For Us

I rode with Stella back to her house, and Norman followed behind. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the royal blue 2014 Corvette Stingray we got into, but I was. It was really nice, but too sporty for my tastes. Sean would love it, though.

We unpacked my stuff from Norman’s car, and I freshened up a bit. Stella changed herself, and Norman just watched nothing on the TV.

This was Sean . . . goodness, why did it matter? He had seen me all nasty and sweaty, straight from play practice and in need of a few showers. Yet I felt nervous about going dressed like I was.

Seriously, I hated using a curling iron on my hair, but since I had previously put up my naturally curly hair, I had to in order to get the hair bow crease out. Then I ended up putting it into a braid bun anyways.

To accent my hair, I had on a diamond flower and leaf headband. Tiara headband anyways. A strapless blue dress, not too short, a killer pair of diamond and chain embellished black heels, the usual diamond stud earrings curling all the way up my ears . . . I was ready with just a touch of makeup on my eyelashes and eye lids.

When I walked out, Stella smirked while Norman’s eyebrows rose. This was one of those times I knew the girl joke was coming out, but he actually didn’t say anything. Just smiled and opened the door for us.

“Stella has to head to her night job after dinner, so I’ll bring you back by here,” he informed me.

I began nervously chewing on my lip but nodded in agreement anyways. I guess it would be okay. After all, asleep in the back room was the huge Rottweiler, Ash. She was sweet enough, but I knew a Rottweiler wasn’t a dog you messed with.

So I guess it counted as a safety measure.

It was great being with Stella again. Last time we had seen each other, I had no piercings or tattoos, and now, I had thirteen piercings around each ear, and I had nine tattoos in various places on my body. There was only one she couldn’t see, and that was the one on my left ribs. It said, “Our flaws are what make us perfect” with four small birds and a small angel flying underneath.

I had one on my left inner forearm that said “we are who we are for a lot of reasons”, and on my right forearm, I had three circles completely circling my arm. On both of my pinkies, I had “promise” carefully written out, and on my left ring finger, I had an infinity symbol linked with a heart.

My favorite one so far, however, was the one on my left hand. It was an intricate compass with colored wind blowing around it. There were different colors in the wind, such as blue and pink with orange in the middle, and there were feathers blowing around it.

I had another one on my foot that said “Free yourself” and also had a feather beside it. Instead of the wind blowing the feather away, it was blowing pieces of the feather that came off as little birds.

Then there was the rose treble clef. Resting on my right wrist, so beautiful and intricate.

She kept looking at all the tattoos she could see, only when it was safe. She had this obsession with tattoos and piercings, and I had always said I would never ever get either.

Well, look how that turned out.

We drove a little into Brooklyn, which was an adventure. Seeing the city as the sun set, all the people as they got off work and went home . . . it was incredible. People walked around like it was nothing, no big deal, but to me, some girl who had dreamed of coming to New York her entire life and only finding herself able to now, it was a huge deal.

Stella enjoyed watching me, but before long, we were at the restaurant. I was surprised how close to the water it was, and from right outside, you could see Manhattan in all of its lit up glory.

While Stella went inside to see about a table, Norman came and stood beside me, his hands in his pockets and a smile toying with the corner of his lips. “It’s a beautiful city, Elli. You should consider moving here sometime.”

“I have, many times,” I admitted. “But it’s such a big city, and as scared as I am, I’m gonna be amazed if I last two weeks just staying here.”

“It’s scary sometimes, sure, but the trick is to never go out alone.”

Stella came back out right about then, a smile on her lips when she looked at the two of us. “Our table’s ready.”

My eyebrows rose. “How is that possible? This place looks fancy, like one of those places you don’t just walk right into.”

“I know a few people,” she murmured, and with that cocky little smile of hers, she spun back around and practically danced her way inside.

The hostess seemed a bit star struck at the sight of Norman, and of course, he didn’t even notice. He gave her a timid smile, slid his hands in his pockets, and followed behind me as she led us to our table.

Stella smiled at her. “When our friend gets here, asking for Norman, bring him to us, please.”

The hostess seemed miffed that Stella was commanding her as she was, but what could she do? Say no? So, she was very rigid as she nodded and handed us four menus. “Yes, ma’am. Your waiter will be right with you.”

I sat in the corner seat by the window, looking out at the still darkening city with wide eyes. Stella sat across from me while Norman took the seat beside me.

With my gaze so intently set out the window, I didn’t notice when Sean got here. If Norman hadn’t stood up, I wouldn’t have noticed until he got to the table.

But I was a bit glad I noticed. The hostess looked star struck all over again, but like Norman hadn’t, Sean didn’t even notice. Of course, he didn’t notice for different reasons than Norman, but still. His eyes were glued to me, and the way he looked at me . . . it sent my heart on a frenzy.

Sean’s eyes were full of shock and awe, mixed with something else I couldn’t quite pick out. His mouth hung open a little, and for a short bit, he wasn’t breathing. Just stood there looking at me.

He was better off standing there. The moment he took a step towards our table, he caused an explosion of chaos. He didn’t notice the chair he was standing beside, so his foot caught. The older man sitting in the chair got it jerked out from under him, and when he fell onto the floor, a waiter hurriedly carrying an entire tray of food happened to be walking by. So, well, a whole tray of food went everywhere, except on Sean, of course, who was still in the process of helping the man back up.

“I am so very sorry about that, sir,” he told him, eyes wide in horror as he looked around to the mess he caused. “Are you alright?”

The man smiled at him and titled his head towards our table. “I’m fine, kid. Go get her.”

Wow.

Sean stepped with extreme caution the rest of the way to the table, his face burning red in embarrassment. “Well, if it isn’t the bitch that kicked my ass outta college.”

Norman looked to Stella with wide eyes, and with a grin, Stell gave him a small nod while I rolled my eyes and smiled at him. “You’re damn right I did, and look where it got you. Causing all kinds of chaos in such a nice restaurant.”

Sean glared at me. “Dear fuck, I hate you all.”

I felt the smirk on my lips that made his eyes narrow. “And why is that, Boo Bear?”

“You, little miss fucking . . . gah!” he exclaimed, and very quickly, he sat down beside Stella and leaned towards me, ducking down a little so we were face to face practically. “Why’d you stop emailing? I figured you were, like, fucking dead or something!”

“Me?” I exclaimed, and I felt inclined to scoot closer so I could glare at him properly. “You were the one that stopped. I even tried to call you, but you had gotten a new number or some bullshit like that. Don’t pin this on me, pretty boy.”

“And what the hell is that all over you?” he asked. “What happened to ‘Oh, I’m never getting any kind of piercing or tattoo. Needles are too scary,’ Miss Priss?”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “I got over that fear a bit. Still hate needles, but I’m able to tolerate them if I get a badass tattoo from it.”

Norman took my hand, and for a moment, I saw panic in Sean’s eyes. Panic I didn’t understand, but panic, nonetheless. Anyways, when Normy showed him my left hand, Sean’s eyes widened a little.

“That’s his favorite cause he drew it,” I admitted, and I carefully took my hand from his so it would be safe on the table again.

Norm shook his head. “That’s my favorite because of the meaning behind it.”

Sean looked a bit surprised to see us talking so well together, but Stella just sat back with the most confident smirk in the entire world. There was a “fuck all you bitches, I win” look in her eyes, but she just sat there, didn’t say a word.

About the time I started to ask, our waiter came scurrying up, giving Sean and Norman a nervous smile before asking, “Hello, and welcome to River Café. My name’s Timothy, and it’s my pleasure to serve you this evening. What can I get you guys to drink tonight?”