The next morning, Annailse was awake by nine. Jade was sprawled out on the bed, lost in a deep sleep. She had been out with Howie until at least three in the morning. Annalise had just stepped out of the bathroom after a long bubblebath when a loud knock sounded at the door. Annalise tied the belt of her robe tighter around her waist and ran to the door. Her heart lept into her throat when she opened it to see AJ standing on the other side.
"What are you doing here?," she whispered, "Jade is still asleep."
"So? I'm not here to see Jade."
"Then what do you want?"
"You...no not like that," he added, smiling as he noticed her cheeks flush with color. "I'm going shopping, and I need a woman's opinion. Will you come with me?"
"I can't...Jade and I were going to...um...going to...uh..."
One dark eyerbrow arched as he leaned against the doorframe, waiting to hear her excuse.
"As soon as Jade wakes up," she tried again, "Uh...we're going to Disneyworld! That's it...we're going to Disney."
AJ grinned, "Uh huh...sure you are. I happen to know that Jade probably won't be awake for a very long time, and when she does get up, she'll have a hang over from hell. You wanna go to Disney? I'll take you to Disney."
"No...really...she'll be up in a few minutes. She's fine...she's not hungover."
"Prove it."
"What?"
"Prove it."
She glared at him, "Okay...fine."
She let him in, then led him into the bedroom where Jade was. AJ stood in the doorway and watched as Annalise crossed the room and gently shook her friend.
"Jade...wake up...come on Jay, get up...we have to go to Disney." Jade made an unintelligable noise and rolled over. Annalise shook her again, then pulled the blanket off of her, laughing at the smiley face boxers she wore.
"Jay...please get up," she pleaded, "we can't go to Disney if you don't wake up." Jade finally rolled over and glared at Annalise through squinted eyes.
"What? What the hell are you talking about? We aren't going to Disney," Jade said, her voice groggy.
"Yes we are...now get up!," Annalise demanded.
"No! I'm not goin' anywhere! Now leave me the fuck alone...I'm too hungover to go to Disney today...we'll go tomorrow Anna, I promise." She rolled back over and pulled the pillow back over her head. Annalise glanced helplessly at AJ. The smirk on his face said it all.
"Give me ten minutes," she muttered.
"Bring your bathing suit," he said, then he left the room, closing the door behind him. She dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of baggy jeans and a red t-shirt with the words "Super Bitch" emblazoned across the front in black letters, then she stuffed her blue bikini into her backpack. She left her long hair down, cascading around her shoulders in a shiny black wave. She left the room and found AJ sitting on the sofa, leafing through an old copy of Rolling Stone.
"Remind me again why I'm doing this," she stated angrily.
He jumped, exclaiming, "Jesus Lise! You scared me half to death!"
"Good...let me go back and try it again...maybe I can go for the other half."
"Oh quit bitching," he said, "let's go." Once in the car, she tried to ignore him, wondering why on earth she had agreed to come with him. "I think this is definitely too personal," she muttered, rolling the window down as she lit a cigarette.
"So what? Can't we get too personal? Just this once?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I already told you why...and you agreed to it, remember?"
"Yeah...I know. But maybe it would be okay Lise. Just this once?"
"No...and stop caling me that."
"Why...is that too personal too?"
"Yes."
"You're going to be the death of me yet," he muttered, turning the radio up.
She reached over and turned it back down again. "And what is that supposed to mean?," she snappped.
"Nothing...it's just that...I'm sleeping with you and I hardly know anything about you."
"That's the arrangement."
"Yeah well...I figured that maybe we could forget the arrangement, or whatever it is, and act like normal people. Just this once...just for today."
She didn't say anything for a long time. It certainly sounded appealing...to act like he was more than just the guy she'd been to bed with twice. Her head told her to say no, to be as cold and uncaring as she had been, to say nothing to him unless she had to. But something else wanted her to say yes. She was apalled to discover that she actually wanted to have a conversation with him. An actual conversation, not just pleasantries exchanged for the sake of appearance or whispered words in the dark. She didn't even care what it was about.
"Just this once?," she asked softly.
"Just this once," he repeated, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
The floodgates seemed to burst open then, and soon they were talking as though they had known each other forever. It seemed they had a common love for musical theater. She stopped herself in midsentence when he stopped the car. They were in front of his house.
"What are we doing here?," she asked, eyeing him skeptically.
"Isn't it a little late to start worrying about me taking advantage of you?" He got out of the car before she could reply. She followed him reluctantly, agitated and amused at the same time. She didn't ask again, she just followed him into the house. When he told her to change into her bathing suit, she did as he asked. He was already in the pool when she came out, sunlight glistened off the droplets of water clinging to his chest. His eyes followed her movements as she slid into the water. She sat on the steps hesitantly, wondering why he wasn't saying anything. Finally she blurted out, "So what else do you want to know...about me, I mean?"
He swam over to her and stood in front of her, lifting her hands to kiss her fingertips. "What are you so afraid of?"
"What makes you think that I'm afraid of something?"
"Aren't you?"
"Aren't you?," she countered.
"You're aren't going to answer me are you?"
She grinned, "Nope...let's talk about something else now."
She swam away from him, splashing him in the face with water as she kicked her feet. He swam after her, changing the subject to something else. They stayed in the pool for a long time, playing and talking about everything. He told her about his mother, and how he got into the music business, then some ridiculous tour stories that had her laughing so hard she thought her sides would split. She told him about growing up in Texas, about how Jade used to babysit her as a child when her family vacationed in Florida, and about the huge Victorian house she lived in. They got out of the pool, with Annalise complaining that her fingers were starting to look like raisins. As they stretched out on deck chairs to soak up the sun, she felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. She liked being with him. He made her laugh, something she hadn't done enough of in the last three years.
They spent the day like that, hanging around his house, talking about anything and everything they could think of. When he brought up his past relationships, she knew it was his way of trying to get her to talk about hers. She changed the subject instead. They ordered Chinese food for lunch, then ate it in front of the tv, watching movies on HBO. When Annalise fell asleep on the floor, AJ studied her face intently. She looked almost angelic as she slept, the tension left her face. He resisted the urge to run his fingers through her hair, and let her sleep until five that afternoon, then he gently shook her awake.
"Lise...wake up," he said softly.
Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing her drowsy green eyes.
"AJ?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I stay?"
Her question caught him off guard. That was the last thing he expected her to say.
"If you want to," he replied. She nodded and caught his hand. He helped her up off the foor and she followed him to his bedroom like a zombie.
"How much sleep did you get last night?", he asked. She merely shrugged in response. The minute her head hit the
pillow, she was asleep again. AJ brushed her wild hair away from her face, then draped the covers over her. He kissed
her forehead, then went back downstairs. He turned the tv off and locked up, then returned to his bedroom. She didn't
move a muscle when he slipped into bed beside her. He watched her for hours before he finally drifted off, holding
one of her hands to his chest.
Links to other sites on the Web
To Chapter 13
Back to CONTENTS
© 1997 crunkgrl62382@yahoo.com
Get your own Free Home Page