Chapter
17: I Can’t Say
Two depressing weeks passed for Daniel before he had another shot at
redeeming himself. Darren was throwing a promo party for his new album, and
everyone was invited. Daniel knew that Chance was probably also planning a way
for Shiri to get back together with him, but she was never too reliable with the
facts. It was time he made a few moves himself.
The limo ride to San Francisco was over three hours long. Daniel sat in
Chance’s corner of the limo, far from where Shiri was sitting beside Majandra
and Jason. He kept staring at her trying to figure out what was going through
her mind, but her eyes locked in her secrets with an airtight seal. She
purposefully stared out the window to keep her line of sight away from his.
Arriving at the small café in a secluded part of the city, the gang of
friends entered without fear of being spotted. No matter how much noise they
made, no one bothered to do anything about it. Daniel was expecting the café to
be lit with pulsating lights and music blaring from all the speakers, but found
a completely different atmosphere. There was soft lighting and music with
candles on each table to give a very soothing effect.
Daniel began to look for Darren, and sure enough, he found Chance with
him. As he walked towards they, she left and headed off in Shiri’s direction.
Daniel quickened his pace, but when he reached Darren, he knew talking to him
about his problems was going to be pointless. Lines of worry and frustration
were showing all over Darren’s face. He was distracted, especially now that
Chance was gone.
“Daz, you still with us?” Daniel asked.
“Huh?” Darren replied snapping out of his train of thought.
“What’s going on? You seem completely distracted. Is something
bothering you?” Daniel continued.
Darren took a deep breath that was able to clear his mind for the moment.
“I’m nervous about tonight,” he finally said.
“What do you have to nervous about?”
“I think I’m going to propose to Chance tonight,” Darren answered.
He could see that Daniel was about to yell and put his hand over his mouth.
“Not a word to anyone. You’re the only person that knows, and I wanna keep
it that way. The fewer people that know, the better it is for me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Daniel loudly whispered when he managed
to pry Darren’s hand off his face.
“Because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it in public or in private.
Tonight I finally made the decision to do it in public.”
“Good for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to get a
really big drink.”
“Why?”
“A toast to my best friend and his soon to be fiancé.”
“Hold on, before you get that drink, I need you to help me with
something.”
“What?”
“When I wave to you, I want you to change the music in the CD player to
this.” Darren handed Daniel a burned CD with no label on it.
“What’s on the CD?” Daniel asked.
“Fisher’s ‘I Will Love You,’” Darren answered.
“That song from the café in New York? The really sweet one?” Darren
nodded. “Oh, my God! That is so cute!” He glared at Daniel. “Time for that
drink.”
Darren smiled as Daniel made his way towards the bar. He picked up a
large margarita and a coke then headed back to Darren at the back of the room.
They toasted to the future and watched as Chance and Shiri made their way to the
stage.
“Can I have you attention please?” Chance said into the mic closest
to her. “Is this thing on?” Seeing everyone turn towards her, she knew it
was time for introductions. “Hey everyone. It’s me, Chance, your
co-entertainer tonight. I’m glad you could all be here for the promo party.
Right now, I think I’m gonna stray from the subject a little and have you all
listen to the vocal stylings of Shiri Appleby. Take it away, Shiri.”
Chance stepped away from the stage and pressed play on the CD player. She
sat down at one of the nearest tables and watched as Shiri made her musical début.
“She stole your heart. Only did it because she could. Chewed you up and
spat you out. That girl never was no good. Baby I would never do that. I’ll
love you faithfully. But your suspicious mind thinks I’m gonna repeat her
story. She’s making you crazy, making you a wreck, making you follow me,
making me a suspect. You seem to think I’m playing her game. Don’t you know
my name?” Shiri clearly sang as if she had been doing it all her life, but
there was a hint of fear in her voice. Chance jumped up on stage and began to
sing the chorus with her.
“That was her, this is me. We’re different as can be. She and I are
nothing alike. You’re confusing day and night. That was then, this is now. You
wanna trust me but you don’t know how. I’m never gonna mess around, let you
down. Can’t you see? That was her and baby this is me,” they sang together
in perfect harmony. For the rest of the song, Chance and Shiri took turns on
vocals, each one singing a different part of the song until it was over.
Darren turned to Daniel and said, “Are you thinking what I’m
thinking?”
“Maybe,” Daniel replied. “I’m gonna go find out.” He walked
away from Darren and made his way towards the front tables where Shiri and
Chance were softly talking.
“Sorry to interrupt, but could I talk to Chance for a moment?” Daniel
asked. Chance stood up and walked with him towards the entrance of the café.
“What is it, Danny?” she replied.
“Was that song intended for me?” he said.
“Maybe, maybe not. You figure it out,” Chance answered, turning and
making her way back to the table where Shiri had been waiting for her.
Shiri stood up again and make her way back to her mic. Chance pulled the
right CD, but before she played it, she took another mic from the stand and
said, “Alright, party people. Here comes another hit brought to you by Shiri.
And maybe this time, someone in the room will get a hint as to what this song
means.”
The music began to play, and Shiri began to sing, “My friends say
you're so into me, and that you need me desperately. They say you say we're so
complete, but I need to hear it straight from you if you want me to believe it's
true. I've been waiting for so long it hurts. I wanna hear you say the words,
please.
“Don't, don't let me be the last to know. Don't hold back, just let it
go. I need to hear you say you need me all the way. Oh, if you love me so, don't
let me be the last to know…”
Daniel could feel his heart creep into his throat. Distant memories of
the day he realized his feeling for Alexia began to flash in his mind. His eyes
began to well with tears. He couldn’t take it anymore. He made a mad dash for
the door and ran out of the café leaving everyone to wonder where he was going.
‘This is not the time to be doing this,’ Daniel though as he sat down
on the curb and lowered his head into his hands. He felt the beads of his tears
fall from his face as he tried to forget about Alexia once and for all, but he
knew she’d always haunt him for the rest of his life. No matter how much he
tried to tell himself that he loved Shiri more than he could ever love Alexia,
there was nothing that could stop him from thinking about her.
“Dan! Dan!” Shiri yelled as she burst through the door and out into
the empty street. She saw him sitting on the end of the curb, his head in his
hands and his shoulder shuddering as he cried. “What’s wrong?”
Daniel looked up at her, his eyes a blood shot red color. “That was our
song. Mine and Alexia’s. It bring back so many memories that I’ve been
trying to repress, but whenever I hear it, all I remember is her,” he said.
“You have to stop thinking about her and start thinking about me,”
Shiri sternly replied. “She’s gone. Face it, Dan. She’s not coming
back.”
“I can’t stop thinking about her. She was the only one I knew. She
was special even though she tried to take all my money,” he tried to explain.
“This is what pisses me off. I’m right here in front of you with my
heart completely ripped out of my chest because I am blindly in love with you,
but you don’t see that. She’s gone and you can’t give her up because
you’re still in love with her! Why can’t you be in love with me? Does my
love mean anything to you?” Shiri yelled as she stood up and began walking
towards the door.
Daniel still sat on the curb, thinking heavily about what he had just
found out. Chance was right, Shiri did love him with all her heart, but he had
been so afraid she didn’t. He jumped to his feet and grabbed her arm.
“Shiri, wait,” Daniel said. She swerved and faced him. “You really
love me?”
She thought a few moments before answering. “Yes. Why?”
“Because… Because…” he started to say, but ended up pulling Shiri
in for a deep, passionate kiss that explained everything that was running
through his head. He had been wrong about her not being in love with him. She
was, and this all confirmed it. Daniel let go of all previous memories, his
heart pouring out in front of her as a single tear ran down his face and landed
on her cheek.
“I love you,” Daniel finally said. Shiri reached up to touch his
face, her fingers providing the perfect end to a bitter chapter in their lives.
“I love you too,” she replied, kissing him softly once more.
Together they walked back into the café where they were greeted with
cheering. Daniel decided to give them a run for their money and pulled Shiri in
for another heart felt kiss. More cheering and clapping exploded around them,
but they didn’t seem to notice. They were happy to be back where they
belonged, in each other’s arms.
“Okay, enough mush for one night, it’s time for the real party to
start!” Chance hollered as she made her way back to the stage. New, faster,
more energetic music began to play on the sound system.
Daniel and Shiri made their way onto the floor slowing dancing together
even with the fast music that was thumping through the speakers. After a set of
five songs, everyone sat down for a few minutes to hear Chance and Darren
perform together live for the first time. They decided to play their first
single, Chance’s “Another Dream,” a song she had written for her parents
after they died. Afterwards it was back onto the dance floor for a softer side
of the party.
Slowly dancing to “I Do (Cherish You),” by 98 Degrees, Darren waved
for Daniel’s attention to get him to change the CD to the song that Darren
needed for his proposal. He took Shiri’s hand and led her off the floor.
Everyone else followed feeling that something big was going to happen soon.
Darren and Chance were the last two left on the floor as everyone stood around
and watched.
Daniel changed the CD and began to play “I Will Love You.”
“Our song,” Chance quietly whispered into Darren’s ear. “What’s
the occasion?”
“What do you mean what’s the occasion?” he replied. “I don’t
need a reason to play this song for the woman of my dreams.”
Chance smiled at his comment then said, “How much better can this night
get? First, Dan and Shiri get back together, then I find out my song is going to
be our first single, and now I’m dancing with you to our song in the middle of
the perfect setting.”
“I know how it could get much better,” Darren answered. He stopped
dancing and looked deep into her eyes. Chance stood silent as the lights in the
room faded and the candles on each table were lit. She stared back at Darren
with the same intensity he had been giving her. “Marry me,” he whispered.
Chance kept her gaze on Darren as he reached into his breast pocket and
pulled out a small black velvet box. He opened it in front of her and said,
“Chance, I love you, and that’s about all there is to say. I can’t put my
feelings into words, so I’m not gonna say anymore. Marry me, Chance.” Darren
slipped the four-karat ring on her finger and waited for her response.
The rest of the room waited in intense silence for Chance’s answer.
Daniel could barely contain the excitement that he felt at the moment. He
squeezed Shiri’s hand hoping that it would keep him from bursting into song.
Chance smiled, tears streaming down her face, and whispered, “Yes.”
Darren scooped her up into his arms and kissed her as the room exploded
into loud applause. All were happy to see the two together finally after a tense
six months. Shiri and Daniel looked at each other, excited to see that their
friend were finally going to get married after putting it off for so long.