I Like the Remix

Tori waved Raelyn out the door, reminding the brunette that there had been plenty of times she had abandoned her for a date. Once her friend had left the apartment, she headed to her bedroom and flopped back on her bed. Originally, she was supposed to have a job today. She was supposed to model lingerie for a company that was trying to build up to Victoria’s Secret’s success. Needless to say, something fell through, and she was now at home trying to figure out what to do with her free time. “When in doubt… Turn on some music and take a nice long bath.” She decided. She stripped down to her bra and panties before walking across the hall and starting the bath.

She walked back to her bedroom to grab her phone to hook up to the iHome in the bathroom. After plugging it into the auxiliary cord and hit play. She smiled as The Wanted’s ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ started playing. “Oh Raelyn, why do I let you add music to my phone.” She shook her head before turning off the faucet. She was about to take off her bra and panties when she heard knocking on the door. “What the?” She grabbed Raelyn’s robe off the back of the door and after slipping it on headed for the front door.

Without giving it a second thought, she pulled the door open. “Brian?” She frowned in confusion at the tattoo covered rockstar standing in front of her. He was holding a dish towel to his forehead. “What happened?”

“Michelle started throwing everything within arm’s length at me when I handed her the divorce papers.” He grumbled, stepping inside when Tori moved out of the way to let him in. “I think she’s pissy because by some saving grace… I managed to get her to sign a prenup.” He pulled the towel away from his face to see if it was still bleeding.

Tori frowned at the gash on his forehead. “You think you need stitches?” She asked as she stepped closer to look at it. When he shrugged, she tugged on his hand and led him into the bathroom. She gently pushed him so he was sitting on the toilet and took the towel out of his hand to rinse it out in the sink. Once it was wet, she rubbed it gently over the gash and dried blood surrounding it. “This looks pretty bad, Bri.”

“It can’t be that ba- Ow... Okay, maybe you’re right.” He muttered as she applied pressure to it as he tried to speak. “Never thought my ashtray would be used against me.”

Tori grabbed his hand and brought it up to hold it to the wound. “Let me go put clothes on, and then we can go get that stitched up.” She left him in the bathroom and walked back into her room. She grabbed the first thing in her closet and pulled it on. She grabbed a pair of flats and grabbed her purse from her nightstand. When she walked back in, he let out a low whistle.

“Maybe I should get banged up more often.” He stated appreciatively as he looked her up and down. She glanced down and rolled her eyes. She was in a strapless Charlotte Russe skater dress. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but it wasn’t exactly a loose dress.
“Can we appreciate my clothes after you stop bleeding all over my apartment?” She scolded him sternly. She tugged on his hand and pulled him out the front door and down to her Mustang GT. Once they were both buckled in, she headed for the nearest hospital.

---

Tori stood off to the side as the doctor stitched up Brian’s forehead. Once he was done, she took a seat next to him. “Is she really that pissed over it? I mean… You are getting divorced because it’s not working out anymore, right?”

Brian looked over at her and frowned. “I’m going to be completely honest here, I think marrying Michelle was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I don’t think there was ever love… It was just lust and greed. And it was easy. Most girls would get fed up with tour schedules and me being away… Michelle didn’t care as long as she had access to the bank account…” The last statement came out in a bitter tone, resentment shining in his eyes.

Tori bit her lip and contemplated whether or not she should ask the question that had been on her mind since she found out they got married. “Why did you marry her?” Her voice was soft, and once she realized she shouldn’t have voiced the question, her eyes fell to the floor. “You don’t have to tell me.”

She heard him let out a heavy sigh. “She kept dropping hints. My mom and dad kept mentioning grandkids, and I guess I just let everyone’s opinions get the better of me. Val kept telling me how she thought we were perfect for each other. And how it would be a big step in moving forward after Jimmy died.” He swallowed and stared down at his hands before making a decision. He gently grabbed her chin and made her look up at him. “I fucked up when Jimmy died. I let myself get consumed by the grief and made the stupidest decisions in my life. I never should have cheated on you. I’m never going to forgive myself for that.” He took her hands in both of his and looked deep into her eyes. “I love you, Tori. And I’m going to regret fucking up our relationship for the rest of my life.”

She sat there frozen to her spot. How was she supposed to respond to a heartfelt speech like that one? “I...Wow, I don’t know what to say.” She finally got out after a few minutes of silence. “So, uh, an ashtray, huh?” She asked as she reached up and gently brushed her fingers over the stitches.

Brian frowned at her change of subject but said nothing about it. “Yeah. A glass ashtray.” He stated plainly. The doctor finally walked back in with the paperwork he had claimed was printing and Brian turned his attention to the doctor. After he finished his instructions on how to take care of the injury and when to come back, the two slowly made their way back towards Tori’s car.

“If you can’t go home tonight… You can stay with me.” She told him nervously. Finally looking at him after avoiding eye contact after what had just occurred.

“Raelyn won’t throw me out?” He asked, somewhat jokingly. When she shook her head, no, he let out a sigh. He didn’t want to go back to the awkward silence. “Thanks, Tori. I owe you one.”

---

Raelyn bit her lip as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had excused herself after giggling at something stupid Zacky had said, having realized that she was on track to end up beyond wasted by the time the night was over if she didn’t come up with a game plan now. She frowned at her rosey cheeks and shook her head to try and clear out the light haze that inhabited it. After mentally arguing with herself, she had decided what was left in her glass out there would be the last bit of liquor she would have for the night and splashed some cool water in her face to try and regain the complete control that came with sobriety.

She inhaled deeply, squared her shoulders, and walked back out to their table and took her seat across from Zacky. “Everything okay?” He asked, and she reveled in the fact that his concern seemed legitimate. Raelyn nodded with a small smile before taking another bite out of her dinner. He had chosen to take her to one of his favorite steak houses. And while she knew he could afford the prices, that didn’t make her feel any better about choosing an entree when they all started at twenty dollars. It had been part of the reason she had chosen wine over a cocktail, the specialty cocktails on the menu all started at eighteen dollars or more, the cheapest glass of wine was twelve. Then again, she hadn’t expected them to refill it a second and third time.

“This is really good… But you know I would’ve been fine with stopping at an In-N-Out, right?” She spoke up, and saw his face fall. “Not that Cut isn’t nice, I just… I feel bad that you’re spending this much.” She rushed and resisted the urge to groan. She was basically speaking without thinking… It was something she found she tended to do after a few drinks.

Zacky chuckled at the exasperated look on her face. “Relax Raelyn, I chose to bring you here. Did I not say it was a surprise and to dress nice?” He asked and waited for her to nod. “You had no idea. It was my choice. And so what if the bill ends up being two hundred dollars or more.” He shrugged it off. It wasn’t like they’d end up washing dishes or anything along those lines.

Raelyn coughed into her napkin as she choked on her food for a moment. Two hundred dollars… Just for dinner?! She sipped what was left in her wine glass and shook her head when the sommelier appeared to refill her glass. She put her glass down and swallowed a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t still choking. “You’re insane.” She whispered out, her voice raspy from her near-death experience.

“Maybe.” He agreed with a laugh. “You okay?” He asked when he noticed her rubbing her throat lightly.

“Yeah. Sorry, not used to choking.” She stated dryly with a roll of her eyes. She glanced down at her plate and contemplated finishing what was left on it. When the waiter reappeared and asked how everything was, she got her answer with Zacky’s answer.

“Really good. Can we get a couple of boxes and a dessert menu?” He thought about how much damage he would cause with the next question. “And a refill on her wine?” He had a couple of beers but used the excuse that he was driving when she asked why he had switched to Coke. He chose to ignore the slight glare she was sending in his direction as he smiled at the waiter. She seemed less nervous after the first glass of wine, and had started to smile first after the second… And he noticed she had actually started to open up more towards the middle of the third. So why she had refused a refill was beyond him. Assuming it had to do with the cost after her last few comments, he figured if he ordered it for her she couldn’t get as upset because it was his choice since he was paying.

When Raelyn realized Zacky wasn’t going to relent and tell the waiter to forget the wine, she let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair she was in. “I think you’re trying to make it impossible to make it to work tomorrow.” She joked, but felt like it was true with how full she felt… And now he expected her to eat some sort of dessert.

“Just trying to give you the most out of this experience since I think you’ll start asking where we’re going and veto some of my ideas from now on.” Zacky stated with a small smile. He took the dessert menu from the waiter and looked over it as he put their food into boxes and put the boxes into a bag. “Can I get the dark chocolate souffle?” He offered Raelyn the menu and she just shook her head. “And two spoons.” He handed the menu back to the waiter who had answered with an ‘Of course, sir.’

Raelyn rolled her eyes before eyeing the filled wineglass in front of her warily. Zacky was already spending so much money, did she have it in her to let him waste another twelve dollars on her? She bit her lip as she tried to judge how tipsy she actually was. The haze had lightened since her trip to the bathroom, so she would be okay with just one more glass of wine… Right? She could drink half of it… Then she’d only be wasting six dollars… She shook her head to try and clear it a bit when the waiter came back with their dessert. “Oh wow, that looks amazing.” She admired out loud and immediately regretted it when Zacky smirked at her. The waiter left after placing it in the middle of their table along with the two spoons. “I mean… One bite won’t hurt.” She shrugged.

Zacky rolled his eyes at her lame attempt to hide her inner child, to be honest, that was the first time he’d seen her eyes sparkle like that since getting here. For a moment, she seemed to forget that she was uncomfortable with how expensive the restaurant was. “Try some.” He urged. She bit her lip slightly as she grabbed a spoon. After a moment of hesitation she took some and actually tried it. He smiled at the instant reaction of her eyes closing and a content smile coming to her face. “That good, huh?”

“Mmmhmm,” She nodded as she opened her eyes and was met with his amused expression. She felt her cheeks heat up and looked away from him, she took a long sip from her wineglass and tried desperately to will herself to calm down. When she looked back over his eyes were no longer on her as he took a bite out of the dessert as well.

As they finished up the dessert, the waiter returned with the bill. She only caught a glimpse of it before Zacky grabbed it. One of the entrees alone had been eighty dollars. Without giving it much thought, she downed the rest of her wine. He really was insane… To buy all of this and make it themselves would’ve been so much cheaper. He pulled out some cash, she lost track of how many twenties he was pulling out. Once he slipped it into the folder, he stood up and offered her his hand.

She stood up and took it and followed him out to his car. He opened her door for her and once she sat down, she let herself forget about the restaurant they just came out of. Raelyn glanced back at Zacky as he sat down in the driver’s seat. “Thank you for dinner. Even if I still think you’re crazy for spending that much money…” She smiled at him.

“No problem, you want me to take you home now?” He asked knowingly.

“Yeah, I want to go fall into a food coma.” She smiled at him. “And check on Tori.” He nodded in agreement and started the car, and pulled out of the parking lot.