Influence

“Dawn, wake up. I need your help with something,” Sarah was yelling at me. I lifted my head groggily, squinting at the bright light in my room. Sarah stood above me, staring down at me with those big blue eyes. There was a singlet and a pair of shorts hanging from her shoulders.
“What Sarah?” I snapped. She grabbed the items of clothing from her shoulders and shoved them in my face.
“I need your help packing,” she answered with her back to me. I moaned and sat up weakly. From beside me, I heard Axl’s breathing get deeper. Slowly, I folded the clothes up and placed them on the end of the bed.
“Well if you had of kept everything in the suitcase like I had told you to, we wouldn’t have this problem now would we?” I said to Sarah in my ‘I-told-you-so’ tone. She rolled her eyes and beckoned for me to come to her. I rolled out of the bed, trying not to wake Axl and joined Sarah on the other side of the room.
“What?” I spat at her. She blinked a few times and then hugged me.
“I don’t want to leave without you,” she cried. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and hugged her back.
“Don’t worry, I will definitely come and see you whenever I get the time to,” I murmured. Sarah nodded and I pulled away from her, placing a pair of jeans in her bag. On the bed, I could hear Axl starting to awake. I looked at Sarah, my eyes pleading. She stared at me for a minute before nodding. I beamed at her and scurried to my side of the bed, clambering in beside him. I watched him flinch a few times and then his eyes flew open.

“Good morning,” I mumbled. His eyes snapped to my face and then relaxed.
“Good morning Dawn, did you sleep alright?” he asked. I smiled widely at him. He grinned back and then leant in for a kiss. I reached his lips first, pressing them together tightly, moving them in unison. His huge hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Soon there was no space between us. I ran my hands up his naked back causing him to tense tremendously. I rolled over so that I was straddling him, moving his hands from my thighs to my hips. I cupped his face in my hands, pulling his face closer. I could feel his hands starting to tug at the bottom of my shirt, trying to remove it. I instantly froze and pulled away from him.

“What?” he demanded. I closed my eyes and moved off him, breathing in deeply.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” I whispered. He reached for my hand and gripped it firmly.
“Break up the love fest you two. Someone has to drive me to the airport,” Sarah exclaimed. I released Axl’s hand and got out of bed.
“None of us have a car so how are we going to drive you there yeah?” I asked.
“It’s called the taxi service dickhead,” Sarah answered very rudely. I rolled my eyes.
“Did I sleep in that much?” I asked. She pointed at her watch impatiently, cocking her hip to one side.
“Ok then,” Axl announced, clapping his hands together.
“Let’s get you a taxi,” I shot at Sarah. Axl picked up my cell phone and dialed in the number for a cab. While he was outside, I turned to Sarah.
“This is it after you get in that cab. It might be years before I see you again,” I said. She nodded like she understood.
“Then why do you talk to me like that Sarah? Always demanding things like you’re the fucking boss of me or something?” I bellowed. She jumped back, not expecting my voice to raise so fast.

“I didn’t realize I was acting like that,” she mumbled back. I threw my hands up in the air.
“Are you serious? I told you every time you did it. Ever since we became friends in grade ten I’ve been telling you straight up that you’ve been treating me like shit. But never once did you listen to me. Not once!” I screamed. Sarah looked down at her feet. I ran my fingers through my hair. She walked to her suitcase, zipped it up and hauled it to the door. Sighing heavily, I opened the door for her and let her go pass.
“The taxi is on its way right now,” Axl made known to us. When neither of us answered, he repeated himself. I held a hand up to him to signal that I had heard him. So he busied himself with helping Sarah carry her bag out the door. I followed them all the way to the elevator and out into the lobby. Then we carried Sarah’s bag out the front where the Taxi was waiting.

“That’s quick service,” Axl called to the guy driving. I gave him a fifty dollar note and told him it was for the ride and to keep the change. Sarah dumped her bag in the boot and then stood up to look at Axl and me.
“Well I guess this is goodbye. Axl, it was nice meeting you,” she said, extending her hand. Axl shook it firmly. Then Sarah turned to me.
“I’ll see you around yeah?” she asked. I nodded and watched her get into the taxi and drive off. We watched the taxi travel up the street and out of sight. I started at the spot that it turned off, letting a silent tear trail down my face. I felt Axl tugging at my hand, pulling me back to the hotel. When I didn’t move, he walked in front of me and looked into my face.
“Are you going to be ok?” he asked. I blinked, letting another tear fall and then looked at him.
“Come here,” he mumbled, pulling me into a hug. I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his long red hair. Letting the tears flow freely, Axl’s hand rubbed my back, calming me down. After five minutes, I started pushing against his shoulders. He released me and grasped my hand tightly.
“Where to now?” he asked. I blinked at him lazily.
“Well, I gotta check out and find a place to live since I’m now an LA girl,” I answered.
“Hey, you can crash at mine and Izzy’s house until you do,” he exclaimed. I kissed him lightly.

“Thank you. You are just such an amazing boyfriend so far,” I announced. He laughed and led me back into the hotel.
Three minutes later we walked through the hotel room door. I headed straight through to the suite where I was staying and started re-gathering my things. Axl collapsed onto the huge double bed and let out a loud sigh.
“What’s up?” I asked as I threw the pair of black stilettos that I wore two nights before into my bag.
“Nothing, just thinking of stuff,” he replied. I zipped the suitcase up and joined him on the bed.
“What sort of stuff?” I challenged. He propped himself up onto his elbow and ran a hand up my thigh.
“A special kind of stuff,” he murmured. I smiled at his tone and threw myself onto my back.
“Are you going to tell me what sort of ‘special stuff’ you’re thinking about?” I questioned. He leant in closer, his breath at my ear, causing me to shiver with excitement.
“How about I show you?” he whispered. With that, he kissed my lips affectionately. I ran my fingers through his soft hair and grasped the small of his back, pulling him even closer. In one swift movement, he rolled on top of me and moved his lips to my neck. I pulled his hair softly, laughing as it slipped between my fingers. I could feel his hot breath running up and down my neck, and then he finally found the spot he was looking for. He bit the sensitive part delicately, making me moan softly. I could feel him smile, and then he continued to suck on my neck, like a vampire feasting on a helpless human. I wrapped my hand in his hair and pushed him closer to me. All I wanted at this moment was to have Axl and me as one. But then there was a knock at the door. That didn’t stop Axl though.
“Babe you have to stop. There is someone at the door,” I mumbled. Axl groaned and rolled off me, allowing me to get up and answer the door.

“Hi there, housekeeping here. Do you need anything?” a very nice woman asked once I had opened the door.
“Um, no actually, we were actually just about to leave,” I said. She nodded but walked in anyway. I walked back in to the suite, finding Axl already towing the suitcase off the duchess.
“Let’s go, gotta get to mine and Izzy’s before dark. It’s a really dodgy neighborhood over there,” he half-yelled. I grabbed the other side of the suitcase and helped drag it out into the room. Then I collected the key and helped tow the bag to the door and all the way to the elevator.

“You know for two days, you sure packed a lot,” he said, breathing in deeply.
“Well, you never know what to expect. I mean, I thought ‘maybe I should pack a bit extra just in case I meet a really nice guy and decide to stay in LA’,” I said to Axl sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and picked up the bag as the elevator dinged and the double doors opened. We heaved the suitcase into the lobby and I gave the key back to the desk lady, officially checking out.
“I’ll hail a cab,” Axl stated once we reached the front of the hotel. He held up a hand and whistled loudly. A yellow taxi pulled in beside us and Axl opened the boot. I jumped in the back seat and waited for him to join me.
“Where to?” the driver grunted at us. Axl gave him the directions and then leant back into the seat.
“Dodgy neighborhood?” I repeated from a conversation before. He looked at me meaningfully.
“Yeah it’s kind of in the slums. We’re not big on money at the moment,” he half-mumbled. I smiled and kissed him nonchalantly.
“I wouldn’t care if you lived in a box on the side of the road. You are who you are,” I whispered. He pressed his lips onto mine again.
“Well, maybe I would care a little bit,” I murmured. He smirked at my after comment.
“Where abouts?” the taxi driver asked out of the blue. Axl looked out the windshield before answering.
“Just two more houses dude,” he replied, pointing to where we were going. The driver slowed down and eventually stopped completely.
“Thanks man, here,” I gave him some money and told him to keep the change. Then I stepped out of the vehicle and looked around.
“This is the Mansion di Isabel,” Axl said, trying to sound French. I rolled my eyes and stared at the house. It looked slightly run down, with a louver hanging from the first front window and beer bottles and cans strewn across the front lawn.
“Interesting,” I mumbled. Axl heaved the suitcase up the path and onto the patio. The stairs creaked under my weight.

“Are you sure this building is safe?” I asked.
“Yeah, well I mean I’ve been staying her for a while so it’s safe to me,” Axl shrugged. I smiled nervously and opened the door. It groaned heavily and hit the wall with a loud bang. The place looked absolutely deserted. There were no lights on and there was absolutely no noise emitting from the ‘house’.
“Yo, Izzy, where you at man?” Axl called into the dark silence. No answer sang back.
“Hmm, he must be at someone else’s place,” he mumbled to himself. Then he shrugged it off and dragged the suitcase into the first room to the left.
“I sleep in here,” he said indicating to the room. I peered in. There was a double bed, but that was it. Clothes were scattered all over the ground and the window had no glass. I smiled at him reassuringly and gripped his hand tightly. He led me around the rest of the house.

“Izzy sleeps in there,” he pointed to a room further up the hall.
“And here is the kitchen, lounge room and rehearsal area,” Axl nodded to a huge room at the back. In one corner sat a counter top with pots and pans piled up. A sink was barely visible beneath all of the plates and bowls. In the other corner was a small TV, a sofa and two single lounges. And taking up the rest of the room was countless guitars, microphone stands, amps and chords twisted in and out of each other.
“Awesome,” I said, giving Axl the thumbs up. He grinned widely and pulled me into another passionate kiss.
“Whoa, didn’t expect to come home and see this,” came a voice from the end of the hallway. I pulled my lips from Axl’s and looked at who was speaking. Izzy stood in the door way with a plastic bag in one hand, a cigarette in the other.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. Axl laughed loudly and gave his mate a slap on the back.
“How’s it going bud?” Izzy asked, returning the hit. The guys started to talk, like they hadn’t seen each other in years. So I busied myself with cleaning the place. I started with the kitchen. I piled all of the dishes up and started to wash them.

An hour and a half later I finally had all the plates, bowls, cutlery, pans, pots and cups washed, wiped and put in a cupboard. But still Izzy and Axl kept talking. Well it was mainly Axl but I could see Izzy trying to participate in the conversation. So I had a go at Axl’s room, folding the clothes and hanging a sheet over the window to give us some sort of privacy. I was so busy folding clothes and humming to myself that I didn’t even notice a red-head wander down the hall way and lean against his door post to watch me prance around the room. I heard someone clear their throat.

“What are you doing?” Axl asked. I smiled at him cheekily and pointed out the room.
“You like?” I challenged. He walked in and looked around. I noticed his eyes stared at the folded clothes for a bit longer than the rest of the room.
“Yes, I love it. Thank you baby,” he answered. I grinned in triumph and opened my arms to him. He could fit into them perfectly and he kissed me once again. I felt his fingertips trail down my spine and onto my thighs which he boosted up and I wrapped my legs hungrily around his waist. He laid me down on the bed and continued kissing me lovingly. It wasn’t until I could feel his hands starting to slip up my shirt that I started to feel uncomfortable.
“Baby, stop,” I murmured. He rolled off me, breathing heavily and then turned to look at me.
“What are you doing babe? I mean we have come so close to fucking and you keep blocking me every time I try and make a move,” Axl demanded. I blinked and then placed my head heavily onto my hand.

“Axl, I’m not one of those girls that just fuck whoever. I have morals and I have dignity. Guys have to woo me to get into these pants,” I replied. Axl sighed heavily and closed his eyes. I threw myself across his chest.
“Sorry but it’s just the type of girl I am. If you woo me properly, then you can have all of this,” I whispered in his ear. He kissed my forehead lightly to show that he had heard and understood. Then Izzy appeared at the door.
“How long do you reckon that you will be here Dawn?” he asked. I sat up and focused on Izzy.
“I’m gonna get a job and then get my own place. I’m gonna start looking for jobs tomorrow so I don’t know yet,” I explained to him. He nodded and walked off, closing the door after him.
“Axl, did you hear what I said?” I asked. But I was too late. The tiger was now sleeping and it was best not to disturb him. I exited the room quietly and made my way up the hallway. Izzy sat alone on the lounge with a beer perched on his knee and a freshly lit cigarette between his fingers.

“Do you mind if I join you?” I asked. He pointed to the lounge beside him, showing that he didn’t care. I sat beside him hesitantly. We sat in silence until he offered me a beer.
“Thanks,” I said. He nodded and grabbed the remote to flick on the television.
“So New York, what’s it like being with ‘The Big Man’?” he asked. I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly. He smirked.
“Does he keep trying to fuck you?” he continued. I nodded silently. This caused Izzy to smile even wider.
“What?” I demanded. He shook his head and looked in the other direction before answering.

“He thinks he can get any girl he goes for. But I know he is a big shit talker. He’s got you though and you’re a pretty nice piece of meat,” he said. I dropped my jaw, offended deeply.
“What?” he asked. I punched his shoulder playfully and took a sip of the beer.
“But you refuse to fuck him right? So that means a challenge. And Axl, well, he loves himself a good challenge. But don’t let him wait too long. He can get a bit rowdy if the wolf isn’t let out of the cage soon enough,” Izzy kept on going. I rolled my eyes and hit him again.
For the next few hours I sat with Izzy, getting to know him and also getting some pretty profound background information on Axl.
Just before midnight I creeped into the bedroom and wiggled underneath the covers beside Axl. The moonlight his face and I could see a shadow where his perfect jawbone sat. I kissed his cheek and then slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.