Sessions Chapter 43

South Beach - The Peninsula



Elise opened the front door and welcomed the embrace Cooper offered. He held on tight breathing deeply, trying not to let the anguish he felt bleed through his arms. He was going to hurt her, he knew it, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. That moment had come and gone the morning he came home and kept his mouth shut while she held out her pain and guilt in open hands.

Reluctantly, Cooper released his hold running his hands along her arms. "Where are the kids?"

Sessions Chapter 42 - COOP AND GEMMA AT HOTEL too long break rayne v2

Oceanside - The Palms

By the time Gemma tracked Cooper down at the Palms she was prickly, hot, and irritable. They stonewalled her at Hitman. Cooper wasn't there and the girl in reception had refused her repeated inquiries as to his whereabouts. 

Sessions Chapter 38

Here we stand
Somewhere in between this moment and the end
Will we bend?
Or will we open up and take this whole thing in?

South Beach - The Peninsula







Cooper awakened disoriented and exhausted. Dealing with Nate's arrogance, Eric's quiet defiance the previous night he'd struggled not to lose his failing patience. Hugs' wide eyed trepidation at the chaos along with the raging storm had prevented him from sleeping and it hadn't helped that the opposite side of the bed had been empty, a situation he intended to rectify soon. Enforcing his parental authority that morning, and that had been a lot harder than he expected, insisting the twins come directly home from school and scrambling to find Ericca to watch Hugs, Cooper headed downtown to meet with Elise.

Sessions Chapter 35 - If Looks Could Kill

Sandy Point - The Rusty Pelican

Slim watched the two of them, Gemma sitting at the table with her slender legs crossed, her body language enigmatic. She idly toyed with the long strands of her jet black hair while Coop sat at the opposite side of the table glaring at her. He steadily tapped the toe of his heavy boot against the chair leg, aggravated and on edge.

Focusing on her, Slim got into it. "I'm going to cut to the chase. We aren't giving you a blank check. Name your terms. What's the price for you to keep your mouth shut?""

Sessions Chapter 32

Oceanside - Palms Hotel: 2 PM



Kicking sheets aside, Cooper struggled up out of that old dream, sucking for air through suffocating dream smoke, fighting for breath, fighting past the fire it caught him burned pain god he was burning.... there was no smoke. He could breathe. The room was cool. A hotel. His thoughts blurred, where the hell was he, on tour, in a room he couldn't for the moment recognize. He'd dreamed it, it was another nightmare, he didn't go there in his dreams, hadn't gone there in years, she kept him from going there, she stood in the way.

Sessions Chapter 31

South Beach - The Peninsula



Cooper left his bike at the curb, stumbled as he stepped away from it, his vision still blurred, the headache a relentless web of pain. He put his hands to his temples and tried to work through this. He could fix it. Make apologies for the misunderstanding, put it back together. No reason she ever had to know about Gemma. 

Sessions 28 - Closer

Millwood: North Lake Drive - 7:30 pm



Millwood was quiet, the road around the lake dark, fog dropping down from the mountains to shroud the homes around the lakefront. He knew the deep mountain lake as well as he knew his own road home - his parents lived on the eastern shore - but it looked unfamiliar.  Cooper spun out once and recovered only to wonder if he had already passed the turn, and when he finally pulled up and got off his bike he staggered. Where was he, whose house was this, what the hell was he doing here...then he remembered with a surge of anger.  He straightened and moved toward the front door, one long stride after another then stumbled over a stray flagstone.

No doubt the front door would be unlocked; no one locked their doors here. He reached for the handle and had to grab for it again.  He was seeing double. Once he was able to hold it the latch gave way easily; he shoved the door open and entered.



"Gemma!" Cooper's rough voice shouted as he quickly walked from room to room sidestepping the annoying interference of a cat as it wove in and out of his path as if to waylay him and looked for her. "Gemma where in hell are you damn it?" Cooper massaged the back of his neck, bruised and aching; he'd tear the place up if he had to. Turning he saw her slender legs as Gemma moved fluidly down the staircase.



"Cooper, this is a surprise, what are you doing here?"

She moved toward him, every step just like his dead wife, smooth and delicate, her voice had that same lilt. It only served to further incense him, then for a couple of seconds he tried to shake himself free, caught between a memory and the woman before him. What was the answer, what was he doing here? That moment passed. "I warned you to stay away from my family." The deep timbre of his voice was a barely contained threat as he moved toward her. "You wanted my attention, well now you've got it!" She seemed to shift, in one place and then another.  He reached out, more to find something to steady himself than to grab her.



Gemma's expression turned from surprise to alarm as she tentatively stepped backward. "Don't flatter yourself into thinking anything I do is for your attention. I came to you looking for an opportunity and you slammed the door in my face. I told you I would approach Wyatt. He was free to turn me down but he didn't. It's just business." She tried to move away from him slowly as she spoke.



Cooper blinked at her, incensed, angry, in turmoil over the range of emotions that shook him and almost confused. With his vision blurred she looked more like Julia than ever. The woman who was his light, his touchstone, had betrayed him, had chosen another man and that pain was infinitely worse than any physical pain McDermott could have dealt. He started to grab her roughly, realized he was easily bruising her pale arms and softened his grip only to stagger when he lost even that frail support. Cooper saw the growing alarm in her eyes as she tried to push him away and then hold him up at the same time.

"What is the matter with you! What happened to your neck! You can hardly stand up!  Quit grabbing at me!"

She was at the heart of everything that threatened to destroy what he had left of his family. The spectral form of his dead wife, Julia incarnate, and he had to exorcise her ghost once and for all. "Damn you! Why can't you stay dead?"




Gripping her hair roughly in his fist he lowered his head and crushed her mouth against his in a violent kiss. Gemma struggled at the ferocity of his passion, if it could even be called that, until he stopped the assault on her mouth briefly and ripped her top off.

Cooper could see her pulse beating wildly in the curve of her neck. His body roiled in pain, fury, and arousal. He remembered her.  He was going to take her. He was not going to be gentle. He was going to fuck her until they were both spent. And then he would walk away, forget them all.  Then once again, he staggered.

She suddenly and unexpectedly returned that kiss then closed her own hands around his arms. Even in the rush of his own arousal he leaned into her and she probably saved him from falling.

Lifting her easily Cooper carried down a short hallway, kicked open a door left ajar on what he saw was a bedroom and roughly laid her on the bed.  With silky grace she slid down her remaining clothing as he pulled his own shirt off and moved toward her. Her eyes provoked him, the damned bitch. He dragged her body toward him as he loosened his belt. When he spoke again his voice was hoarse, rough. "Why can't you just stay buried?"

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down toward her.  He could feel her warm breath against his mouth.  "Because I'm not Julia, Cooper, and you know it."

---------------------

NEXT CHAPTER: Sessions Chapter 29

Sessions 27 - Not Meant to Be

It's like trying to turn around on a one way street
I can't give you what you want
And it's killing me, and I, I'm starting to see
Maybe we're not meant to be


Metro: Chinatown Tunnel - 5:15 pm





Cooper braked hard, staring at the couple strolling down the sidewalk past the Rooms for Rent and Triple XXX DVD signs, struggled with rage and disbelief before he yanked the heavy bike down the alley after them.   The bike bucked over a curb; he fought it, forced it, skidded left, braked again, cut the engine.

Sessions 26 - Torch

These are the things that I miss
These are not times for the weak of heart
These are the days of raw despondence
I never dreamed I'd have to lay down my torch for you like this

South Beach Crossing: Chinatown Tunnel - 4:55 pm



Ryan paced the ten steps down the sidewalk, past the liquor store, keeping an eye on the bank across the street.  Mel had been in there only two minutes.  He glanced around the corner, started to turn back, when one of parked cars caught his attention.   You're imagining things, he gruffly told himself.  No way she would be in this neighborhood. 

Sessions Chapter 25 - Eruption

South Beach Crossing: Hitman Studio 4:19PM

Wyatt slid the red Beetle into the parking lot and walked slowly toward the front entrance to Hitman Studio. Before he reached the door a deep voice called out. "You still drive that little thing?" Wyatt turned in the direction of the voice and grinned. Slim had been like a father to him during the years that his father had been missing. They remained close even after Cooper's return even though they had not seen as much of each other as they used to. With Wyatt at the university it wasn't always easy to make the trip to the metro area. Today however, Wyatt insisted on finding the time; he needed to speak to his father.

Sessions 24 - Half Light

Fade black light, white light and stay
Stay half light
Half night and day


Hitman Studios: South Beach Crossing, Late Afternoon


It was late afternoon, scattered beams of sunlight filtered through the windows as Cooper made his way downstairs. There weren't many people left, a few staffers, a couple of studio musicians and him. Pushing open the door to the recording studio Coop picked up his Kramer wrapping his long fingers around its neck almost lovingly as he eased onto a stool. He was surrounded by mahogany and expensive rugs, sensual deep colors that Beth had chosen. Closing his eyes he breathed in the aroma of rich leather as he began to carefully pick at a particular melody with which he had been toying.

Sessions 23

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again, now



Their encore had been a blur of music and lights along with the crowd screaming for more but Cooper's attention was definitely focused elsewhere. Whoever the woman was, she was the spitting image of Julia. He didn't discount the possibility that she could be a manufactured replica meant to derail him, it wouldn't be the first time he had been deceived with smoke and mirrors, but he shoved the idea aside. Julia was dead but this woman was a living, breathing mirror image of his long dead ex-wife and he was going to find out who she was.

He was quickly realizing the plans he had made with Elisa were going to need to be postponed. There was no way he was going to walk out of here without finding out who the hell this woman was and what she wanted. Grabbing his cell, he placed a call. "Hey baby, it's me..."

Sessions 22

The Crossing - Wildcat Stadium - Benefit for Performing Arts

Pacing between the stacks of equipment, Cooper watched Storm Warning as they moved into the last set. If they hadn't booked the benefit concert months ago and featured Storm Warning as the opening act Cooper would have found another band. The energy in their music was gone; they were doing nothing more than phoning it in and even that sucked. "Everything all right Coop?" Slim had walked up quietly behind him.

Sessions 21

South Beach - The Peninsula

Cooper awakened with a start, disoriented, stiff and uncomfortable. Early morning light had begun to filter slowly through the heavy windows casting shadows against the stark white walls. It came hammering back on him as looked at the time and groaned. He had only sat down for a moment and closed his eyes to clear his head and think. That moment had been hours ago.

Sessions 19

It only hurts when your eyes are open
Lies get tossed and truth is spoken
It only hurts when that door gets open
Dreams are lost and hearts are broken.

Bay View - Marina District Midnight

He should have come up with a better way to handle that. Cooper headed back down Lyon Street toward his bike, mentally reviewing the confrontation with Stevie, already second guessing himself.

Sessions 17

The Crossing - Rowan Photography Studio

It came out like a river once I let it out
When I thought that I wouldn't know how
Held onto it forever just pushing it down
Felt so good to let go of it now
Not wrapping this in ribbons
Shouldn't have to give a reason why

soundtrack: No Surprise-Daughtry

On edge, irritable and arriving earlier than necessary, Cooper approached the photo studio and stopped just outside. It was converted from an old rundown spa, a smaller, more private place located in the western edge of the Crossing.

Sessions 16

The Crossing

Cooper paused outside the café while Rayne described some concern she had over the Gibson he’d bought her. He had made reservations here a week ago, going out of his way to ensure she was available, taking the time to make sure the host understood he would be there and would do what they could do to give him some privacy.

Sessions 15

Ocean View

Everybody expects me to break
but I'll never break down again
Everybody expects me to give up
but you'll never see me giving in
Everybody wants me to lose
but I'll never lose who I am

-Sacrifice-Theory of a Deadman

Sessions 14 - NEEDS TO BE AT LEAST CHAPTERS

South Beach - The Peninsula

So I speak to you in riddles

'cause my words get in my way.
I smoke the whole thing to my head
and feel it wash away
'cause i can't take anymore of this

Epiphany-Staind

Sessions 1

The Crossing - Hitman Recording Studio

Cooper arrived early at Hitman. He needed to catch up, make calls, and go over plans for the expansion and renovation he and Slim discussed on the flight home. The maelstrom that had been the last several months seemed to have finally settled. It felt good walking through the doors of the place; it had been too long and he was anxious to get back to writing music.