And Love Said No

Esme passed the empty glass from one hand to the other. The low rumble was inaudible over the music that overpowered the small bar, a place that had become as familiar as the inside of her hotel room over the past few weeks. She jumped when Charlie slid into the booth across from her.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!”

“It's okay.” Esme didn’t even look up to greet her. Her attention was fixated on something in her glass.

Charlie noticed. “What's wrong?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong.”

Her brow raised ever so slightly. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Esme grinned and finally met her friend’s gaze. “What took you so long anyway?”

Charlie motioned for the waitress. “ Ah, just closing up shop, getting things ready for tomorrow.”

“You haven't missed much. The crowd is just getting in.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” The waitress came over and Charlie ordered a Blue Moon. “How long you been here, anyway? You look like you're on your third beer.”

“Fourth.” She burped. “I don't know. About an hour and a half.”

“You sure you're okay?” Charlie didn’t want to push her. Despite how quickly they’d become friends, she didn’t feel comfortable prying. “Is this about your ex?”

The waitress came with Charlie's drink and another glass to replace Esme's. She opened her mouth to explain, but before she could get a syllable out, there was a thunderous crash near the entrance of the bar followed by loud laughter.

“What the fuck?” Charlie muttered as the two peered from their seats at the commotion.

A tall curly haired guy teased his shirtless, heavily tattooed friend and smothered him against the door as they tried to enter. Behind them was a taller, more reserved guy who shook his head disapprovingly at the bunch.

“Bam's here?” Esme furrowed her brows.

“Bam?” That definitely didn’t sound like a name.

“C'mon, I'll introduce you.” She grabbed Charlie’s hand and steadfastly approached the familiar face.

They weaved through the crowd and were careful not to spill their drinks. When they got to the boys, Bam had Novak in a headlock and Jess stood to the side trying not to wring his younger brother’s neck for embarrassing him. No one noticed the two approach.

“What the hell are you fuckboys doing here?” Esme greeted.

Bam immediately let go of his friend and took Esme in a warm embrace instead. “Esme! What are you doing in LA?”

“Uh, meetings and stuff. I’m working on a new book--well, finishing it up. Did Ape chase you out of the house again?”

“Missy, but yeah.” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What did you do?”

“Nothin’!” He then murmured under his breath, “Apparently, getting a 20-foot tree is not in the spirit of Christmas.”

“I'm sure there's more to it than that.”

“Oh, you don't want to know.” Jess assured as he pulled her into a hug. “How are you, kid?”

“I'm good, how are you?”

“I have a migraine from dealing with this one all day,” he thumbed Bam. “But nothing a little alcohol can't fix.”

“Oh, this is Charlie! Charlie, this is Jess, his brother Bam, and Novak.”

“Hi.” She greeted, though she was bewildered at the sight of grown men wrestling in the middle of a bar. She excused, “I'll let you catch up. My glass is feeling a little light anyway.”

Novak looked after her longingly. Her blonde tresses and tan skin made her hard for him to resist. Esme could see him undressing her with his eyes.

“Don't bother her.” Esme warned.

“What? She could be attracted to me.”

“Not a chance. She doesn't swing that way.”

“It's okay, I like the chase.”

“That's not what that means. Don't harass her.” Her tone hardened protectively, but Novak was long gone.

Jess started after him, “I'll keep an eye on him.”

Esme opened her mouth to call after him, but sighed and turned to Bam instead. “Cmon, let's get a booth.”

“Don’t think I don’t know about you and Ville.” Bam said now that they were alone.

“I’m not surprised. You know, if there wasn’t already something going on between me and Ville, I would have thought you two would settle into the tower because of how close you are.” she chuckled.

“Fuck you. We’re just good friends and you know it.”

Esme shrugged and the smile slowly slipped off her face. She slid into the booth and Bam sat next to her. “So... does he know I’m here?”

“Why do you think I came to LA?”

“I can’t believe him.” she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Relax, he wanted to give you your space, but I could tell he was worried. Jussi, too. Don't worry, I came out of my own volition. Jussi says you haven’t been returning his calls.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t talk to him. He’s-- I don’t know. Jussi will know how I am just from the sound of my voice.”

“And how are you?”

Esme shook her head, trying to clear the tears that were forming in her eyes. “It’s killing me not to talk to my best friend. It’s weird--it’s so weird to know someone for so long and to just cut them off and stop talking to them. But I mean, I can’t. I can’t talk to him. I can’t go back there. I talked to him the other day and it was normal. Things were fine and I hated that.”

“Why did you hate it?”

“Because it means that even after everything happened, I still love him. It seems so twisted to love someone who would hurt you like that. Who clearly didn’t love you the same way.”

“He was an idiot, Esme, but you can’t say he didn’t love you. He worships the ground you walk on, he hangs onto every word that comes out of your mouth.”

“Then why? Why did he sleep with her?” she shrieked through grit teeth.

Bam took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth. “I can’t tell you because I don’t know. But you need to go back and talk to him. You need answers to clear your head.”

“Ugh.” Her forehead slouched onto his shoulder. “For once, I would like for someone to say that the answer to all my problems is at the bottom of a tequila bottle.”

“You should come to West Chester and hang out for a bit. Get your mind off things, you know?”

Esme eased out of his grasp. “Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine here.”

“Is that why you're already five beers deep when the sun hasn't even set yet?”

Esme glared. “It's not that early.”

“What are you chicks talking about?” Novak asked as he bustled into the booth across the table.

Bam reached over and smacked his head, “About Esme coming back to West Chester with us.”

“Strike out, did you? Did she bruise anything other than your ego?” she asked and sipped her beer.

He deflected, “You should come back with us. You know, we've been having way too much fun, we really need someone to rein it in and make things dull as dirt again.”

“Don't listen to him! Come on, it will be fun! Missy will actually be glad to have someone else around again.”

“What are we talking about?” Jess and Charlie joined the table with four beers and a full pitcher.

“Esme coming back with us. Will people just keep up with the conversation?” Bam sighed.

“I'm not really good company, if you haven't noticed. I doubt Missy would want to deal with all this right now. Just let me wallow.”

“Are you kidding me? Missy would be here trying to convince you right now if it wasn't for the whole ‘ATV in the living room’ situation.”

“You drove an ATV through your living room?” Charlie was astounded.

“Technically he drove it through the front door, but by the time he could control the thing on the hardwood floors, he was in the living room--well, he nearly shattered the patio doors.” Jess explained nonchalantly.

“And this doesn't concern you?”

“It's on the harmless side of things, as much as that will surprise you.” Esme chuckled.

“So are you coming?” Bam asked like an excited four year old.

“Am I allowed to say no?”

“Yeah, you're allowed to say whatever you want.”

“But you already booked the flight for me, didn't you?”

“We leave at 2 tomorrow.” He smiled smugly and started chugging his beer.