Part 417

Sarah was into her third song when Kevin joined Howie to watch her. They were alone since the others were with their girlfriends.

Kevin asked, "Did I say something to upset Sarah?"

Howie turned his attention away from Sarah to look at Kevin. "You REALLY don’t know?"

"No. Come on, ‘D’. She was obviously upset and I didn’t mean to. I can’t fix it if I don’t know what I did."

"What did you call Lynne?"

Confused, Kevin said, "What in the hell are you talking about? What does this have to do with Sarah?"

Howie persisted, "What did you call Lynne…when you told her to go to the VIP seats?"

Kevin thought back to what he had called her. "I called her ‘baby’. Why would that upset Sarah?"

"You insensitive jackass. What do you ALWAYS call Sarah?"

"Baby. So?"

Howie shook his head at Kevin’s ignorance. "Kevin…you promised her that she would always be your ‘baby’. It was what you called her when you made love to her. Are you so insensitive that you don’t realize how much it means to Sarah that you call her that? For god sake’s, even Russell understood what it meant to her for you to call her ‘baby’ and taunted her with it. Believe me, Kevin…she wants you to be happy but hearing you call someone else by your pet name for her hurt. She gave you her heart, her loyalty, and her friendship…something she values more than anything in this world and what did you do, you tossed it aside like it was nothing."

Helplessly, Kevin said, "Howie, I swear, I never meant to hurt her. She’s my best friend. How do I fix it?"

"You figure it out, Kevin," said Howie flatly. "You claim to know her so well, then you fix it on your own."

Howie turned back to his wife as she wowed the audience. He laughed as their eyes met and she blew him a kiss. The cameraman caught it all and it got the same response from the audience as always. The fans ate it up seeing the two playing together.

Kevin watched too wondering what he would say to make things right. He truly was sorry he’d hurt Sarah but he’d had no idea it would upset her like this.

As Sarah’s set was coming to an end, Kevin said, "Give me some time with her?"

Howie eyed him doubtfully. "I don’t want you upsetting her even more, Kevin."

"That’s not my intentions. I swear."

"Fine, but I’m not playing around. You upset her and I’m going to kick your ass."

Kevin knew Howie was serious so he put his hand over his heart. "On my honor."

"Let her know I’ll be in the dressing room."

"I’ll walk her there."

As Sarah ended her set, she looked for Howie where he had been standing and saw only Kevin. A million questions raced through her mind, foremost was how she was going to get through the ‘underworld’. Since David raped her, she hadn’t been down there without Howie and now he was gone.

"Where’s ‘D’?" she asked Kevin coming off-stage.

"He’s gone to get ready. I want to talk to you."

Panic that Howie wasn’t there set in and Kevin was the last person she wanted to deal with at that moment. "Not now, Kevin," she said trying to get around him.

Kevin moved to block her. "Please!" he begged taking her by the arm.

He didn’t mean to be rough but in Sarah’s attempt to get around him and away from the ‘underworld’, he’d grabbed her a little harder than normal. It was just the thing to set her off and the memories of David flooded her. In complete panic, Sarah pulled away and practically screamed, "I said not NOW."

Mistaking the fear in her eyes for hurt, Kevin made an attempt to calm her by stepping closer to her. It trapped her between him and an equipment box. "Baby, please. I need to talk to you."

"DON’T call me that!" she sobbed putting her hands on his chest and shoving him away from her. She wasn’t seeing Kevin now, but David and she was terrified.

Kevin lost his balance and Sarah managed to get past him. She rushed out of the ‘underworld’ passing Raoul who was waiting to get her to the dressing room.

Looking at Kevin, Raoul asked, "What happened?"

Kevin was dumbfounded by Sarah’s reaction but Raoul’s voice broke through. "I don’t know. I was just trying to talk to her and she lost it."

Part 418        Index