Sam got called back to sing for the talent agency again, but he just can’t bring himself to tap into the emotions he needs. It isn’t that he doesn’t have enough songs to sing, he has folders full of scribbled papers with his chicken scratch hand writing, it’s that all of them are about Melody. His voice croaks and his fingers slip on the string.
“I can’t do this; I should be out there looking for her. Thank you for your time,” Sam says as he pushes the sound proofed door open, walking out of the audition room.
The strings of his guitar ring out as he throws it in the back of the Station Wagon, smashing up against the seat. He drops himself into the driver’s seat, slamming his hands against the steering wheel and shouting at the window in front of him until his vision becomes blurred.
Sam is all too familiar with these feelings of emptiness and bitterness; the world has no meaning, as do his songs now. But he hasn’t felt this way since before he met Melody. The inside of his palms throb as the slip down the leather curves of his steering wheel. He leans his head on the wheel, the skin on his forehead wrinkles against it as he stares at the handle of the black glove box.
The glove box is stuffed full of maps, fast food napkins, and extra straws, preventing the door from closing properly. Sam’s lips twitch into a smile, Melody used to chew him out for his lack of organization skills. His fingers reach out for the plastic handle, pulling open the glove box, its contents spill out on the passenger seat, including the little velvet box.
Sam stares at the box, the car around him slips out of view, the only things he is aware of is his deep, heavy, breaths, and the two by three inch dark blue velvet box. His breath catches in his sore throat as he delicately grips the box in his fist, bringing it up to his face before flipping it open with his thumb nail. His index finger runs across the top of the diamond that is being held tight to the silver band, small intercut vines cling around the base of the diamond.
His eyes mist over; he was going to give this to her soon, really soon, but now he fears he will never see her again.
………………………………….
Sam’s friends become worried about him. They have finally realized that he was never being “corny”, he really, truly, loved her. Sam refuses to eat, so his friends have to force feed him. After Chester gets Sam to eat a tortilla chip with a dab of salsa on the tip, he decides to do his duties as his best friend, and tell Sam that it is time to get over her.
“Sam, I’ve known you since our junior year of high school. I’ve seen the girls just come and go and eat up all that romantic crap you shovel their way, Melody’s just another one of your long list of heartbroken girls. Trust me, you’ll get over it,” Chester says.
Sam rubs his hands across his stubbled cheek before fumbling around in his pocket, pulling the little blue velvet box out. “Not one that I’ll love like this,” Sam says, his voice almost a whisper as his fingers shake around the box.
Chester gawks down at the box, snatching it from Sam’s hand, shaking his head. “You can’t be serious Sam…”
Sam laughs, seizing the box back from Chester. “Yes. I am very serious. Now just leave me alone. I need to figure out how to get her back.”
Chester shakes his head, grabbing Sam’s song book off the coffee table. “Obviously this is gonna take a lot of good music and crappy Sci-Fi movies to pull you out of this one. I'm staying here, I'm going to make sure you don’t commit suicide or start writing some weird emo crap about how much pain you’re in.”
Sam rolls his eyes and pulls his guitar back into his lap.