Better Man

A week later, Caroline had seen Giselle off at the airport in Sacramento. It was just the least crowded and least busy airport in the area, which meant no traffic to get there or to leave. And in a way, and not to be insensitive, but Caroline was a little glad to see her sister leave. Only because she kept looking at her weird and talking about Mike. When she finally questioned her little sister if she liked Mike or something, Giselle shook her head, a little too suspiciously. And then Giselle was asking her all these questions about what she liked in a guy, as in what qualities and personality traits.

Shit like that.

Giselle claimed she was just taking mental notes for a paper she wanted to do on sexual relationships for school, but Caroline wasn't entirely convinced her sister's motives were true. Call it sisterly intuition or whatever.

The drive back to San Francisco wasn't all that long. It was a weekday morning, sure, but it was also that lull time between morning rush hour traffic and lunch time traffic...when all the skirts and suits left the offices to have their power lunches at their swank restaurants with each other or with clients.

Shit like that.

With Giselle gone, there was also that sense of missing a part of herself. She was still her sister, and whenever she initially separated from family, she felt a tinge of depression. But knowing she had to focus on finishing the record was most important at the moment.

Recording. Tre. Her friends. Herself.

Those were the most important things right now. Period.

* * *

It was finally August. Probably the hottest month of the year. Most people would consider the summer months to be June, July and August...thus the middle of the two, being the hottest, because it appeared to be the peak month. But that is far from true. It was as if any heat experienced in June and July were just the warning signs of what everyone would experience when August finally rolled in.

Everything felt hot, humid, and dry. It was annoying, sticky heat, and sometimes it was almost like air conditioning and living in a pool wouldn't help in the least. Knocking back bottles of water or any other beverage were a given to keep hydrated, and the less movement, the better. These were all common sense tips to live by during this month.

So, when Mike was finished laying down his last bass line of the day in the studio and the tables had turned, wherein he was avoiding Caroline just as she had been doing in the month before, he seemed a little frazzled. He was tired, ornery, sweaty -- despite the studio's air conditioning -- and clearly had a lot on his mind that appeared to be stressing him some. And, again, the heat wasn't helping.

He had packed up his bass and said his good-byes to everyone for the evening, unaware that Caroline had followed him outside to his car. She trailed behind him, almost observing to see if she could notice why he was behaving so off.

She stopped dead in her tracks, still several feet behind him, when he opened his door, pushed his seat forward and slid the case in the back-seat. He pushed the seat back and stopped movement, and swayed a little. She watched as he released a deep breath and his knuckles gripped the edge of his door, white knuckling it. She watched as his right hand seemed to disappear in front of him, perhaps resting on his chest.

And he looked up and slid into his car, only then noticing Caroline; jumping slightly as she started to walk toward him and smile.

"Oh, hey...I didn't know you were out here," he muttered, looking out his rolled down window at her.

She smiled again. "Yeah, I kinda...followed you."

"You followed me?" he asked a little warily.

"Yeah, you just seemed, I dunno. A little tired today. A little bitchy, too."

"Oh. Sorry about that," he apologized, dipping his head and staring at his lap, trying to avoid her gaze.

"Is something wrong, Mike?" she inquired, a little concerned.

He shook his head. "No. I'm fine," he assured a little too quickly. "The heat is just...a little hard to deal with this year."

The heat. Yeah...right, he thought, sarcastically. It's the heat that's hard to deal with.

"So, does Estelle like her room now?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Yeah, she does. And she even thought the, um...she thought the 'signature' thing was cool."

"I'm glad she likes it," she replied, not knowing what else to say. "Uh, you know Nick got his cast off today, right? A week longer than he originally thought, but the better to let it heel, I suppose. And, uh...you know...we still appreciate what you're doing for us." Then she amended, "I still appreciate it."

Mike lifted his head to meet her gaze. For a fleeting moment he was prepared to blurt out his feelings for her, right then and there. Consequences be damned. But he just couldn't. He wasn't sure he wanted to ruin their slightly awkward friendship. Awkward for him, at least. And he didn't need to hear her rejection. It would only break his heart and he didn't want to go through that. He was better off waiting in the wings.

Letting the better man win.

"It was nothing," Mike finally assured, finally speaking up. "I was glad to help."

"Tre just told me you, him and Billie already have some material for an album you want to put out by next year sometime."

"Uh, yeah. Most of the songs we did last year on our down time in between tours. As of...uh...last July, I think, we had about 15 or 16 songs. We sorta scrapped a couple of them though. We were working on things this past spring, and on and off this last month. And...yeah. Who knows? We might be touring at the same time."

Caroline grinned. "You guys aren't gonna overshadow us newbies, are you?"

"No," Mike shook his head with a faint smirk.

"Good. Otherwise I'd have to kick your ass."

They looked at each other and Caroline tapped the side of his car. And then she leaned closer to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. Mike's smirk faded instantly and morphed into a look of surprise.

"What was that for?" he queried, a little nervous.

"For being an awesome friend. And an even greater help," she responded. "It seems like you're always there, ready to lend a hand, tell a joke, be an all-around good guy. And I'm just happy I have someone like you in my life."

Mike's heart swelled about ten times. Like the Grinch on Christmas. A big smile became plastered on his face and his cheeks turned a slight shade of red.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Are you blushing?" Caroline laughed. "Aw. I made Mikey blush," she added in a baby voice.

"A little."

"Aren't you used to compliments and shit like that?"

"Sometimes I am."

"And this is one of those times where you're not."

"I s'pose."

Caroline bit her lip and smiled, patting his shoulder affectionately. "Well, I'll let you get going. The last thing you need is to sit out here in your car, in this heat, and have one of those heat strokes," she commented. "I had one last year. It wasn't pretty. Okay, well, it wasn't actually a stroke so much as heat exhaustion. I was throwing up and I had a headache and was dizzy and to top it off, I had my period at the time as well." She grimaced. "Sorry. Too much information, I know. But yeah...get going."

Mike laughed a little. "Yes, ma'am."

"I ain't your dominatrix, mister. No need for calling me ma'am," she snickered, playfully.

"Yes, Caroline."

"That's better."

With a wave, she stepped back and watched as Mike rolled his window up, to most likely turn on the air conditioning, and pulled away, driving off down the road.

And leaving Caroline with a peculiar feeling in her gut.

A feeling she couldn't pinpoint.

* * *

Caroline found herself standing in Mike's kitchen; not knowing how she got there or why she was there in the first place. However, the fact remained that she was still there anyway. She was wearing a navy blue tank top and a pair of denim jeans. Around her right wrist, a silver chain bracelet with a heart charm dangled carelessly. Her dark brown hair was down and hanging a little in her eyes and she could sense there was music playing somewhere, but didn't know what it was or where it was coming from.

She turned her head to the right and everything appeared to be blurry. She looked to the left and she saw a stove and some counter space, but it was set up differently than Mike's kitchen. In fact, the entire kitchen looked nothing like his, but she somehow knew it was supposed to be his. Or something. It was just a confusing experience, to say the least.

Shit like that.

And then, she looked forward.

Mike was walking toward her with a solemn, albeit, hopeful look on his face. He was wearing denim jeans and a white belt. And nothing else. She could smell the musky, sweet smell of his cologne before she even saw him.

He didn't even say anything as he walked up to her and looked her in the eye, discreetly snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her body up against his. In an instant, Caroline found herself being lifted off the ground and seated on the table that had apparently been behind her. On her right were two, white coffee cups and behind her an empty, and clean, white plate. In fact, the cups were just as spotless.

Turning to look at Mike once more, she felt his right arm snaking up her back and grip the bottom of her tank top and slowly lift it up as rested his left hand just above her ass. Without realizing what she was doing, Caroline placed her left hand on his bare chest and her right one on his left arm as she rested her head down on his left shoulder, inhaling his scent, closing her eyes in contentment.

She felt safe.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

"Whatthefuck..." Caroline groaned, stirring and opening her eyes, trying to decipher where in the hell that violating noise was coming from.

"Care, babe...turn off your alarm already," she heard Tre mumble from beside her. "I didn't get to sleep until four."

She lifted her head, realizing she was in bed, and everything had been a dream. "Okay, that was...weird," she muttered as she turned the alarm off.

"What's weird?" Tre asked, his face pressed into his pillow as he laid on his stomach, shirtless.

"A dream I had."

"What was it about?"

"Aren't you sleepy? Why are you asking questions anyway?" she asked, defensively.

"Just making conversation till I fall back asleep."

"That makes no sense," she commented. "And, nevermind. I don't really remember the dream that much anyway."

"Okay."

Caroline sat up and threw her legs over the edge of the bed, looking at the alarm clock, just thinking to herself about the dream she really hadn't forgot. In fact, it was so weird, she could still smell Mike's cologne. It was just one of those weird dreams that you could still feel after the fact. You know?

Shit like that.