by Carina Lupo
“Want to go grab some dinner? C’mon I’m buying.” He shows me the pay he just received smiling happily.
“Ok, sounds good.” I say smiling back, he helps me carry my stuff and we make our way out of the school campus. We head towards his car and go for pasta at an Italian restaurant that we both love in the always buzzing downtown Palo Alto.
“So tomorrow I’ll be driving home.” He says while taking a hefty bite of pasta. “This Sunday will be my brother’s graduation,” he pauses for a moment. “I was wondering if you want to go with me.”
“To your parents’ house?” I say skeptical.
“Yeah.”
“How much do your parents know about me?”
“A lot.” He responds in a sheepish voice.
“Oh so you just want to feed me to the wolves?” I say teasingly. “I bet they associate me with taking you to the dark side! They probably hate me Chris.”
“No they don’t. They know it was my own decision to join the band. It doesn’t come as a shock to them either… I was always into playing music. Besides, they would probably give me a lot less grief if you were around!” He says grinning.
“Oh I see your evil plans.” I smile back at him mockingly.
“No don’t worry. They are nice, and I would like if you came with me. I would like them to meet you.” His tone is serious now.
“Chris... I… I don’t know.” I reply looking away.
“C’mon, as my best friend…” He gives me that irresistible smile and I take a deep breath. As if I could refuse that.
“Alright.” I say resigned. “I’ll probably regret this.”
“Cool.” He says ignoring my comments. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 9am.”
**************
Next morning, he is at my door nine in the morning sharp. He hands me a cup of coffee he picked up along the way here, puts my bag in the trunk of his car and we start the drive down to Santa Barbara where he grew up. We are having a good time chatting away mindlessly but as we get closer to our destination I start to feel apprehensive about meeting his parents. I didn’t quite understand why I felt the way I did. Maybe I was still afraid they would hate me for leading their son away from his studies to play music in my band.
We get to his parents place and Chris parks along the driveway. I look around and the house is beautiful… right by the beach. Without ceremony he just goes inside the home passing the nicely decorated living room yelling, “Hello guys, we are here!” The patio door opens and his mom comes in to greet us. She is very pretty, with long flowing blond hair like Chris and a kind face.
“Hi son, we missed you.” She gives him a big hug. I just stand back feeling out of place. Chris turns back pushes me to his side and says, “This is Lorelai.”
“Hi,” I say sounding shyer than I ever sounded in my life. To my surprise, she smiles at me and takes me in for a big hug.
“Hello, it is nice to finally meet you!” She says warmly. “We’ve heard a lot about you.” I raise my eye brow to Chris. Apparently he told a lot more to his folks than he let on to me.
“C’mon in and meet the rest of us, they are all on the deck playing cards.” They lead me to the deck facing the beach. It has a gorgeous view of the ocean!
“Wow, you grew up here?” I say to Chris.
“Yeah.”
“Nice!”
Chris goes off and says hello to his dad, a gray haired men with deep blue eyes and a warm smile, the same kind of smile I’m used to seeing on Chris. He looks at Chris and you can see the pride on his face.
“Hi son,” he says, and gives Chris a warm hug.
His mom then says, “John this is Lorelai, Chris’s friend.”
He gets up to greet me, as his mom points to the boy still sitting on the table now.
“And that is our new graduate, Matt.”
His brother looks like a young Chris, the same blond hair and blue eyes. Cute kid… will be another heartbreaker like Chris…
Chris gives his brother one of those boys’ handshakes and his brother shyly says hello to me.
“Here let me take you to your room so you can get settled.” His mom says to me. “Are you hungry? We have some sandwiches in the kitchen.”
After getting settled, we hang out with his family for a while. They ask us a lot of questions about our band and I get the feeling they seemed to be ok with the idea, at least I didn’t feel any tension on the subject. I mostly hang back though, quietly watching their easy, happy interaction with each other.
Before dinner Chris takes me to see his old bedroom. We have a good laugh looking at his old pictures and sports trophies and girlfriends (cheerleader… not surprised!)… A normal teenage life.
Throughout this day and really ever since I arrived at his house, I’m feeling this strange unease feeling on the pit of my stomach that I could not quite understand what it was all about. I don’t say anything though, I try to ignore it and act like everything is fine. We go back to the living room and Chris starts helping set the table for dinner. His mom is cooking in the kitchen and I’m just sitting in the living room lost in my thoughts when it dawns on me why. I had never really been in a family setting like this since… well… my own family…
I guess I had never gotten this close to any one before and probably had avoided this kind of situation, anyway. Understanding what was going on did nothing to improve the feeling. If nothing, it made me more aware of it all and I started feeling even worst. We sit for dinner, the home cooked meal smelling delicious. The table is full of laughter and happiness. I try to eat but I’m feeling sick to my stomach. I’m just not in the mood for food no matter how tasty it is… I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down but nothing works. I keep getting flashbacks of the many times I had that same setting going on with my own family… my mom, dad, me and my sister, all of us around the dinner table laughing, talking about the day and enjoying our meal together. My stomach is turning upside down. What was I thinking when I agreed to come here? I feel the walls closing in on me. All of a sudden it is as if there isn’t enough air in the room… I can’t breathe. I fell a sharp tightening in my chest like shards of glass are hitting my heart and a heavy weight is pressing down my chest. I need air. I want to scream. I manage to mumble “excuse me” and I leave the table running. They all go silent but I don’t notice… I’m practically bolting in the direction of the deck. I open the door as quickly as I can and run to the beach. There is still light out, the sun just starting to set. I feel my knees give in from under me and I just fall onto the sand, my head down. I let out a painful cry, all the feelings I was trying to suppress coming out of me in such a bout that I need to gasp for air.
In my eagerness to leave the house I didn’t even notice that Chris had taken off after me. He stopped himself just as I went down to my knees on the beach. He watched me cry for a moment, and then slowly approached me like one approaches a lost dog.
He touches my head and asks worried. “What’s wrong Lor?”
I look at him though tear drenched eyes. He has a deeply concerned expression on his face. He was eager to help me but had no idea how. I can’t bring myself to say anything. He takes me in his arms and we just sit there as I cry helplessly on his chest. After I manage to calm myself down I don’t want to go back in the house yet so we just go for a walk down the beach. We are silent at first, but eventually I start to talk and explain to him what went on back at his house.
“I’m sorry,” he says when I’m done. “I guess I didn’t stop to think about how this would feel to you when I invited you.”
“It’s ok. I didn’t think about either. It’s not your fault. I like that you did invite me. I’m sorry I reacted so poorly to it all.”
“Lori, you don’t have to apologize.”
“I’m embarrassed to go back now. I ruined your family’s dinner time on what should be a happy occasion for them. Nice guest I am.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. They are probably just con
cerned that you are ok. You don’t have to be embarrassed. No one will care about what happened.”
We make our walk back to the house. The twilight turning almost completely dark now and we can see the moon rising in the horizon. Chris has his arms around me as we walk and I can’t help noticing it feels really good.
We enter the house again. His dad is watching TV and his mom is now finishing cleaning up the kitchen. They act normal, like nothing happened, which I appreciate deeply.
“Hope you are you feeling better now.” She says when she sees me.
“Yes,” I reply shyly not able to keep looking at her.
“Ok, good,” she smiles like it is no big deal. “We saved you a plate of food in case you get hungry. It’s on the microwave. Help yourself, if you want.”
I thank her but I’m not hungry. I just decide to go to my room and rest.
Next morning, we go to the graduation ceremony and afterwards Chris takes me for a tour of the town. When we return I take some time to be alone. I’m sitting by the beach, lost in thoughts, when Chris comes to me.
“C’mon, get on your swim suit. We are going surfing.” He says excitedly.
“Surfing?” I look at him puzzled. “I can’t surf.”
“Exactly. I’m going to teach you!” he says with a boyish smile on his face that would be hard to resist.
“I didn’t know you surfed.”
“Well, you do now. C’mon let’s go.” He says helping me up.
I go back into the house and get on my swim clothes as he gets a couple of surf broads from the garage. We walk back to the beach and he sets the board on the sand.
“We’re not going to the water?” I ask confused.
“No. First you need to learn how to stand on the board and that is better done on land, believe me. So the trick here is you have to prop yourself up by putting both of your feet on the board at the same time. If you don’t, more weight will go on one side and you’ll fall before you can fully stand.”
“Ok.” I say. He shows me how to do it first then I try a couple of times.
“How does this look?”
“Terrible! You’re not even close,” he laughs.
“Well it would help if you weren’t finding my failure so entertaining!”
“I’m sorry,” he says trying to contain his laughter.
I keep trying for a while longer.
“Ok, you are almost there, just a little faster on your left foot.”
“That’s it! You got it! Now we try in the water!”
We head out to the ocean, the water is cold at first but then my body gets used to the temperature and it doesn’t feel so bad. We paddle until he tells me to stop. The warmth of the sun helps to keep the cold at bay.
“Ok, so now we wait for a wave, when I tell you paddle, you paddle as fast as you can. When you feel the wave forming you get up on the board like I just showed you and that’s it. Try not to fall and let the wave take you.
“Yes that sounds so simple!” I say laughing.
“It is, you’ll see.” He says encouragingly.
We wait for a while until he yells “paddle!” We wildly start paddling and I feel the wave forming under the board. I hear him screaming “get up, get up!” So I do… and then, obviously, I fall, I feel the water crashing against my back. That repeats quite a few times, one wipe out better than the next, but I’m having a great time trying.
“Okay I’m getting my ass kicked out here,” I finally admit defeated.
“You are close, seriously. One more time, I can feel it, this time it’ll work.” Chris says prodding me to try one more time. So we go for one more wave. We paddle. I stand on the board and this time I don’t fall. I feel the board picking up speed. I’m riding the wave and it feels awesome!
Chris had stayed behind and I hear him yelling, “You’re surfing baby! Yeah!”
I ride the wave to the end then fall off the board. I jump right back on it and paddle back to where Chris is.
“Alright! I knew you could do it!” he says excitedly with a big smile on his face.
“It was so fun!” I say laughing still riding high from my accomplishment. “I can’t believe I finally did it!” I say laughing but then I notice Chris looking into my eyes so deeply it stops me short.
“What?” I ask shyly a little disconcerted with his deep gaze.
“Nothing... It’s just… you often have this look in your face, like you are always worried about something and right now it’s cleared... I would almost say you are happy.” He smiles at me.
I look at him happily. We sit next to each other on our boards just quietly staring at the ocean lost in our own thoughts, until he sees me shiver. He rubs my arm and says, “It’s getting cold. C’mon let’s head back.”
**************
Next morning we get up early to drive back. I’m walking down the hallway when I hear Chris and his mom talking about me and I stop. I didn’t mean to listen to their chat but I couldn’t help it!
“So what is the deal between you and Lorelai?” I hear her asking.
“Nothing mom. I told you we are just friends.” Chris says trying to sound dismissive.
“Just friends… since when are you just friends with girls? And since when do you bring a girl home for us to meet? She is certainly not the bimbos you usually date!”
“Mooooom!” he says indignant and I have to suppress my laughter.
“Look, I’m just saying she is a nice girl Chris. Be serious with this one ok? Besides she has a lot to deal with without you giving her more. So you do right by this girl. That’s all.”
“Okay, but you don’t have to worry she is just my friend.”
I shouldn’t feel disappointed with this... we are just friends after all. But if I’m going to be truthful with myself, I would have to admit, I was a little disappointed.
On the drive back we don’t say much to each other. We are both very quiet, lost in our own thoughts throughout the drive. Before I know it we have arrived. He parks in front of my apartment and gets out of the car to get my bag from the truck.
“Thanks Chris.” I say as he hands me my bag. “I did have good time this weekend. It was very nice meeting your family. They are really nice people.”
“I’m glad you came,” he says earnestly and takes me in for a goodbye hug. I smell his perfume an intoxicating fresh lemony scent, his hand on my waist sends an electric jolt through my body. We are both silent in an awkward moment. We’ve been having lots of these moments lately…
“See you at band practice.” He says finally breaking the silence between us.
“See ya,” I reply and take a deep breath as I watch him leave.
Chapter 6
The band was gaining notoriety and we were getting more and more invitations to play everywhere in the country now. We were also getting offers from people wanting to manage us. Because of our school, we decide not to take any engagements outside the area, and since we weren’t, we didn’t see the need to get a manager either. James could handle our local schedule, but all that was about to change soon.
That weekend we played a big club in San Francisco. The house was packed and the show was a success. People were really into the songs and it was just one of those electric performances. The club owner couldn’t be happier and invited us for another performance at a later date. We are hanging back by the stage taking a breather before we pack our stuff to go. The guys are distracted chatting with some girls that came by the stage when I get approached by an impeccably dressed woman.
She is tall, with dark, really short hair styled in a fashionable haircut. She looked like she was about in her mid-forties. Her clothes obviously yelled of money. She extends her hand to me.
“Hi, my name is Susan Carmichael.” She immediately hands me her card. It reads, Sony Music Entertainment.
“Hi, Lorelai Hathaway,” I answer shaking her hand.
I was wondering if we could talk for a moment.”
“Ok,” I say
and we take a table in the corner of the bar.
“Do you want to drink anything?” She asks.
“Just water is fine, thanks.”
“That was quite the concert you guys put on tonight.”
“Thanks.”
“It was really impressive. Your band has a lot of talent. Who writes the music?”
“I do.”
“You wrote all those songs the band played tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“They are really good. They have incredible potential. A friend of mine saw your band and told I had to come and listen to you. I didn’t believe you were going to be as good as he said. I’m happy to say I was wrong. You are better than he said. Who is your manager?”
“We don’t technically have a manager. James over there,” I point to James, “is kind of our manager. He handles our appointments and fees.”
“Well that makes it even easier then.” She says happily. “I’ll cut to the chase. I want to manage your band.”
“We had many offers for that. We are all currently in college so we really can’t take many engagements…”
“I don’t think you understand. I’m not talking about managing you for gigs at bars and small halls across the country. I believe you have what it takes to hit the big leagues and I would like to be the one to take you guys there. With me you can get there.”
“Wow, okay…” she is definitely confident and straight to the point. “So what are we talking here?” I ask.
“Well, you talk to your band first and then later we can get into specifics with everyone. Basically, I would sign you, become your manager and that includes getting you a record deal with Epic Records. We would cut a first album right away and start a campaign to get the music and the band in the media. Depending on the success of that phase then we can negotiate a more extensive record deal and so on.”
“Wow! Ok.” I reply somewhat stunned.
“How many more songs you have like the ones you played tonight?”
“A boatload…”
“Wonderful,” she says smiling at me.
“Okay, I’ll talk to the guys. Where can we reach you?”
