Vengeance Will Be Mine

Zack woke me up the next morning. My eyes slowly opened, crusty from sleep. He was staring at me with his big green eyes. I jumped and covered myself with the blanket. Nothing like an attractive man seeing you at your best.

“What do you want?” I asked, catching a whiff of my fowl morning breath.

He laughed at my motions. “The guys are here and we’re going to get to work on the album. You can get ready and come down when you want.”

“Okay. Now go away. I’m hideous.” I complained.

He chuckled. “No one’s morning breath can be as bad as Gena’s.”

That gave me enough confidence to poke my eyes out. I shooed him with my hand and he left willingly. As soon as he was gone I jumped up and slammed my door. I locked it and ran to my bathroom. My hair was too long to just wash really quick in the sink, so I tore my clothes off and washed my two-toned hair until it was squeaky-clean. The shower was placed right next to a Jacuzzi tub. One of these days I was going to have to test that tub out. I had always heard about how nice they were, but now I got to try one.

Once I finished up in the shower, I brushed my teeth and put on some makeup. My hair would suffice in a bun. I didn’t have time to blow dry and straighten. I wanted a chance to meet everyone and do my job right. I changed into some clothes. It was so much warmer here than in Boston, so I tossed on a tank top and some shorts. In my suitcase I found one of my notebooks and a pen. With everything I needed on, I ran downstairs.

Gena and four other girls were sitting on the couch back to me. Gena turned to look at me. “Oh, there you are.” She looked me up and down and scowled. She hated what I was wearing. I was going to have to make a mental note of that. Nothing too revealing at Gena’s house.

“Lauren, this is Valary.” She pointed to a brunette sitting next to her. “This is her sister Michelle.” She was presumably the one that looked just like her. “This is Lacey.” She pointed to the woman sitting in the recliner. “And last but not least, Leana, right there.” She referred to the bubbly girl sitting in the other recliner.

The beauty of all these women shocked me. It honestly blew my mind. I guess if the guys were all good looking, they deserved a good-looking counterpart.

“Are you coming Lauren?” Zack said smiling at me.

“Oh, yeah.” I said, waving goodbye to all the girls.

I saw Zack look me up and down, causing me to understand why Gena didn’t want me wearing this outfit in front of her man. I could respect that. Zack pulled me down the stairs and stood me in front of four other men. They looked pleased with what they were seeing.

“Guys, this is Lauren. She’s going to be watching us for the next three months and recording everything that happens. To make your life easier too Lauren, we’re going to give you a tape recorder to record the sessions.” He handed the small black device.

“Thanks.” I grinned, being truly thankful for their help.

With his hand on my back he began to introduce me. “That’s Matt.” He pointed to the man sitting the closest. Matt grinned at me and raised his beer. His muscles were protruding through the tight white shirt he had on. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark aviators. It seemed silly to me that he would wear sunglasses inside.

“It’s unfortunate that we all have to share, but I think there’s enough of you to go around.” He winked at me and laughed deeply.

“Yeah don’t mind him.” Zack rolled his eyes. “He’s like that with everyone. Val hates it. That over there is Brian. He’s quiet right now, but you wait until about five or so, he’ll be completely drunk and yelling about retarded shit.” I looked him over. His build was the same as Matt’s, but he rocked a fedora like no one could. His hair reached his shoulder, which I thought suited him. “That’s Johnny, the band midget.”

“Thanks a lot shit dick.” He gave Zack the finger. Zack wasn’t kidding though. Johnny was short. I mean, he was the same height as me, but I was pretty short myself. The only justice I had was the fact that I was a girl. The one thing that caught me about Johnny was his hair though. It was bright red. I was never going to forget that.

“And this is Jimmy. The craziest son of a bitch I’ve ever met.”

“Hi.” I murmured, wanting to shrink into myself.

“Hey Lauren.” He hopped up and walked over to me. The sheer size of this man was enough to scare you away. He was clearly the tallest one of all. He pulled me into a tight hug. I could have definitely wrapped my arms around his thin frame more than once.

These men were all perfect in the best ways. Their bodies were firm and muscular. Their eyes were the brightest hues they could be. They had teeth that were straight as a board without having any braces. I was jealous of them and I was a woman.

After Matt’s comment, I became extremely nervous. At least they all seemed to like me alright. I just didn’t want any sexual references coming in my direction. Not after getting a look at those girls anyway. They looked like they could be bitches if they needed to be. “Okay, we’re going to get started. You just do your thing I guess.” Zack walked away from me. I took my seat in a chair.

“Do we have to do anything different?” Johnny asked me.

“Nope, just pretend I’m not here.” I explained, smiling pulling out my notebook.

As the day went on, the guys mostly contemplated what they wanted to do for the album. They weren’t sure what to call it, or even what their songs were going to be. They had a collaboration of different ideas, but they didn’t have anything set in stone. Gena came down around noon with sandwiches. She gave one to each of the guys and then handed one to me.

“Welcome to the family.” She said, grinning at me.

“Honey that’s it!” Zack yelled with food in his mouth. He jumped up and squeezed Gena. He kissed her cheek a hundred times and then sat down. “I’ve had this idea for a song! I’ve been fiddling it on my guitar and I didn’t know what to call it, but honey, that’s perfect! You’re perfect! I love you!” He kissed her again. Gena stood there looking confused before she walked upstairs in a daze.

I couldn’t help but laugh and begin to scribble things down in my notebook. This was good material. Carver was going to like to see something like this. Their inspiration was their women most of the time it seemed.

The day felt like it dragged on forever. I suppose things wouldn’t really pick up until they knew for sure what they wanted to do. Gena had made dinner for us all. Zack looked hesitant, but went ahead and talked anyway.

“I think honey, if it’s okay with you, we are going to all go out to the bar to celebrate. Also, I’m sure Lauren would like to see some of the sights.” He explained to her.

She groaned and looked at him unbelievingly. “Really Zack? You went out with the guys last night.”

“You should come too.” I suggested, trying to make it less awkward.

“No, I’m too tired. You guys go.” She urged, as we finished dinner.

“Okay well, I’ll see you later baby.” He said, kissing her goodbye before grabbing the keys off the rack in the living room. “We’ll be back soon.”

“Okay, behave yourself!” She shouted before we shut the door. Zack sighed with relief as we got into the vehicle.

“We should get going before she has a chance to change her mind. The woman is constantly bitching about me going out with the guys. It gets annoying as hell.” He drove off to the bar. When we got there, I recognized all the other cars.

I didn’t want to give any input on Zack’s comment, frankly because it’s none of my business. The other guys greeted Zack and I as we entered Johnny’s Bar. He had his hand on the small of my back when we went to sit down, making me slightly uncomfortable.

“Anything she wants is on me John.” He turned his speech to me. “We call him John so as not confuse John and Johnny.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense.” I nodded in understanding.

John laughed. “Everything that woman wants is on you? Aren’t you a little conceited Zack?” He shook his head as he cleaned out a glass. “What can I get ya?”

“I’ll take some Jack on rocks.” I explained, looking over at Zack, raising my eyebrows quickly.

“Straight Jack huh? You’re an animal.” He laughed, ordering his Jack and Coke.

“And you’re a pussy.” My drink was set down in front of me. The other guys had their drinks and walked over to us. They held their drinks up.

“To the new album!” Zack said as we all clanked our glasses together.

I took down the whole glass of Jack and then ordered some more. I planned on really loosening up while I was here. The guys all looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn’t care.

“So, the lady’s at home while you come here and get this one drunk.” John raised an eyebrow, looking at Zack for a good answer.

I shook my head instinctively. “No way. He loves that woman way too much. Not to mention, I’m not a home wrecker. You have me all wrong. I’m here to do a journal documentary on their album.”

John sighed with relief. “Well that’s good. I would hate to see something like that happen to such a good couple. You had me worried for a minute there Zack.” He chuckled and punched Zack’s shoulder.

“You know me better than that John, I wouldn’t do something like that.” Zack looked truly offended by the conversation.

I decided it was time to find something else to do. “Let’s go play some pool.” I urged, grabbing Zack’s arm and pulling him away from the bar. My brain turned to mush as I got a feeling of how his muscles really felt. He had them, and there was no doubt about that. We went over to the pool table. I grabbed a stick off the wall and turned to have Matt towering over me.

“Can I help you?” I asked, trying to keep from smiling.

“You think a little girl like you can play pool?” He took a sip of his Heiniken.

Then I couldn’t help but smile. Little did he know, I was in a pool team in college, and I was a level seven, the highest level player you can be. “You’re right Matt. You’ll probably beat me. Just for shits and giggles I’m going to play anyway.”

He pulled his stick off the wall and stumped it onto the ground before chalking it angrily. “You wait Lauren, I’m going to kick your ass at this.”

Johnny looked back from me to Matt and then back to me again. “Matt, I think she knows what she’s doing.”

“Fine Johnny, you wanna play it this way. We’re going to place bets between me and Lauren. Make your wagers men.” Matt stared me down while the men around the table began placing their bets.

They decided on twenty dollars. Zack put twenty on Matt, Johnny put twenty down on me, John put twenty on Matt, Jimmy put twenty on Matt, and Brian put twenty on me.

“Thanks guys!” I said, looking at the ones that didn’t bet on me.

“I’ve seen Matt play and I must say, he’s damn good.” John replied shrugging.

“Whatever, I’m going to kick his ass.” I organized the balls on the table and decided to let Matt break.

He put in stripes, so I got to be solids. He was really good I had to admit, but he wasn’t good enough to beat me, and I knew he wouldn’t be. Yes I hustled them, but I wasn’t going to be mean about it.

“You bitch!” Matt yelled, looking at the three striped balls sitting on the table as I put in the eight ball. “You hustled us! You totally did!”

“Calm yourself, you all can keep your money. I don’t need it for anything.” I explained, putting my pool stick back up on the rack.

“Where did you learn to play like that?” Zack asked, looking at me, awestruck.

“I learned in college. You should go. It’s a good time.” I explained walking past him and to the bar. “John, I’ll take one more Jack on the rocks please. That’s another thing you learn in college Zack. How to hold your liquor.”

After that last drink we decided to leave. “I was thinking Lauren, that we could go out to the beach and have a bon fire.” Zack explained, placing an arm around my waist as we walked out the door. I felt the alcohol in my head.

“You mister, need to keep your hands to yourself.” I explained, trying to wiggle out from his grip.

“You miss, need to understand that I don’t want you to fall.” He explained as he tried to keep me from falling while I tripped over my feet.

“Fine.” I agreed, letting him help me to the car with a smile on my face. I guess if he had a good excuse to touch me, nothing bad could come of it. We all managed to make it to the beach piled in two different vehicles.

“It’s not actually a bon fire, but it’s a regular campfire.” He grinned sheepishly. “It should still be nice though.”

“You lied to me?” I asked chuckling. He rolled his eyes.

“No, I stretched the truth. There’s a difference.” He parked the car and got out. Matt and Jimmy had the lawn chairs and they carried them down to the beach, while Zack and I carried the wood down. We picked a nice spot to sit where there weren’t a lot of people. Everyone grabbed a beer. Matt got the fire started before we began trying to figure out what to do. Zack sat next to me drinking his beer. I started slow. I was already getting a little tipsy. It was time to take it slow.

“I vote that we play I never.” Zack suggested. Damn alcohol was making him crazy.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Matt agreed, popping the top of his beer.

“Great you guys. You’re going to get me so drunk.” I said groaning.

“I thought you knew how to handle your alcohol!” Zack said in an accusing tone.

“Yes, but everyone has their limits!” I retorted, taking a swig of my beer.

“Okay, I’ll start.” Zack said, contemplating, and sitting back in his seat after our heated discussion. “Oh I know, I never got drunk playing this game before.”

Every one of us took a swig of beer, each with a chuckle. Matt was next, he stroked his hairless chin. “I’ve never had sex with anyone besides the person I’m with now.”

“I’m single, so...”

“If you’ve ever had sex then.” Matt said to me. “Smartass.”

They all chucked and then everyone besides Matt and Brian took a swig of their beer. It was now my turn. I didn’t know what in the hell to ask. There was nothing I could say that was that interesting. “I’ve never been to the west coast.” All the guys took a drink. By the end of the night we were all passing out and lying around on the beach. Zack beckoned me over to sit next to him, so I stumbled, trying to pull my chair over. He pulled a box out of his pocket and looked at me with his drunken green eyes.

“I’m going to ask Gena to marry me tomorrow.” He whispered, smiling widely. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down. I landed right on my ass. “What do you think?”

“What do I think? That’s so sweet!” I exclaimed, being extremely jealous. All I ever wanted was my own family.

“Do you think she’ll say yes?” He asked, opening the box.

The ring was beautiful. It was pretty average, but in the light of the fire, it glimmered brightly. “I have no doubt in my mind that she will.” I said in a airy tone.

“Okay good. Come here.” He put the box in his pocket and held his arms out to me. I accepted his embrace. I stood up and sat on his lap. “Who knew that we would be best friends?” He whispered into my neck. My body shuddered.

I furrowed my brow. “Zack we’ve known each other for twenty-four hours. I don’t think we’re best friends.” I tried to explain as nicely as possible.

He fell out of his chair, pulling myself down with him. We lay there in a big heap in the sand laughing at one another. We stopped and stared at each other for a few long seconds.

“I think that we’re going to be the best of friends.” He whispered.