‹ Prequel: Cocky Brat
Where Are We Going?
Silence
Vanessa sat quietly on the air plane as the flight attendants gave the instructions of what to do in an event of a crash, but she couldn’t care less. The events of the past few hours just kept replaying in her head. Her mother drove her to the air port, she had wanted Joey to do so but they got in a fight the night before. She was expecting go for dinner, have some going away sex then a hopefully painless goodbye at the air port. In reality Joey and Vanessa went out for dinner and didn’t say a word to each other, then when they were back at her apartment she finally decided to coax a conversation out of Joey. He completely lashed out about her going to work on the other side of the country and not give two shits about where they were going. She found this an ironic turn of tables since she was wondering the same things earlier that month. Crappy dinner, no sex and a fucked up goodbye.
Meanwhile back in San Francisco Joey sat bitterly on the couch chucking pennies into an empty Big Gulp cup.
“Its all about her.” He mutters as he chucks a penny, “What about us,” he chucks another, “Long distance relationships don’t work,” chucks a penny yet again.
Francis walks into the room and slumps next to him.
“Gimme some pennies.” He says holding out his hand. Joey puts four or five in his roommates hand.
“Fuck.” Joey says as he chucks a penny and misses the cup completely.
“What’s eating you?” Francis asks chucking a penny accurately into the cup.
“Ness left for the fucking job interview in fucking Boston.”
“So? Won’t she be back in a couple of days?”
“Yeah but if she gets the goddamn job then she’ll move there.”
“So?”
“I’m here!” Joey exclaims.
“Yeah, so?” Francis asks, “Oh wait the sex.”
“Not only the sex the, the, the.” But he can’t think of anything, he didn’t want to believe that the only thing they had going for them is sex. He liked to think they were more meaningful then that, don’t get him wrong he loved the sex, it was great sex.
“The what?” his roommate asked as he flipped on the TV.
“Well like the relationship.” He manages to stammer.
“So like you guys have phones and instant messaging and shit so you should be okay. I mean how long’s the gig?”
“I have no idea.” Joey grumbles.
“Worse comes to worse you guys break up, life moves on.” Francis says bluntly, “I mean the chick down the hall has been eyeing you forever now.”
“You’re an ass you know that?”
“Lighten up, I’m just messing with you.”
In her hotel room Vanessa contemplated calling Joey to tell him that she got to Boston okay. She finally picked up the phone and dialed the area code, but just as she was about to press the first 6 in Joey’s number she dialed an 8 instead and called her mother.
“Hello?” her mother’s voice rang out.
“Hey Mom, it’s me, just calling to say I got here alright.”
“That’s good,” her mother says calmly, “So was Joey in a better mood when you called him?”
“I uh, didn’t call him yet.”
“Well you should, he was probably just stressed out.”
“Yeah.” Ness says taking a deep breath.
“So what’s the hotel like?”
“The hotel is great.” Ness laughs, “I got this huge ass room in this ritzy hotel, and man you shoulda seen the airplane, business class is so much better than coach. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to flying coach.”
“Well when you’re CEO you won’t have too.” Kathleen jokes.
“Oh yeah.” Ness laughs, “And I’m taking it that at that point I’ll have to send you first class on vacation every year?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ll send me on vacation every three months.” Kathleen laughs hard, “I gotta keep my tan up.”
With many more laughs and jokes about being rich and successful the conversation comes to an end.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later,” Kathleen pauses, “And call Joey.”
“Ermph.”
“Communication is key in a relationship.” She lectures.
“I know, I’m just sort of pissed at him for being a spoiled brat.”
“Well try looking at it from his point of view.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Vanessa hung up the phone then picked it up again. She stared at the keypad then hung up the phone again.
“Just call him.” she murmurs to herself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Her fingers drum against the receiver and she finally gathers to motivation to call Joey. It rings, she tries to keep calm, it rings again, she worries that he’s screening her calls, it rings a third time, he wasn’t going to answer, a fourth, she’s just about ready to slam the phone down.
“Hi Ness.” Someone says quietly.
“Joey.” She says inhaling deeply, “I uh, I got to Boston alright.”
“Uhh that’s good.” Joey says monotonously, “So when’s your interview?”
“Tomorrow afternoon,” she says robotically, “I’m getting kind of nervous.”
“You’ll do fine.” He says like he had a million times before, “Do you want me to pick you up from the air port on Friday?”
“Yeah, that would be great.” There’s a long silence, neither of them knew what to say.
“So yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Joey says finally.
“Yeah.” Ness replies as they both hang up their phones, no ice breaking jokes and most of all no ‘I love you’s.
Meanwhile back in San Francisco Joey sat bitterly on the couch chucking pennies into an empty Big Gulp cup.
“Its all about her.” He mutters as he chucks a penny, “What about us,” he chucks another, “Long distance relationships don’t work,” chucks a penny yet again.
Francis walks into the room and slumps next to him.
“Gimme some pennies.” He says holding out his hand. Joey puts four or five in his roommates hand.
“Fuck.” Joey says as he chucks a penny and misses the cup completely.
“What’s eating you?” Francis asks chucking a penny accurately into the cup.
“Ness left for the fucking job interview in fucking Boston.”
“So? Won’t she be back in a couple of days?”
“Yeah but if she gets the goddamn job then she’ll move there.”
“So?”
“I’m here!” Joey exclaims.
“Yeah, so?” Francis asks, “Oh wait the sex.”
“Not only the sex the, the, the.” But he can’t think of anything, he didn’t want to believe that the only thing they had going for them is sex. He liked to think they were more meaningful then that, don’t get him wrong he loved the sex, it was great sex.
“The what?” his roommate asked as he flipped on the TV.
“Well like the relationship.” He manages to stammer.
“So like you guys have phones and instant messaging and shit so you should be okay. I mean how long’s the gig?”
“I have no idea.” Joey grumbles.
“Worse comes to worse you guys break up, life moves on.” Francis says bluntly, “I mean the chick down the hall has been eyeing you forever now.”
“You’re an ass you know that?”
“Lighten up, I’m just messing with you.”
In her hotel room Vanessa contemplated calling Joey to tell him that she got to Boston okay. She finally picked up the phone and dialed the area code, but just as she was about to press the first 6 in Joey’s number she dialed an 8 instead and called her mother.
“Hello?” her mother’s voice rang out.
“Hey Mom, it’s me, just calling to say I got here alright.”
“That’s good,” her mother says calmly, “So was Joey in a better mood when you called him?”
“I uh, didn’t call him yet.”
“Well you should, he was probably just stressed out.”
“Yeah.” Ness says taking a deep breath.
“So what’s the hotel like?”
“The hotel is great.” Ness laughs, “I got this huge ass room in this ritzy hotel, and man you shoulda seen the airplane, business class is so much better than coach. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to flying coach.”
“Well when you’re CEO you won’t have too.” Kathleen jokes.
“Oh yeah.” Ness laughs, “And I’m taking it that at that point I’ll have to send you first class on vacation every year?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ll send me on vacation every three months.” Kathleen laughs hard, “I gotta keep my tan up.”
With many more laughs and jokes about being rich and successful the conversation comes to an end.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later,” Kathleen pauses, “And call Joey.”
“Ermph.”
“Communication is key in a relationship.” She lectures.
“I know, I’m just sort of pissed at him for being a spoiled brat.”
“Well try looking at it from his point of view.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Vanessa hung up the phone then picked it up again. She stared at the keypad then hung up the phone again.
“Just call him.” she murmurs to herself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Her fingers drum against the receiver and she finally gathers to motivation to call Joey. It rings, she tries to keep calm, it rings again, she worries that he’s screening her calls, it rings a third time, he wasn’t going to answer, a fourth, she’s just about ready to slam the phone down.
“Hi Ness.” Someone says quietly.
“Joey.” She says inhaling deeply, “I uh, I got to Boston alright.”
“Uhh that’s good.” Joey says monotonously, “So when’s your interview?”
“Tomorrow afternoon,” she says robotically, “I’m getting kind of nervous.”
“You’ll do fine.” He says like he had a million times before, “Do you want me to pick you up from the air port on Friday?”
“Yeah, that would be great.” There’s a long silence, neither of them knew what to say.
“So yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Joey says finally.
“Yeah.” Ness replies as they both hang up their phones, no ice breaking jokes and most of all no ‘I love you’s.