Page 10 of Hittin' the Right Note
“I do regret not taking more of a stand,” he said, which was true. He’d been a coward, and that was something he was going to have to live with. Moreover, he’d also come to grips with another truth: Luke Carter really was the one that got away.
Of course, he wasn’t going to discuss such deep personal matters with Gina LaBun.
Can’t she just let up?He thought.
Gina, however, wasn’t going to just let it go. She was going to keep pushing him. She’d sensed an opportunity–or, more accurately, blood in the water–and she was a shark.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that’s true,” she said. “But don’t you think you owe Luke an apology? I mean, his entire career as a country musician was derailed by his being forcibly outed, and I’m sure some think you could have been a little more compassionate toward someone with whom you’d have a history. You’re both from West Virginia, and you both came up in the same arts academy…”
She tapered off and looked at him meaningfully. He was actually a little surprised she was giving him an opportunity to say something in return rather than just keeping on the attack.
“As I said, I do regret not being more proactive in helping out my fellow Appalachian,” he said slowly. “If I could go back and do things differently, I would. So yes, if given the chance, I would apologize to him.”
He couldn’t help but wonder if Luke was watching the interview and, if he was, what he would think of what Mikey was saying right now.
“That leads me to my next question,” Gina said, interrupting his thoughts. “Given your regret, do you think you’ll accept theinvitation to perform with him at the Northern Appalachian Center for the Arts? We’ve gotten word they’re planning on putting on a special concert, and they were hoping you and Luke might be the centerpiece. It sure seems like now might be the perfect chance to apologize to Luke.”
She gave him an expectant look, but Mikey had no idea what she was talking about. He dared to flick a glance over to where Tricia and the other members of his team were huddled, and he could see their lack of surprise. This meant, in turn, they knew all about it and hadn’t bothered to tellhim.
Figures,he thought.
He could tell from the looks on their faces the concert was on the list of things Gina wasn’t supposed to bring up.
I could’ve told them that just pretty much guaranteed she’d bring it up,he thought sourly.
Mikey now had a choice to make. Was he going to accept the invitation, was he going to admit he had no idea what she’d been talking about, or was he going to decline right out of the gate? He didn’t have a perfect option, so he decided to go with the one he thought was the least bad.
Still wearing the fake smile, he said with equally false cheer: “Of course I’m going to be participating in the concert,” he said. “I’m looking forward to doing my part to help the Center. As you so kindly pointed out, it was a really key place for my development as a musician. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for them.”
That much, at least, was the truth. The folks at NACA, including and especially the music teacher Brenda Carlyle, had given him just the right amount of encouragement when he was young to keep his career on a forward trajectory. Of course, she wasn’t afraid to tell him when he was being an idiot or a slacker, giving him the reminders he needed to stay motivated.
He might have only spent one summer with NACA, but it had changed his life.
I met Luke that summer,he thought, and it took an effort on his part to not let himself dwell too much on what he’d left behind, or how much the two of them had missed out on in the past decade. Better, he thought, to look toward the future. Since coming out of the closet had finally opened up the possibility of relationships with men, maybe the concert was the universe’s way of telling him a second chance might be possible.
So, yeah, the concert was a good idea, with the added benefit that he might even get a chance to apologize to Luke, which in turn might pave the way for something more. Gina might be a bitch, but she was right. Hedidneed to ask for Luke’s forgiveness.
Even if he wasn’t very likely to get it. Mikey wasn’t the only one who could hold a grudge, he suspected.
“Well,” Gina was saying, “we’re looking forward to seeing how this all pans out. I think it’ll be quite a performance.”
Mikey hated the implication of her words, but he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted.
“So, as a sort of wrap-up question,” she said, “since we can’t keep you here forever, how are you feeling about going back to West Virginia? It’s no secret you don’t go back there nearly as much as you did early in your career. It can’t have been easy, growing up there with your artistic temperament and the truth about your sexuality always on your mind.”
There were a lot of assumptions baked into what she was saying, but Mikey decided to just let them go and try to answer the questions as civilly as he could.
“I think a lot of people assume they know what kind of place West Virginia is,” he said. “And I think the same goes for a lot of the other parts of Appalachia. The truth, though, is things are always more complicated than they look to people on theoutside. I love the Mountain State, and I’m proud of it, too. There’ve been a lot of good things happening there in recent years. I’m happy to be going back.”
This wasn’t just spin. He was proud of West Virginia. The people of Moundsville had taken him to their hearts when his family had moved there when he was a teenager, and he’d always appreciated that about them. His family might not have been native to the town but, like most other cities in the Mountain State, they were willing to welcome newbies. Eventually.
Even now, all these years later, a warm feeling suffused his chest when he thought about his home state and the folks who lived there.
Including and especially Luke.
Gina was giving him a look which, to the generous-minded, might seem respectful. To Mikey, though, it looked like she was preparing another attack, just waiting for him to slip up and give her yet another opportunity to exploit his weakness.
To his surprise, however, she just flashed him a smile and turned back to the audience.
