Meeting Mr Write

by Cassandra P Lewis

  “Come on then Mariah, karaoke calls!” We pay the bill, leave a tip and stand to leave,

  “Pippa, Ms Alvez, how lovely to see you again” Jackson James is in the same bloody restaurant. Something about that man arouses and infuriates me in an instant; even more annoying is that I now feel the need to apologise for my rudeness on the plane.

  “Mr James, it's nice to see you again. Please accept my apologies for being so curt on the flight. Tiredness is no friend of mine”

  “No need to apologise, women generally react one of two ways to me, the other is quite different to yours, but still” I can’t even find words to respond to that, he really believes he is god’s gift, so I just smile and say goodnight.

  “Wait, you said you’re heading to Presley’s right? Maybe I’ll see you there”

  I grimace at the thought but Pippa is eager for an audience “great, come along, I will take requests! Bye Jackson” she flashes her sultry grin and we leave the smug James behind.

  Presley’s is run by an English guy called Steve and his Thai fiancée Annie, they greet us like we’re old friends, introducing themselves and hugging us the moment we walk in. Steve doesn’t look much older than us but he’s obviously absorbed that Thai hospitality in his time here. Pippa orders two cold Singha beers while we talk to Steve about his move here. When he goes to serve another customer he smiles at us and we go to get a table near the windows at the front of the bar.

  “What shall I sing Rosie?” Pippa looks intently through the folder for the perfect song; I can’t help my sarcasm as I reply,

  “Doesn’t really matter hun, nobody will be able to tell what you’re singing anyway”

  “HA HA HA hilarious Alvez! Come on then, you giving us a tune?”

  I shake my head and raise my bottle; I’m not planning on singing. I’m here to have fun, but I don’t think I’m ready for that, maybe after a few more beers.

  Pippa waits patiently for her name to be called, she loves being the centre of attention, regardless of whether people are laughing with or at her.

  “Pippa, where are you, you’re up next” Steve has changed roles now from barman to DJ and Pippa excitedly jumps up and saunters towards the stage

  While Pippa is murdering ‘The Greatest Love of All’ I look around at the bar full of people cheering and singing along and I can’t help but feel proud that she’s my friend.

  “You up next then Ms Alvez?” out of nowhere, Jackson James joins me at my table. He sits in the chair opposite me and smiles his cocky ‘I can do what I like’ smile.

  “Oh Jackson, please, sit!” I snap

  “It’s a bar Rosie, socialise! Come on then spill, what’s your song of choice?” he takes a sip of his beer without breaking eye contact and I blush slightly under his intense gaze,

  “I’m not singing. Pippa wanted to sing, I’m just here to drink”

  “That’s a shame” he smiles “You look fantastic by the way” he looks toward the stage where Pippa is starting to sing ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera and I smile slightly at the compliment.

  “Jackson, how lovely to see you here” Pippa is back from her encore

  “The feeling is mutual Pippa; you have a very erm, unique singing voice”

  “Oh Jackson, I’m completely tone deaf, but couldn’t really give a shit” she sits down next to me, all three of us laughing.

  Steve is back on stage, mic in hand “Ladies and gentlemen, a rare treat now, my good friend Jackson James!”

  “What?” Jackson looks shocked to hear his name called, I’m shocked that he’s friends with Steve; he seemed so, un-Jackson like,

  “Come on JJ, you chicken?!” with that Jackson accepts the challenge and walks up toward the stage. He is wearing beige linen trousers and a rust coloured shirt with the sleeves rolled up, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t seriously attracted to him, the drink isn’t helping to cure me of that, but he is just so arrogant. The music starts, ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson, I love this song and to my surprise, Jackson has a fantastic singing voice, to my annoyance, this makes me fancy him even more.

  “Rosie, you may want to stop undressing him with your eyes before he gets back!” oh crap, Pippa knows when I like someone, I can’t hide it like she can.

  “Pippa, he’s a good looking guy, but I wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole” I shuffle uneasy in my seat,

  “That’s a shame babe, I bet he’d love to touch you with his!” she looks at me with a false shocked expression and we both laugh.

  When Jackson steps off the stage he heads straight towards Steve where he pretends to punch him and they laugh, it’s obviously some sort of private joke. I go to the bar to get some drinks and when I turn back, Jackson is chatting to a blonde girl at a table in front of the stage. She laughs and touches his thigh and I see him hand over his business card, I’m shocked that I feel a little jealous, but not at his arrogance. He smiles and walks away from the girl, I can see by the cocky look on his face that he is certain she’ll call, he sits back down next to Pippa who is yet again searching for a song in the blue folder in front of her, I need tequila “can I have a bottle of tequila please, lime and salt?”

  Annie, Steve’s fiancée looks over to my table and puts three shot glasses on a tray with a plate of lime wedges and a small salt cellar. I haven’t done shots of tequila since university but Jackson’s presence is both irritating and frustrating me, in more ways than one and I just want to drown him out.

  “Whoo look who’s ready to party” Pippa’s eyes light up at the bottle of tequila and she’s pouring within seconds of me putting the tray down,

  “You don’t strike me as the tequila type Rosie” Jackson says to me tilting his head towards me like I’m going to make a fool of myself, I’m angry at him, I don’t really know why, but I have a point to prove,

  “You don’t know me Mr James” I hold out my hand for his, “Hand” he eyes me curiously and then holds his hand out, I don’t know what possesses me but I lean down and lick the back of his hand, when I look up he looks at me wide eyed and shifts in his seat before shocked laugh escapes him. I sprinkle salt onto the wet spot and hand him a lime wedge and a shot glass. I turn to Pippa who is staring at me open mouthed, I wink and she laughs, “Shot!” I order, we all lick the salt on our hands and drink. The lime is refreshing, we all grimace while Jackson picks up the bottle and starts to refill the shot glasses.

  “The thing is Jackson James” I say his name slowly, I can hear myself, but I’m not quite able to stop the words from leaving my mouth “men like you really get my back up, you think you’re god’s gift to women” I wave my hands around as if to display all of the women in the bar “I bet you shag around leaving a trail of broken hearts behind you. You saunter over to women you don’t know and interrupt their conversations just so you can get into their knickers and then never call them again!” oh shit, I remember now why it’s been so long since I drank tequila, it makes me a bit of a bitch. Jackson smiles in response and refills the glasses. Pippa is back on stage singing ‘Oops I Did It Again’ apt!

  “You don’t know me Rosie” he smiles, referring to my earlier comment, he’s laughing at me “and besides, the women I sleep with don’t complain, they know what they’re doing, I don’t force them. As for the interrupting” he leans forward and looks straight into my eyes “I see something that I want Rosie, I go after it. Shot!” we drink

  “You Mr James are a chauvinist pig; you’re the reason that women are losing hope of finding their one true love”

  “Ms Alvez, did you ever stop and think that your tales of hearts and flowers give women an unrealistic idea of what love is? You’re contributing to their disappointment by putting men up on a pedestal in your books, creating an image that us real men can’t possibly live up to. I’m honest from day one, no commitment, just fun, nobody gets hurt. Shot” we drink “anyway, until you have the balls to get up on that stage, I don’t want to hear another peep, if you do it, I’ll take every insu
lt you can throw at me, and I’ll buy you a drink to celebrate”

  I stand; I’m wobbly on my feet and have to steady myself with the table I point at Pippa as she finishes her song,

  “Pippa, I’m singing” I shout to her so that she can tell Steve before she sits back down, she knows what song. I’m really quite drunk and will probably sound worse than Pippa, but it’ll be worth it to have free reign to insult Jackson

  I’m singing ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz, it’s my favourite song and I am pretty confident singing it. Despite the alcohol, I am managing to hold a tune. I notice Jackson lean over and say something to Pippa and then return his gaze to me, Pippa just smiles toward me and nods and I guess that it was some sort of compliment. My confidence is boosted and I’m dancing and singing confidently on the stage. At the end of the song my confidence is sky high, I have nailed it and I feel elated, I haven’t sang in so long and it feels like the old me, I’ve forgotten all about my anger toward Jackson as I’m helped down from the stage by a gorgeous Thai guy and complimented on my performance by about six people as I walk back to the table. I reach Pippa and Jackson. I get a standing ovation from Pippa and curtsy with a smile before she pulls me in for a hug and squeals down my ear,

  “Impressive Rosie, I believe I owe you a drink. What’s your poison?” Jackson looks both shocked and sincere as he smiles at me “I’ll take a rain check on the insults though if that’s ok, my ego is bruised enough, you sing better than me” he winks and stands

  “Singha please Jackson” I smile, I don’t even want to insult him now, I won. Round one to Rosie Alvez, I turn around and watch him walk towards the bar; he really is quite a fine sight.

  Back at the hotel I’m still on top of the world. We had a great night and I can’t even remember why I was so mad at Jackson. He left Pippa and I to enjoy girls’ night after I had sung,

  “Rosie that was by far the coolest thing you have done since the graveyard!” I grimace as I recall the story of my streaking, completely naked through a graveyard while at university

  “I feel great Pip, I feel like the old me!” I’m really happy

  “Oh sugar pie, you seem like the old you, it’s amazing. Jackson was impressed” I blush and smile, wanting her to elaborate but not wanting to ask her to “he said you were sensational” I bite my lip, that’s what I wanted to hear “and he couldn’t take his eyes off you. Mr Chauvinist was smitten!” and just like that I hit the ground with a bump. I can’t like him, he’s made it quite clear that he’s a shag and run kind of guy, I’m not that kind of girl,

  “Hey, what’s up?” Pippa notices the drop in my mood,

  “I was just having a bit of fun Pippa, he might have wanted to sleep with me for the five minutes that I was on stage, but I can bet he went home with someone else. I can’t like him Pip, if I do, I’ll get hurt. Tomorrow is a new day, one without Jackson James. Oh” I groan “I need water!” Pippa grabs me a bottle of water from the fridge and flops down on her bed, I have every intention of getting changed but I can feel my eyelids becoming heavier, tomorrow is a new day…

  Chapter Ten

  Both Pippa and I wake up wearing what we wore last night, looking like a nightmare version of our former selves.

  “My head hurts” Pippa groans as she peels herself up from her mattress.

  “I need water” I reach for the bottle on my bedside and gulp

  “Do you want to talk about…?”

  I interrupt, “No, I don’t want to think about him and I definitely don’t want to talk about him, new day Pippa, new day! Beach?”

  “Yep but first, breakfast!”

  We walk to the beach in silence, both hung over and feeling a little fragile after breakfast. We find our spot on the sand and set up camp. Before long Pippa is fast asleep with her sun hat over her face, I pop my iPod in and attempt to follow suit.

  After about ten minutes, I feel, rather than see that someone is standing over me, I open my eyes to see a man, maybe about nineteen or twenty, great body, and surf shorts hanging nice and low on his hips, I look him up and down taking in the view, thank god for sunglasses. I take my ear phones out,

  “Hi” he smiles a gorgeous white smile and hands me a leaflet “if you girls are interested, we’re having a little get together on the beach tonight” he’s Australian, “beer, BBQ and music, nothing too intense, just a good time!”

  “Oh, erm maybe, I’d have to see what my friend thinks” I turn and glance at Pippa who without removing the hat from her face bends her arm and points her finger in the air,

  “I’m in” she declares lazily

  “Great, see you there then girls” hmm…watching him leave is almost as good as looking at him from the front

  I scrape my hair up into a bun, the humidity is not great and I was resembling something from the lion king less than half an hour ago, I decide to go with below the knee denim shorts, flip flops and a sequinned tunic, Pippa opts for the standard split leg maxi dress, her weapon of choice, but when you have legs like her, who can blame her. We head down to the beach ready to just have fun and let go.

  “Girls, you made it” oh here he is, Mr way too young for me but sex on legs,

  “Yeah, hi, this is Pippa, I’m Rosie”

  “Pippa, hi, you look different without a hat on your face” he grins, “Rosie, it’s a pleasure. Beer over there, food over there, have fun!”

  We’re having a great time. There’s an acoustic guitarist and people are singing along, dancing, having fun, there’s a girl twirling fire, its mesmerising after a few drinks. There’s a great mix of nationalities, great food and beer, lots of it. I’ve never felt so chilled.

  “Getting trashed and meeting the man of your dreams Ms Alvez?” I turn to see Jackson James standing behind me waiting in line for a beer, “something like that Mr James, you?”

  “Something like that!” he grins, wow, he is quite delicious, and I’m pretty sure he knows it “let me get this”

  “I’m capable of buying myself a drink Jackson” I snap

  “I don’t doubt it Rosie, but are you capable of accepting one?” He grins as he pays and raises one eyebrow as if to say, come back from that one Alvez! I smile; annoyingly he’s actually quite charming, but still hideously arrogant. As I walk away to find Pippa, he walks alongside me, I look at him bemused, “can I help you with something Jackson?”

  “Come on Rosie, give a guy a break. I only want to talk to you” he smiles and scratches the back of his head, he looks confused, like he’s trying to figure out the last piece of a puzzle,

  “Listen, Jackson, it’s been a pleasure to meet you and I can’t thank you enough for your in-depth insight into this fantastic place, but I just want to have some fun with my friend and let my hair down. Thank you for the drink” I raise the bottle and turn to walk away,

  “You won’t find your inspiration like that Ms Alvez!” he calls after me, I stop in my tracks and turn to face him,

  “Excuse me?”

  “Look, I’ve been there, writer’s block. You need an escape, something to inspire you and then blah blah blah, boom you have a book. But you’re a romance novelist Ms Alvez” I’m infuriated by this presumptuous man, but he’s right, he steps towards me and I inhale the arousing scent of him, he smells really good “how do you intend to write about romance, when you don’t know how to give in to it?” he steps even closer, this should be uncomfortably close, but I’m standing my ground, I look up and he stares into my eyes with a glint in his own that ignites something inside me,

  “Jackson, my love life isn’t your concern” my voice is distinctly breathy and he must know that he’s had an effect on me “Neither for that matter is my career”

  “Let me make it my concern Ms Alvez, walk with me” he runs his hand softly down the length of me bare arm and takes my hand, I’m hypnotised. Here I am on a beach in Thailand with this arrogant, beautiful man and he’s leading me away, and I’m allowing him to. Where we’re going I don’t know but at this mom
ent I don’t care, my brain and my body are disconnected. I haven’t felt so attracted to anyone in such a long time and I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or the fact that I haven’t had sex for almost a year, that I haven’t had good sex for a heck of a lot longer, but I’m ready for this.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jackson leads me along the beach, walking where the water laps at the shore and over our feet, the long tail boats, now silent and tethered bob up and down in a hypnotic dance on the waves. He leads me up the sand to a high wall, the light from the restaurant above, where we all ate last night, casting a glow over the still water. ‘Here?’ I question internally, ‘people can see’,

  “Sit Ms Alvez”

  “What exactly do you have in mind Mr James” I ask almost disappointedly as I don’t think it’s what I was hoping for,

  “Just sit, and watch.”

  We sit quietly. My senses are heightened by the alcohol and I can smell the aromas of the food floating down from above. I can hear the laughter of the diners and the gentle music, but despite the noise, I feel serene. The sea is like glass and the moonlight shining on it makes me feel at peace. After a few moments a couple holding hands walk down the sand toward the ocean, they don’t see us and I’m certain this is why Jackson chose this spot, pervert! The man turns his girl to face him and he kisses her, deeply, intensely, she throws her arms around his neck and they could be the only two people in the world, if they didn’t have an audience!

  I wonder where this is going to go, I’m no voyeur, but in the next moment the man drops to one knee. Her hands come up to her face in shock as I sit forward and gasp,

  “He’s proposing!” my voice is choked; I don’t know these people but I’m seeing this intimate moment, and it’s beautiful. Jackson leans towards me and nudges my shoulder with his,