The Dancer

Dakota paid the cabby, grabbed her duffle bag and purse and climbed out of the taxi. She turned around and looked at the house tucked in between rows and rows of palm trees. Images of the first night she’d been here flashed through her mind and her cheeks flushed. Shaking her head, she moved to the front steps, bent down, retrieved the key from under the mat and unlocked the door. Once inside, she moved to the alarm pad and pressed the code in, making sure it was un-armed.

She set her things down and not removing the smile from her face, she went about exploring. The living room was a deep burgundy color with black trimming. All the couches and furniture were black leather, giving the room a dark feel. She loved it. The dark drapes were open, allowing light to come in through the huge bay windows in the front of the house. She made her way around the pristine room, looking at the pictures of Brian, his sister, brother, parents, and the rest of the band. She smiled at each one.

Dakota left the room and moved her way through the kitchen, running her hand the length of the black marble countertop as she moved on to the little office connected to it, through it, into the “hangout” room with the large television and huge couches. She reached for the remote, turning the television on, curious as to what Brian had been watching the last time he’d been there. HBO showed on the screen, some movie playing, and she left it on for the sound.

Making her way back through the house, she grabbed her bags at the base of the stairs and trotted her way up them. She stopped at Brian’s room first, setting her bags on his bed and opening the curtains to the balcony at the back of the house. The afternoon sun flooded in, setting the grey walls in a glow. She took her phone and set it in the dock beside the bed, letting the music play.

She slowly made her way around his room, pulling off her shoes, and seeing much of what she had before, but this time she had the range to explore at will. Her fingers danced over his shirts and watches in his closet. She noticed only half of the walk-in was full, leaving an entire side empty. She frowned and wondered why that was. She made a mental note to ask him when she called.

Dakota was about to find something to eat when the doorbell rang. Cautiously, she made her way to the front of the house. She glanced out the window to see a woman standing on the porch. Her eyebrows drawn together, she opened the door.

“Can I help you?”

“Who the fuck are you?” the woman asked, completely taken aback.

“Uh, I could ask you the same question,” Dakota said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Why are you in my boyfriends’ house?”

It dawned on Dakota who the woman was, then. Brian had mentioned Melissa a few times, and how he’d never wanted to pursue anything with her but she was adamant. He also confessed to her that he hadn’t seen her since the day of the show which had been several months ago.

“So you’re Melissa,” Dakota said, nodding.

“Who the fuck are you?” she spat.

Dakota exaggerated her movements as she wiped an invisible drop of spit off of her face. “That was gross. I’m Brian’s new girlfriend. Can I help you?”

“You can get the fuck out of his house.”

“Considering he gave me the key to stay here, I don’t think he wants me out, but you’re more than welcome to call him and explain why you’re here when he doesn’t want you to be.”

Fuming, Melissa flipped the girl off and whirled around. This was unacceptable. Brian was supposed to be with her not that piece of trash.

Dakota rolled her eyes and shut the door. She didn’t have time for insignificant women. She was just about to go into the kitchen to try again to find something to eat when her phone started ringing. She froze in her tracks and pulled the phone out of her pocket. Brian’s name appeared on the screen and she pressed accept.

“You know, when I came to California, I knew it was going to be a crazy time, but I didn’t think it would be this crazy,” she said, smiling.

“What happened?”

“Your girlfriend showed up just a minute ago.”

“Melissa came by?”

“Yep.”

“Holy fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t think she’d be a factor anymore. I told her way before the concert that I didn’t want to see her anymore and that we were over.”

“I’m not mad, Brian. I promise. I just thought you should be aware she stopped by.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I promise, it’s okay, Brian!”

“The reason I called was because I forgot about my keys. My dad’s got the keys to the cars and shit and I wanted to let you know that he’s bringing them over so you can use the cars while you’re there.”

“You’re trusting me with your cars?”

“I mean…I’m trusting you with my house. It’s not like you’re gonna go total them, are you?”

“No, I’d be more careful with your cars than I would my own.”

“That’s why I’d trust you with my cars.”

“You’re a sweetheart. What are you doing?”

“We’re about to go do sound check right now. I just wanted to call and make sure you got there okay and everything’s alright. Also, my dad said he’d be there in like an hour, so I didn’t want you to freak out, but it looks like you’ve already had unexpected visitors.”

“Okay, well I was just about to search for something to eat for dinner.”

”Okay, I’ll call you later, babe.”

“Bye,” she said and hung up the phone.

Finding the ingredients for spaghetti, she quickly made the dish and fixed a plate. She normally didn’t eat that many carbohydrates but she was famished and knew she’d work them off the next day. Once she’d finished cleaning the kitchen up and washing the dishes by hand, she put them away and moved on to stand outside, watching the sun fade into the sky.

She was about to turn around and go take a shower when she ran into someone.

“Hi,” the man said as she straightened herself up. “I’ve been calling out for like two minutes, but obviously you didn’t hear me.”

“You must be Brian,” she said, smiling, extending her hand.

“Call me Papa Gates, and I’m assuming you must be Dakota, although Brian didn’t do you justice with his description.”

“What’d he say?” she asked as they both walked back into the house.

“Oh, you know, he dropped a few key words. ‘Beautiful’, ‘stunning’, and ‘the most gorgeous woman on the face of the planet’ just to name a few.”

Not able to help herself, Dakota’s cheeks flushed. She smiled as he held the door open for her and they walked to the kitchen.

“Well, Brian said you’d be here for a couple of days, so I think these should go to you,” he said and took two sets of keys out of his pockets. “I gassed them up yesterday for you.”

“Wow,” she said looking from the keys back up to him. “I had planned on doing that; thank you!”

“Sweetheart, if the way Brian has been talking about you for the past two days is any indication of how he really feels, I think he’d kick my ass if I didn’t.”

Again, Dakota blushed.

“You look beat, and I bet you haven’t slept since you got off the plane.”

“I was going to a while back but Brian had an…unexpected…visitor.”

“That bitch showed up here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“For a few minutes,” Dakota said with a sly smile.

“Oh hell,” he said, smiling.

Dakota shrugged. “I handled it.”

“Good girl,” he said, nodding. “Okay, go on and get some sleep. When you leave, just leave the keys here and I’ll get them.”

“Thank you again,” she said and waved as he left.

Cutting all the lights off, she trotted up the stairs and into Brian’s room. Taking a quick shower, she dried off and pulled on a pair of shorts and as she went to pull on her tank top, she had a thought. As creepy as it was, she went to Brian’s closet, pulled out a t-shirt, shoved it over her head and climbed into his bed.

Inhaling his scent, she fell asleep.