“The girl has no class!” Melissa yelled. “And why can’t she pull her head out of her ass and quit thinking about her dumb boyfriend for one minute? If you don’t get that money back, sue her ass!” Elise hadn’t heard her sister cuss like this since she had become a mother. Clearly, her hormones were raging in the last part of her pregnancy. Talking about Justine with someone else made her even more angry and for some reason seeing her sister’s anger just fueled her irritation.
She decided to change the subject. “Well, I should be on my way.”
On the way home Max called her. “What are you up to tonight?” he said. “I have to go to The Casbah to do sound for The Dragons. But why don’t you stop by?”
She was not only happy that she would get to see him before their dinner date on Sunday but ecstatic that he, too, wanted to see her before Sunday. She was so glad he wasn’t the type of guy that played games, or that she wouldn’t end up borrowing Carly’s copy of He’s Just Not That Into You. He was into her, and after her day with Jeffrey she couldn’t think of a better way to spend the evening.
He’d told her to call him when she was parking, so he could come outside and meet her. She was sort of glad he’d made the suggestion because The Casbah wasn’t located in the friendliest part of town. It was situated just minutes from the airport and located in a neighborhood similar to her old one. She called him on his cell phone, and he waited on the corner for her while she parked.
He kissed her on the cheek when they found each other. She caught the same whiff of mint and leather. “Nice jacket,” he said.
She had stopped at the mall on the way home from babysitting and splurged on a velvet jacket with gathered sleeves. She’d also found a pair of delicious Marc Jacobs heels on sale at Nordstrom. The pink peep-toe heels were a little steep, but it was Max, she’d told herself.
“You look cute.”
“Thank you.” But drinks won’t be on me tonight, she wanted to add. If he only knew.
The bar was dim but had a red glow cast over it, and she noticed some goats’ heads painted on the wall. So it wouldn’t be up Marge’s alley, but it was a mecca for local rock bands.
They chatted on stools in the back. Then he taught her how to play pool while the opening band played. She decided there might not be anything sexier than a man with a pool stick. Watching him lean over the table to concentrate on his shot stirred visions of him hovering over her, and she wondered what he would look like with no clothes on.
“Here,” he said, coming up behind her. “Aim to the left, and you’ll get that shot.” His hands brushed over her arms as he helped her reposition her pool stick. She knew she didn’t look nearly as skilled or sexy with a cue, but she didn’t mind him touching her.
He seemed to know everyone, and he introduced Elise to all his friends.
She would’ve stayed all night, but he was going to be doing the sound for for the headlining band and she didn’t want him to feel like he had to entertain her. When she left, he walked her to her car. She felt her stomach turn with butterflies at the thought of him kissing her good-bye.
She pulled her keys out and stood beneath the streetlight. “Well, are we still on for Sunday?” she asked.
“Of course.” Then he lowered his head slowly, and without giving it much thought, she moved toward him. He was a fantastic kisser, very little tongue and mostly soft lips. She loved feeling the roughness of his soul patch on her chin.
He pulled her into his arms, and she felt him get hard right there in the alley near The Casbah. If she wasn’t concerned about the drug addict going through the trash ten feet away from them, she probably would’ve pulled him into the backseat of her bug and taken his clothes off right there beneath the glow of a streetlight. “You should probably get back to work,” she said as he kissed her forehead.
He looked down at the bulge in his pants, and they both started laughing. He waited until her car was started and she had pulled out of her space before heading back to The Casbah.
She smelled beer as she walked up the staircase. She expected to see a dozen random people passed out on their couches, but to her relief the party had apparently dissipated. However, a load of evidence remained. Dozens of beer cans littered the coffee table. A bag of potato chips lay on the floor, its contents scattered like shards of glass all over the carpet. She stepped over a spilled beer and headed to the kitchen.
She wanted tuna. Ever since she went to the horse races her appetite had gone on vacation, and she had started craving the strangest things at the oddest times. She’d lost weight, too. Just this morning she’d caught a glimpse of herself laughing in the mirror and was thrilled to see that the little ridges in her neck were showing, rather than the double chin she’d caught sight of only a month ago.
She opened a can of tuna, and since there were no clean bowls, she decided to eat straight from the can. She washed a fork, then took her low-carb meal to the couch. Fargo was on, and she watched the tail end of the movie while eating. Fargo was one of those movies she could never get sick of watching. She’d probably seen it thirty times and still got excited when it was on television.
When she got up from the couch she felt as if her hair had gotten wedged between a couple of couch cushions. She reached her hands back to feel what it was and release her hair and quickly withdrew when her fingertips touched something sticky. It felt like gum. Her suspicions were confirmed when she smelled her fingertips and got a blast of icy mint.
The last time she had gum in her hair had been in preschool. She couldn’t remember the specific incident, just that her mother had tried for several minutes to slip the strawberry pink gum from Elise’s hair with peanut butter. She’d gotten most of it out but eventually had to pull out the scissors and snip a small lock from Elise’s head. The damage had lasted a lifetime, because their family portraits were taken the following week, and Elise looked as if she had cut her own hair.
What would Max think the next time he saw her and one lock of hair was several inches shorter than the rest? She would have to cut her hair short and would look like a boy. She immediately went for the peanut butter. It wasn’t hers, but she didn’t care. She unscrewed the lid and noticed several blobs of various jelly flavors and streaks of greasy butter around the top of their Skippy. Wiping the knife clean before dipping into the peanut butter was just too much work for them. She used a wooden spoon to dish out some peanut butter and then rubbed it generously between her fingers.
She worked hard, rubbing it like grease into her hair where the gum was stuck. It took several minutes, but she actually felt like she was making some progress. She headed to her bedroom for a comb. She’d started stashing most of her toiletries in there after she’d noticed blonde silky hairs in the teeth of her hairbrush a few days earlier.
She passed a small pile of cat shit outside Iris’s door and avoided stepping in it. Elise’s bedroom door was closed, as she had left it. When she opened it, she was confused. There was a giant mound beneath her covers. Then she saw a dark mound of hair—no, two mounds of hair. There were people in her bed.
“Ah-hem.” She cleared her throat, and Scrubbles and Bella both looked up at Elise from the floor. Bella ran to Elise and jumped all over her calves. She even released a few yips. However, the dog barking did nothing to wake the two intruders. She looked at their shoes lying next to her bed. His and hers. If they had sex in her bed, she was buying a new mattress.
She cleared her throat again, but they didn’t even stir.
She didn’t know which roommate to blame for this, but due to the cat crap outside Iris’s door, she decided to try Megan first. She carried Bella with her to Megan’s room and held her with one arm while knocking with the other.
She waited, then knocked again. Nothing. Maybe she wasn’t knocking loud enough. She began to bang, and the dog squirmed.
“Geez.” She heard a male voice, groggy and irritated from the bedroom. “Tell her to go away.”
Oh no. Elise wasn’t g
oing anywhere.
She knocked again.
“What?” Megan finally shouted. “What, Iris?”
“It’s not Iris. It’s Elise,” she said as kindly as possible.
Her tone immediately softened. “Oh. Elise, sorry. I thought you were Iris.” She heard footsteps. Then Megan opened the door with a towel around her chest. “What’s up?”
“Well, after getting gum in my hair, I went to my bedroom for a comb and found two people in my bed. Are those your friends in my bed?”
She thought for a moment. “Oh yeah. Uh-huh. They are. Brittany and Hunter slept in your bed. I thought you were staying with Max.” She walked out of her room, holding a towel around her thin body. “I’ll tell them to get out.”
Megan opened Elise’s door. “Hey you guys. Wake up. My roommate is home, and she wants her bed back. You guys have to get out.”
“Okay,” the girl said, squinting from the brightness.
“What time is it?” the guy asked.
“Two o’clock.”
There were no apologies, and they didn’t even really seem to be embarrassed for that matter. Elise was just thankful they were wearing clothes.
After they left she spent an hour removing the gum from her hair. She was tired but relieved that she wouldn’t end up looking like Chynna Phillips in the early days of Wilson Phillips. It was too late to do laundry, so she ended up sleeping on the top of her covers. Bella slept curled against her side, and Scrubbles slept at her feet.
20. Dinner at His Place
Sunday came quickly. She called Carly while she was getting ready. Luckily, she answered the phone. Elise needed some good girl talk before her date with Max.
“He’s having you over for dinner?” Carly asked.
“Yes. He’s cooking.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever even had a guy cook for me before. In fact, half the time they don’t even pay when we go out to eat.” Carly said. “But do you know what this means?”
“He’s comfortable in the kitchen?”
“No. It means he really likes you. Most guys don’t even want the girl to know where they live until at least the tenth date. How many dates have you gone on now?”
“Two, I guess, if you count The Casbah.”
“This is your third date, and he’s having you over to his place. He’s investing time and effort into making you something with his own little hands. It’s so sweet.”
“Or maybe he just wants to get laid, and this is an easy way to get me over to his house.”
“Please. You are so cynical sometimes. He likes you. I can tell. I could tell the night at Winston’s in Ocean Beach.”
“Really?” She didn’t know why she was surprised. She knew he liked her.
“Yes. I even caught him watching you a couple of times.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“I’m sorry. I just forgot. I’ve had a lot on my mind since then.”
“With the project?” She didn’t want to come right out and ask how the project was coming along, but she figured this was a subtle way of getting Carly to tell her.
She was quiet for a moment. “Yeah. With the project. But there—”
“Can you buy us a keg?” Megan asked as she entered Elise’s room. “Oh, and do you mind if we have a party here tonight? Survivor is on.”
“Um. Hold on, Carly.”
“Well, you know what?” Carly said. “Let me just call you back later. My other line is beeping.”
“Well, really. It’ll just take a sec.” She sensed Carly was about to tell her something, as if she had something on her mind.
“I really gotta take the call. So I’ll just talk to you soon. Love ya, hon. Bye.”
Elise was left with a dial tone.
On the way to Max’s loft she stopped for flowers and a bottle of Chianti. She didn’t want to arrive empty-handed. She found a flower stand in North Park next to Ray’s Liquor and chose a bunch of firey orange sunflowers. They were large and thriving and bright with color, and she’d never seem anything like them.
When she arrived at his loft she followed his directions and walked up the steps on the side of the shop. The front door was open, but he had a screen protecting the entrance, and she could smell something delicious cooking. She pressed the doorbell and instead of releasing a melodic ding-dong, it released a loud buzz.
He wore a vintage-looking western shirt, jeans, and he was bare-foot. “Hey thanks,” he said taking the flowers. “These are awesome. I’ve never seen sunflowers this color. And I don’t think I’ve ever received flowers from anyone before.”
His home was tiny but not as bad as Elise had imagined. She pictured him in a studio with a lone mattress in middle and a lightbulb dangling from the ceiling. She’d actually imagined them sitting on the edge of his mattress with plates in their laps and wineglasses resting at their feet. However, the place was completely furnished, with an Art Deco twist. Her heels clicked on his hardwood as she followed him into his tiny kitchen. Maggie nudged Elise’s hand with her nose.
“Someone wants to be petted,” Elise said as she scratched the dog behind the ears.
“You would think that dog was starved for attention the way she goes around nudging people like that. But trust me, she gets plenty of love all day. Have a seat. We can chat while I cook,” he said as he took the wine from her hands.
“Let me help with something. Why don’t I put the flowers in the vase?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“You don’t have a vase. Shoulda known.” She smiled. “Actually, now that I think of it, I don’t even have a vase.”
“Here. We can use this.” He pulled a cardboard milk carton off the top of the counter. “I just emptied it. It was headed to the recycle pile.”
He gave her a pair of scissors, and she cut the top of the carton off. “Very shabby chic,” she said as she set the flowers on the table. “So what are we having?”
“Chicken curry.” He stirred something luscious and creamy looking in a saucepan, and she felt an urge to throw her legs around his waist and make out with him right there over his dish.
“So tell me about your new roommates,” he said as he put the wooden spoon down. He reached for the bottle of Chianti she brought over.
“Well, they’re in college, so I think they’re still in that phase when getting wasted and puking in someone’s car is okay. But they seem nice enough.”
He handed her a glass of wine. “I hope you’re hungry,” he said as he carried two heaping plates of food to the table.
They ate at his tiny table, and by the time they were finished, Elise realized they had gone through two bottles of wine. She could not remember the last time she had felt so happy. Maybe she had forgotten what it was like in the early days with her ex-boyfriend, Tim, but she didn’t think she’d ever felt this way before. It seemed like there weren’t enough hours in the night, and she truly did not want it to end.
They tried to watch a movie but ended up talking throughout most of it. By the end, Elise wasn’t even really sure what the plot had been about. They talked about their families and places they’d traveled, too. Except for Alaska and both Dakotas, Max had been to almost every single state. Touring with this band had led him all over the country.
“That must have been so much fun. I always wanted to go on one huge road trip all over the country. See Graceland and The Alamo. I’ve even kind of wanted to see Mount Rushmore.”
“That is the one place I’ve never seen. Mount Rushmore. Graceland was cool. They won’t let you see any of the bathrooms. And they won’t let you see Elvis’s bedroom.”
“Really?” She imagined Max, looking hotter than ever, following a tour guide through Elvis’s house, looking for some kind of sign of a toilet.
“Rumor has it Elvis died in the bathroom in the master bedroom, and I think he may have died right there on the toilet. That’s why they won’t let you see the bathrooms. It’s actually a really small house.”
> “I never knew he died on the toilet.”
“Well, nobody ever says that. They only say he died in the bathroom. I also saw Loretta Lynn’s house. It’s supposed to be really haunted there. Ghosts from the Civil War. You can swim in her creek, too.”
“So, why’d you leave the band? It seems like it would’ve been so much fun, touring the country with all your friends.”
“There were a lot of reasons.” He reached for the wine and filled both their glasses.
They were on the second bottle, and she hoped her mouth didn’t look like a plum with teeth. Red wine did this to her, and she had several photos where her teeth were stained a deep purple and her lips outlined in wine lip liner.
“It was fun. But I think I really lost myself. The partying, everything. Half my tattoos were done in drunken stupors.”
“Do you regret them?”
“No. What I regret is the way I treated people. I never called my family. And I was engaged.”
Elise swallowed. “You were?”
He nodded. “Yes, I was. And I really messed it up.”
“Did you cheat on her?”
He shook his head. “What really ruined it was just my own stupid selfishness. I just took her for granted while I was away, which was a lot. But let’s not talk about any of this. It’s in the past.”
She felt her stomach turning with nausea. She didn’t want to imagine him engaged. But the other part of her wanted to know more. Was he still in love with this woman? Had he gotten over it?
“So, she was the reason you quit?”
“Not really. I think breaking up with her made me realize a lot. I was gone for eight weeks right before we broke up. I was going on two hours of sleep every night, partying in different towns. She and I were fighting a lot, and when I came back, she told me she had been seeing a guy she worked with. Gave me the ring back, and it was over. I don’t blame her, though. I was a real asshole. She deserved more. And she got it. She married someone else a year later. And I’m happy for her.”
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