new asshole. Jesse was grunting like a wild beast and savagely slapping and beating Billy into submission. I stood there stunned for several seconds as the sight I beheld turned surrealistic in my mind. Because of the angle of the position that Billy was in along with his considerable oral overtures, he still hadn't become aware of my presence. Jesse on the other hand, looked right at me and without missing a beat, spoke!
"Hey Barrett," he said somewhat out of breath, "come join us!"
Hearing this, Billy looked up at me with a horrified look on his face and I'm very sure he witnessed a similar look on mine.
"Oh My God, Barrett," Billy shouted out.
Before he could say anything more, I shut the door and ran out of Jesse's suite. I was confident that I could catch the elevator before Billy could get himself dressed and come looking for me. But where was I going to go? I had almost no options. I was in New York City**, three thousand miles from home. I knew absolutely nobody here and everything I had with me was in the closet of Billy's Hotel room and that's the one place I wanted to avoid right now. Wherever I would end up, I was going to need some time to be alone. My mind was in considerable turmoil and I had no idea what to do next. I eventually found myself in the hotel lounge again and ordered myself a stiff drink. I usually don't drink but the memory of what I had just witnessed was relentlessly replaying over and over again in my mind and I needed something to numb the pain.**
I was becoming more and more disappointed with Billy as time went on, although I think that Jesse was more to blame for what transpired. Jesse is a year and a month older than Billy. He has quite a commanding presence, not to mention the fact that he is a much more widely recognized celebrity. I'm sure Jesse shamelessly used those attributes to get what he wanted. I believe he deviously lured Billy into a false sense of security with the idea of working together on this recording project. That, along with Billy's struggling financial situation caused Billy to temporarily drop his guard. Besides, I have heard that Jesse McCartney is notoriously known as `Hollywood's Bad Boy' with a reputation for being a hot head and having an insatiable appetite for sexual domination. Nonetheless, Billy was not completely innocent in all this. As I started to rationalize those events and put them in perspective, I calmed myself down considerably. A short time latter, Jesse saw me at the bar and came over to speak to me.
"I'm surprised you found me first," I told him.
"Billy went up to see if you might have gone to his Suite first, he said. "I'm on my way home now. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what just happened," he said. "I hope I haven't caused too much trouble for the two of you. You know, I asked Billy first if I should invite you to join us and he said `no, let him sleep'. He didn't say anything about the two of you being exclusive."
"We're not really a couple," I said, "at least not yet. That's what I'm here for, to find out if this relationship has what it takes. I have to admit, I'm finding out some shocking things."
"I hope you're gonna keep OUR little `shocking' incident to yourself," he beseeched me. "Neither one of us needs this kind of a scandal right now.
"Like I told you before, you have nothing to worry about with me," I reminded him. "A lot has happened in the last eight hours and I'm beginning to appreciate the hardships you celebrities have to endure. I wouldn't dream of adding any more drama to what you guys already go through."
"I just hope you don't think of me as a monster," he said. "I've gotten a bit of a bad rap about that. Some of it is intentional publicity and some of it is grossly exaggerated hearsay. Either way, American girls love a bad boy and that worked out really well for me for a while but I'm not a teenager anymore. Now that I'm older, I'd like to shed that bad boy image and get more serious about my future."
"You know, I did blame you at first for this," I said, "but I'm not sure any one person is to blame. Even I could've done some things differently now that I look back at it."
"Well, don't give up on him just yet," he stressed. "Gilman's a good guy, and that's rare in this business!"
"Do you still think there's hope for your collaboration," I asked, "Musically, I mean?" Jesse laughed at the meaning I was alluding to.
"Yes!" he said. "I'm still very serious about that."
"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "I hope the two of you can work that out sincerely. Thanks for taking the time to come talk to me. I really appreciate it."
"No worries," he said. "You two keep at it, you'll work it out eventually."
With that being said, my brief but extraordinary experience with Jesse McCartney had come to an end. A few minutes later, Billy discovered me next and sat beside me in silence while he thought carefully about what he was going to say to me.
"I am so profoundly sorry," Billy began, "I can't believe how stupid I've been. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Right now, I don't know," I told him, "the things I'm finding out about you are a bit disturbing."
"Please come back to the room with me so I can speak to you privately," he pleaded. "There are some things about me you need to know. Please give me a chance to explain."
"Explain," I said, "this should be good."
I agreed to follow him back to his room even though I hadn't fully decided what it was I was going to do just yet. At least I could get a hold of my belongings if I should decide to go home. This time, our ride in the elevator proceeded in silence. I believe that Billy was starting to sense the depths of my disappointment as he gazed sheepishly at the floor. As we entered Billy's Suite I noticed the fruit basket had been delivered and I quickly informed him how he had come to receive it. Once we settled into the room, I made my decision to allow Billy to `explain' as he put it.
"I'm really sorry for what you witnessed earlier," he began.
"Are you sorry you did it or sorry you were caught?" I responded. Billy just looked at me like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Look, I know what it's like, we're both guys, I know how difficult it is to turn down free sex. Especially free sex with the likes of Jesse McCartney. But when you're in a relationship with someone, the rules are supposed to be different. From the day I met you, I haven't had any sex with anyone else even though I wasn't sure I would ever get to see you again. As long as I believed there was hope, I remained faithful, out of respect. If we weren't forging a new relationship with each other, I might have joined you when Jesse made his invitation. I just don't know, I guess I was expecting you to feel the same way."
"I realize now that I have to try harder to change," he said as his eyes welled up with tears. "All the sex I've ever had before I met you, and since, has all been meaningless and empty. Sure, it feels good at the time but something is always missing. There was something different with you that I never felt with anybody else. I wasn't sure what it was before, but now I'm sure. It's love. I love you! I've been in love with you from the beginning. The thing is that I just didn't recognize it for what it was until now. If it were anybody else, I would've let them walk away and be done with it, but not you. I just couldn't let you go!"
Once he said this, Billy began to sing me a song called:
"Spend Another Night"
I instantly knew when I saw you
You and I would be forever
Hearts never apart true from the start
To each other and together
There's nothing we can't do
And until the end of time
If you tell me you'll be mine
I'm Never gonna spend another night
Without you in my dreams
For the rest of my life
I'm gonna reach out to you honestly and try
To give you what you need
With all of my might
'Cause nothing has ever felt so real and so right
I'm never gonna spend another night
You are so in my heart
Even alone in the dark
I can feel the light of our love shining
We are so meant to be
That we're definitely destiny
And there's no denying
That I love you
Though it's so cliché
There's nothing else to say
I'm Never gonna spend another night
Without you in my dreams
For the rest of my life
I'm gonna reach out to you honestly and try
To give you what you need
With all of my might
No love has ever felt so real and so right
I'm never gonna spend another night
"Oh Billy, that was a beautiful song," I said, "but what a load of crap!" Billy shot me a profound hurt look. "Do you honestly think you can sing me a song and have me just melt into your arms? Billy's eyes started to well up again and I could feel the hurt and frustration building up inside of him.
"I'm sorry," Billy whimpered, "I don't know what else to do. I don't want to loose you! What you don't know about me is I have a problem. I'm a sex addict and I have some extreme relationship issues. I've been seeing a therapist about it. I've hurt a lot of people without intending to. My parents have been making me go to this shrink to get me to reconcile with my long time girlfriend Camera. It's my parents who think Camera is the right one for me, but since I met you I think you're the one. I'm stuck between doing what everybody else wants me to do and what I want for myself. I'm very confused! That's one of the reasons I took your advice and moved away from Mom and Dad, so I could finally be on my own, make my own choices and start living my life for me!"
I believed that Billy was telling me the truth, the real dark and gritty yet genuinely heartfelt truth. What an amazing yet difficult life he must be leading and I can't imagine what it must be like to be him. I was beginning to soften my opinion about Billy and I was starting to melt in his arms even though I hadn't intended too.
The next thing I knew, I was hugging Billy and just like in that elevator in Hollywood California**, he put both hand on my shoulders, held me still for a moment and planted that famous kiss I had grown to love. It wasn't long before I felt the love swelling from inside him and filled my senses with his warmth and sincerity. All the anxiety and doubt I had been feeling up to now was just slipping away! Once we released our embrace we heard someone swipe the key card in the door. Billy and I watched as Derek entered the room.**
"Oh, you're back," he said. "Where have you been? I called the promoter and he said your meeting ended two hours ago."
"When I got back, I found Barrett in the Lounge," Billy said, "and then we had to escape the Autograph Hounds and ended up in Jesse McCartney's room until Security got rid of the problem. Jesse and I talked about the two of us getting together to do a concept album."
"Did the two of you consummate the deal?" Derek asked.
By the way the two of them shot dirty looks at each other I think Derek knew what probably happened between them. I wasn't surprised that Billy had left out that little detail. I have to admit that Derek proved how well he really did know Billy by hitting the nail on the head. When Derek looked at me, I think my conspicuous silence may have confirmed his suspicion.
"Oh Billy, you didn't," he surmised. "You know how fragile these negotiations are even under the best possible conditions. You know that opportunities like this don't come around that often anymore either. You may have spoiled any real chance you may have had." Then he looked over at me and said, "No thanks to you!"
"Barrett had nothing to do with it," Billy said defending me.
"I find that hard to believe," Derek accused.
"Jesse told me that he's still serious about working together with Billy," I told Derek, "I asked him personally!"
"Really," Billy smiled, "you asked him personally? When did you do that?"
"I talked to him in the Lounge just before you found me there," I said to Billy.
"You did that for me," he asked, "even though you were probably pretty steamed at me?"
"Of course," I said. "You're very important to me. That makes everything you do important to me too."
"I love you Barrett," Billy said to me.
"I think I'm gonna hurl," Derek said.
"We're done here," Billy huffed at Derek, "Let's all get out of here and go home!"
They spent the next twenty minutes packing and preparing to leave. On our way out, Billy and Derek negotiated the hotel bill and then we were on the road. We were about to spent the next three hours and fifteen minutes traveling the one hundred fifty five miles between New York City and Billy's new place in Charlestown**,** Rhode Island**.**
During the course of our journey, we talked about a great many things. I found out a few things about Derek and both Billy and Derek found out a few things about me. As Derek and I learned more about each other, the tension between us began to fade and we all began to enjoy the ride. As we got closer to Charlestown**, Billy started telling me about his new home. He got such a great deal on the property because in the Real Estate world, they call this a fixer. He told me about the problems with the roof and the plumbing. He said he hasn't had it long enough to fix anything or do any painting and such, so I shouldn't expect much. I told him that as long we were together, nothing else mattered. Billy and I both saw Derek roll his eyes at my comment but I didn't care. I meant every word. Once I said what I did, Billy began to sing me another song called:**
"Young Love"
Even if the pipes are knockin' and the walls are thin
We keep on rockin' like a cradle in the wind
We ain't got much money but we got enough
We got the power of young love
Who cares if the roof is leakin' and the paint is old
The stove is broken but we'll never be cold
Rubbin' two hearts together to warm up
That's the power of...
Young love, it's like a runaway train
Young blood, running through our veins
One kiss and I feel the pain
And I love the power of
Young love
We'll grew old together in our new home
Got used to seein' each other around
Then one night it'll happen and it won't take much
The band will play just for us and...
The old folks complain about the kids today
But they were us just yesterday
All we need is the stars above
Cause we got the power of young love
Young love, it's a burnin' flame
Young blood can't be contained
Washes over me like the falling rain
And I love the power of young love
We got the power of young love.
"I think maybe Billy does love you after all," Derek said to me. "Billy will sing to anyone, but they have to request a specific song first. I've never seen him sing to anyone spontaneously before!
I was starting to feel bad about what I said to Billy the last time he sang to me. I was beginning to appreciate the special tribute Billy was paying to me each time he has sung to me unexpectedly. After listening to the lyrics of `Young Love', I got the impression that Billy might ask me to move in with him.
To Be Continued ...
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Special thanks to my editors, Hans Schreiber, Flip McHooter and some "manuscript assistance" from a correspondent in Vancouver for their invaluable editing skills that helped improve this story beyond measure.