Losing My Life

Chapter 41

In less than 48 hours, he'll be back in LA, and it's still quiet on the receiver end, but he's not giving up on Ryleigh. The shows aren't the same without Valentina, as the duo song they've done together is just his guitarist covering. The melody doesn't appeal to Rory, but it gives him an idea, which he hopes will prompt a response from Ryleigh.

He asks his producer to send the track over with his vocals only and letting her hear it, hoping that she'll understand how important it is to him for the both of them. Whatever song he writes, there is always a reference to Ryleigh and how much she has helped him grown as a person.

He appreciates the risks she took to stay with him and how messed up in the head he is. No one understands him like she does, with the pain and misery he put upon himself. He grew up without a father and lost his younger brother to an addiction he once had. Staring at four blank concrete walls, missing his daughter, and yearning to see the outside world, and had thought he would never see again.

She gave him a second chance, a last hope. Rory believed his life was over and that he would never be able to reclaim his status, let alone his reputation. But Ryleigh was there, from the day they started the TV show, to the day he was out, and until she won.

Rory types everything that comes to mind, pouring out his soul, feelings, and anything else he hopes will get her to answer.

He takes a few deep breaths and dials her number, unsurprised when she does not answer.

"Hey, this is Ryleigh, please leave a message".

'Hey beautiful...Ryleigh....I don't know what to say anymore or what to do....I miss you...I want to know you are safe and the baby too. There is nothing more that means to me in the world than you do. I don't know what I'll do if you aren't in it.

I'm sorry.....I'm sorry for acting such a jerk.... I also want to say thank you for being by my side when I was lost, making me believe that I belong in this world. No matter how much of a bad past I had, you didn't treat me any differently.

When I first saw you, I just know it. You had to be in my life....' Rory takes a deep breath, '... So I wrote this when I thought about you and how different you made me a better person. A better man, a better father....I want you to fill in the gaps...tell me how you really feel....Like you did when you told me in your song on the TV show....I love you.'

Rory hangs up the call and hits the send button.

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She sits in front of the TV and finds the days dull now that she is on maternity leave. The studio advises her to return when she is ready. It doesn't, however, stop her mind from running with ideas.

When the bump grew larger, the guitar she received for her birthday became more challenging to play. It's also difficult to express what Ryleigh was thinking and how the melody could sound to others. Her phone rings beside her, and she recognizes the caller because he had just rung five minutes earlier.