by Jemma Bell
“You should check out The Book Mark, the shop where I work. We’ve always got a great selection of books to choose from. Do you prefer to read on paper or an E-reader?”
“I have both, but for some of the classics, I like to pick up the actual book. I’m a bit of a collector for my favorites. Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to bounce into that store one of these days and see my favorite librarian.” We pull into the parking lot and find a spot right in front. Derrick kills the engine and turns his dreamy, whiskey eyes my way. I’ve got his full attention.
“So, you ready to do this?” He asks the question with a serious face, but I think it has a double meaning. Am I ready to do this? Am I ready to start something with him? Is that what he wants to know?
“I think so,” I answer. It’s one of those once in a lifetime opportunities. Who else gets the chance for romance with the guy of their dreams? I’m ready to take a risk and see what happens.
“Stay there; I’ll come around and get you.” Derrick hops out of the car and quickly comes around to open my door, holding out a hand to help me out. Without letting go of my hand, Derrick pulls me in close and kisses my cheek.
“What was that for?” I ask.
“I just felt like it, so I did.” He says with a shrug of his shoulders. We walk hand in hand to the door to On the Break. Layla is waiting for us with a huge Cheshire cat grin on her face. Derrick opens the door and ushers us inside.
“My buddy should be here in a few minutes. Let’s go claim a table and get some drinks.” There are at least 12 pool tables in the center of the room with various arcade games and dart boards around the outside walls. Toward the back is a large bar showcasing an array of colorful bottles of all shapes and sizes on the shelves. It seems like a very trendy and popular place to hangout.
“I’ll go grab a table; you two get us some drinks. I’ll take a beer, anything on tap, please,” Layla tells us and goes clomping off to secure us a place to play. Derrick still hasn’t let go of my hand and we lightly swing them as we move towards the bar. We order our drinks, collect them and turn to go meet up with Layla. She’s chosen a table right next to the dart boards. I hand Layla her drink just in time before Derrick’s friend, Riven, joins us.
“Dude, you ready for me to whip your ass at pool?” Riven says clapping Derrick on the back.
“You wish, dumb ass,” Derrick answers him and the two of them bump fists.
“Hey man, don’t be hating on my mad skills, you’re just jealous!” Riven ribs him back. “So who are these lovely ladies?”
You can’t help but smile at the friendly insults being tossed around between the two of them. They sound like Layla and me sometimes when we get going. Riven is a real looker as well; cobalt blue eyes and dark, wavy, shoulder length hair. He has a real baby face that makes him appear younger than he probably is. Riven is a few inches taller than Derrick and broader in the chest.
“Amy, Layla, this is my good friend, roommate and trainer, Riven Drake.” Derrick introduces us and I notice Riven giving me the once over with sparkling eyes.
“Hmm, I guess I’d be sitting at home, moping around too if I thought I’d never see this girl again. Now you can stop listening to all that sappy, sad shit you call music.”
“Brother, you keep going on like that, we’re going to have problems.” Derrick threatens with a raised eyebrow.
“Can I get some thanks, ladies? I created this,” he says indicating Derrick’s physique with a wave of his hand up and down. “He’d be a scrawny looking, skinny twerp if not for my magic skills of muscle building.” Layla bursts out laughing at that comment and I can’t help but giggle a little myself.
“Oh, I like him, Jenks, he sounds like the male version of me.” She’s right, the banter and friendly name calling sounds just like us.
“Let’s do this. Guy/girl teams.” Riven is rubbing his hands together and looks like he’s up to something. “So, Jenks, want to be on the winning team?” he asks giving me a sly grin. Derrick moves closer, wraps his hands around my waist, resting his hands on my tummy and pulls me in closer to his chest.
“Layla, would be happy to be on your team, Riv. Amy’s with me.”
”It’s ok, Riven, I always pick the winners, I’d be happy to play with you.” Holy shit is Layla flirting with Riven? Did she just wink at him? “Let these two comfort each other as we whip their asses.” Riven rubs his hands together again, with a look of cunning on his handsome face. I place my hands over Derricks and pivot my head so I can see him behind me.
“Let’s do this,” I flash him a beaming smile and he winks down at me.
“All right then, rack them up Riv.”
Riven racks up the balls in a neat triangle while Layla and I go fetch a couple of queue sticks and chalk. I grab a stick for Derrick and Layla grabs one for Riven. He seems like a fun guy, so I nudge Layla to get her attention.
“So Riven’s cute, huh?” I whisper to her.
“I wouldn’t tell him no if he asked me to go home with him some night!”
“What about Troy?”
“Troy is Mr. Right Now, not Mr. Right. Who knows, let’s see how the evening plays out. You just focus on getting to know Derrick and enjoy yourself.” Layla wraps her arm around my shoulder and gives me a side hug. Derrick brakes the balls and sends them all flying in every direction. I’ve played pool before, but I’m not all that good. I hope he doesn’t care that we are about to be trounced by our friends. We play three games with Layla and Riven beating us two to one. I notice Layla and Riven ribbing each other about who’s the better dart player, so they leave me and Derrick alone and move a little further down to play some darts.
“One more game?” He gets my attention by brushing the top of my hand softly with the tips of his fingers. “You break this time.” He says to me with a flirty grin. We start the next game and resume our get-to-know-you questions. I share my favorite place to vacation is Disney World and he loves the noise and activity of Las Vegas. We also have a private laugh, because the guilty pleasure for both of us, is milk chocolate with almonds. I’m having a great time tonight and Derrick is just so wonderful, he’s almost too good to be true. It’s just as I lean over to take my shot that the evening goes straight to hell. Someone came looking for Derrick and found him here…with me.
***Derrick***
No! Just….no! How the hell did she find me? I told her I was going to have a drink with Riven and then call it a night. I know I have a photo shoot tomorrow. Why? Things have been going so well with Amy this evening, the last thing I need is Mitzi fucking things up. She has a very jealous personality and isn’t afraid to mark what she considers her territory, namely me.
“There you are precious,” Mitzi says to me, while wrapping her arms around the back of my neck and pulling me in for a hug. “I went to your place to make sure you were in bed and well rested for tomorrow and was surprised to find you not at home.”
“I told you I was going out with Riven tonight.” I pry her hands from around my neck and push her off my chest. Amy must think I’m the worst sort of guy right now. I needed to explain mine and Mitzi's relationship delicately to her. We may have been fuck buddies at one time, but that’s all it ever was to me. Aside from our working relationship, I haven’t been with her in months. She’s my agent, so I have to connect with her on a daily basis. I’m seriously rethinking that detail after this little drama playing out right now.
“Yes, yes, I remember you saying something about that, I just wanted to tuck you in and you weren’t at home when you said you would be.” She gives me a flirty look from underneath heavy eyelids and sticks out her bottom lip in a fake pout.
“How did you know where I was, I didn’t specify where we were going tonight.”
“Oh precious, the GPS on your phone.” She says with a dismissive wave of her hand. GPS? What the fuck!! That’s going to have to be dealt with.
“What am I, a fucking dog? Are you going to microchip me next? Tracking me through my
phone is not cool, Mitzi.” Unbelievable! I look up from Mitzi’s meddlesome face to find Amy. She had been bent over, ready to take her shot, when we were interrupted and now she’s leaning on her queue stick like it’s the only thing holding her up. I quickly scan the room and find Riven and Layla watching the spectacle unfold.
“Mitzi, I’m out with friends right now, I’m busy and can’t entertain you at the moment.” It finally dawns on Mitzi that we’re not the only two people here. She glances behind herself and catches sight of Amy.
“You!” Mitzi points a long, pink manicured finger at poor Amy. “I know your face and those Poindexter glasses. Weren’t you one of the gazillion chicks at the Erotic Writers Convention? Are you stalking cover models now? Take my advice, love, contact lenses and makeup will do wonders for your simple face. Perhaps you can even attract a guy you don’t have to stalk.” Amy’s face changes from nervous surprise to downright pissed off. I can’t stand to have Mitzi insult Amy, just as I’m about to say something in Amy’s defense, she beats me to the punch.
“I’m sorry, did you just call me a stalker? Here’s the thing, Mitzi,” she growls. “I didn’t use a GPS to track Derrick down, that was you. So I guess the stalker would be….you.” Ouch! Amy has claws. I stand there like a dumb shit as Mitzi approaches Amy and gets up into her face. This is like a train wreck; you can’t help but watch it happen.
“Listen here, Derrick isn’t available. I’ve been here long before you and I’ll be here long after you. He needs me; he doesn’t need you. I hate to break it to you, doll face, but he’s out of your league.” No, she’s not, she’s amazing. Mitzi has been around for a while, maybe that’s the problem. I do feel a certain degree of loyalty to her as she helped get my modeling career jump started.
“Out of my league? If you’re any indication of what that is, then I’m not sorry to say that I’m probably out of his.”
I can see Amy getting angrier at the nasty insults that Mitzi is throwing around at her. I would be too, Mitzi is a pit bull. I walk up behind Amy to try and calm her with a gentle hand. I guess she wasn’t expecting it, because she changes her grip on the pool stick and accidently sends it swinging up into my balls. Oh god! Shit, fuck!! That burns. She completely knocked the wind out of me and lodged my jewels up into my nose. I bend over and try to catch my breath. He, he, hoo, I repeat this exercise a few times. I sound like I’m in a freaking lamaze class.
“Oh my god, Derrick are you all right?” I hear Amy ask me. I’d answer her if I could speak. I feel her hands on my shoulders, rubbing back and forth in a soothing motion.
“Get away from him. Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” Mitzi shrieks and knocks Amy’s hands off me. She grasps my cheeks in both her hands and I’m forced to look into her deceitful face.
“Give me a few minutes to try and dislodge my balls from my left nostril. I’ll live, but that shit hurt.” I say in a voice about three octaves higher than normal. I can see the longing and disappointment on Amy’s face and behind her I see Riv holding back an irate Layla. She can’t get to Amy at the moment because he’s got such a good grip on her. I’m not shocked when I see Layla let fly the three darts she’s holding and come sailing through the air to land right on the designer purse Mitzi has on her shoulder.
“You freak, that’s $3000 Italian leather you just destroyed.” Mitzi squawks and rips the darts out of her handbag, throwing them on the floor.
“Continue to talk to her like that and it’ll cost you $10,000 for a nose repair.” Layla threatens. “Come on, Jenks, you don’t need to listen to Stalker Barbie give you shit.” She turns to Riven and says good night. I think Amy is in shock for multiple reasons. I try to hobble over to her and implore her to stay with my eyes. I still can’t get a full breath. The pain is still pretty sharp, my sexy little librarian nailed me good.
“Wait!” I manage to squeak out as she gets ready to walk away. “I’m so sorry, Amy, I will make this up to you,” I promise her. I mean that promise, because now that I’ve had a taste of her, she’s something that I need to devour. She gives me a hurt look and nods her head once, accepting my promise. Amy sends Mitzi one last hard look and joins Layla. On their way out the door, Layla turns around and flips Mitzi the bird and tells her to “sit and spin.” Amy is fortunate to have such a great friend in Layla, I know she’ll take care of her. My number one priority is to make this disaster of a first date up to Amy, if she lets me. The only hurdle standing in my way is the same one that’s standing in front of me right now. It’s time Mitzi and I came to an understanding about our relationship and what that entails going forward.
Please Amy, just give me another chance.
Chapter #7
Nerd Girl Problem #107
Finally getting your dream guy alone in your room. The same room that still has unicorn bed sheets and fan girl posters on the walls. Facepalm. Ugh!!! I’m such a geek!
The sun is shining brightly through my bedroom window this morning. I guess I forgot to close the shades when I crashed last night. Gah!! Last night started out so promising, but then that bitch on wheels had to show up and ruin everything. I may be shy at times, but I refuse to let anyone treat me like I don’t matter. The nerve of that obnoxious bitch just gets me even more infuriated. I ball my fists and slam them down on top of my covers. I hit something fluffier than the down comforter. Last time I checked, blankets didn’t grumble at you. I pop up to see poor Clyde glaring at me with a what-the-hell look on his sweet face.
“I’m sorry, boy; I didn’t mean to clobber you,” I apologize to Clyde. He’s a sensitive dog. An upset Clyde will ignore you for days until he decides to forgive you. I guess he realizes I didn’t mean to hit him, since he crawls up my bed to lay across my chest and lick my face. He also always seems to know what I need at exactly the right time. I scratch him behind the ears and give him kisses on his velvety soft head.
“I need some advice, Clyde, what should I do?” I ask him. He answers with a huff and I continue to describe the events of last night. He’s such a good listener and even gives a proper growl when I get to the part about Mitzi. Good Dog! I share with him about Layla shooting the darts and ruining Mitzi’s purse and Clyde starts wagging his tail excitedly. “Well, there you have it, what’s your advice? Should I give Derrick another chance?” Clyde jumps up onto all fours and howls at me, happy tail wagging. What a goofy dog. “You think so?” Clyde answers with a deep woof. “Alright boy, if he calls, I’ll hear him out and decide from there, Ok?” ‘Woof, woof’ he answers back. I know I can always count on Clyde to give me good advice.
Rolling over, I grab my glasses, put them on, and look at the clock on my night stand; 9:35 am. I stretch my arms and legs and then climb out of bed. I let Clyde out of my room and shuffle to the bathroom, relieve myself, brush my teeth and hair, and then shuffle down the hall to the kitchen. I can hear the morning news coming from the living room T.V. The smell of coffee brewing and toasted bread makes my stomach growl.
“Morning, honey,” GG says, as I give her a kiss on her cheek.
“Good morning,” I reply, stretching my back. “That looks good,” I say, indicating the lightly toasted bread covered with butter and cinnamon sugar.
“Want some?” She asks with a smile and then just hands me the plate she had made for herself. I gladly take it from her; I’m starving!
“Thanks, GG, love ya!” I tell her taking a huge bite and turning to join Pops at the table where he’s hiding behind today’s paper, Clyde at his feet.
“So what’s going on in the world today Pops? Anything good?” He peaks around the paper smiling at me.
“Nah, it’s all bad news. If they reported good news, nobody would watch or read it,” he jokes. He takes a sip of coffee from his blue mug that reads “World’s Greatest Pop Pop.” I got him that mug about ten years ago for Father’s Day. He’s used it every morning since.
“So what did you and Layla do last night?” GG inquires. I start off telling her about the pole da
ncing class and she looks surprised. Then I tell her about Derrick and my suspicions on Layla setting us up. “Layla is a good friend, Amy. I’m sure she had your best interests at heart. You should be dating and if you like this boy, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I know, GG.” I continue with the story leaving nothing out. GG becomes visibly irritated as I share the Mitzi incident.
“The nerve of that girl. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself. You get your spunkiness from my side of the family.” I hear her mumble something under her breath that sounded like ‘nasty bitch’and smile inside knowing she’s always got my back. We converse about a few other things and have a nice breakfast together. It’s a Saturday so I don’t have to work today. The Book Mark is always slow on Saturday’s. “You’re young, enjoy your free time,” Barb says, so she lets me have weekends off. I start to think about what I should do today, when I hear Layla’s ringtone. I grab my phone off the counter where I tossed it last night beside my keys.
“Hey you, what’s going on?” I ask. Hopefully Layla and I can do something today to get my mind off of Derrick.
“Jenks, good, you’re up. I got a message from Derrick this morning. He asked me for your number so he can call you. Is it ok for me to give it to him?” She knows I was upset last night, but after talking through it with her I agreed to let Derrick make things up to me. We never had the time to exchange numbers because of bitch face, Mitzi.
“He asked for my number?” I hesitantly inquire.
“Yeah, Mr. Marvelous with the stalker wench asked for your number. So, yes or no? I’ve got to answer him.” I agree to let her give out my phone number and she assures me she’s going to read him the riot act before he gets my digits. When Layla feels like she’s been fooled, it’s never a good thing. I hang up with her and go back to my room to get dressed for the day; Clyde following at my heels. He jumps up and fluffs the blankets to make himself a nest on my unmade bed. I choose my outfit; a pair of bleached out skinny jeans and an off-the-shoulder black sweater. Just as I’m brushing my hair, my phone rings, displaying an unknown number. Taking a deep breath, I answer.