See You Smile

by Dawn Sister

  "You're not taking that with you are you?" he asks, leaning over and trying to get a good view of my face as I search inside for my wallet. He's rather close and I can smell his cologne. He put on cologne? I did too, but, the fact that he did means he is at least thinking this is a special outing.

  Of course it's special, he's going to meet up with some new friends and I'm there as his moral support. Not. A. Fucking. Date.

  "I might not have been out to a club for a while, Cal," I tell him archly, as I locate my wallet and phone and put them both in my back pocket, "But I do know that a messenger bag is not really an acceptable accessory on the dance floor."

  "Okay, okay, don't have a cow." He turns towards the door. He spins back around with a slightly anxious frown, "You mean you might actually dance when we get there?" he asks.

  Oh yeah, here it comes, the 'please don't do anything to embarrass me' talk. The one you give your parents before a family party; the one they ignore because it's their job to embarrass you. It's not my job to embarrass him though, but is he going to be embarrassed by a forty something guy showing off his moves on the dance floor amongst all the twenty somethings?

  "I-I don't have to dance." I say, "I mean, it's been a while. I really didn't even consider having any intention of dancing. I'll probably not know any of the songs anyway."

  "I won't know them either." Cal tells me suddenly, as if he is trying to say something that will make me feel more comfortable. Why would he be doing that? Oh yeah, I was stuttering. He looks down at his feet, "I'm not saying it because I think you'll embarrass me or anything." He mutters, surprising me that he has understood my underlying concerns so well, "It's just that, I'm not a very good dancer, and I can only feel the base beat vibrating so sometimes I don't always end up doing the same thing as everyone else."

  Oh my god, that's why he asked if I was intending to dance. Not because he thought I'd embarrass him but because he is worried he'll embarrass me. I lift his chin so he can see me speaking clearly,

  "Whatever you feel comfortable with, Cal, that's what we'll do." I assure him, "And any time you want to leave the party you tell me and we will."

  "Yeah but what if you're having fun?" he asks me and I frown.

  Why does he think I'm going to this party in the first place? I'm not going because I want to. I wasn't even invited. I'm only there for him,

  "I'm not there to have fun, Cal, I'm there because if I didn't go neither would you."

  Cal blinks in surprise and looks a little taken aback by my words,

  "Why would you be so willing to do this for me?" his expression is an unfathomable mix of emotions right now. I get the feeling he hasn't had this experience recently. Just how long has he been on his own anyway?

  "I could ask the same thing about your willingness to keep me company over the last two weeks when I have probably been the worst company ever, spreading my germs and basically being a grouchy couch potato."

  He chuckles and shrugs,

  "You have a better DVD collection than me." He tells me, although he is blushing as he turns and leads the way out of the front door.

  Now why would that confession make him blush? He's an intriguing guy. I think this evening is going to be very interesting.

  Chapter 12: A Night To Remember

  Oh my, I'd forgotten how loud this place can be and we're not even inside the actual club yet, we're only in the reception. As soon as we walked through the door our senses were bombarded with colour, smell, sound, vibrations running through your very bones. Surprisingly, Cal seems more affected by it than me. The music isn't that loud from up here in the reception area but I can feel the base beat in the soles of my feet since the actual nightclub is beneath us. I glance at him as we approach the reception desk to sign in and he pats his chest,

  "I can feel it here." He says with a frown and I chuckle, lifting my foot and pointing to the sole,

  "I feel it here!" I tell him, "It kinda tickles." He smiles and seems to relax a little.

  The guy sitting at the reception desk seems a little disinterested as he chews gum and doesn't even look up from a list he has spread out on his desk when he asks us for our names,

  "Jacob Reuben." I inform him. His eyes flicker up to my face, do a double take and then he holds out his hand, popping his gum as he does,

  "ID?" His expression is suddenly interested and coy.

  I groan. Why the hell did I give my full name?

  "Is that because you think I might look under twenty one?" I ask hopefully, knowing this is not the reason,

  "No." the guy pronounces the word deliberately slowly, "It's because I want to check out if you're really the Jacob Reuben, the writer."

  This is one of the reasons I don't come out much!

  "Would it matter if I wasn't?" I ask, trying not to sound sullen,

  "Well." The guy purses his lips and pops his gum again giving me a hungry look which makes me feel kind of dirty actually. It's definitely not having the effect I think he hopes it will have anyway, "If you're the Jacob Reuben you can go in, but if you're not, then you're not on the list so you can't."

  "He's the Jacob Reuben." Cal interrupts, obviously having followed the conversation, "And you can let him in whether he is or not, because he's with me and my name's on the damn list."

  Both the reception guy and I regard Cal with wide eyes. Cal always seems so introvert, shy and retiring. To have him suddenly become assertive like this has my senses whirling. To emphasise his point he's taken my hand and is clutching it, his fingers twined with mine, as he leans across the desk,

  "And what is your name, firecracker?" the guy turns his attention to Cal with some amusement. Cal seems to suddenly want to hide again as he blushes furiously,

  "It's Cal." He blurts out abruptly, "Cal Steele."

  Reception guy makes a show of looking down the list as I process everything that just happened. Cal just came out of his shell a little more. I think he's using my hand as a safety wire though. The fact that he knows his name is on the guest list is another revelation. Well, maybe not so much, because it did seem that when the surfers were the discussing the party today on the beach earlier, that Cal had already been invited and they'd just been reminding him. The biggest revelation though, is Cal's name.

  His last name is Steele. I've known him almost four weeks and I never discovered his last name until now. The beach house next to mine has always been called "The Steele Place". Does this mean he owns it or at least his parents own it? I have yet to find out anything about him whilst I think he knows my entire life story.

  All I've managed to get out of him is that he's on his own and that's how he likes it. I beg to differ, since he spends all his time hanging out at mine, although that might change now that I'm no longer sick and he did admit it is mostly because of my DVD collection anyway. I haven't dug any deeper than that since I have a feeling the story is a sad one and I've just not wanted to upset him by prying. I guess he'll tell me in his own time.

  The reception guy checks Cal's ID carefully before handing it back with a wink. Cal's twenty one but he definitely does not look it, to me anyway. I don't ever remember looking younger than twenty one. I definitely don't now.

  The guy hands back my ID also with a wink,

  "Nice beard." He purses his lips.

  Cal pulls me away, his hand still in mine and I see him give the reception guy a flinty glare before I am dragged to the doorway that leads to the basement club. I glance back at the reception guy with a smug smirk and a shrug. He's glaring at Cal as if he's taken all the cookies,

  "Some guys have all the luck." He huffs, which of course, Cal does not hear but the words burn in my brain.

  Who does he mean? Cal? He thinks he's lucky? Or, more likely, he means me. I mean, I'm currently being dragged by the hand into the club by the most beautiful creature that ever set foot on this earth. I know what it looks like, and the impression Cal gave was that I was with him even if he didn't mean to give off those vibes.
As he leads me through the door I have this warm feeling of being possessed, like he's marking his territory even though I know it was simply a ruse to get us into the club quicker. I guess he was impatient enough to throw off his shyness and do something he wouldn't normally do.

  Inside we descend a flight of stairs and find ourselves on a balcony over looking the dance floor and bars. We take a few minutes to adjust to the dark and the noise and the flashing lights as we approach the balcony rail and look out over the scene below.

  The noise in here is deafening. There's been an excessive use of dry ice and the smell is pretty acrid. The colours are neon, bright and relentlessly flashing.

  I hadn't realised this was a private party, but then I should have guessed since it is midweek, plus Don, if it's the Don I'm thinking of, his parents own about half of Oakwood Bay. You would probably be expected to rent an entire club for your son's twenty first when you have that much money.

  As I search around for some familiar faces in the form of Lawrence and Lou Anne, Cal seems to be retreating behind me and still hasn't let go of my hand. Well, he will eventually so I'm not going to knock it on the head. It feels nice.

  "See your friends yet?" I am unable to resist the need to shout over the music despite the fact that it doesn't actually matter and would probably be easier for Cal if I just spoke normally.

  Cal grimaces then points down to group of people standing at the corner of one of the bars. Someone is waving furiously and I realise it is Pete from the beach, the one that seemed just a little too disappointed that Cal had said he wasn't coming. He now looks far too pleased to see Cal has changed his mind.

  With Cal's hand still in mine I pull him down the stairs,

  "Someone looks happy to see us." I observe. To my satisfaction Cal rolls his eyes. Perhaps Pete isn't his type.

  Pete meets us at the bottom of the stairs. Cal drops my hand as if it is burning him and I can't help feeling just a little bereft. I can totally understand why he wouldn't want his friends to see him holding hands with me though.

  "Hi!" Pete greets Cal cheerily, hardly giving me a cursory glance, "I thought you said you weren't coming." Cal shrugs and shoots me a slight smirk,

  "Yeah, I er, changed my mind." He tells Pete. I return his smirk though.

  Changed his mind, my ass! Although, I am still trying to determine who actually manipulated who into coming here tonight,

  "Uhuh!" Pete's expression as he glances at me again is dismissive and I feel my hackles rise, "Come on," he reaches out and grabs Cal by the hand, "I'll introduce you to everyone. You know most of the guys from the beach anyway."

  Cal pulls his hand from Pete's, so the over enthusiastic new friend wraps his arm around Cal's shoulders and guides him towards the group at the end of the bar. Cal ducks out of the hold and turns back to me, beckoning for me to follow.

  Come with me, please? He signs. It is the first time he has used sign language to communicate with me properly since he began teaching me,

  Why? I ask back, feeling really quite proud of myself that I have actually understood him, and also quite proud that I haven't kicked Pete's scrawny little ass yet.

  Do it, J! His fingers flick irritably back to me and his eyes plead beguilingly.

  Somehow that shortening of my name felt very, very personal and intimate, even though it was simply the need for efficiency in signing that made him do it and the fact that he sounded very demanding. Still, it gave me butterflies in my stomach. What is that all about?

  I still think I should leave him to it until Pete turns and gives me a direct and withering look that is clearly telling me to back off. Well, Pete might just be a little disappointed because I am definitely not going to "back off". I might not be Cal's date, but I won't stand by while Pete manhandles him. I already watched Cal shrug him away three times and Pete still didn't get the message.

  I take out my phone and text Cal,

  I'll get us a drink and be with you soon. What do you want?

  Beer, thanks x. He texts back almost immediately. Was he hanging over his phone? And what was with the "x" at the end?

  I get two beers and walk over to join him. I am way out of my comfort zone here. It is plainly obvious that I am going to be the oldest person in this group. The last time I hung out with twenty one year olds was when I was actually twenty one myself and that, to put this all into perspective, was way before any of these kids were even born. How the hell am I going to fit in here without looking like a really grumpy old has been? One of them is going to direct me to the "parents' corner" for sure.

  Cal sees me approach, was watching for me in fact. He makes a space for me in the circle fitting me in between him and the seemingly over friendly Pete. Cal looks relieved, as if I have just rescued him from a fate worse than death. Pete looks positively livid as he shuffles sullenly out of the way to allow me access.

  I hand Cal his drink and he signs thank you with such relief etched on his face I know he's not only referring to the drink. He takes a long swig before turning back to face the group,

  "Everyone, this is Jake." He calls, waving his hands about and then pointing to me.

  Everyone in the circle greets me cheerily, some even enthusiastically. Not one of them seems to think that my presence is in any way unusual. Well, I say none of them: Pete doesn't seem overly keen and continues to give me dirty looks. I take the liberty of ignoring him.

  Cal seemed tense when I first joined him but he's relaxed now. I'm not sure whether it is the beer or my presence but I'm glad he's enjoying himself. I am too, kind of, even if I do find myself answering more than one or two questions about my writing. Apparently two of my books were on this years' reading list for the surrounding colleges. I didn't even know that.

  I think, rather than this group seeing my presence as odd, it has suddenly sent Cal's street cred souring amongst the stars because he knows me. Well, I guess celebrity status can be good for some things. Most of the time I just ignore the fact that I am Oakwood Bay's local celebrity. Everyone who knows me well enough does. That's the way I like it. I hate being the centre of attention but I don't mind being wheeled out for the occasional community fair and book signing. Cal is quite welcome to use my celebrity status whenever he wants if it means he gets accepted into the group. I certainly don't ever have any use for it.

  I drain my beer and glance at Cal's bottle. His is already empty, although I don't think he's noticed. He's deep in conversation with another guy I recognise from the beach. I guess he's almost on level grounding here when it comes to conversation because no one can hear a damn thing above the music anyway. I tap my bottle against Cal's and he turns to smile at me. God those eyes, when I'm caught off guard, just blow me away,

  "W-want another?" I ask, having no idea why I'm stuttering, except his eyes are just so incredibly blue.

  He nods,

  "I'll get these." He says. I glance over at the bar which is a hell of a lot busier than it was when we first arrived. The entire club is. I shake my head. There's no way I am happy letting Cal wander about here on his own,

  "I'll go, I don't mind." I say and I leave before he can protest.

  At the bar it is suddenly a little crowded where I'm standing and it hadn't been when I'd first approached it. The rest of this section of the bar is clear though so I just move.

  No sooner have I moved than I'm crowded again. What the…?

  "Hi there!" A gruff, deep voice greets me and I realise I'm crowded by this one guy who has followed me when I moved.

  Oh my god. This guy is big enough to be a crowd all by himself, and hairy too. If this guy was any hairier he'd actually be a bear. I mean real live bears have less hair on their faces than this guy. His beard is enormous, and long and he's tall as well as wide. He looks like Gandalf, Dumbledore and Chewbacca had a love child.