Thomas & January (Sleepless 2)

Six weeks later...

Thomas

L.A. was a fucking mess. I found a dozen bands worth signing and sent them Jason’s way, but I was so miserable, I barely remembered any of them. I was mechanical, even more than Austin Tom. Austin Tom was downright cheery compared to Los Angeles Tom.

In Austin, I was pissed off. Los Angeles, I was practically suicidal, depressed as hell and nearly crying into my damn pillow every single night like a damn girl. I was miserable. Every corner I turned, I thought I saw January. Every time I bought a coffee, went jogging, grocery shopping, I could smell her, hear her, feel her. She seemed to be everywhere I wanted her to be but not tangible enough to touch or kiss her. She was seared into my brain.

A month and a half into my stay, I knew I needed to see her. I just needed to drink her in, to soothe the ragged edges of my soul and just memorize her one more time. I’d do it every month if I had to. Eventually weaning myself free in a few weeks, months, okay, years.

I needed a plan.

And that plan came in the form of a phone call from Jason.

“Dude, we need you in New York,” he told me over a broken line.

“What? Why?”

“Let’s just say, the shiteth hath hitteth the fan.”

“Shut the eff up. What’s going on?”

“Just get your ass here. I’ll tell you all about it on Monday.”

I wasn’t going to fight it. A free ticket to New York? And I’d self-diagnosed myself dehydrated of January MacLochlainn. Time for your meds, Tom.

Take two Januarys a day and call me in the morning.

New York

“Thank God!” Jason said to me as I exited my cab.

I’d called a few minutes before and told him I was coming. He’d told me he’d meet me street level. This meant news to Jason. I found him smoking a cigarette. He put it out with his shoe by the time I’d closed the cab door.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

“No,” he said succinctly. “Come with me.”

“Jeez, I’m pretty effing tired of these cryptic messages from you. Last time this happened, I got stuck doing something I didn’t want to do.”

“Oh, come now. Last time I checked, you found your soul mate in that little incident. Don’t knock unanswered prayers, brotha!”

“Yeah, look how happy I am now.”

“Just shut up. I’m about to make your fucking day.”

We rode the rest of the elevator ride in silence. The doors opened to the executive floor and I felt an incredible sense of deja’ vu as we made our way to Peter Weathervane’s office. Jason knocked.

“Come in!” I heard Peter yell.

I don’t know what I expected when I entered Peter’s office. Maybe Jonah drumming his fingers like the evil freak he was? It sure as hell wasn’t Peter’s latest wife sitting on his lap.

“Shit! Sorry,” I began. Wait, he invited you in.

“No worries. She was just leaving.”

His wife pretended to pout and he handed over a credit card, making me want to gag. January would never do that kind of shit. She strutted out of his office, her short skirt barely covering her ass. She smiled at me seductively as she left. Well, that was disgusting.

“Tom!” Peter said, finishing off his drink and standing. He tucked in his disheveled shirt and I almost lost my lunch. No telling what they were doing before we walked in. “I, uh, I’m not good at apologies.” He looked thoughtful a moment. “Matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve ever apologized to anyone before. Huh. Anyway, listen, Jonah’s gone. You’re the new R&D rep. Congrats.”