The Stranger Next to Me

I didn’t understand why I agreed to this. To get Max off of my back? No. I knew he would pester me even if I said yes, but I still don’t know why I agreed. It’s not like Max wasn’t attractive. Anyone with eyes could see that he was gorgeous and French, but I guess the concept was foreign to me.

I finished drying my hair after a long shower, and styled the naturally straight hair into light waves. I then started on my make-up. After moisturizing my face, foundation was glazed across my skin, making every bit even. I then put bronzer to highlight my cheekbones, making my face seem slimmer. Attractive slim, not feed me slim. I turned my eyelids into a smokey eye masterpiece, making the hazel orbs stand out. My lips were last to be painted as I put Lolita colored lipstick. I gave my face a once over in the mirror and returned to my bedroom where my dress, pantyhose and shoes were sitting on my bed.

I slipped on the plain, black, form-fitting dress. It hugged me completely, making my curves look that much more appealing. It went to my mid thigh, making my legs seem longer than they were. I sat down on the mattress and carefully put my pantyhose on, careful not to snag the tights and give me a run. If there was one thing I hated, it was a run in my pantyhose. It could really put a damper on my mood.

After successfully putting them on, I threw my Bordello ankle boots on. I grabbed my jewelry from one of my dressers and grabbed my clutch that was also on my bed. I made it downstairs just in time to hear a knock at the door.

“Wow.” Max breathed out as I opened my door. I had to give it to him, he looked pretty spiffy. I heard a loud hiss behind me. Both Max and I brought our attention to Hugo, who was crouched on the countertop, giving Max dirty looks and hissing loudly. We looked at each other and I gave him a shrug. “What is that?” His face was contorted.

“That is Hugo, my cat.” I moved out of the way to let him in. We walked over to the counter. I gave Hugo a little scratch behind his ears, making his tail spasm.

“Why doesn’t it ‘ave ‘air?” He tried to touch Hugo, but with a swipe of his paw, Max stepped back.

“…He’s hairless…”

“Oh.” Max went to touch Hugo again, but he flew in between us with a loud meow and bolted upstairs to my room.

“Well, that was odd. We should probably get going.” Max nodded and grabbed my small hand in his.

“I ‘ope you like Japanese food,” We took the elevator down to his car, which he played the gentlemanly role and opened my door for me. Who said chivalry was dead?

The car ride to the restaurant proved to be uneventful. There were snippets of conversation here and there, but other than that, it was just the radio that filled the silence. It took us a little over fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, which I figured out was Nakama Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar. I hadn’t been there before, but I had heard it was good. At least it was classy and he didn’t take me to some sports bar…or something. He pulled the car up to the valet and ran to my side to open my door. He held his hand out for me to take, then led us up to the entrance.

“Reservation?” The receptionist asked at the front.

“Talbot,” Max answered smoothly. The woman nodded and immediately sat us at our table. The setting was dim and the conversations around us were at a dull roar. The table was small, only seating two people, but gave us just enough space. Max and I sat across from each other in an awkward silence.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” The waiter asked as he set our menus down.

“Water is fine.” I mumbled.

“Same,” The waiter left us. “So uh, ‘ow long ‘ave you known Flower?” Max tried to strike up a conversation. It was weird to say the least, you know, not getting any crude remarks about me and my bed. I don’t think it was a change I was comfortable with. The waiter quickly returned with our drinks, he set them down then scurried off. I opened my menu to try to distract myself as much as possible.

“Almost two years.” My answer was blunt, just as I intended it to be. I don’t even know why I agreed to put myself in this situation, only a disaster could come out of it. It wasn’t just Max that made this awkward, it was the fact that I hadn’t really been on a real date. Ever. I know that it is kind of embarrassing for a twenty-three year old to have never gone on a date, but seriously. I’ve been touring since I was seventeen, leaving no room for a relationship at home. I didn’t even finish high school, much less give a guy the time of day. I’ve been in little flings here and there on tour, but nothing serious ever came out of them. They were just ways to vent sexual frustration for both parties.

“Are you alright?” I dug my head further into the menu, then realized that he was talking to me. I popped my eyes over the top of the menu and nodded my head. I felt bad for him. This wasn’t a pity date by any means, because he could really have any girl that he wanted, but he was putting so much effort into trying to get to know me …or get into my pants. Either way, he was working for what he wanted and I guess that I shouldn’t just shut him down.

“Yeah, about that. I really don’t mean for this to be as awkward as it is. I’ve never really done anything like this before…” I trailed off, embarrassed by my confession.

“What do you mean?” His eyebrows furrowed.

“This whole …date …thing.” I sputtered out.

“You’ve never been on a date?” His face held a mix of confusion and surprise.

“Nope.” I popped the ’p’, letting my eyes fall back to the menu. The waiter came back, quickly taking our orders and taking my shield.

“’ow old are you?” He ask curiously, his eyes were narrowing. He probably thought I was some eighteen year old kid, new to the world.

“Twenty-three.” I could see the relief in his eyes, which caused me to chuckle.

“Ah! There’s a smile!” A blush rose up my neck and to my cheeks. It was weird feeling like this, and with Max no less. Although his antics were borderline lunatic, he could be a complete gentleman and I liked that. I liked it a lot. “So, tell me about your music career. I’m really curious about ‘ow you got started and ‘ow it’s gotten to that ‘ole circus thing. It’s amazing.” I took a sip of my water.

“I’ve been into music since I was really young. My mom got me into singing and if it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have come as far as I have. She bought me my first instruments and got me vocal lessons. She had been my support through everything,” A sad smile made its way to my face. I knew that he wanted to question it, but didn‘t. I was thankful for that, seeing as I didn‘t want to have a breakdown in the middle of the restaurant.

“You also play instruments?”

“I can play the electric bass and I’m pretty snazzy with a banjo. My first instrument was a guitar though, but I couldn’t play it to save my life.” We both chuckled.

“A banjo? Really?” He seemed humored by this.

“Yeah. I started playing a few years back. I found it interesting and picked it up really easily.”

“Wow. So keep going with your story.” He was like a small child, waiting for me to continue my tale to stardom.

“Well, I got my first record deal with the band when I was seventeen, since then I’ve been on the road and recording. When this whole thing started, we didn’t get to actually go home for almost two years. We got pretty rugged and were almost to the point of breaking up. After I dropped out of school, I hit a pretty rough patch. That was the biggest strain on the band. I was selfish and did things that I’m not proud of, but I sucked it up and dealt with it. I almost lost my career, not only my career, but the entire band’s. I didn’t get the normal life in my teenage years, you know, I didn’t go to prom, I didn’t have a curfew, I didn’t do the work, I didn’t have boyfriends. Since I was fifteen, my life has been committed to this music. I didn’t go and hang out with friends, I didn’t go to the movies or the mall. I was basically a hermit and wrote music. It was a dumb move, dropping out of school, but it got me where I am today. I barely get the time to sit down and breathe, much less go out on dates, so that‘s why this is new to me. You know?”

“Seems rough, but at least you’re doing what you love, non? Not everyone gets that.”

“I guess we’re the lucky ones.” I shot him a small smile, to which he grinned, lighting up the dim room.

Meanwhile…

“Où est Max? (Where’s Max?)” Kris asked while lounging around with Marc.

“Dehors avec Lola. Comment il l'a obligée à dire oui est au delà de moi. (Out with Lola. How he got her to say yes is beyond me.)”

“Comme dehors sur un genre de date de dehors ? Ou juste … dehors ?(Like out on a date kind of out? Or just…out?)”

“Il y a une différence?(There’s a difference?)” Marc snickered.

“Êtes vous me badinant?! (Are you kidding me?!)” Kris roared through Flower’s loft. “Est-il sérieusement dehors avec elle? En ce moment? Il baisant a su! (Is he seriously out with her? Right now? He fucking knew!)” The French was spewing out of his mouth like a hail of bullets.

“Il a connu le…? (He knew…?)” Marc-Andre questioned.

“Ne vous occupez jamais.(Never mind.)” Kris grabbed his jacket and slammed the door to the loft on his way out. Marc shrugged his shoulders passively and went back to watching the television.

Back to the date…

Max took me to Mellon Park after we had our meal. We had gotten to know each other, well, as much as one could know of you within a few hours.

We walked hand in hand through the park. The sky was dark and speckled with stars. The temperature was perfect to be outside and I had relaxed a considerable amount with Max. His thumb rubbed my hand as we gave ourselves a slow pace. Other couples were out at the park as well, just enjoying the night.

“I still can’t believe that you have a ‘airless cat. You just don’t seem like the type of girl that would ‘ave that kind of pet. It’s just…odd.” He chuckled.

“I love my cat. I’ve had him since I moved into the building three years ago. You should’ve seen Flower’s reaction when he first saw him.”

“What ‘appened?”

“He ran out of my loft, screaming that I had a huge, bald rat running rampantly through my living room. I haven’t let him live it down.” We were full on laughing as we made it back to Max’s car. Once again, he opened my door and let me get in.

+

“I uh, had a really good time tonight.” I mumbled as we stood outside of my loft. I looked down, stopping myself from further embarrassment. A finger lifted my chin and a pair of warm, soft lips met mine in a simple kiss. My heart started palpitating and I was sure that I was about to have a heart attack.

“Bonne nuit mon chéri.” He breathed out, our lips less than an inch apart. He gave me one last peck and started walking down the hallway to the elevator. I watched as he walked into it, but not before giving me a wink. A smile inched its way onto my face. I brought myself down from cloud nine and took my key out of my clutch and opened my door.

“So, I think that went well.” Marc said from behind me. He had a smirk on his face as I turned around to look at him.

“Shut up.” Was all I could come up with as I shut my door.