by Sherry Wood
“To Meat Hook and L.A. – it's happenin',” Morey said.
“Cheers,” John muttered.
“Hey, you know what I was thinking,” Morey went right on into his next thought. “And this probably won’t happen,” he shook his head rather ferociously, “but what if they really liked your house and you really liked theirs? I could just move up there and we could have an L.A. going – Guns 'N Roses and stuff…”
John immediately started shaking his head. “No, this isn’t…this is not a permanent situation – they have lives there and we have lives here. This is just a summer…experience…” John placed his hand on the bar expressively so it hopped around like a spider as he continued. “To spend more time with Vanessa,” John locked eyes with Morey, making sure he was listening. “In a different atmosphere.”
“Hey man, it's cool, but if you put two cockroaches in a pool, they’re still cockroaches – I’m not calling you guys cockroaches, I’m just saying, it might not be the place, dude, it might not be. It might be her making you feel…held back…it might be you making her feel…unsatisfied. I don’t know dude, I’m not a psychologist.”
“We’ll see,” John said, sipping his beer.
CHAPTER 4
Saphire was sunbathing on the patio of her condo. There was a pool and plenty of comfortable outdoor furniture surrounding it. On the floor were various water-stained fashion magazines and dirty champagne glasses. Brian was reading, while giving her casual glances. His mind was elsewhere. The book, The Devil’s Third Hand by his favorite writer Catherine Mars, and Saphire’s gorgeous bronzed body, were all momentary distractions.
Saphire lazily turned her head so she was facing him, and he gave her another lustful stare. He stared at her curves and the white tan lines around her breasts before resting his eyes on her eyes, hoping she’d look at him.
“So what do you want to do for our first night in Chicago?” she asked, in that babyish voice of hers, keeping her eyes closed.
Brian stared at her for a moment, somewhat surprised. “Well…I was going to spend it with my mother. I’m really concerned about her.”
Saphire stared at him, sleepy. She nodded and turned her head so she faced the ocean. Brian stared at her, hurt, wanting to say something but he held back. After a minute, he went back to reading his book but he was too pestered and placed it face down on his lap.
“She’s very ill – I just want to spend as much time with her as I can,” he said.
“I know, sweetie,” she waved a hand to touch him but it didn’t quite reach him. She was very still and quiet for the next minute or so.
“Babe?” She eventually called out without turning to look at him.
“Yes?” he looked up at her from his book.
“Be a doll and run and get me an angeleno.”
“You just had coffee.”
She turned to look at him.
“It wasn’t an angeleno,” she said.
He placed his book down on the table and glanced at his watch. “It's almost four – you really want coffee?”
“Yes, that’s why…I just said I did.” She smiled softly. She was so cute, Brian couldn’t say no to her. And she knew this.
“Okay.” Brian stood up and dropped the book in the wicker chair. “I need to take Izzy for a walk anyway.” He glanced down at Saphire. They had not been dating long, and were still in the early phase of finding one another attractive every minute – well, he did her anyway.
“Wanna come with us?” Brian smiled, hopeful.
“Babe,” Saphire turned and gazed up at him with her Carolina-blue eyes. “I need to soak up as much sun as possible before we go to Chicago.”
“The sun shines in Chicago too,” he sweetly reminded.
“Right, but these people don’t have a pool,” she pointed out. “And we have to pick up Izzy’s poop and stuff and you know how that grosses me out.”
“Right,” Brian said, walking off. “Okay, see you in a bit.”
“Oh hey?” Saphire called out to him, actually sitting up in the lawn chair. “Might as well get us some new suitcases too. Those are so old – from like last year.”
Brian said nothing. He wanted to keep the nice, quiet afternoon going. He walked into the living room and threw a shirt on over his nice, tanned chest. Brian was very attractive. He had a cute face that had made a nice transition from cute and boyish to young and handsome. His blonde wispy hair was growing out from a neat haircut into more of a sexy shaggy look. He couldn’t find any work right now in the acting industry, so he wasn’t bothering cutting his hair or shaving so much these days. That was nice – but work would be nice too. His eyes were soft and brown and puppyish. He had a darling smile, but lately he hadn’t been wearing it much. It was easy to tell Brian was a lover, and he was always giving Saphire looks like a puppy wanting attention.
He looked back at Saphire, wanting something…wishing for something. After a minute he picked up his Raybans and whistled for the cute puppy lying over in a corner.
“Izzy!” he whistled for her and patted his legs and she came running over.
Brian took the leash off the little hook in the wall.
“Ready, Izzy? Let’s get out of here,” he smiled, strapping the leash on and pulling the sliding glass door open. He made his way down the white sandy beach while Izzy excitedly stopped and smelled everything around her. Brian seemed oblivious to all the girls checking him out. A cute blonde girl, even prettier than Saphire, stopped and smiled adoringly at Izzy.
“What a cute dog,” she said, hoping to get Brian’s attention.
“Thanks,” Brian politely spoke. She eyed him and waited for him to flirt but he was worlds away from such a thing.
“Have a nice day,” he said, sincere as he walked on. He headed away from the ocean to the coffee shop and tied Izzy up outside before sitting on the bench. He took his cell phone out and made a call. While he waited for his call to be answered, he pushed a water bowl over for Izzy. He got the voice mail.
“Mom…it's me,” his voice was somewhat sad and worried. “I can’t wait to see you, I hope you’re feeling okay today. Give me a call – we’ll be flying out tonight so…” he picked his eyes up and looked around. “I love you. Please call me back as soon as you can. Okay, bye.” Brian looked down at Izzy before kneeling down to pet her. She put her paw on his knee.
“I’ll be back in two minutes, 'kay? Maybe you can find me a better girlfriend while you’re out here,” he smiled, laughing at his little joke. Brian had a drop-dead gorgeous smile that seemed to brighten the world when it happened. “I’m kidding,” he put his finger to his lips. “Don’t tell Saphire I said, that, okay?”
Izzy actually yelped back. Brian laughed before walking into the coffee shop.
CHAPTER 5
Vanessa made her way down North Western Avenue to Empty Bottle just around dusk. She scanned the crowd outside, experiencing a brief panic before she spotted Chelsea. Chelsea smiled that winning smile of hers and came right over to Vanessa.
“Hi!” Chelsea said, cheerful as usual.
“Have you seen John?” Vanessa asked. “He’s not answering his phone.”
“Maybe ‘coz of sound check,” she answered quickly. “He’s inside,” Chelsea pointed.
“Oh…” Vanessa looked into the dark inhabitants of the club. This wasn’t where she wanted to be. She’d rather be at a quiet café somewhere, sipping wine and just talking.
“Yeah, it’s very loud in there,” Chelsea scrunched up her little pug nose. The hot weather had made the freckles on her face multiply.
“I know…well…” Vanessa sighed. “Shall we?”
“I’m surprised you guys are going out the night before your flight,” Chelsea brought up as they walked into the club.
“Yeah, I know.” Vanessa looked down at Chelsea. Chelsea was all dolled up tonight in a white dress and her hair was so bouncy and shiny. “Did you bring Jason?”
“No,” Chelsea giggled. “I want to ask hi
m out but I also – 'cause I mean, then reality would rush in, and the innocent crush would end.”
“Yeah…”
“I don’t want to date anyone right now,” Chelsea said, approaching the bar. “Too many distractions.” From what, Vanessa wondered. Chelsea had a pretty easy life.
Vanessa’s eyes fell down to Chelsea’s brand new Milan Wedge Coach shoes and fell in love.
“Oh, when did you get those?” Vanessa asked.
“Um…” Chelsea couldn’t remember. Chelsea came from money, and didn’t have to work much. She picked up some modeling gigs here and there. “I don’t remember actually. I think I’ve had them for a while, maybe two weeks.”
“Oh.” Vanessa didn’t think that was a while. She picked up her drink and turned around when a behemoth of a man ran right into her, spilling her drink all over the front of her shirt.
“Oh my god!” Vanessa usually wasn’t so dramatic, but the drink was cold and she’d just bought this dress. Chelsea responded calmly and quickly, picking up some napkins.
“We’ll fix it.” Chelsea said. “It's okay, we’ll wash it off.”
“I just bought this dress.” Vanessa looked up at the fat guy who ran into her, who was now walking off.
“You’re not even going to apologize?” Vanessa called out, shaking her head.
“Come, let’s go to the bathroom.” Chelsea tried to pull Vanessa along when Vanessa stopped. She didn’t want to cry, not here, but she was feeling so vulnerable tonight.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Chelsea asked. Vanessa was about to spill her guts when Morey showed up, interrupting.
“Oh dude, what’s up Vanessa?” He seemed concerned when he saw her crying. “Are you a big fan of Bad Animals too?”
“She’s actually crying because some fat idiot ran into her and spilled her drink on her dress,” Chelsea explained.
“Who?” Morey asked, all pent up. “I’ll kick his butt dude, I got my nunchucks in the car and everything.” Vanessa was not amused.
Chelsea looked around the club. “I don’t know where he went.”
“Maybe he climbed back up his beanstalk,” Vanessa said, managing to make herself laugh.
“Wait, there he is!” Chelsea spotted him.
“Broseff!” Morey called out, excitedly. He looked back at Chelsea. “That’s not some idiot, that’s the singer of Bad Animals!” Morey placed his beer on the bar, about to rush over, but stopped and looked at Chelsea. “How does my hair look?”
“Stupid,” Chelsea said, flat out as she held Vanessa’s hand. Morey always got on Chelsea’s nerves. One time when he was really drunk, he asked Chelsea if they could make out. Ever since, she had her guard up.
“Good enough I guess,” Morey said, trotting off to meet the band.
“I can’t do this,” Vanessa said, clearly upset. “I’m going to go home and get a good night of sleep before tomorrow’s flight.”
“Are you sure? It’s your boyfriend’s last show for the summer,” Chelsea reminded.
“I don’t think he’ll notice…” Vanessa turned and went outside before anyone could see her cry.
CHAPTER 6
The alarm clock went off at 7 am. Vanessa felt like she had only been asleep for five minutes. She looked down at a pale, hung over John.
“John?” He seemed comatose. “John?” she touched his shoulder and he jerked awake. “We have to get up…we have a flight.”
“Oh man…I can’t…” he placed his achy head into the soft, cool pillow.
“What? What do you mean you can’t? This isn’t like…a choice. We have a flight,” Vanessa stressed.
“Morey…took us to…Indiana last night…” John muttered.
“What?” Vanessa was amazed. “You knew you had a flight this morning. He knew too – he’s so destructive, he doesn’t care.”
“Did this whole…fake funeral thing for himself,” John said, slowly turning over on his back. Vanessa slapped the alarm clock when it went off again. “He…wanted us to pretend he was famous…he dressed me up like a super model…I don’t remember anything after that…” John moved his tongue around in his mouth. “I taste lipstick…”
“There’s some on your neck,” Vanessa pointed out. “Look, take a shower, I’ll pack for you, but you HAVE to get up, drink some coffee – shake it off!”
John sat up in bed, in pain, and waited for his headache to subside. He realized that would take a while and reached over for the bottle of Aspirin and popped a couple in his mouth before walking out into the kitchen. He watched as Vanessa poured coffee into some mugs before heading into the bathroom.
“So…I’d ask you what you thought of the show but I heard you left early.”
“Yeah,” Vanessa said from the bathroom. “Some creaton spilled his drink on me.” She came back out of the bathroom in a pair of sexy jeans John had never seen her in before. It caught his attention for a minute.
“Besides,” she said, “none of this matters now. Have you packed anything at all?” He looked her over. Vanessa knew how to dress. She paired the pair of skinny jeans with a black ruffled blouse and black high heels.
“Um, yeah.” His head was pounding, but he was actually feeling turned on for the first time in a while. “What time is the flight?”
“Oh my god, are you really asking me that?” she said, floored. She walked around, reviewing the suitcases before picking up her packing list. She didn’t notice the pining look all over John’s face. She didn’t notice him walking over to her. She did notice when he wrapped his arms around her and it was so unusual it felt threatening. He started kissing her on the neck and unbuttoning her blouse. She moved away.
“Are you serious?” she turned around and looked at him. “We have a flight…we can’t do this now…”
CHAPTER 7
Brian stared out of the window of the subway train. It was a bright, sunny day in Chicago. He looked reminiscent while Saphire took in the unfamiliarity of the city.
“That’s where I went when I was a kid,” he pointed to a restaurant on the corner of Belmont. Saphire lazily sat up to see.
“Where?” she asked, but they’d already passed it.
“It's too late,” Brian said, trying not to sound discouraged. He eyed her and she smiled up at him before he kissed her on her forehead. Then he took her hand and kissed it and squeezed it. “We’re going to have a nice time – I want you to know that. I know the circumstances are a bit dire, but you will have a nice time, I will see to it.”
“I can get settled in while you’re at your mother’s, and then we can go out for dinner.”
Brian looked somewhat stunned. “You’re not going with me?”
“Oh well…I just assumed you’d rather go alone.” She moved back a little and looked up at him. Her eyes were so sweet and innocent.
“Why?” Brian smiled although he was so shocked. He rarely got mad or raised his voice.
“Because it’s your mom and it’s a fragile…situation…”
“Right,” he was looking at her. How could she not understand that was why he needed her there?
“And you just said you want me to enjoy myself – we just got off a flight – I’m tired.”
He kept looking at her with those sad puppy dog eyes. She was staring at his kissable lips and after a minute, she kissed him but he was despondent.
“We’re here all summer, I will see her,” she said before turning to gaze out of the window. Brian was quiet for a minute.
“I miss Izzy…I wonder what she’s doing right now.”
Saphire didn’t respond. He stood up as the train pulled into Fullerton.
“This is us, hon,” Brian said, picking up their luggage. Saphire gazed out at the street with mild curiosity. They crossed the street to the corner where John and Vanessa’s loft was.
“This is nice, right?” Brian said, flashing a relaxed smile. He’d really missed the city. Saphire looked nervous. This was her first time out of California. She was an all-around
California girl. Brian put his arm around her and brought her towards him and kissed her protectively. She smiled and relaxed in his arms as he unlocked the door. The building had an old vibe to it, but it had been refurbished and was shiny and clean.
“How old is this place?” Saphire wondered as they climbed the stairs.
“1900s, I think,” Brian said.
“Oh, that’s creepy,” Saphire said.
“Yeah, maybe it's haunted,” Brian seemed excited by the prospect. “We can rent a scary movie just to creep you out more.”
“I don’t think so, Brian!” Saphire playfully yelled as they approached the 3rd floor where the apartment was.
“I’m getting excited now,” Brian said, smiling at her. “How bout you?”
She nodded and smiled a little, and they took a break from everything and started kissing hot and heavily. After a minute, Brian pulled back, winked at her and unlocked the door.
“Well this is nice,” Brian said as they entered the apartment. Vanessa had mopped so the hardwood floors had a bright, almost uncomfortable shine to it. It gave quite a contrast to the dark bare windows in the kitchen. There was a fireplace and framed posters of bands like Rolling Stones and Sex Pistols hung on the rustic brick wall. Brian loved it. It was also nice and chilly. Their L.A. home always had a mugginess to it, and it also smelled rich of all those scented candles Saphire liked to burn. This place had a faint smell of firewood and nothing else. It was like a nice, clean hug.
“Nice city vibe, huh?” he smiled at Saphire before walking over to the window and gazing out at the Chicago River. “This is perfect, babe, the perfect trade for some city life.”
A few minutes drifted by before Saphire said, with a bit of disdain, “They must buy their stuff from Ikea.”
Brian turned from the romantic view and looked over at her.
“What? This is nice stuff,” he said, amazed by her attitude.
“I’m just feeling a little homesick maybe…I’m going to take a bath.”
He watched her, wanting more than that. He followed her, caught her at the bottom of the stairs, wrapping his arms around her.