Punk 57
: Epilogue

“Ryen!” I hear my name being called. “Ryen, come on!”

I shake my head, amused as I step up onto the curb in front of my apartment building. Delcour’s doorman is already poised with the door open for me to make my escape.

“No, Bill,” I say to the reporter from the Times as he and a few photographers rush up to me, cutting into my space.

I try to veer around them, but they’re everywhere. I push through them.

“An Oscar nomination for Best Original Song?” Bill Winthrop holds up a recorder in front of me. “You have to be pleased. He has to have something to say! Come on.”

“He’s in the writing cave,” I say, making my way to the door. “I told you that before.”

I turn around, giving him and the other guys who’ve been camped out here forever a bored look. “Really, you’ve been out here for months. Take the night off. Go get a date.”

Some of the reporters and photographers laugh, and shots from their cameras go off around me.

“Yes, it’s been months since anyone’s seen him,” Bill chides. “How do we know he’s still alive?”

I cock my head and put my hands on my hips, making my now-visible pregnant belly more apparent. Obviously, Misha is well enough to do this, right?

I hear laughter break out again.

“You know Misha likes his privacy,” I point out.

“Will he be at the awards?”

“Not if he can help it.” And I turn, heading into the building.

“You’re impossible!” I hear Bill’s frustrated shout and don’t even bother to hide my smile.

“I love you, too!” I call over my shoulder.

Really, that has to be the most tedious job. Waiting around to see if Misha leaves to go get coffee or pick out a new pair of shoes. It won’t last forever, but my husband would rather avoid attention at all costs. I guess that just makes him more alluring and mysterious, though. I think they even created an app, Spot Misha Lare, like it’s frickin’ Pokemon Go or something.

I can understand the desire for him, though. He ended up joining me at Cornell for college after his summer tour, saying that his opportunities could wait. We had one life, and he refused to do anything more without me at his side. He’d wait.

I’d been worried he’d miss out on some big chance, but Misha knows who he is and what he wants.

And he was right. It wasn’t long after college before he reformed Cipher Core, all the original members back, and they began racking up the awards and tour dates.

It’s been a hell of a ride, and it’s just starting.

I walk through the lobby, spotting Rika passing by the front desk.

“Hey, how are you?” she asks, carrying a duffel bag.

I take in her leggings, knee-high black boots, and oversized sweater, and here I am, feeling like a planet. When is she going to get pregnant anyway?

Michael Crist’s wife—who’s from Thunder Bay, as well—and I have become very close, and since her mom and Misha’s dad are suddenly very close, we’ll all probably be family eventually.

I can’t complain. Their whole crew of friends is interesting, to say the least, but they’re loyal.

I look at her apologetically, gesturing to the reporters behind me. “I’m sorry about all this.”

But she just waves me off. “It’s happened with Michael when he makes the play-offs, just not quite like that.” She laughs. “I think he’s jealous, actually. But, hey, a basketball player is a basketball player. A rock star is a rock star.”

“Don’t remind me.”

She adjusts the bag on her shoulder and keeps walking. “Well, I’m off to the dojo and then Thunder Bay for the weekend. See you Monday, and tell my future step-brother I said hi,” she jokes.

“Will do.” And I head for the elevators.

I ride up to the twenty-first floor where there are two penthouses, and there’s only one floor above us, and that’s the Crists’. I love the view, and I’m glad Misha likes to be in the city. We frequently spend time with his father in Thunder Bay, but the nightlife, shows, and concerts are too alluring to stay away from. We like the noise here.

Once inside, I smell steaks cooking, and my stomach instantly growls. We have a gym in the building, but I like the classes at Rika’s dojo, so I braved the reporters for that today, but now I’m starving. And I need a bath.

Arms come around me from behind, holding my belly, and I lean back, feeling instantly relaxed. His intoxicating scent surrounds me, and I need contact.

“Help me get out of these clothes,” I beg.

He pulls my shirt over my head and helps me out of my sports bra. I’m only six months along—our son is due in March—but I’m playing up the helpless act. The more he touches me, the happier I am. And Misha doesn’t like to see me mad.

After stripping out of my shoes, socks, and workout pants, I turn around, pulling my hair out of its ponytail.

He looks incredible. I like this house arrest he’s been keeping himself on. All he does is walk around the apartment all day, half-naked in only lounge pants, listening to music and leaving lyrics in random places. They’re written all over the refrigerator, on napkins, on Post-its stuck to the walls—which he started doing when I freaked out about Sharpie on the fresh paint in the bedroom.

It’s all a part of his creative process, he says.

Whatever. It works, I guess.

“Come on.” He pulls me along. “I started you a bath.”

I follow him to the bathroom, watching him strip down and get in, and then he holds out a hand, inviting me in.

I climb in and sit at the other end of the large tub, smiling gratefully when he starts massaging my leg.

“The reporters are insane,” I tell him. “Everybody wants a piece of you.”

“Well, this piece wants you.” And he takes my foot, nudging between his legs with it.

I slowly crawl up on top of him, straddling him but not able to get chest to chest with my belly.

He takes the small silver pitcher I have next to the tub and begins pouring water over my hair. I arch my neck back, the blanket of warmth coating my scalp and back and making me moan.

He kisses my neck. “Can I tell you something?” he asks gently.

I look up, meeting his eyes and nodding.

He smoothes my hair back, looking at me lovingly. “I love you very much, and when we got married it was my hope that we’d be together forever,” he states, “but that mirror thing,”—he points behind me to the wall design I just installed—“is pissing me off. I lose my equilibrium whenever I walk in here.”

I turn around and break into a smile, looking at the array of mirrors installed on the walls, which reflect the mirrors on the opposite wall.

Turning back to him, I lift my chin, nodding. “You’ll get used to it.”

“You say that all the time,” he whines. “I put up with the gothic fireplace in our converted barn home in Thunder Bay, the sewing machine end tables, the fact that I have to walk through a wardrobe to get into the master bathroom, but this mirror thing…”

He trails off, and I kiss his cheek. “It’s a conversational piece.”

He levels me with an unamused look.

I shake with laughter. “If you divorce me, we won’t still have sex.”

He twists up his lips. “Yeah, I figured.”

What a baby. He knew when he married me that I liked being creative. Even if I wasn’t any good at it.

I reach over and flip the knob, turning on the shower over us. It falls behind me, but it creates a pleasant buzz.

“You need to put in an appearance,” I say.

I hate pushing him, and I normally don’t, but sometimes I worry he doesn’t live it up enough.

“Will’s been calling like crazy,” I point out, “and he even bugged me at work today. He says you need to ‘ride the ride while you can.’”

“I am,” he maintains and then he tightens his arms around me. “I just want to make music with you, and I want people to hear it and love it, but I don’t need to be bigger than this. I don’t need the hype. I’m happy.”

I caress his face. “Most people don’t get a chance to be a god,” I say. “Are you sure you’re not missing out? You won’t live forever, after all.”

“No, but my music can.”

He always has the perfect answer for everything. He’s right. He’s not missing anything. Would we be happier, sacrificing the time we have together to give it to others? No.

“And you and me in the lyrics,” he finishes. “That’s all that’s important, and I won’t tolerate any distractions. I’ve only got one shot to do this right, and that’s what I’m doing.”

I bring him in, kissing him. I love him so much.

But his words remind me of our favorite rapper, and I pull back, unable to resist teasing him. “Hey, ‘only one shot’ just like in Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself.’”

And I start singing the song, belting out the lyrics at the top of my lungs.

He pushes my head back, dousing me under the shower as I squeal in laughter.

Hey, what did I say?