Finally, when it’s time to close up shop, Alyssa gains a little more attentiveness. She’s ready to go home and relax, and drown the emotions out, preferably with beer. So she gets through counting her register and looking over her stock as quickly as she can. She’s so ready to leave, that she doesn’t even take one last look at the store, she just makes for the door.
As Alyssa walks out she nods to herself, A little rough for a day’s work, but I didn’t really want to be here. still...not bad, I guess. I can still give myself an Alyssa approval. Then go drown myself in beer. Bathe in beer. The thought makes her smirk as she locks up. When she turns around she sees a man standing behind her and she jumps back and screams. Immediately she adjusts her keys in her hand and swings. Her fist is caught by the man and then he comes into focus. It’s Vincent. He lets her arm go.
“While I may have deserved that… I figured doing it out of fear wouldn’t satisfy you… And I’m sorry for scaring you. I didn’t mean to.”
Alyssa puts her hand up for him to pause and she takes a moment to catch her breath. Her heart is pounding in her chest, the blood has flowed to her muscles and her body is just realizing it went into fight or flight mode. Alyssa takes a deep breath as she tries to calm her system down.
When Alyssa is ready, she stands up straight and looks at him, letting him know that he can continue.
“I just came to apologize. I’m sorry about how I acted… I know it wasn’t right. I feel bad about it.”
Alyssa raises her brow, “Yeah, you’re right, you do deserve that hit.” She shakes her head as she moves her keys from her palm to her purse.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes. And about those girls… I know it wasn’t right, but I tried to drown my sorrows in them… I didn’t have any other way. I knew I couldn’t have you and there was no way to make that suffocating, strangling feeling go away. I figured if I could just drown myself in women, eventually I wouldn’t feel like that.”
“Vince…”
“Well… that’s not the end. When I got back here, and I saw you at the studio I knew that it didn’t work. I wanted you all over again. Just being here made me want to see you, Alyssa. You’re the one I wanted the whole time. I didn’t want those females. I wanted you, and I couldn’t have you. So, I’m sorry.”
Alyssa bites her lip. “Vince… I don’t know what to say. I mean yesterday I practically wanted to kill you… and now I’m glad I didn’t.” She says as she nods slowly. “It’s okay. I had the same suffocating feeling. I was angry that you didn’t call me. I was upset that you would leave and wouldn’t take me with you. But- I knew we had agreed on sex… It just wasn’t enough for me.”
“It wasn’t enough for me either.” Vince pauses, “Alyssa, I love you.”
Alyssa doesn’t respond, instead she leans in and kisses him. He tastes like beer and whiskey the taste of regret that pushed him to apologize, but she doesn’t care. Their lips mingle and their tongues dance. Alyssa is relieved, finally able to have her Vincent back and she never wants this moment to end, and all too soon. Vincent pulls away.
He puts his hands on her arms and looks at her straight, “Alyssa, I love you… but I can’t be with you.” Vincent’s face is solemn as he’s trying hard to keep his emotions inside, “I can’t be with you until I know that you’re not getting into something dangerous by being with me.”
Vincent doesn’t say anything more. He turns away and hops on his bike, revving the engine he drives off. Suddenly, the night isn’t brightly lit anymore. It seems darker, full of a void. Alyssa stands there all alone, biting her lip. Trying to hold herself together. How can he tell me he loves me and then crush it so quickly? How could he set me up at the restaurant and crush that so quickly? Alyssa pauses, her melancholy mood suddenly returns to her. And now I want to drown this emotion in alcohol, she thinks as she exhales sharply. “Okay then,” she says as she drags herself to her car. Driving home is the same as driving to work. She stares blankly at the car in front of her and just keeps driving.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
This morning Alyssa wakes up about the same as yesterday. She isn’t motivated and she drags herself out of bed. She mindlessly gets ready for work, but forgets her coffee. When she gets in the car she curses herself for forgetting the coffee and shrugs it off. I’ll just grab a latte or something on my way in. As she’s driving, she stares at the car in front of her, and almost passes the coffee shop. While she would normally get annoyed at the line of cars in the drive thru, today she doesn’t care, she just sits in line, pulling up ever so slightly as the next car pulls up. Her mind keeps wandering back to Vincent.
At work, she opens her shop in the same manner she did the day before. When she spills her coffee she just shrugs and half-heartedly cleans it off her counter. Normally, she’d have been cursing up a storm. She feels about the same about work today as she did yesterday, but today she has convinced herself to be a little peppier so the day doesn’t trudge by as slowly. Jewel starts texting her through, so it helps get her mind of Vincent. I can’t believe he told me he doesn’t want to be with me and just drives off. Alyssa huffs.
Jewel: Hey, there’s a show tonight. Wanna come? It’ll be like last time!
Alyssa suddenly realizes that texting Jewel won’t get her mind off Vincent.
Alyssa: I’m not so sure. I gotta work.
Jewel: I was in the middle of a date when you invited me. I dropped it and came straight to – after working all day.
Alyssa: Yeah, yea-
A customer comes in and Alyssa puts her phone down on the counter. She waits until they bring their items to the counter to check out. When she processes the transaction and they go to leave, she picks it back up.
Alyssa: Yeah, yeah.
Jewel: Commmmmmmee onnnn.
Alyssa: Alright. I’ll go, you don’t have to pull teeth.
Alyssa shakes her head with a smile on her face. Though she doesn’t like the idea of having to see Vincent again, and being reminded that she’s in love with a guy that she can’t have, she’s doing it for a fun night out with her friend.
At the end of the work day, Alyssa happily closes up the store. At least I get to go see a concert. She makes her way to the concert with a strange feeling in her gut. Jewel is waiting for her inside and immediately gives her a hug when she sees her. “I’m glad you came. It’ll be fun.”
Standing in the distance is Wolfe who comes up to them, “Oh hey, Alyssa. Haven’t seen you in a while. How ya been?” he asks. “Jewel.” He says with a nod.
Alyssa gives him a nervous smile, “Hey there.” She says. He wants to act like he’s remembered me this whole time, huh? Alyssa scoffs silently, Right. “I’ve been great, you?”
Wolfe just nods before turning away to take care of something else. Alyssa turns to Jewel with wide eyes. “Did he just..?”
“ I’m ’fraid so.” Jewel responds.
Alyssa laughs, and notices a couple of familiar looking guys over at the bar. “Hey. Aren’t those the managers of the club? We gotta go say hi.”
Jewel turns to look, “Oh yeah, Dan, and uh, what was his name… Greg? Man. We saw them get their asses kicked. Poor guys.”
Jewel leads the way over to them and sits on a stool. “Can I get you guys a couple of Manhattans? You’ll appreciate them better than beer.” Jewel scoffs and then laughs, Alyssa sits next to Greg and nudges him with her arm. Greg is a blonde haired guy with brown eyes, he’s wearing a dark blue collared shirt and dark pants. Dan has short brown hair, dark green eyes, and he’s wearing a white dress shirt tucked into grey pants. Both men are medium sized, and just slightly taller than the girls.
The guys look over at them and their eyes widen, “Oh hey girls. Mrs. Steele… how are you?”
Alyssa and Jewel share a glance with a sly smirk. Alyssa knows that Jewel noticed the slight tremor in his voice too. The guys are clearly afraid of them.
“Well, I’d be doing better if a had a better view. What do you think Alyssa?”<
br />
“Oh yeah, I think so too. It’s just so drab down here. An office might be better.”
“Oh uh- uh, of course. Yeah… Right this way.” Dan says as he gets up from his stool, Greg follows. Both of the men look terrified of Jewel and Alyssa.
Dan and Greg make the way through the crowd and Jewel and Alyssa follow. Once they reach the office the men open it up to them and step inside. The office has a giant slightly tinted glass wall opposite of the entrance. It’s so the managers can see out but no one can see in. A couple feet before the glass is a ledge where the floor lowers about six inches and has a couple of leather couches facing the stage. There are two reddish brown, wooden desks on each side of the room with comfortable looking chairs behind each. The office is adorned with fancy decorations to give it a bit more class.
“Do you got any beer up here?” Alyssa inquires. “Cause I think we’d be doing much better if we had beers. You know fizzy water.”
“Erm.” Greg clears his throat. “I’ll go get some.” He says as he hastily leaves the office to go get them.
Alyssa and Jewel walk around, getting a feel for the room they haven’t seen in a while. “It’s still pretty cozy up here.” Jewel states as she walks over to the glass wall and takes a seat on the couch. ‘Still comfortable.” She states and Alyssa joins her on the couch. In the reflection of the glass, Alyssa can see that Dan is just awkwardly standing by the door.
When Greg returns with the beers he sets them down in front of the couches for the ladies and backs away to stand with Dan. They both appear pretty skittish.
“We think you should go. We don’t want you hanging around. I don’t think the band members would take too kindly to you eyeing their prized women.” Jewel states as she makes herself comfortable on the couch with her beer. Alyssa turns to see what they men will do.
“Yes ma’am. Of course. We wouldn’t want that…” Greg states as he grabs the reluctant Dan by the arm and drags him out of the office. “Uh. Enjoy.” He says as he closes the door.
“Man. That was terrible of us, taking advantage of those poor terrified men like that…” Alyssa starts off. “You think we shouldn’t have done that?”
“Of course we should have.” Jewel replies and both women burst into laughter. “The Grimms really have those boys whipped.”
From here the girls notice that the show is about to start. Alyssa tries not to look at Vincent, she tries to keep her focus on Ash, but every time she does the band members are running around stage, switching places and doing crazy things to each other while they play. Alyssa takes another sip of her beer and tries to ignore her feelings. The more she tries to ignore it the more it begins to nag at her. I want to be with Vincent, but he won’t let us be together… because of the Grimms… because of the double life he leads… Alyssa stops for a moment looking at Jewel, and she puts her beer down.
“Jewel?” Alyssa asks “Are you okay with the double life that Ash has? I mean… I know it’s hard but, are you okay with it?”
Jewel takes another long sip of her beer before responding, “Not really. But you know, it’s only temporary so, I can deal with that. All the guys are dealing with their past, and… really, he’s just dealing with his past so that he can have a future with me.”
Alyssa nods and finishes off her beer. “Yeah. That’s definitely one way to look at it.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The show continues on, and as usual the crowd is psyched up about the performance. Seven Ravens play some of their new songs, and the most popular songs from their last concert. When the band goes into their special-not-yet-released single the crowd goes wild. Alyssa looks at Jewel, and Jewel smiles back.
“This is pretty great isn’t it?” Jewel asks. It’s just like last time. Except, Dan and Greg had to cater to our every whim instead of just doing and getting for us what they think we wanted.”
“Yeah. I’m glad we’re getting to enjoy ourselves again.”
Throughout the rest of the show, Alyssa and Jewel talk. They bring up how their lives are changing and going in different directions and how they won’t be able to gossip about guys as much because Jewel will only be able to talk about Ash. Alyssa enquires into what Jewel and Ash’s plans are, when they want to get married, how long they’re going to wait, and the type of wedding they’re going to have.
Jewel brings up how Alyssa shouldn’t be too discouraged about Vincent, things could turn around, or she’ll find a man just as good for her. One who will give her everything she wants, and that it won’t be hard because she’s a beautiful, smart, hard working woman who anyone would be lucky to have. Plus, Alyssa has never really had any trouble getting with guys of any status, and usually she can get with any band member she wants. Alyssa laughs at Jewel’s spiel but agrees. They give a cheers to their friendship and chug down another beer.
When the band is about ready to finish up, the crowd begins to beg for an encore and band gives it to them. Then they say their goodbyes and leave the stage. Jewel and Alyssa get up to make their way into the dressing room. It has four couches, one on each wall. It has changed since the last time Jewel and Alyssa were here. The rug and coffee table have been replaced, the walls are still covered with stickers and the map of tour locations has gotten larger to show more countries. There are little pins in each of the major locations.
Once inside, Jewel immediately goes to Ash, but Alyssa doesn’t see Vincent. She sits down and waits. As she does she drinks down another beer, worry and disappointment start to take over her. Maybe he was really going to avoid her… but after a while she looks around and Ash speaks up.
“He’s in his private room.” Ash says as he pulls Jewel closer to him.
“Thanks.” Alyssa says as she gets up and goes into the hallway. She walks down until she finds Vincent’s room and she opens the door. He turns to see who it is, and once Alyssa steps in he turns back around, without so much as saying hi. He has a beer in hand and a few empty ones laying around. He chugs down the rest of his beer and throws it into the empty pile. He pops another one, and doesn’t offer one to Alyssa.
“What are you doing here?” He asks.
“You didn’t go the common dressing room. I waited for you. I wanted to see you.” She says as she walks up to him.
He doesn’t turn around, “Cool.” He responds as he takes a swig of beer. It’s clear he’s just waiting for her to leave. He doesn’t show any interest in continuing their conversation or seeing her.
Alyssa hesitates a moment and swallows hard. She begins to second guess her decision. Maybe I shouldn’t… No. He really wants to see me. He loves me. He said so. “Don’t act like that.” She says as she taps him on the shoulder. He turns around and looks at her and as he does, she plants her lips on his.
“Look. I wanted to say that I don’t care about your past. Vincent. I can accept you for you who are. And, I can accept you for who you are trying to be, and want to be.”
Vincent looks at her for a moment, then he pulls her onto him and starts to kiss her passionately. She sits down on his lap her legs on either side of him and his hands are on her plump behind, holding her to him. She wraps her arms around his neck and continues to kiss him as she presses her chest to his. She can feel his erection rising under her and she kisses him more.
Vincent begins to rub his hand from her ass to her thighs and back. Feeling the warmth of his hand caress her body, she begins to want him more, she starts to nibble on his neck and his ear until he pulls away and starts to ravish her neck. He’s biting and sucking, and tugs on her hair until her breathing becomes heavy.
When it does he switches them around lifting her up and placing her in the chair as he takes off his shirt and undoes his belt. Alyssa takes off her own clothes and immediately they’re back to kissing and pressing the warmth of their bodies together. Alyssa feels her skin on his, and Vincent’s hand traces to her back to undo her bra. She feels it release and he begins to play with her breasts. He starts kissing down her nec
k to her collarbone, from her collarbone to her nipple. He licks it, rolls his tongue around it and sucks on it. He nibbles on the side of her boob as his other hand begins to play with the other one. Before long she’s moaning at his movements.
Then as the desire inside of her builds she throws her patience out the window and begins to finish undressing him. She starts to play with his erection but he pulls away and lowers himself on her. She can feel him playing with her clit, his movements and the warm, wet sensation of his mouth makes her moan until she’s pulling at him to come up and kiss her.
Their mouths embrace again as they begin to make love. This time it is different. There is a passion that wasn’t there before, not just sex, but a hint of real emotion. Alyssa knows things are going to be different, that they are going to really try and make it work this time.
After they are finished, they take some time to simply hold one another for a while. Vincent, as though he were still in 8th grade, looks Alyssa in the eye and asks, “Alyssa, will you be my girlfriend?”
Alyssa laughs with happiness. “Yes, Vince. Yes, I will. Can I tell Jewel?”
“Yeah, let’s go tell Jewel and Ash,” he replies with a huge grin on his face. The two get up, get dressed and head out to find their friends.
*****
THE END
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