Status: Completed
Best Thing In Town
Paperback Writer
Here it was. May 4, 2007. It was Mike's 35th birthday and the party at their house was in full swing. Mike, Audrey, Billie Joe, Adrienne, Tre and his new girlfriend, their kids, Jason, their other many friends...all circled around in the living room as Mike opened the gifts he'd been given. And he received some pretty nice things that he thanked everyone for.
Mike couldn't believe how wonderfully everything was falling into place. Not to mention it was just weird to think of himself as halfway to forty. It made him think hard about that. In a sense it scared him to think he was almost that age. Him. Mike Dirnt. Thirty-five years old; almost forty. It was insane.
Luckily he had friends and family that made him feel like he was twenty-five.
When his party came to and end and after everyone left, the girls had already fallen asleep, except Estelle who was spending the night. It just seemed to work out that his birthday landed on a Friday this year and he had his oldest daughter for the weekend. Feeling she was capable of tucking herself in, Mike and Audrey said they were heading up to bed. After all, Estelle was ten now.
As soon as they were upstairs, Mike closed the bedroom door quietly and turned to his wife, took one large step and lifted her up in his arms, throwing her down into bed. As he stripped them both of their clothes, he leaned forward with a laugh.
"Happy birthday to me..."
* * *
Eleven days later, Mike and Audrey were sitting on a beach in Hawaii, celebrating their first wedding anniversary. They were resting on a large beach blanket, compliments of the resort they were staying at while Mike admired the smooth skin of his wife's stomach that was getting more than every day they were out in the sun together. He laid down beside her, removing himself from his sitting position.
Trailing a finger around her belly button in a circle, he leaned down and kissed her as the heavenly warmth of the sun bathed over them. Audrey had her arm covering her eyes to block out the blinding sunlight but her mouth wasn't. Mike moved so that he was straddling her legs and then placed his hands on either side of her chest, blocking the sun out with his body. She dropped her arm and smirked as he kissed her again.
"Happy anniversary," she cooed.
"Mmm...happy anniversary to you, too." He laid down on top of her, burying his face in the concave of her neck as he snaked his arms around her body and rolled over so that she was on top.
"This isn't a private beach, you know," she giggled.
"So..."
They both laughed together, finally deciding to pick up their things and head back to their room for a pleasant anniversary romp of sexcapades.
* * *
Holy shit.
Her book had been published. Hundreds of thousands of her novels would be delivered to stores nationwide within the week and here at Audrey's feet was a box of the novels that she was able to give away for free to friends and family.
Lifting up one of the novels on the top, Audrey admired the cover and the back, giddily laughing to herself as the sight of her face on the back, with her small biography that said:
Audrey Pritchard is a former journalist from Buffalo, New York who know lives in Oakland, California with her punk rocker husband, Mike, and their three daughters between them: Estelle, Katarina and Lorelei.
Even her picture was beautiful. She'd been surprised that the impromptu photo shoot she'd gone to with the guys would produce a picture of her as well to use for her book. And now she was a professional author. The real deal. This book she held in her hands signified that. And soon, the country would be reading what she had to say. She didn't need the fame, the recognition or even the money that might start rolling in if the book did well. She just always wanted to tell a story for the world to have with them always. Even if it wasn't her story, it didn't matter.
Giddily, she called up Mike who was at Billie Joe's house with Tre and their manager and tour manager, going over album whosits and whatsits. Along with setting up what dates they'd go on tour. The tour would start in two months time, so a lot had to be done in the mean time. They had already filmed their first video which was being played on MTV, MTV2, Fuse, VH1, MuchMusic...
It was June 1st. In a little over two weeks, Lorelei would be a year old. It seemed like only yesterday Audrey and Mike had slept together that first time in that hotel in Buffalo only for her to leave him. Strange how almost two years later she was no where near ever leaving him again.
"Hello?" Mike said into the receiver when Audrey got through to him on his cell phone.
"Hey, sexy. Guess what I got?"
Mike grinned. "Oh, hey babe. What do you got?"
"My book. Joan sent me a box of them to give out for free to family and friends," she rambled really quickly from excitement. "It's so surreal."
"I bet," he replied. "Well, when I get home shortly, I'll pick one of those bad boys up and finally read the dedication page you kept hiding from me."
Audrey laughed and they talked for a bit more, when Mike changed the subject abruptly.
"Aud?"
"Yeah?"
"You know what I just realized?"
"What?"
"I never asked you why you were on that plane coming back from England. You know, the very first time we met."
Audrey smiled. "Oh yeah."
"Why were you?" he egged on.
"I won a radio contest in Buffalo to take a friend to Paris and London for two weeks. I took my best friend Val and we went to Paris but when we got to London I knew how much she was missing her husband, Joe, so I secretly called him and told him to meet us at the hotel. As soon as he showed up, I left. Decided to come home early."
"It's a good thing you did," Mike commented. "I probably never would've met you."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Listen, I gotta finish up here still and then swing by the Anastacia's to pick up Estelle for the weekend and then I'll be home. We can all go out to dinner to celebrate your book, okay?"
"Definitely."
"Alright. I love you, Aud."
"I love you too, Mike."
With that, Audrey hung up the phone and set the book down on the kitchen counter. She was so unbelievably happy. Her career was back on the up and up, Mike was doing well with the guys, the kids were healthy. Life couldn't get any better.
She poked her head into the living room to check in on the girls. Since her grandma had returned to Buffalo, it was just her and her daughters again. And they were quietly watching cartoons; Katarina on the couch, Lorelei in her playpen.
Content that they were fine, Audrey walked back into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. But as soon as she reached up into the cupboard to grab a mug, her eyesight got hazy. She blinked a few times, focusing on what she was doing, and wrapped her fingers around the porcelain mug. But the haziness didn't go away. It returned full force until everything was completely blurry and she couldn't see anything that was a foot in front of her.
Her heart began to pound with confusion as a sudden jolt of pain ripped through her head. She didn't even have time to react to it.
In the time it took the tea mug to slip from her hands and shatter to the floor, Audrey fell backward onto the tile floor, everything fading to black.
Mike couldn't believe how wonderfully everything was falling into place. Not to mention it was just weird to think of himself as halfway to forty. It made him think hard about that. In a sense it scared him to think he was almost that age. Him. Mike Dirnt. Thirty-five years old; almost forty. It was insane.
Luckily he had friends and family that made him feel like he was twenty-five.
When his party came to and end and after everyone left, the girls had already fallen asleep, except Estelle who was spending the night. It just seemed to work out that his birthday landed on a Friday this year and he had his oldest daughter for the weekend. Feeling she was capable of tucking herself in, Mike and Audrey said they were heading up to bed. After all, Estelle was ten now.
As soon as they were upstairs, Mike closed the bedroom door quietly and turned to his wife, took one large step and lifted her up in his arms, throwing her down into bed. As he stripped them both of their clothes, he leaned forward with a laugh.
"Happy birthday to me..."
* * *
Eleven days later, Mike and Audrey were sitting on a beach in Hawaii, celebrating their first wedding anniversary. They were resting on a large beach blanket, compliments of the resort they were staying at while Mike admired the smooth skin of his wife's stomach that was getting more than every day they were out in the sun together. He laid down beside her, removing himself from his sitting position.
Trailing a finger around her belly button in a circle, he leaned down and kissed her as the heavenly warmth of the sun bathed over them. Audrey had her arm covering her eyes to block out the blinding sunlight but her mouth wasn't. Mike moved so that he was straddling her legs and then placed his hands on either side of her chest, blocking the sun out with his body. She dropped her arm and smirked as he kissed her again.
"Happy anniversary," she cooed.
"Mmm...happy anniversary to you, too." He laid down on top of her, burying his face in the concave of her neck as he snaked his arms around her body and rolled over so that she was on top.
"This isn't a private beach, you know," she giggled.
"So..."
They both laughed together, finally deciding to pick up their things and head back to their room for a pleasant anniversary romp of sexcapades.
* * *
Holy shit.
Her book had been published. Hundreds of thousands of her novels would be delivered to stores nationwide within the week and here at Audrey's feet was a box of the novels that she was able to give away for free to friends and family.
Lifting up one of the novels on the top, Audrey admired the cover and the back, giddily laughing to herself as the sight of her face on the back, with her small biography that said:
Audrey Pritchard is a former journalist from Buffalo, New York who know lives in Oakland, California with her punk rocker husband, Mike, and their three daughters between them: Estelle, Katarina and Lorelei.
Even her picture was beautiful. She'd been surprised that the impromptu photo shoot she'd gone to with the guys would produce a picture of her as well to use for her book. And now she was a professional author. The real deal. This book she held in her hands signified that. And soon, the country would be reading what she had to say. She didn't need the fame, the recognition or even the money that might start rolling in if the book did well. She just always wanted to tell a story for the world to have with them always. Even if it wasn't her story, it didn't matter.
Giddily, she called up Mike who was at Billie Joe's house with Tre and their manager and tour manager, going over album whosits and whatsits. Along with setting up what dates they'd go on tour. The tour would start in two months time, so a lot had to be done in the mean time. They had already filmed their first video which was being played on MTV, MTV2, Fuse, VH1, MuchMusic...
It was June 1st. In a little over two weeks, Lorelei would be a year old. It seemed like only yesterday Audrey and Mike had slept together that first time in that hotel in Buffalo only for her to leave him. Strange how almost two years later she was no where near ever leaving him again.
"Hello?" Mike said into the receiver when Audrey got through to him on his cell phone.
"Hey, sexy. Guess what I got?"
Mike grinned. "Oh, hey babe. What do you got?"
"My book. Joan sent me a box of them to give out for free to family and friends," she rambled really quickly from excitement. "It's so surreal."
"I bet," he replied. "Well, when I get home shortly, I'll pick one of those bad boys up and finally read the dedication page you kept hiding from me."
Audrey laughed and they talked for a bit more, when Mike changed the subject abruptly.
"Aud?"
"Yeah?"
"You know what I just realized?"
"What?"
"I never asked you why you were on that plane coming back from England. You know, the very first time we met."
Audrey smiled. "Oh yeah."
"Why were you?" he egged on.
"I won a radio contest in Buffalo to take a friend to Paris and London for two weeks. I took my best friend Val and we went to Paris but when we got to London I knew how much she was missing her husband, Joe, so I secretly called him and told him to meet us at the hotel. As soon as he showed up, I left. Decided to come home early."
"It's a good thing you did," Mike commented. "I probably never would've met you."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Listen, I gotta finish up here still and then swing by the Anastacia's to pick up Estelle for the weekend and then I'll be home. We can all go out to dinner to celebrate your book, okay?"
"Definitely."
"Alright. I love you, Aud."
"I love you too, Mike."
With that, Audrey hung up the phone and set the book down on the kitchen counter. She was so unbelievably happy. Her career was back on the up and up, Mike was doing well with the guys, the kids were healthy. Life couldn't get any better.
She poked her head into the living room to check in on the girls. Since her grandma had returned to Buffalo, it was just her and her daughters again. And they were quietly watching cartoons; Katarina on the couch, Lorelei in her playpen.
Content that they were fine, Audrey walked back into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. But as soon as she reached up into the cupboard to grab a mug, her eyesight got hazy. She blinked a few times, focusing on what she was doing, and wrapped her fingers around the porcelain mug. But the haziness didn't go away. It returned full force until everything was completely blurry and she couldn't see anything that was a foot in front of her.
Her heart began to pound with confusion as a sudden jolt of pain ripped through her head. She didn't even have time to react to it.
In the time it took the tea mug to slip from her hands and shatter to the floor, Audrey fell backward onto the tile floor, everything fading to black.