Title: Angels in a Cage: Chapter Twenty-nine, Released

Rating: R [language, alcohol]

Summary: Alyssa hangs out at the studio with Soundgarden and friends - until her dad shows up.  Chris has a few beers with Cameron.

Cracking open the soda, Alyssa sipped it, glanced at the band, and returned her attention to the two other guests next to her.  There was an air of familiarity about the older man, but she could not quite place it.  Brushing it from her mind as he stood and approached the band, her hazel eyes turned to the one who was closest to her age.

“First time in the studio?” she asked him, setting her soda can on the nearby table.

“Yeah… Yours?”

Alyssa nodded, “Do you know the band?”

“Not really.  But my dad does,” he motioned over to Cameron who was chatting with Soundgarden. “I have all their albums though.”

“Favorite band?”

Jamie nodded, a bit of a flush tinting his cheeks, “Yours?”

Her eyes focused on Chris, “Chris is amazing.”

“Yeah, he’s great…”

“He is.  He definitely is.”

The boy stared at her face for a moment, absorbing all the details of her face.  A slight smile touched his face, finding everything about her instantly attractive.  He had a feeling she was brilliant too.  And he could already tell she was sweet.  How perfect this girl was to him.

“Jamie,” a voice broke the boy’s concentration and drew Alyssa’s attention too. “Come and meet the band.”

As the teen boy got up, Alyssa smiled and propped her feet up on the table after picking up her soda can.  Sipping it again, she smirked as Jamie turned red while talking with Chris, his eyes dropping to the floor.  She found it cute how awkward he was, around both her and the band.  It spoke to his age, which she figured had to be her age, but she was not about to ask him.

Breaking away from the band, Chris headed over to her.  He stole a drink from her soda can before offering her his hand.  With a smile, she let him pull her up.  With everyone else distracted by Kim and his guitar, Chris quickly snuck a kiss before turning to lead her out of the studio.

“So what do you think?” he asked softly, heading towards an empty room.

Alyssa’s eyes met his as he turned to face her after closing the door, “From what I’ve heard, it’s amazing.”

His hands settled on her hips, “You’re just saying that because I have you alone in this room.”

Her eyes sparkled, “Whatever do you mean, Chris?”

He leaned down and kissed her, “You tell me.”

Alyssa slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, “I think…”

He groaned, picked her up, and set her on the edge of a mixing table, “Yes?”

“You think I’ll say anything to get you to kiss me,” she declared.

“Not really,” Chris kissed her again. “Because we both know I’ll kiss you for no reason at all.”

Alyssa smiled, “You’re jealous.”

“What?  No,” he quickly responded.

“Yes, you are.  You kissed me in the studio, where anyone could have seen us, and then whisked me away to here.  You are too jealous,” she pointed out.

“No.”

“Yes,” she grinned. “And it’s kinda cute.”

“Oh yeah?” he stepped a bit closer and kissed her. “Is it?”

Her hand snapped up, covering his mouth, “You don’t have any reason to be jealous, Chris.  You’re the married one here.”

He frowned slightly, “Not for long… if I have anything to do with it.”

“Well in any event, you have no reason to be jealous.”

“No?  He seemed pretty into you…”

Alyssa quickly kissed him, “We just met, Chris.”

“But still…”

“Stop it.  Really,” she pushed him gently away. “Let’s go back so I can hear the rest of the album.”

Chris watched as he jumped off the mixing table.  He smirked as she skipped towards the door and threw it open.  Turning around, she held out her hand for him, her fingers wiggling.  Shaking his head, Chris slipped his hand into hers, letting her take the lead.

“So who is the other guy?” she asked, heading back to the studio where the band was.

“Oh that’s Cameron,” Chris answered.

“Yes, Jamie told me his name, but what is he to you?”

He smirked, dropped her hand, and opened the door, “He’s a director.  You know that movie Singles?”

“Yes, of course.  I love that movie.  You’re in it.”

Chris chuckled, “Yeah.  I was pretty… high in that scene.  Anyways, that’s his movie.”

Her eyes snapped to Cameron as she followed Chris in, “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope,” he glanced at her. “Singles, Say Anything…, and he’s starting a new one soon.”

Alyssa was completely speechless.  Even though Chris invited her over to the group, she opted to return to the sofa.  Picking up her soda again, she focused on drinking it, trying to put together how she felt about this new information.  It had been a big thing to meet and fall for Chris, as Soundgarden was her favorite band.  She had never expected to meet someone as big as the Cameron Crowe.

As the band returned to previewing the tracks, Jamie and Cameron approached the young woman.  Without pause, the young man sat next to her.  Cameron noticed she no longer glanced in his direction and shook his head.  With a brief utterance, he excused himself to make a few phone calls, leaving the two young adults alone with the band.

“You didn’t tell me your dad is a director,” she stated softly, setting her empty can back on the table.

“I… didn’t know it was important,” Jamie responded.

She played with the hem of her shirt, “Well if he hadn’t made some rather important movies…”

“Huh?”

 

“Say Anything… and Singles were both set here in Seattle,” she pointed out.

“Oh right,” he nodded. “Yeah, my dad did those.”

“That’s really cool,” Alyssa glanced at him.

Jamie smiled, “What does your dad do?”

“Oh he’s a lawyer.”

“Oh yeah?  What kind?”

“Her dad is a district attorney with the city of Seattle,” Cameron’s voice suddenly interrupted, drawing two pairs of eyes to him. “And he’s outside right now, Alyssa.”

Sitting in her father’s office, Alyssa sighed.  She certainly had not expected him to show up at the studio and take her away.  Yet he had done precisely that, but not explained his actions at all.  He had hardly spoken at all nor given her a chance to explain anything to Chris.  In fact, she had to ask Jamie to tell Chris where she went.  It bothered her to no end, especially since she felt a lecture was on its way, once he was done with whatever meeting he was in.

She got to her feet and paced over to his phone.  Moving around his large desk, Alyssa sat down and reached for the device.  She snatched up the handset and quickly dialed the hotel’s phone number.  As it rang, her eyes nervously fixated on the door.  Just as her call reached the voicemail, the door opened.  Alyssa slammed the handset down.

Her father shot a dark look at her.  Without pause, Alyssa vacated his seat and slipped into the chair across from his desk.  Boldly meeting his eyes, she waited anxiously for him to speak.  She could feel his emotions, but she could not quite figure them out.  Was he mad or just disappointed?  Was she going to be grounded or something else?

He filed a few random files, straightened a couple of things on his desk.  She knew he was just playing her slow, building up her anxiety.  Finally he sat in the black leather chair, folding his hands on the desk.  Their eyes met, nerves battling.  Alyssa had never realized before how she had her father’s eyes, though she supposed not with the anger she was seeing.

“Daddy…”

“Don’t Daddy me,” he stated firmly.

She broke eye contact briefly, “What did I do wrong, Dad?”

Howard sighed, “Where do I begin, Alyssa?”

“Just tell me.”

“I understand that what Zack has done and continues to do to you is horrible in the very least but your behavior lately is deplorable.  I can understand your fear of being alone and I would be wrong in saying that I agree with you always being with someone.  But a married man?  You’re fifteen years old.  There is nothing—”

“Chris hasn’t done anything to me, Dad.  I’ve spent time with him because I feel safe with him.  That’s all.  We’re not having sex.  He would never force me to do anything.”

“You’re still too young to—”

“Nothing is happening between me and Chris, Dad.  I swear,” she interrupted. “How did you even find me anyways?”

He stared at her in disbelief, “You’re my daughter and I happen to have the Seattle police force at my beck and call.”

“You sent the cops after me?”

“After you left a note with David saying you were going to be with your boyfriend and another one for me saying you weren’t going to school, do you really think I wasn’t going to track you down with everything that’s going on?”

“Dad, I’m safe with Chris.”

“How the hell I am supposed to know that?  Until today, I didn’t know who he was.  You haven’t told me a thing about him or really anyone else.  And now I know why,” he paused. “Dammit, Alyssa, I thought you were smarter than this.  I realize you’ve been fawning over him for ages, but this is—”

“Dad, stop.  Chris isn’t doing anything with me.  He isn’t taking advantage of anything.  He protects me.  He even once punched Zack,” she declared.

His eyes widened, “Recently?”

“No… like more than a week ago.”

“I really do not like you having any kind of relationship with Chris.  At least with David, I know his intentions,” Howard claimed.

She rolled her eyes, “He wants in my pants more than Chris does.”

He blinked, “Regardless, I don’t want you seeing Chris anymore.”

“I will see who I want to see,” Alyssa quickly declared.

Howard sighed, “Aly…”

“Chris isn’t dangerous, Dad.  I swear.”

He held his hands up, “Fine, fine.  Chris isn’t dangerous.  But Zack still is.”

“I thought Zack was in jail.”

“He was released on bail this morning.”

Her entire body went cold, “What?”

“That’s why I had to find you, Aly.  He has an ankle monitor on and is supposed to be on house arrest, but…”

“I understand, Dad.  I… I won’t go anywhere without telling you first.  I promise.”

“You need to be going to school, Aly.”

She sighed, “I know.  I won’t miss any more days.”

“You need to not see Chris anymore.”

“I can’t promise that one.”

“Alyssa…”

“I just can’t, Dad.  He makes me feel safe.”

He rubbed his temples, “You know, I could have him arrested.”

“Daddy, don’t.”

“Stay away from him and I won’t.”

Alyssa sighed, “Dad…”

“I am not telling your mom about this,” he stated. “But if you continue to disobey me, I will.”

“But, Dad—”

“No more buts,” he stood up. “I’m taking you to school now.  At least this way, you’ll only have missed half the day.”

Though she wanted to argue with him more, she also knew he was not going to budge on his statement.  She would go to school, do her schoolwork, but she was still going to see Chris.  She would find a way.

Setting down his beer, Chris sighed.  He puffed on a cigarette, watching Cameron refill their pitcher.  He hated the fact that Alyssa was taken from the studio, especially since she did not have the chance to hear the entire album.  Cameron had mentioned it was her father who she left with, which at least put him slightly at ease.  But he still did not like it.

Refilling Chris’s glass, Cameron sat down, “This is our second pitcher and you still haven’t spoken.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, lifting the glass to his lips again.

“You asked me to keep you company…”

Chris’s green eyes went to the director, “Susan and I are separated.”

“You said that at Eddie’s last night,” he pointed out.

“Oh right.”

Cameron sat there silently for a minute, letting Chris nurse his beer and collect his thoughts.  The musician remained very quiet through another glass and a half of the amber liquid.  Cameron briefly wished he had chosen a lighter beer, knowing at this rate Chris was going to be plastered before long.

“So what is this about?” he gently pushed.

Chris finished another glass of beer, “She left.”

“Susan?”

“Alyssa.”

“Ah,” Cameron took a drink from his own glass. “She’s a fan, I take it.”

“More than just a fan.”

“Okay… where did you meet her?”

“The coffeehouse across from the studio.”

Finding the normalcy of it remarkable, Cameron smirked slightly, “Okay.  And…?”

“I can’t explain it.  She just… gets me.  And she doesn’t treat me like I’m famous or anything like that.  In fact, at first I didn’t think she even knew who I was, until she confessed about that,” he stated quickly. “And she’s sweet and smart and sweet.”

“Right…”

“Before her, my life seemed all gray and dark.  But now that I’ve met her, everything seems… colorful.”

He looked over the rim of his glass at Chris, “So you’re basically saying you’ve fallen for this girl?”

Chris remained silent.

“Okay… how long have you known her?”

“A month?”

Cameron smirked, “I see.”

“This isn’t what you’re thinking,” he declared, reaching for the pitcher.

“No?”

“Alyssa isn’t like that.  I’m not like that.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I would never do that to her.  She’s been through much too much for me to be so careless.”

Waiting for Chris to continue, Cameron looked around the hotel bar.  He had left his son up in the room to give Chris some company, not expecting it to turn into a long, multiple pitchers of beer night.  Part of him considered calling Eddie, figuring the other musician would be better prepared for this.  But he was there and he would help out a friend if he could…

“Some sick fuck has been stalking her,” Chris blurted out.

Cameron’s eyes widened slightly, “I see.”

“I just… I just want to protect her,” he claimed softly.

“I’m sure she’s fine, Chris.  Her dad is a DA.”

“Wait, what?  You know her dad?”

Slowly, Cameron nodded, “That is who she left the studio with.  I met him out in the hallway when I was on the phone with my wife.”

“So you met him?”

He nodded again, “I did.”

“He… is he…?”

“He’s a good guy, Chris.  He just seemed concerned about his daughter for some reason.”

“He didn’t say?”

“…no…”

Chris finished his beer and stood up, “Thanks, man.”

“No problem,” he glanced at the half-empty pitcher. “Where are you going?”

“Upstairs to call Alyssa.  I have to be certain she’s okay.”

Cameron shook his hand, “I’m sure she is.”

“Thanks, again.  Oh and tell your son I’ll send him a copy of the album before it’s released.”

Heading up to his hotel room, Chris was glad they opted to drink at the hotel, even if he was certain those pitchers of beer cost more than his motorcycle was worth.  But he did not care.  Cameron was good company as always and Chris felt better having spent time with him.  All he needed to do now was get Alyssa on the phone and everything would be perfect.

He tossed his room key on the coffee table after entering the room.  Before heading to pick up the phone, he clicked on a lamp and glanced around. He could still feel Alyssa’s presence in the room.  It took him a minute to realize her overnight bag and accessories remained in his hotel room.  That alone gave him reason to call her.

With a smirk, he sat on the sofa and picked up the phone.  Not even pausing, he dialed her number, smiling slightly.  After only two rings, she answered.

“I miss you,” he quickly blurted, not giving her the chance to even say hello.

“Chris?” her sleepy voice asked. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Um, no,” Chris responded. “Late?”

She sighed, “Yeah, it is.  But I’m up now.”

“I wish you had stayed today.  We finished the final mixing and sent it off to the label.  Tomorrow we shoot the cover,” he declared.

“That’s great.  I would have stayed if I could.”

“Why couldn’t you?”

“My dad… My dad came for me.”

“That’s what Cameron said.”

“Zack has been released on bail, Chris.  And my dad doesn’t want me to see you anymore,” she stated.

His breath caught, “Okay, what?”

She repeated her statement.

Chris remained silent for a moment, trying to process what she said.  It took him a minute to fully realize what she said.

“What the fuck?” he muttered. “If that fucker is free, you should come and stay with me.  He won’t know where you are then.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My dad doesn’t want me to see you anymore.”

“Who cares what the fuck he wants?  You’re an adult.  You can make your own decisions,” he retorted.

Ignoring half of his statement, “I live in his house, Chris.  I kinda have to pay attention to what he says.”

“Sneak out.  I’ll pick you up the same place I did last night.  You can stay with me and he’ll never know any be—”

“He will, Chris.  He found me today and I didn’t tell him where I would be.”

He paused, “Aly, I just don’t like the thought of you being—”

“I’ll be fine, Chris,” she interrupted. “There’s an unmarked car parked outside.  I guess that’s one of the benefits of your dad knowing the entire police department.  I’ll be under surveillance.”

“But I could—”

“I need to get back to sleep, Chris.  I have to go to class tomorrow.  I’ll try to come and see you afterwards, okay?”

He sighed, “But—”

“Good night, Chris.”

Before he could respond, the line went dead.  He did not like the turn of events at all.  Mostly because she was not allowing him to protect her from that stalking fuck.  He could not explain it at all, but he wanted nothing more than to make certain she was safe and happy.  Hell, he would even renege on the Soundgarden tour if it meant protecting her.  Waiting to see her until the following afternoon was going to drive him insane.  And he did not know what to think of that at all.