Better Than Fiction

by Bet Milner

Danni giggled. "What book are you reading?"

  "I'm not! That's why I plan on doing so, so if you have any to recommend, please do!"

  Danni shrugged. "I haven't read anything for ages either. Got my mind on other things."

  Julia paused. She was nervous to ask the question. It was none of her business and it could open a whole can of worms about her own private life but at the same time, she wanted to be more open and talk about these things like girlfriends. She missed it. "Did you get that fight sorted?"

  Danni sighed deeply. She didn't know if she should tell Julia all the details. She wasn't ever sure about revealing herself to people she didn't know that well. Women tended to get the wrong impression, or in this case, the right one. "It's complicated. Things are pretty bad between us and I'm not sure I'm willing to smooth it over. I'm kinda just avoiding going home as much as possible lately. I can't deal with it all, especially with the band splitting."

  Julia cocked an eyebrow. "Sorry, I'm making assumptions here based on what I've seen online and I did say I wouldn't do that, but are you and the guitarist in a relationship?"

  Danni nodded. "Yeah, four years now but I'm not sure what's gonna happen. He wants kids and a normal job and I want..."

  Julia nodded. "You want more than that."

  "Yeah."

  "You know that doesn't make you a bad person. Don´t feel guilty about wanting more than the status quo. People like us, entertainers, we have something of a desire to explore all avenues and I think it's essential for our mental health to do so. I had this boyfriend in college who wanted us to get married and for me to move back home with him and get normal jobs. We were together for two years and as much as I loved him, I couldn't commit to that. I knew I wanted to risk everything and follow my bliss, even if it meant losing him."

  Danni was hanging on every word. She'd only ever talked to Reese about this stuff and it was nice to have another woman's opinion. "What happened?"

  "Well, he called me a selfish bitch and told me to get my head out of the clouds. He ripped me apart and it shook me up. I felt like my priorities were misplaced and I should have given more importance to love. But after a while, when I started getting call backs for bit parts, I knew I'd made the right decision at that time in my life. It wasn't easy and I admit, I cried myself to sleep many nights, but what I got in return was so worth it."

  Danni was shocked. She'd never imagined that Julia would be able to relate so well to what she felt. "And then you met Brent!"

  Julia picked up her glass and brought it to her lips as she stared off into space. "And then I met Brent." It was almost sarcastic the way she drawled on his name and Danni sensed some animosity. She was curious but didn't feel it was her place to pry.

  Julia stared at Danni waiting for the inevitable question but it never came. She respected the singer so much for not wanting to invade her privacy and she found herself telling her story anyway.

  "I have been married for three years and in all that time, Brent and I have seen each other for a total of sixty days."

  Danni spluttered on her drink and Julia laughed at her reaction.

  "No way!"

  "Yes, way! Like I said, a lot of compromises in this industry." Julia's eyes flitted for a second and then back up to Danni.

  "How does that even work? I mean, I'm all for personal space and stuff but it must be frustrating." She hadn't meant to imply what she had but Julia giggled so she relaxed.

  "It can be. I've always been used to being single though so it wasn't much of a change from that. You get used to it." Julia shrugged.

  Danni was shaking her head. "At least when you're single you can go out and meet someone for the night or date."

  Julia cautiously continued. "And if you aren't afraid of someone selling their story about your encounter to the highest bidder."

  Danni winced. "Shit! That's just awful. I don't know how people can do stuff like that. It's so messed up."

  Julia nodded and took another sip. "It is. I think what I find the worst though is that fact that Brent really isn't very discreet about his adventures."

  Danni's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Are you telling me the guy cheats on you?"

  Julia shook her head and wrinkled her forehead. "It's not like that. Like I said, we have very different schedules and we both agreed that if anything were to happen outside of the marriage, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for us. I suppose we are both quite liberal thinkers. Sorry if that shocks you. I know it's not everyone's idea of what love and relationships are about. I´m sure I don´t have to remind you that whatever I blurt out this evening goes no further than this table."

  Danni shook her head. "No of course not. My lips are sealed. I guess it's just you know, like you said, you make assumptions and believe me, I am the last person who should jump to conclusions about people's status or preferences." She blushed realizing she was almost outing herself.

  Julia looked at her thoughtfully but didn't choose to pursue that little snippet just yet. "What happened with the band?"

  It was an unexpected question and a total change of topic. Danni was grateful for the out. "Will's girlfriend is pregnant and Jimmy decided he wants out so I was like, yeah fine, whatever. I'm gonna do this on my own. Reese convinced me and then I got this gig and stuff so yeah. It's been a crazy two weeks."

  Julia could sense there was more to the story but didn´t prod too hard. "I think you'll do so much better on your own. I'd love to meet her by the way."

  "Who Reese?"

  "Yes. She seems like she knows what she's talking about! Plus she has good taste in cocktails." Julia winked and Danni thought she might honestly pass out.

  "Oh Reese would eat you alive!"

  "I can give as good as I get."

  "Trust me! She has no limits! She'd probably try to bang you then act as though nothing happened."

  "Has she done that with you?"

  "Once or twice, yeah." Danni blushed crimson.

  Julia giggled. It was such a relief to have a normal chat with someone and there be no expectation or judgement. "Ah ha! Now the taco reference makes so much more sense."

  Danni rolled her eyes. "You are not what I expected."

  "What did you expect?"

  "I guess I didn't."

  The air felt thick but still easy. Julia exuded sensuality in Danni's mind and she was having a hard time not drooling over her. She didn't feel that there was any chemistry on Julia's part and she'd certainly given her no indication as to her sexual preference. She was grateful to meet the woman in person so hopefully now she could stop pining after her. She swallowed down the sip she'd been twirling around her mouth and looked down.

  Julia noticed the shift in the blonde and found it curious. She could tell she was uncomfortable with the subject so she changed topic again. "So where are you originally from?"

  "Born and bred here. You?"

  "The Bronx."

  "Seriously?"

  "For real girl!"

  Danni laughed. Julia was so cute trying to act all street. "So what kind of music are you in to?"

  "Mostly metal. Some classic rock and indie. I can listen to most things though. What about you?"

  "Pretty much the same, plus Motown. What's the last show you went to?"

  "This one." Julia grinned.

  "I mean big concert!"

  "Well, I think the last concert I went to doesn't really count as it was part of an award thing. The last one I bought a ticket for though was Glastonbury in England 2011."

  Danni's jaw hit the floor. "You're shitting me! I was there too!"

  Julia's eyebrows shot up and she leant forward in her seat. "No freakin' way! Oh my God didn't you just love the line up?"

  Danni subconsciously leant forward. "It was amazing. My first ever festival and my last to be honest."

  "Mine too." Julia said sadly. "What were you doing in England?"

  "Actually, I spent the whole summer busking through Europe and finished up there for Glaston
bury. I was so broke by the time I got there I sold someone my tent so I could buy a few beers and eat."

  Julia laughed and her head rolled back. "You've got to be kidding! Where did you sleep?"

  Danni bit her lip. "I didn't do much sleeping, but I found a group and latched onto them for the weekend. It was fun. They made me beans on toast."

  Julia laughed. "I take it they were British?"

  Danni nodded. "What were you doing there?"

  "I went to work a bit part on a small TV. show there for a few months. I was so excited that I was getting paid and able to see England. When a colleague told me Portishead would be there, I freaked and had to go. It was one of the best weekends of my life."

  They carried on reminiscing about their adventures until the early hours of the morning, completely lost in the conversation. Julia looked up at the clock. "Didn't you say you were meeting Reese at three?"

  Danni whipped her head around to see the clock on the wall. "Shit! I had no idea what time it was! Man, I didn't even call her. What time is your flight?"

  Julia looked sad suddenly. She hadn't once thought about the fact she had to return to New York. "I leave at ten."

  "Well I should let you get some sleep. Sorry I kept you up so long."

  Julia smiled. "I really had fun Danni and I'd love to do it again sometime." She took out her phone and realized she'd had a missed call from Brent. She swiped it away and tapped out a message. Danni's phone vibrated on the table. "That's my personal number. Please use it. Sometimes it's switched off when I'm filming but I will call you back."

  Danni smiled. "I've had a lot of fun too. Thanks." She typed back a quick message and Julia's phone vibrated. "That's mine."

  Julia smiled and stood up. She awkwardly hugged the blonde and whispered in her ear as she felt the woman slowly start to hug her back. "I mean it Danni. I really want us to be friends."

  8

  Danni left the hotel in a haze. She walked outside and immediately called Reese. "Sorry Reese I'm on my way. Still okay to crash at yours?"

  She waited for her to respond then said bye and hung up to call a taxi. She should have really done that first but she wasn't quite with it. She pondered the evening with the goofiest grin on her face for the entire journey and kept glancing at the message showing Julia's number. She'd added 'call me soon. X' to the end of it and Danni wanted to squeal. As the cab pulled up outside the bar which was closing, she did just that and jumped around on the sidewalk excitedly. She wanted to get herself back to some state of normalcy before she met her friend. She pushed open the bar door once she'd calmed down and Reese glared at her. The glare soon turned into a grin when she saw the sheer joy on Danni's face.

  "Okay, I was about ready to give you a beating but that smile either means you got seriously laid or signed!"

  "Neither. Better."

  "Better? You won the lottery. Only possible thing that could trump either of those." She shoved a beer in Danni's direction, grabbed one for herself and came around to the other side of the bar.

  "I just spent the whole night talking to Julia Jones."

  Reese went to grab the beer back out of Danni's hand. "I take it back. I'm still mad at you."

  Danni grabbed the beer back and giggled. "In person Reese. Flesh and blood fucking at my gig Julia goddamn Jones!"

  Reese raised an eyebrow. "What? How? What? I'm so confused right now. Did you bang your head on the mic stand and pass out?"

  Danni grinned. "I know. I feel like I did! I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. She told me her flight was cancelled and she got booked into Le Fluers by the airline. Anyway, long story short, she came to the gig, loved it and we spent the whole night talking like friends."

  "Na ah! I want the long fucking story! Details. All of them. But not here. Let's grab a case and a pizza and head back to mine."

  Reese drove while Danni sat silently grinning to herself. "So what is she like?"

  "Amazing. She's so down to earth and funny! She said she wanted to meet you!"

  "Me? Why?"

  "Said you have good taste in cocktails."

  Reese smiled. "I have good taste in so many things! Dude, I seriously can't believe you got to meet her. Did you completely embarrass yourself and go all crazy fangirl on her?"

  Danni chuckled. "I don't think I did. She said she wants to be friends."

  Reese slammed on the breaks as they arrived at their destination, causing Danni to lurch forward. "Babe! That right there is a recipe for disaster! You are totally in love with her. You can't be just friends with a woman you wanna bang. Trust me."

  Danni smiled. "It's a fantasy Reese. Maybe that's what I actually need to get over her, you know. Get to know her as a normal chick and then I could get over my crush. It worked with you!" She winked.

  "That's totally different. First off, I hit on you and you were just discovering your sexuality. You only crushed on me because I was the first girl you met that was a sexy gay."

  Danni blushed remembering their first encounter and her awe of the feisty girl in college. "Well she isn't gay either so it won't be an issue. Plus I'm an adult now."

  "Dude... rule 1: never fall for a straight girl. Rule 2: if you do fall for a straight girl NEVER try to be friends with them. Rule 3: never crush on a celebrity."

  Danni raised an eyebrow. "You just made those rules up specifically to throw in my face!"

  "You fucked up babe. So what you gonna do about it?"

  "Damn Reese! Thanks for spoiling my night." Danni huffed. She knew her friend was right and that she was only going to get her heart broken.

  Reese rubbed her arm. "Look. The way I see it, you have two options."

  Danni looked at her hopefully.

  "You can save yourself a lot of heartache and delete her number. Block her on all social media and forget you ever met."

  Danni worried her lip not one bit agreeing with Reese's so called advice. "What's my second option?"

  Reese huffed. "You can totally ignore me and make your own mistakes baby girl. I am happy for you, you know? I just worry that this might be too much for you to handle. Especially with the fact you are still not sure about where your relationship is going with Jim. I think it's gonna be a big confusing mess and I'm all for you going out and testing the waters again, you know I don't judge. What worries me is that you already have feelings for her and you are gonna suffer with that."

  Danni smiled and hugged her friend. "It was so much fun Reese. Honestly, yeah I had feelings for her before I met her, but I actually felt really guilty about objectifying her once I met her. I think being friends with her might make that go away. I might actually figure stuff out."

  Reese smiled painfully. She knew that was not going to happen and she wished she could make it so that Danni didn't have to go through something she had experienced all too well. She was cautious of letting her own negative experiences color her opinion but the forlorn look on Danni's face broke her heart. Either way she was going to suffer and there was nothing she could do about it but be there to pick up the pieces. "Okay Danni. I hope you're right. I really do."

  9

  Danni woke up on Reese's couch with a strange buzzing in her hand. It was her phone but she was too groggy to realize for a few moments. When she did, she opened her eyes and quickly answered the call. "Hello?"

  "Good morning. I take it you were asleep. I'm so sorry." It was Julia.

  "Hey! No it's fine. How are you?" Danni smiled. She liked waking up and hearing the woman's voice. Her stomach tingled.

  "I'm good. I just, well I was going to message you last night but didn't want to interrupt. You left your guitar at the hotel so I grabbed it. If you want I can leave it at reception to pick up later. I just didn't want it getting stolen."

  Danni's mouth fell open. "Oh, crap! How the hell did I forget that! Thank you Julia, seriously! I must have been more wasted than I thought."

  Julia laughed. "I didn't think you were too bad actually but then, I was
pretty hammered too."

  Danni laughed lightly. She looked at the clock. It was only seven-thirty a.m. "You are up pretty early. Did you manage to get some sleep?"

  "Yes, I pretty much passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. How about you?"

  Danni blushed. "Reese and I carried on drinking for a few more hours and ate pizza. I think I must have dozed off after five. I just woke up on the sofa."

  "Mmm, I could have done with a slice of that last night. Maybe next time?"

  "Sure!" Danni smiled.

  "Sorry for waking you up. I'll let you get back to sleep. I'll leave the guitar down with Bud is it?"

  Danni had an idea.

  "Like I said. It's cool. I have the whole day to sleep. How are you getting to the airport?"

  "Cab."

  "Need a ride? I can swing by and grab my guitar and then it's kinda on my way back home anyway."

  Julia fell silent. She hadn't expected the offer and she didn't want to put Danni out, especially after only a few hours sleep. But she also didn't want Danni to think she was being distant. "If you don't think it's too much trouble. But if you're really hungover I can easily get a cab and we can arrange to see each other again soon."

  "I'm honestly fine. Once I'm up, I'm up. I'll just grab a coffee and change and I'll be there in a bit, if you want me to that is."

  "Go on then! Thanks Danni. I'll see you soon."

  "Bye."

  "Bye."

  Danni clicked the phone off and ran into Reese's room, jumping on the bed. "Reese, wake up! I need your keys."

  Reese grunted as she was rudely woken up and sighed. "Leave me alone you morning freak! I've got a twelve hour shift later."

  Danni shook her. "I need to borrow your car. Just gimme the keys and I'll leave you alone."

  "In my bag, now let me sleep!"

  "Thanks dude! You're the best. I'll bring it back around ten. Love ya!"

  "Hate ya."

  Danni grabbed a vest off the back of the chair as she walked out of Reese's room. It was hers anyway so she figured she didn't need to ask permission. Plus Reese would actually kill her if she said another word. She went to the bathroom and found a spare fresh toothbrush in the drawer. Reese always had a spare for her countless conquests. The blonde washed off the remnants of her make up from the previous night and smothered herself with Reese's lotion and deodorant. They had lived together during college and they shared pretty much everything even to this day.