by J. O Mantel
Sienna closed the door, locking it behind her, she could hear her phone ringing, she looked down at the caller on the screen, it was Lukas.
Jake finished unpacking his belongings when Sienna burst into his room, throwing her arms around him.
“Welcome home!” She said.
“Wow! What's this for?” He asked.
“Can't a girl give her best friend a hug?”
“Of course you can,” he said. He could feel his cock twitch as her body rubbed against his.
“Good! Then shut up and just enjoy the moment. Besides, I've missed you.”
“I've only been gone a month. It's not like it's been years since we've seen each other.”
“I know that, but you and I have hardly been separated for more than a day before,” she replied.
She had a point, this was the first time the two of them had been apart for a long period of time since moving in together. He missed her too, more than he would like to admit to her. It drove him crazy not being able to see her every day and he was glad that she was there in his arms at that moment.
“I would ask you how it all went, but I want to save it for tonight.”
“Tonight?” He asked, confused by her remark.
“Yeah! I've invited Ivy and Dick over for dinner. Ivy's been waiting for you to come home. She's missed you too and we want to hear all about the concert, and everything else. I hope you don't mind.”
“Mind? Why would I mind?”
“Well, I know you've only just gotten home and you probably want to just chill and relax.”
“I am a little tired actually, but nothing that a good cup of coffee won't fix.” She smiled at him at once and she was quick to her feet.
“Way ahead of you,” she said, leaving the bedroom.
He sat on the sofa in his jeans and a Tee holding a small package. Sienna handed him his coffee and sat down beside him.
“Oh! This is for you,” he said, handing her the package.
“What is it?”
“Open it,” he said, sipping his coffee.
Sienna grabbed the package and tore it open. “Oh my god! Jake, this is awesome,” she said, holding up the black Tee. It had all four band members on the front with the words Lightning Ridge written across the center in a metallic blue font. It had been autographed by all four band members, including Jake.
“This is beautiful, thank you!” She turned and hugged him once more.
“Wait! There's more,” he said, handing her another package.
“What!”
“You thought that was awesome, wait till you see this.”
Once again she tore open the packaging and pulled out another Tee, only this one was white.
She unfolded it and let out a soft squeal. He had surprised her with an exclusive Dark Falkon Tee. The words Dark Falkon were printed on the front. Her eyes widened when she saw that it had been signed by every member of the band including Lukas Dark.
The back of the Tee had all their tour dates printed in the center.
“Jake! Oh my god, I love you,” she said, throwing her arms around him once more. “Seriously, this is the best present I've ever received, thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek and went back to admiring her Tee.
“I can't believe you got them all to sign it.”
“Well, it wasn't that hard really, I mean, we were on tour, together.”
“I know that, but I just can't believe they actually signed it. So, you met Lukas then?” She asked, sipping her coffee.
“Yeah! I did.”
“And??”
“And what?”
Sienna looked at him in a way that told Jake he knew exactly what she meant.
“I'll admit, in the brief thirty seconds that we spoke, he was ok.”
“Just ok?”
“Don't push it,” he said.
“Sorry! But I mean come on, it's Lukas Dark and Dark Falkon.”
“I know, Sienna, I know, but I still can't work out what you see in the guy. And I know, I'm a guy and-”
“You wouldn't get it,” they both said, together, laughing.
“But I do.”
They finished their coffees and there was a knock on the door.
“I'll get it,” Jake called, getting off the sofa. He opened the door, Ivy and Dick stood in frame.
“Hey!” He said, leaning forward and kissing Ivy.
“Hi, welcome home,” she said, returning the kiss.
“Hey, Richard,” Jake held out his hand, greeting him with a shake.
“Hey, Jake. And please, call me Dick!”
They headed into the living room and sat down. Sienna appeared out of the kitchen and greeted them both with a kiss.
“Dinner's almost ready,” she said, sitting down and joining them.
“What's for dinner?” Ivy asked.
“Momma's classic meatloaf, glazed with barbecue sauce.”
“Yum!” Ivy said, wetting her lips.
“And for dessert, we have New York style cheesecake.”
“Mmmm. My Mom makes that often, it's our favorite desert. Wow! Sienna, you really know how to melt a man's heart with food,” Dick laughed.
The alarm on the oven sounded, informing Sienna that her meatloaf was ready. She placed the serving tray on the table with the roasted potatoes and sat down with the others. They all dished up their plates and made a toast as they enjoyed their meal.
“Mmmm! Sienna, this is delicious,” Dick said.
“Thank you.”
“So, Jake! We're all dying to know, how was the tour?” Ivy asked, sipping her wine.
“Oh, it was ok!” He replied, hoping she would drop the subject, the last thing he wanted was to talk about the tour. Once he told them that they were the support act for Dark Falkon he would have to sit there for the rest of the night and listen to Sienna rave about how wonderful Lukas Dark was. Not to mention the amount of times he would hear “I told you so” from Sienna.
“Just ok?” Dick asked, confused.
“Come on, you and I both know that it was better than ok,” Sienna continued.
“Seriously, it was okay. No big deal, really.”
“Jake!”
“What?” He replied. Slightly annoyed, he really didn't want to talk about this, not now.
“Oh for fuck sakes stop being so stubborn and tell them what happened, or I will,” Sienna demanded.
“Fine!” Jake replied, unfortunately admitting defeat. “Well, the band and I were on tour and the agent that was representing us told us that he had some awesome news. He had received a phone call from Dark Falkon's management saying that they had seen us perform at several gigs and they wanted us to be the opening act for Dark Falkon's concert in Japan.”
“Holy shit!” Ivy blurted out, almost chocking on her food.
“Come again?” Dick said, turning to Jake.
“Yeah! So, the band and I headed to Japan and sure enough, there we were, playing the same concert as Dark Falkon.”
Ivy's eyes lit up, she looked at him. He turned towards her also, acknowledging her, he knew exactly what she was thinking. Of all the people that Jake had the opportunity to meet and work with, it had to be the one guy that he felt threatened by, Lukas Dark.
“So, you met Lukas Dark?” Dick asked.
There was slight tension on the table before Jake answered him, the name made him cringe.
“Yep!”
“That's great, Jake. Congratulations, that's a big deal. If an agent saw that, who knows what prospects could open for you,” Ivy replied, trying to ease the tension that she too now noticed.
“What's he like?” Dick asked.
Ivy nudged Dick in the ribs with her elbow, she could have slapped him there and then for asking that question.
“Ouch! What was that for?” Dick asked, nursing his rib.
“I'll explain later,” Ivy whispered.
“He's ok, I guess. I didn't really get the chance to speak to him. He just introduced himself, signed so
me autographs and then it was basically all over.”
This prompted Sienna to get out of her seat and walk to her room. She returned a few seconds later holding the t-shirts that Jake had handed her earlier. She unfolded them and held up the first one from Lightning Ridge.
“Wow! This is amazing,” Ivy said, as Sienna handed her the t-shirt to look at.
“Jake, this is really cool, bud,” Dick added.
“Thanks.”
“Oh look, he's even signed it,” Ivy said, noticing his signature on the front.
Sienna then unfolded the Dark Falkon t-shirt and held it against her chest. Ivy's eyes widened and she almost fell out of her chair as Sienna threw the shirt at her.
“You fucking lucky bitch,” she said, noticing Lukas's signature on the front.
Jake got out of his seat and went to his room, he then returned holding two packages.
“Did you honestly think I would forget about you, Ivy?” He said, throwing the shirts at her.
“Oh my god! Jake, thank you,” she squealed, kissing him on the cheek.
“Sorry Dick, I wasn't sure if you'd want one.”
“It's fine, seriously,” Dick said.
The four of them finished their meatloaf and Sienna placed the New York style cheesecake in the center of the table.
“Sienna, this looks amazing,” Ivy told her, admiring the cake.
“Well it should, she's been cooking all afternoon,” Jake added.
“So Jake, what happens now, I mean are there any more tours in the pipeline?” Ivy asked, shoveling a tablespoon of cheesecake into her mouth.
“At this stage, we really just want to take a break actually. We've been travelling for the last month and we want to have some time to ourselves. After that, we have a few more gigs and charity benefits. Then we just wait and see, I guess.”
“I can't believe you've gotten this far. I mean, only recently we were telling you that you should send your music into an agent, and now you're touring with some big name artists. We're all so proud of you,” Sienna said. Ivy smiled, “Well, it looks like tonight's dinner has turned into a little celebration,” she raised her glass, “To Jake.”
Sienna and Dick raised their glasses, “To Jake,” they all said aloud as he raised his glass and the four of them drank some wine.
It was a couple of hours later when Ivy and Dick decided that it was time to go home. They thanked Sienna for the beautiful meal and Ivy thanked Jake for her gifts.
“Thanks for the t-shirts. Congratulations again,” she said, embracing him with a hug.
“Goodnight, Jake! Congrats again,” Dick held out his hand, firmly shaking Jake's.
“Thanks guys, goodnight,” he said as Ivy and Dick walked out the door.
“So do you mind telling me what all that was about, earlier?” Dick asked as they walked back to Ivy's place.
“What do you mean?”
“Earlier, when you nearly broke my ribs,” he said.
“I was just warning you to shut up about the whole Jake, Lukas and Sienna thing.”
“Seriously, those two need to sort their shit out and get their acts together.”
“Somehow I don't think that's going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Well...something else kind of happened at the meet and greet.”
“Like what?”
“You remember the other day when she called me and you told me to head over there?”
“Yeah!”
“Well, she called me over there because she wanted my advice on something.”
Dick nodded in acknowledgement.
“Basically, at the meet and greet she and Lukas kind of got up close and personal after I left.”
“Babe, I’m not following.”
“They exchanged details. Well, she gave him her number.”
“So?”
“He's been texting her since the concert. I saw the messages on her phone.”
“And you believe that it's actually him?”
“She and I both thought the same thing at the start. Then she told me that he knew about a specific jacket that she was wearing, right down to the fine details. Dick, in all honesty, there's no way anyone else could have known about that jacket unless they were in the same room with us.”
“Ok, so he's sent her a message, so what?”
The two of them stopped walking and looked at each other.
“She broke things off with Jesse. Even though they weren't officially together, she ended their little fling. She wants to start seeing Lukas.”
“What?” Dick asked, slightly laughing at how ridiculous this all sounded.
Ivy was silent.
“You're serious aren't you?”
“Yep!”
“It could never work out with the two of them.”
“Why not, Dick? I mean think about it, he's single, she's single, and they've already made contact. Just because he's a rock star, does that make it impossible for him to date?”
“Not impossible, I guess, but maybe difficult.”
“In her head, I guess Sienna's thought all that through. Lukas is the one guy that she has been obsessing over since the band started out. He's always been her first crush, her one true love. Before I met you, the two of us were talking about settling down, Sienna was saying that she doesn't have time to date. She was always saying that she was concentrating on her career. She's not young anymore, Dick, maybe, just maybe this is the happiness that she deserves.”
They started walking again, “Since I've known you, Ivy, I've never heard you speak about Sienna's love life before. Does it really mean that much to you?”
“Sienna is old enough to make her own decisions. Like I said, I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Lukas, but he did seem like a genuinely nice guy. Maybe this could all work out for her.”
They reached Ivy's place, her parents had gone to New Orleans for a week, so she had the whole place to herself. She leaned forward and kissed him, her tongue met his.
“I have the place to myself, fancy an adult sleepover?” She teased, unlocking the door.
She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Closing the door behind him, Dick held Ivy against the door. With every touch of his body against hers, she could feel the sensation running through her body.
“Let's go into my room,” she moaned, leading the way.
####FRIENDSHIP####
The following morning, Jake lay awake with his hands behind his head. He could hear Sienna breathing heavily through the walls. He smiled, hearing her breathing like that, was probably the most pleasant thing at the moment.
He jumped out of bed, his boxers sitting just below his waistline. He walked out into the kitchen and grabbed some juice out of the fridge. Yawning, he made his way over to the sofa and scanned through the channels, trying to be quiet.
Sienna appeared a few minutes later, yawning, she too headed for the kitchen.
“Coffee?” She called.
“Thanks! I'd love one.”
Jake could hear the sound of the kettle being switched on. As Sienna walked over to him, his eyes got the better of him and wandered in her direction. She was braless, her shirt rested just above her thighs and as always, she wasn't wearing any underwear.
“What are you watching?” Sienna asked, as the television changed to a documentary about P!NK.
“Nothing, I just switched it on to tell you the truth.”
The kettle sounded and Sienna got to her feet. She made the coffees and then sat down beside Jake on the sofa, again.
Neither of them said much, they drank their coffee and stared at the television set.
“Excuse me,” Sienna yawned.
“Bit tired, are we?”
“I am actually, but I don't know why. I was in bed earlier than you last night.”
“You have been working a lot lately, maybe you're just overworked and your body needs some rest, and it is Sunday.”
“Yeah, I guess. Work is just full on at th
e moment and I have a lot on my mind.”
“Anything you want to talk about?” Jake asked.
“It’s just this guy.”
“You mean, Jesse?”
She had been staring at the TV the whole time, she finally turned her attention to Jake.
“Oh, shit! I forgot I didn't tell you.”
“Tell me what?” He was slightly intrigued.
“I ended things with Jesse.”
“What? When did this happen?” He tried to hide the slight happiness that he suddenly felt.
“Some time ago now, it happened shortly after the Dark Falkon concert.”
“Did something happen?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Wait! Did he hurt you?” Jake asked.
“Oh god no! Nothing like that.”
Relief swept over Jake's face. “So what happened?”
“I kind of met someone. It just wasn't right to continue anything with Jesse. I mean, it's not like we were dating anyway. But I couldn't cheat on him regardless.”
“Wow! So this guy, anyone I know?”
Sienna stood up and walked into the kitchen, pouring herself some more coffee.
“Sienna?”
“What?”
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing!”
“Then who is he?”
She still remained quiet as she headed back over to the sofa.
“Sienna, what's going on?”
“Promise you won't judge?”
He looked at her, slightly concerned and intrigued at the same time.
“What is it?”
“I'm kind of seeing Lukas Dark.”
Jake's eyes widened, he stared at Sienna, giving her that “you can't be serious” look.
“There it is. That look! I was waiting for it,” she said.
“What do you mean, you're kind of seeing Lukas?”
Sienna slid closer to Jake, her thigh brushing against his. He could feel the throbbing between his legs.
“At the meet and greet, Ivy disappeared. She left to go to the bathroom and she never returned. Anyway, Lukas and I spent a lot of time together and we got pretty close. I had a photo taken with him and as I was leaving, he told me that out of all his female fans that he's ever met, I was the most beautiful. I know what you're going to say, and before you do, I thought the exact same thing, that's so cliché. But the more he spoke, the more fascinated I was with him.”