Part 15
AJ stood in the door watching as Stormy showed her sister the awards. Pride shown in her eyes and smile as if they were her awards.
“Do you think AJ will remember you when they get back together and start doing shows again?”
Stormy nodded her head dreamily.
“Do you think he’d get us tickets to one of the shows….if they come close to Virginia?”
AJ spoke up, “I’ll get you tickets to ANY show you want to go to and backstage passes too.”
Tabitha watched as this man, her idol, joined them and wrapped his arms around her sister. And her sister…she couldn’t ever remember seeing her sister so happy. She absolutely glowed.
“Tabitha, I need to talk to your sister for a few minutes. When we come back out, I’ll get you one of my hats and sign it for you.”
“Oh WOW!! I’d love that!! I’ll see you in a few minutes then.”
Tabitha practically bounced out of the room and Stormy smiled affectionately as she watched her little sister.
AJ turned Stormy to face him and he just stared into her eyes. How did he tell her that he had to say good-bye? Howie had told him to take a chance and tell her how he felt but he was scared. What was there to be scared of though? If he professed his love for her and she didn’t reciprocate the feelings, there was no problem. She was leaving soon.
Stormy watched the turmoil play out in his eyes. What was it that had him like this?
“Stormy, your dad is ready to leave so you need to pack your things.”
No, this isn’t happening. Please, Alex, tell me you talked to him….Her thoughts were flying. She didn’t want to leave him but he wasn’t giving her any sign that he wanted her to stay.
“I’ll go up with you to help and you can have one of my suitcases.”
AJ took her hand and they headed to the guest room where her clothes were. He left her for a couple minutes while he went to get a suitcase as she began to pull her clothes out of the closet. Her heart was breaking and tears were spilling out. She truly loved AJ and had wanted to stay with him. They had plans that she was really looking forward to. He’d never see her wearing the new dress. He’d never make love to her.
In his room, AJ wiped away the tears that were falling effortlessly as he searched for a hat for Tabitha and a suitcase for Stormy. If she would just talk, say his name, give him SOME kind of sign that she wanted to stay.
Blinded by tears as he headed back across the hall, AJ literally ran into Marcus. “Get the fuck out of my way, you big ox!” grumbled AJ.
“I thought you’d gotten smart but obviously you haven’t!” shot the big man still blocking AJ’s way.
“What’s THAT suppose to mean?”
“You can stop her from leaving if you’ll just tell her you love her. She loves you, can’t you see that?”
“Does she? If she loves me, why won’t she tell me?”
“You idiot. Didn’t you hear a word her parents said? She hasn’t talked in 16 years…not even in her sleep!! She’s been GONE for a year and she didn’t even speak to tell THEM that she’d missed them or that she loved them. She’s given YOU more signs about how she feels than she did them.”
AJ considered what Marcus had said. She had wanted to make love this morning and she had called for her brother in her sleep. Maybe Howie was right. Maybe he should take a chance and tell her. He’d done it with all the other girls. Why was he hesitating with Stormy?
Dashing his tears away, he pushed past Marcus and heard his bodyguard say, “If you let her go, you’re an idiot.”
Before opening the door to the guest room, AJ said, “Gee thanks, Marcus!”
AJ found Stormy staring out the window, all the clothes on the bed, the cobalt dress on top. Setting the suitcase down beside the pile of clothes, he moved to her and slipped his arms around her waist. It was the catalyst for her emotions and her body began to shake.
AJ turned her around and she buried her face in his chest as she cried. He ran his hands through her hair holding her, his own tears falling in her hair. “Stormy, please stop crying,” he pleaded softly.
Stormy pulled back and looked up into his wet eyes. He was just as upset as she was and it made up her mind. Softly, like a whisper on the wind, “Alex, I love you.”
The earth stopped rotating, time stood still, and there was no one else in the universe at that moment. She had said his name….she had told him that she loved him. It was exactly what he had wanted, had prayed for and now he was as speechless as she had been for sixteen years but he had an abundance of tears.
Stormy wiped the tears as she said, “I’m the one who should be crying like this…not you.”
There was only one thing AJ knew to do at that moment and he pulled her to him kissing her deeply. His hands roamed over her body holding her tight as his tongue explored her mouth. His prayers had been answered.
Pulling out of the kiss, he wiped her tears. “Danni….”
“You didn’t get the hint….I don’t want you calling me Danni!” teased Stormy.
AJ laughed, “Yeah, I got the message but…it’s nice to hear you say it. Stormy, I love you with all my heart and I don’t want you to go.”
“I don’t want to go either.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“I guess I’ll have to tell my father that I’m not going.”
“He doesn’t have heart trouble does he?”
“No, why?”
“Because after sixteen years, you might cause him to have a heart attack.”
Stormy laughed a soft laugh that reached into AJ’s heart and held it. “You know, Tabitha has never heard me talk. Mama was pregnant with her when Ricky took off.”
“WOW! Wait…you know what happened to your brother?”
“Yeah, and I’ve been with him for the last year.”
“We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“Let’s go tell your parents,” said AJ taking her hand. He started to pull her out the door but was met with resistance.
“Wait a minute, Alex,” stalled Stormy.
Looking back at her, “What’s wrong?”
“I need to ask you something.”
Seeing her hesitation, he moved back to stand in front of her. Placing his finger under her chin, he tilted her face up to look at him. “You can ask me anything.”
“This morning….why did you really stop?”
AJ smiled softly. “I wanted to hear you say my name before I made love to you.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that?”
“I didn’t want to push you. Come on….we’ll talk later. We need to tell you parents. I have the feeling that this is going to blow them away.”
“You’re probably right. Alex, thank you.”
Their future was still in question but it looked brighter than it had just fifteen minutes ago. They had one last hurdle to cross…one that they were going to face together. Hand in hand, they made their way downstairs to where Stormy’s family waited.
