by Bryce Oakley
Meg laughed. "Okay, chill out, Nelly Furtado," she said, snorting.
"No, I mean, maybe I'm just not meant to ever be tied down," Domino said.
Meg raised a skeptical brow but didn't say anything.
"Maybe I'm a one hit wonder," Domino said, leaning on the railing.
"We are not one hit wonders," Meg said.
"Maybe I just wrote Heart's Content and I'm not going to ever be good at anything else," Domino groaned.
Meg pulled out her phone, reading something on the screen.
"Wait, why did you want to feel sorry for yourself tonight?" Domino asked, turning to Meg.
Meg furrowed her brow. "Oh, forget about that," she said.
"Tell me," Domino said, tugging on Meg's arm impatiently.
Meg rolled her longboard with one foot. "Well, there's this girl," she began.
"A girl!" Domino exclaimed in excitement. In all her years, she had never known Meg to date anyone. Meg was a gorgeous, funny girl, but she was painfully shy with women, to the point of sprinting in the other direction every time.
"Shut up," Meg chided.
"Tell me about her," Domino insisted, sitting down on top of her board.
"Well, I'm not sure she's into me," Meg said, sitting beside her and swigging from the bottle.
"Oh my god, is it me?" Domino said, holding a hand to her heart.
Meg stared down at her in disbelief. "What? No. Gross, dude. You are not my type," Meg said, laughing and shoving on her shoulder.
Domino's board scooted a few inches with the shove. "Okay, I just wanted to make sure before I gave you advice," Domino said, shaking her head.
"I got her number recently and I finally got the courage to text her and she never messaged me back," Meg said.
"When did you message her?" Domino asked.
They passed the bottle back and forth as they talked.
"This afternoon," Meg said with a heavy, dramatic sigh.
"You know what we should do?" Domino said. "We should throw our phones into the ocean."
"That's littering," Meg said.
"Okay, let's throw our phones away in a designated trash receptacle then, rule-follower," Domino said. She glanced to where a trash can sat about five yards away.
"Don't be silly," Meg said. "We are not throwing our phones away, ocean or bin."
“I am! I'm throwing something away that no longer serves me," Domino insisted, her voice modulating into a serene monotone just like the guided meditations she had been listening to. “I always hold onto things for way too long. I’m letting the Carebear go.”
"Dom, don't," Meg said, trying to catch her by the arm as she stood up. “That’s a very expensive Carebear.”
She walked over to the trash can and fished her phone out of her pocket, throwing it in the bin. It hit the bottom with a loud, metallic thunk. She felt instant relief, as though a weight had just been lifted off her shoulders.
“Ah, the relief! Meg, you should throw yours away!" She said with a giggle.
"Absolutely not, you idiot," Meg scolded.
Two figures appeared silhouetted on the path near them.
"Fuck," Domino whispered, pointing as she crouched down, hurrying back to where Meg sat. She was too drunk to deal with the lifeguards or people who wanted to mug her.
"Oh, it's fine. I asked them to come," Meg said, waving at the figures who were walking towards them.
"You called the police?" Domino hissed.
Meg laughed. "No, I called Billie and Zoey. Well, texted."
"Billie?" Domino said incredulously. That could be even worse than the lifeguards.
Domino could make out the sound of heeled boots. Yep, that was Zoey. The two women walked up to where they sat.
"Well, well, well," Billie said, then she sat down in front of the pair and grabbed the bottle of Jack to take a swig.
Domino stared at her, impressed. "Why are you here?" She asked.
"You," Billie said.
"I'm fine," Domino said defensively, taking the bottle out of her hand.
Zoey kneeled down. "We're all messes, babe. It's okay," she said.
"Is this an intervention?" Domino asked. She eyed the three women sitting in front of her.
"No, it's more like, we miss you and the band and we want to work things out before we all fuck It up," Zoey explained.
"I really miss the band," Billie said. Her brow furrowed and she took a long pull from the Jack before passing the bottle to Zoey.
"Me too," Meg said quietly.
"Well, I do, too, but I'm just having trouble writing. Meg helped a lot, but the songs I'm writing aren't... they're..." Domino searched for the word.
"Lacking something?" Billie asked.
Domino nodded solemnly. "Maybe I've lost my touch."
"Or maybe you just need more input on them," Zoey said. Her thick curls glowed in the low lamplight as she shifted them out of her face. "We're all here together, you know."
Domino nodded, her throat thick and tight with emotion. "I think that would be fun," she said.
Billie reached over and put a hand on Domino’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"We just thought you didn't need help," Zoey added. "But we're all game to write together."
"I miss our bus," Meg said softly, the liquid of the bottle sloshing around in her hand.
"You hated the bus," Billie said, laughing.
"Okay, let me rephrase. I hated the bus, but I loved time with you guys," Meg added.
Zoey giggled, holding a hand to her mouth. "Remember when Billie outlawed card games after she lost so badly that one night?"
Domino's shoulders shook with silent laughter, the memory of Billie nearly flipping the table –– which was bolted to the ground, thankfully –– after losing the game Hand and Foot so badly.
"Y'all were cheating," Billie said, pressing her mouth into a thin line.
"Sure, babe, whatever helps you sleep at night," Zoey said, nodding.
Meg laughed. "Oh god, and she stomped down the aisle and tried to slam the curtain of her bunk shut."
Domino and Zoey roared with laughter.
Billie gawked at the three of them. "You assholes," she said, laughing.
A flashlight shone on the four of them as a pair of people approached. "Hey, you, kids," a man said in an authoritative voice. "No loitering." As they walked under a light post, Domino could see that they were a pair of lifeguards.
Domino shoved the bottle of Jack into Meg's purse as inconspicuously as she could as two men walked up to them. She squinted into the bright light.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. We were just leaving," Billie said in her very feminine, Professional Adult voice.
Domino stared at her with wide eyes, her heart pounding. She hoped Billie could Adult them out of this one.
"If I see you here again, I'm writing you a ticket," the lifeguard said.
Could they even write tickets? Domino stifled a laugh.
The four of them stood up, dusting off their pants and walking as quickly as they could away to avoid the lifeguard noticing that they weren't sixteen-year-old teen rebels. Domino held her longboard under her arm.
"Have a nice night, sir," Billie said with a small wave and they hurried back onto the Strand. "Stay safe out there."
Zoey groaned. "Wow, B, lay it on thick," she teased, pushing Billie's shoulder.
Domino slung an arm around Meg's shoulders. "Feeling better?" She asked.
"Meg, what's wrong?" Billie asked, overhearing.
"Domino threw away her phone," Meg said quickly, and Domino could tell she was just trying to get the spotlight off of her.
The group came to a halt on the plaza in front of the bars and cafes that lined the area.
"You did what?" Billie asked.
Domino blinked. "I don't even remember why I did that," she said, laughing and shaking her head.
Zoey burst into giggles. "Oh, you drunk, heartbroken idiot," she said, shaking her head.
*
* *
Domino awoke, the sun too bright and her mouth too dry. Meg and Zoey had slept in the guest bedroom after they'd gotten home, and Billie had shown up early with coffee and pastries.
They were going to have their first full-band writing session.
Domino was equal parts nervous and excited.
After popping some pain killers, Domino grabbed her guitar and sat on the couch.
Over the next few hours, she played them a few songs she had started, and the three others were keen to add on or change as they wanted. Meg had her drum machine in her lap, Zoey borrowed Dom's keyboard, and Domino and Billie sat with acoustic guitars.
They recorded new parts on their phones.
Well, except for Domino, who was without a phone, currently.
Domino noticed that Billie was taking a step back from any hard-and-fast decision-making –– her typical managing style. She watched her sister listen intently to Meg and Zoey's opinions, and felt a burst of pride about her newfound joint-writing style.
"Do you think we could have some things to show Micah in like, two weeks? Even just rough demos of a few songs?" Billie asked. Micah was their manager. She mainly dealt with Billie, the responsible adult of the group.
Meg and Zoey nodded confidently.
"Yeah, I think we have a really good start on about three or four," Meg said.
"Well, even with New Year’s coming up in... oh, well, tomorrow –– you'd never guess, given how you didn’t decorate for Christmas this year," Zoey started.
“It’s just blasphemous to not have a Christmas tree still up for New Year’s Day,” Meg said, nodding and looking around the room. “And also for February first.”
Zoey laughed, rolling her eyes.
Domino hadn't decorated since her house was going to be in the magazine, but she also didn't care enough to decorate after the breakup with Sabrina, either.
Domino grinned. The four of them had come up with some awesome ideas already. Things she would have never considered trying on her own. She found herself feeling more excited for the upcoming album than she had in a long time.
"I don't know what exactly went down between you and Sabrina, but I do really like your house now," Zoey said, leaning back in the chair she was sitting in.
"She wanted something serious and I didn't, and then we kind of realized our lives weren't going in the same direction," Domino said, trying to sound cavalier about the Cliffs Notes version of the breakup.
Billie raised an eyebrow. "That's bullshit," she said.
Domino smirked. "It's not," she countered.
"You watched my breakup with Vero. You comforted me through the whole thing. And then you saw us when we got back together," Billie said.
Zoey and Meg stayed silent, watching with wide eyes.
"Yeah, and?" Domino asked, her brow furrowing.
"When we broke up, it almost seemed impossible that we'd ever get back together," Billie said, her expression stern. "And then we got the fuck over ourselves and put on our big girl pants and realized that whatever struggles we had, we were going to face them together."
"Okay, that's very sweet that you and Vero got your fairy tale ending, but it's not realistic," Domino said.
"And why not?" Billie asked. "What are you so afraid of?"
“Don't do this. Don’t psychoanalyze me,” Domino said, shaking her head.
"I know you're afraid of fucking it up. I'm constantly afraid of fucking it up, too. But being with her and being afraid of messing things up is so much better than not being with her and not knowing how great it could be," Billie said.
Domino scowled at her sister.
"Sabrina cares about you. I saw it at dinner that night. She really loves you. And I can tell that you love her, too," Billie continued.
Domino swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Billie, as usual, had read her like a book. Nothing had made her thoughts of Sabrina subside.
She had tried to distract herself with clubs or attempts to flirt with women, but her heart just wasn’t in it.
Was that love? Or was it the constant ache in her chest at the idea of not having her by her side?
"Why throw that away just because you're scared?" Billie said, her voice softening.
"But our paths," Domino said lamely.
"Growing is what people do, Dom. There's no avoiding it. Put your pride aside," Billie said.
Domino blinked. For once, a Billie lecture was inspiring her. She had to go find her. She stood up. She could be in Pasadena in an hour.
"Wait. She's in New York," Zoey cut in. "She left today."
"What?" Domino said, her eyes widening as her heart began to thump faster and harder in her chest. "She's in New York?"
Zoey held up her phone. "Well, I just texted her to check in and see where she was in case you wanted to Love, Actually the situation,” she explained. "But she's already in New York. Apparently she texted you about it last night."
"Oh my god, my phone," Domino said.
Meg smacked a palm to her forehead in realization.
"Wow, they put her up at the Knickerbocker and there's a huge bow on the building," Zoey was reading, showing Billie and Meg a picture that Sabrina had apparently sent.
Domino ran up the stairs into her bedroom to get her laptop. Thank god for Apple product syncing. She flipped it open, waiting for the messages to load.
Sure enough, there was a message from Sabrina.
Sabrina: I'm going to NYC tomorrow for a thing. I'll be there for Christmas. It would mean the world to me if you joined me. We can watch the ball drop on NYE! From inside. NYC seems too ducking cold for the whole Time’s Square thing.
Sabrina wanted her to come to New York?
Domino pulled up an airline site and searched for tickets to fly out that afternoon. For an exorbitant amount of money, there was one open flight that left at 5pm, but with the time difference, it would mean she got in around 1am. She sighed, but booked it without a second thought.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sabrina
"Have yourself a Merry little Christmas," Sabrina sang to herself, pouring the last of the bubbly into her glass. She had the windows open and was watching snow fall outside.
She had the television on for background noise, set to some peaceful nature documentary on National Geographic.
It was late, around 2am, but it was only 11pm for her internal clock. She had spent the evening unpacking her suitcase, arranging it nicely in the dresser and closet, practicing her quick speech about organizing your kitchen cupboards –– that was the first segment set for the day after Christmas –– but she mostly spent a lot of time staring out the window.
The room was gorgeous and huge, but she hardly had the will to appreciate the foyer, the massive bathroom with multiple sinks, the giant jacuzzi tub with an extraordinary amount of complimentary bath salts, or the luxury linens on the bed. It even felt like a hassle to unpack her suitcase and arrange her toiletries, which was always something that she looked forward to doing.
She had even ventured out to be a tourist for a few hours, taking in the Rockefeller tree, the ice rink, the buildings that had light projection shows and blasted "Carol of the Bells."
Mostly, she couldn't stand how crowded it was.
She had always spent Christmas alone, but that had never bothered her before this year. Maybe because she could envision what she would be doing if Domino was there. Domino would know a cool spot to go for coffee or a drink, and would know some locals who would take them to a hole in the wall diner that was secretly delicious.
It would be so much easier to get over the hurt and rejection of Domino if she didn't like her as a person so much.
She took a deep breath, idly watching the television. It was listing myths about butterflies.
She crossed her arms, holding the fancy hotel bathrobe tighter around her as she sipped her drink, watching the show.
"Never touch a butterfly's wings. The oils of your skin dissolve the wax on a bu
tterfly's wings, and without that wax, the scales of their wings will fall off, and then they can't fly," an entomologist on the television was explaining.
"Wow, is everything a metaphor?" She groaned, reaching for the remote to turn the television off.
She sat down on the bed stared at the screen of her phone, willing Domino to text her.
A knock on the door shocked her into almost dropping her phone. She walked through the room and stood on her tip-toes to look out the peephole.
She gasped in surprise seeing Domino standing there, looking nervous.
She opened the door, leaning against the doorway. "What are you doing here?" She asked in a whisper.
"I'm an idiot," Domino said, her shoulders slumped in defeat under an oversized coat.
Sabrina quirked a brow. "I'm listening," she said, not making a move to let Domino in yet.
Domino shifted her weight between her feet. "I came as soon as I realized," she said.
Sabrina blinked. "And just what did you realize?"
"I... love you. I really, really love you," Domino said, raking a hand through her hair.
Sabrina stepped aside, holding the door open for Domino to come in. Her head was spinning with confused thoughts and emotions.
Domino walked into the room, pacing through the entry and bathroom area. "And maybe I'm too late," she said, scrubbing a hand over her face. "And I know this isn't some Hallmark movie. Or Love, Actually. And I know it's rude to just come waltzing in here at two in the morning and demand your attention, but I couldn't go another second without you knowing."
"You could have just called?" Sabrina said, still stunned. She stood against the back of the closed door.
"I threw away my phone at the beach," Domino said with a grimace. "It's a long story."
"Wait, how did you get up here? I didn't think they'd just let anyone walk off the street into the elevator," Sabrina said, watching Domino pull off her jacket and continue pacing.
"I bought a room for the night," Domino said, exasperated. “And then I flirted with the front desk woman until she told me what room you were in.” She blinked, her eyes wide, trying to seem much more innocent than she was.
Sabrina couldn't help the laugh that came out. "You did what?"