La Vie En Rose

“G-spot!!”

I shrieked, jumping so high off my bed, that I lost my balance and toppled over onto the wooden floor. My bedroom door had swung open, revealing a very smug-looking Garrett and Kennedy.

“Jesus!” I exclaimed, clutching onto my chest as I tried to compose myself, “What are you guys doing here!? Better yet, how did you get into my house?”

Garrett hopped up on my bed with a childish grin, “We broke in, obvs.”

“Hey G!” Lola strutted into my room, “I picked up a couple of strays at the mall.”

“Strays, my asshole!” Garrett twisted around so he could glare at my sister.

She merely rolled her eyes and waltzed over to her bedroom, “Whatever! I’m going to Ross’s house.”

“Anyways.” Kennedy intervened as he placed himself on the window seat, “Garrett and I have come to the realization that we’ve seen Lola a lot lately but not so much you. What is that about?”

“Yeah, G-spot.” Garrett looked up at me, “You hiding from us now?”

“No!” I replied, “I’ve just been really busy. Super busy.”

It was only partially true. The last time I saw any of the guys, excluding Ross since he’s at my house practically 24/7, was at Tim Kirch’s party. You could say that I felt like staying under the radar for a while. You could also say that after the party, John had officially bruised my ego. So, for the past week, I decided to take my mind off things by completely focusing on my future clothing line. I wasn’t aware I had so many things to do before going back to New York in January. I was almost up to my eyes with school work/projects, setting up my online store/blog and catching up with emails from editors, who wanted to do interviews & photo shoots for their magazines. I was even behind on finding a stable fashion publicist, who could help me set up a couple of fashion shows in the next coming months.

Maybe the little mishap at Tim’s party was a blessing in disguise? Regardless, my ego was bruised. Permanently.

“Well, we’ve come to kidnap you.” Garrett reached over and pushed the screen of my laptop closed, “For the rest of the day. Ain’t that right, Kenny?”

“We really want to hit your G-spot tonight.” Kennedy winked at me.

I laughed loudly as I stood up and walked over to the closet, “You guys have got to stop calling me that.”

“No way!” Garrett protested, sitting up, “It’s stuck now. You should be thankful you have a nickname! It means we’ve accepted you into our family.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled out my black flats, “Well, at least keep it PG-rated in the casa. We have virgin ears roaming around.”

Lola cut in, thinking I was talking about her, “What makes you think I’m a virgin!?”

The three of us gaped at her, “I was talking about our brother!”

Lola smirked before skipping out of my room.

“She definitely did the nasty with Ross.” Kennedy declared.

“Oh, totally” Garrett agreed.

“Ew no, just stop right there.” I gagged before grabbing my bag, “You guys hungry?”

Kennedy, Garrett and I eventually ended up at a Johnny Rockets in downtown Phoenix. The atmosphere in the restaurant was carefree and untroubled. The walls, a vibrant red and yellow, were covered with old posters that paid homage to the 1950’s sweethearts like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and James Dean.

As the hostess showed us to an empty booth, every waiter we walked past were beaming at us. It was almost creepy.

“A waiter will be right with you.” The hostess smiled. I bet she hated her job.

“Thank you.” I smiled back while Garrett and Kennedy distributed the menus between us.

“What am I feeling today?” Garrett asked himself loudly as he skimmed the menu, “Do I want chicken? Do I want a burger?”

“I’m feeling some chicken tenders.” Kennedy lifted his chin and squinted at the smaller print at the top of the page. He then turned to me, “What about you?”

“I’m thinking chicken tenders.” I agreed with him, “Can’t go wrong with the tenders.”

“Hello, my name is Richie and I’ll be your waiter this afternoon.” A tall, lean man with a scruffy head of brunette hair and lustrous blue eyes walked up to our table, “Can I start you guys off with some drinks.”

He made eye contact with me first, making me want to shrink back into the plush booth. This Richie guy was....very, very easy on the eyes.

Before I could request a glass of water, Garrett slammed his menu on the table and looked up at the waiter, “We’ll start off with three chocolate milkshakes.”

“Hey!” I protested, “Who says I wanted a milkshake?”

“Gigi, you can’t just waltz in here and not have a chocolate milkshake.” Kennedy informed me, “Thats like...breaking the law.”

Garrett nodded his head in agreement.

“Fine.” I gave in but then looked up at Richie who waited patiently, “But can I also have a water with that?”

“A water?” Richie repeated, writing it down on his little notebook, “Anything for you, gorgeous.”

He flashed me a toothy grin before walking away. I felt my cheeks blush a violent red as he walked away. Garrett had a look of contempt on his face as he followed the waiter with narrowed eyes.

Kennedy let out a low whistle, shaking his head with disbelief, “Wow. Someone wants in.”

Garrett turned back to the table and looked at Kennedy and me, “Why didn’t he refer to me as ‘gorgeous’?”

“Oh stop it! Both of you!” I scolded them, “He was just being nice.”

“Yeah? Then why does he keep looking over here?” Garrett asked, looking past Kennedy and I. Of course Kennedy immediately twisted around to get a look.

I grabbed Kennedy’s arm and squeezed it, feeling my cheeks blushing again, “Guys, stop looking! You’re making it obvious!”

Garrett started laughing, “Aw, you’re blushing!”

“Do you want us to play match-maker?” Kennedy asked seriously, “We’re really good at that.”

I covered my face with my hands, shaking my head, “I knew it was a bad idea to go out in public with you. You’re both a bunch of trouble makers.”

“Bro, that means yes.” Garrett nodded his head towards Kennedy. I uncovered my eyes and kicked Garrett in the leg making him groan in pain.

I was able to change the conversation by asking them what they’ve been doing for the past week. That set them off with loads of updates about the band, thankfully. I sat and listened intently, amused by how animated they get when they talk about practicing their new set lists for the up-coming spring tour. When I noticed Richie was on his way back to our table with the drinks, however, my heart dropped. I braced myself accordingly.

“Here we are.” Richie set the milkshakes down in front of us. My eyes darted back and forth nervously between Kennedy and Garrett. Garrett noticed this and smirked, “Are you guys ready to order?”

“Yes we are!” Kennedy answered, “I think I’m gonna have the chicken tenders.”

Richie nodded and wrote down the order in his notepad and then looked at Garrett.

“Yeah, I’ll have the Route 66 burger.” Garrett said, handing him the menu, “And as for Ms.Single-and-ready-to-mingle over here, AKA Gigi King, I think she also wanted the chicken tenders.”

Kennedy roared with laughter as I starred at Garrett with disbelief. When Richie caught on to what Garrett was getting at, he grinned at me, “Ms. Single-and-ready-to-mingle, huh?”

“He’s just being a wiseass” I tried covering the situation, “Hey Garrett? SHUT UP.”

Richie chuckled and picked up my menu, “Your food will be out soon.”

Once he walked away, Garrett and Kennedy burst into fits of laughter.

I punched Kennedy in the arm several times, “Stop laughing!! Oh my God! I hate both of you so much!!”

“Oh come on! Admit it,” Garrett said, rubbing a tear away from his eye, “that was so funny.”

I sat back in the booth with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. I didn’t want to admit to anything. So maybe it was a little humorous, still, I was absolutely mortified.

Little did I know, however, the whole scenario actually worked because when Richie handed us our food, I found a folded up piece of paper, wedged between the two little white cups of ketchup and garlic sauce. I unfolded it with curiosity and noticed a small message written on it:

You’re cute. Let me take you out sometime.

Underneath the message, was a scribbled out phone number. I was shocked. Kennedy and Garrett were too occupied with their food to notice. I looked up and searched the restaurant for Richie. When my eyes landed on him behind the counter, he was already watching me. When our eyes locked, he winked.

Oh my God.

The minute we left the restaurant, I showed Garrett and Kennedy the note.

“Bro, how did we miss that!?” Garrett was shocked, grabbing the note from my hands and looking at it again, “Damn, we’re good.”

“See, what did I tell you?” Kennedy grinned, slinging his arm around my shoulder, “We got your back, G-spot!”

“Tell me you’re gonna call him and agree to the date.” Garrett said.

“Maybe...I’m not sure.” I answered, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know!?” Kennedy repeated my answer, “Come on, he’s totally into you. It’s not like he’s bad-looking either. What do you got to lose?”

“Yeah, besides, if it doesn’t work out, you’ll be leaving after the holidays anyways. It’s not like you’ll have to see him again if you don’t want to.” Garrett added to the argument.

They were both right. I had absolutely nothing to lose. He seemed like a good-enough guy. It has been a while since I’ve gone on a date anyways. I deserved to be taken out! It’s not like any other guys are jumping at the chance.

My thoughts instantly wandered over to John. Maybe this would be good for me? It would definitely help me get my mind off of John and whatever I desired to have with him. After all, I did misread all the signs.