My Presence Won't Be Ignored

Looking over at Rachel, I noticed she had a pained expression on her face as she looked at me. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was making me feel slightly uncomfortable as her eyes roamed my body with a scrutinizing glare.

"So...What do you do, Rachel?" I asked her, trying to get her to stop.

"I write books," she told me. "How about yourself?"

"I..." I hesitated. I really didn't want more of the glare. "I'm a rock star."

I was, for some reason, scared to tell her this. I had never been scared to tell anyone else this. I was always proud to be a rock star. Why was this time any different? Was it because of Alyssa? Because I didn't want her to freak out about her child's safety? Or was it because I thought that maybe, just maybe, I didn't want someone I liked to know?

"Really?" she asked, sounding surprised and interested. Thank. Fuck.
"What band?"

"A band called Avenged Sevenfold," I answered proudly. Now that I knew that she didn't mind, I could take pride in it, right?

"Never heard of that band before, I'm sorry."

Ouch. Talk about a blow to the ego.

"Never?" I asked her, hoping that maybe it was just taking a while for her to recall the name. She shook her head. DAMN. Come on, man, don't let her know you're disappointed!
"Huh...that's cool. So, what kind of books do you write?"

She started at me, this look of disbelief on her face. I'll bet she wanted me to be crushed! She wanted me to hate that she didn't know who I am! Ha! I'll prove her wrong!

After she composed herself again, she responded with, "I, uh, I write books for teens. Mainly teen girls; they're kind of romance, but not really. I'd like to think that they're atypical, or at least I try to make them atypical. Doesn't always work out that way, though."

"My momma made me a book, too! It has fishies in it!" Alyssa smiled, setting her fork on the table quite loudly. "They're pretty! They're purple, and green, and blue! Just like my hair!"

Oh. Shit.

"Honey, your hair's not blue, it's red," Rachel said, sounding irritated while giving me "the eye".

"No! I dyed my hair! Just like Brian...but mine was blue, not black!" she protested. I could tell that Rachel was not happy about this, not one bit. Oh well. "It was pretty! We have pictures, let me show you!" Alyssa tried to get up to go and get the pictures to show her mother, but Rachel wasn't having it.

"Alyssa. Sit down and finish your lunch, please. You can show me after lunch, I promise."

"It was temporary hair dye; I promise," I tried to lighten her anger. She
must hate hair dye. Pffttt.
She gave me yet another glare and then looked down.

After lunch, Alyssa ran off to find the pictures, her little frame moving as fast as possible. She was so cute. When she found them, she brought them out to Rachel to show her, a proud smile across her face. Rachel, on the other hand, laughed slightly as she looked at them, enjoying every single picture. After they finished looking through the book of pictures, Alyssa put them back and then ran back to the table again.

Once she sat down, Rachel grabbed her arm gently and asked her what she had on her arm. Alyssa explained that she had spotted my tattoos and wanted some of her own. Of course, I had told her that she couldn't get any, but I'd giver her temporary ones. That didn't go over so well…
Alyssa got a slight lecture about how she shouldn't draw on herself.
Looking sad and dejected, Alyssa told me good night and she walked towards her bedroom after giving me a tight hug, her arms barely reaching the back of mine.

"Give me a minute and I'll be right back," Rachel informed me, and then followed Alyssa into her room.

I faintly heard Rachel talking to Alyssa, trying to get the little one to fall asleep for a good amount of time. I wasn't sure what to do, exactly, so I just stayed in my place at the kitchen table. Rachel took a seat at the table across from me, the sound of her chair sending shivers down my spine.

"So you're in a band, huh?" She immediately asked, her face showing an emotion somewhere between annoyance and disgust.

"Uh, yeah. I play guitar," I told her, trying to sound polite.

"I just want to know more about you I guess, if you're going to be around my kid like this. I don't want to be mean or anything, but she's really young, and there are certain things that I don't want her to…experience quite yet," she said, starting to drop her guard. "I don't know how else to put it, and I'm sure, since you hang around with Stefanie, you're really an amazing person, but Alyssa's only six and she can't be around a lot of alcohol or too much bad language," was the nice lecture I got from Rachel.

"I get it," I told her, shaking my head in the positive. "Just to get it out in the clear; nothing bad happened while I was there. I slept downstairs, on the recliner, while Alyssa and Stefanie slept upstairs. Yeah, I dyed her hair, but it was the spray dye that washes out immediately. There was no alcohol or too horrible language or anything."

"Well, it sounds like she had fun," Rachel smiled, trying to show that she wasn't too upset. "I probably sound like a total dick; sorry about that."

Rachel started laughing as she looked behind me. I was tempted to look behind me, but I didn't want to look like an asshole if she wasn't looking behind me.

When Rachel stopped laughing so hard, I felt a chill from somewhere behind me, causing me to pull my black jacket closer to my torso. Soon after, Rachel stopped laughing all together and looked back at me.

"So, how long have you been in a band?" Rachel asked me, sparking a long conversation between the two of us.

A cup of coffee and forty five minutes later, I was getting up to leave before I heard the pitter patter of small feet on the floor. I looked towards the entrance of the kitchen to see Alyssa standing there, her bear in hand and her pony tail slightly messy.

"BRIAN! YOU'RE STILL HERE!" Alyssa shrieked, sleep coating her voice still.

I couldn't help but laugh at her innocence. It was too cute, "Yeah, but I'm going to leave. Maybe I'll see you later, Alyssa. It was nice meeting you, Rachel."

"It was nice meeting you, too, Brian," and she actually sounded sincere! I couldn't help but smile. "Maybe I'll see you soon or something."

"Maybe you will. Maybe this Friday?" I asked her, a genuine smile crossing my lips.

Oh God, please agree to this…

"Yeah, maybe," Rachel told me, a smile covering the lower half of her face, the gesture even reaching into her eyes.

"Bye Brian," Alyssa pouted. "Will you be at Stefanie's house next time I'm there?"

"Possibly," I told her, having a feeling that I probably wouldn't be.
I gave her a small hug and told her goodbye.

Just before I left her house, I left a piece of paper with my number on it near her front door.

"Rachel-
Don't be a stranger. Give me a call.
555-5555
-Brian"