Heaven Nor Hell

As Brian led us up the steps of Johnny’s house, worry wreaked havoc in my brain, causing my body to become tense. Brian opened the front door, and walked right in without knocking. Walking through the foyer, we came across a spacious, but homey kitchen, where Brian set out my cupcakes by the other desserts, before placing his hands on my shoulders.

“Don’t be nervous Lily. My friends love you, you fit right in. Just relax, I won’t leave your side the whole night, I promise.” I took a deep breath, before shaking my head, shooting him, what I hoped, was a reassuring smile. I took his outstretched hand, before following him to another set of doors, these ones leading to a large backyard, right on the beach.

Upon our entrance, everyone turned to stare as us. Subconsciously, I moved closer to Brian, who wrapped his arm around my waist. One of the men from the table closest to us stood, and I immediately recognized him to be Johnny from his spiky blonde hair.

“Hey Brian, Lily, it’s nice to see you again,” Johnny spoke, pulling us each into a quick hug.

Brian led us through the tables, introducing me to anyone I hadn’t met at his barbeque a few weeks before. At the final table sat a man a briefly recognized as Zacky, the other guitar player in the band, his arm wrapped around a cute and bubbly blonde who I had never seen before.

“Lily, you remember Zacky? And this is his girlfriend, Gena. Gena, this is my friend Lily.” Gena stood and pulled me into a hug, talking quickly about how much she loved my outfit. After Gena had let me go, I took a seat next to Brian, who shot me a quick smile.

“Do you remember our brief conversation on the way home from the store, about how Zacky and I have solved your unemployment issue?” I thought back to earlier in the day.

“Briefly…” I trailed off, looking at Zacky as he began to speak.

“I recently began a clothing line called Vengeance University, and now that we’re getting back into the writing process for our next album, I can’t handle all of the work single handedly. So that’s where you would come in. You’d basically be in charge of a lot of the analytical and paper work, and helping make final decision on the line. And you can keep looking for jobs, if you found something better. But with your business degree, you’re the perfect candidate for the job. So what do you say?” Zacky finished, offering his hand for me to shake. I was completely in shock by his words.

After a few seconds of thought, I grinned and placed my hand in his, unbelieving that he was offering me such a position when he barely knew me.

“You’ve got yourself a deal Mr. Vengeance.” Zacky stood up and embraced me, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Brian grin at his friend’s gesture. I stood on my tiptoes to whisper in Zacky’s ear.

“Thank you so much Zacky,” I spoke, tightening my arms just slightly.

“You’re part of the Avenged family now Lily. And family helps family.” He smiled at me, before letting me go, complaining to Gena about how hungry he was. I turned to look at Brian, who had a wide grin across his face. I returned his smile, before engulfed him in a hug. I felt his chest vibrate with laughter, before he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I’m guessing you had a big part in getting me this job?” I asked, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes.

“I did nothing but give him the facts. It was your accomplishments that won him over. Though I was prepared to nag him until he gave you the job.” He grinned and released me, before grabbing my hand. “Now come on, we have to go celebrate!” he exclaimed, dragging me back towards the kitchen.

---

I woke up early the next morning, because every Saturday, the local pet store brought in dogs for sale, so Brian and I were going to go take a look.

I was still in awe of all that had happened last night, not only Zacky’s job offer, but how quickly every one of Brian’s friends accepted me. From what I had gathered from Brian, they were a tight knit group. So for them to take me in so quickly was surprising. Gena and I had even agreed to get together for coffee later in the week.

Eventually, I climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I quickly ran a brush through my hair, please to find the curls from last night had turned to beachy waves. I brushed my teeth, before walking to my closet. As I sorted through my clothes, I began to realize that I hadn’t done laundry in a number of weeks, and the only clean sweatshirt I had remaining was the purple hoodie from Brian he had given me a few weeks back.

With a sigh, I pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and a white tank top, before slipping the hoodie over my shoulders and zipping it up, before walking out to the kitchen for coffee.

As I was refilling Wishbone’s food and water bowls, the doorbell rang, and I knew it had to be Brian. Yelling a quick “Come in,” I walked to the sink to rinse my hands. Turning around, I spotted Brian standing by the front door, Wishbone jumping excitedly around his feet, begging for attention. I watched for a second, before speaking.

“Have you decided what kind of dog you want to get?”

“I was thinking something small, like a terrier. Still active, but small enough I can take him with me,” he replied, leaning against the breakfast counter.

“So you want a boy?”

“Of course! I have too many females in my life as it is. Ow!” he exclaimed as I slapped his arm, laughing.

“Well let’s go, Mr. Ladies Man.”

Within fifteen minutes, we were inside the shop, looking at the dogs. Brian instantly gravitated towards the terriers, while I grabbed a cart, and made my way around the store, picking out all the supplies he would need for his new companion. As I was almost finished, my phone began to ring. Before I could get in a hello, I heard Brian talking a mile a minute, telling me to meet him in the back of the store, before hanging up.

I wheeled the cart to the back of the store, expecting to find Brian with a terrier, but instead found him sitting on the floor, a little ball of white curled up in his lap.

“Brian, I’m pretty sure that’s not a terrier…” I spoke, confused by his choice. If anything, I expected him to choose a bigger dog, not one this fluffy and adorable.

“I know, but she’s so cute!” he spoke in a baby voice, as he stroked her back. I rose my eyebrow in confusion.

“She?”

“Yes she. I’m going to name her Pinkly,” he spoke with a large grin as he cradled her to his chest, before pushing himself off the floor. “What is all the stuff in the cart for?”

“It was for your terrier, but now we’ll have to get different products for her. All of these will be too big.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

“You’re fine Bri. I can just put it back when I get the new products. I’ll go exchange them, and you can pay for this little one, and we’ll be set.” Brian nodded, before turning towards the sales lady.

Turning around, I headed back through the aisles, I switched out the food, beds and collars for a size more suitable for Pinkly. About half way through, Brian met up with me, with all of Pinkly’s paperwork, which I put in my purse for safe keeping.

After a few minutes of arguing, Brian ended up taking the cart from me as I carried Pinkly around in my arms. Soon, we had gathered the remainder of the supplies, paid, and were walking out the door.

“You’re going to be a spoiled little girl Pinkly,” I spoke as I watch Brian load the supplies into the trunk of his car, most of which definitely were not needed.

“I like to spoil all my girls,” Brian said as he wrapped his arm around my waist. He leaned in to kiss my forehead, pulling me tighter against his side.

“Thank you for coming with me today,” he spoke quietly in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. We quickly broke apart at the sound of another voice.

“You’ve really moved on this fast Brian?” I looked up to see a beautiful blonde, wearing a blue maxi dress that accented her eyes.

“Michelle,” Brian nodded curtly, before turning his gaze to me. “This is my friend Lily. Lily, this is my ex-girlfriend, Michelle.” I managed a strained smile and a quiet hello, completely gobsmacked that the model-worthy beauty in front of me had once been with Brian. I wanted to hit myself for believing Brian could ever have feelings for a girl like me. He deserved to date models, with sun kissed skin and beach blonde hair. Not sappy, pale business major with nothing going for her.

“Interesting. She doesn’t seem like your type Bri,” Michelle spoke, resentment in her voice as she turned her gaze to me.

“Yeah, well I learned girls like you have a tendency to whore around a little too much for my liking,” he spat, returning his arm to my waist, and pulling me tight against his body. “But if you’ll excuse us, we have places to be,” he said, before dragging me to his car. He held Pinkly as I climbed in, and carefully set her in my lap. He walked to his side, slamming the door shut, before peeling out of the parking lot.