by Nicki Elson
***
The next afternoon, Jen’s phone rang. It was on the counter in the kitchen. Maria was closest to it, so she glanced down and picked it up. “This is Maria speaking.” A pause was followed by, “Who? Oh, Dave.” She shot a pointed look at Jen, who’d been eating ramen noodles on the couch while she paged through her Consumer Psychology text. Jen shot her hand out for the phone. “Oh, yeah, the band was good,” Maria continued. “Were you there? Oh, right. I forgot ’cause I hardly saw you.”
Jen tried to shut Maria up with a fierce glare.
Maria’s mouth curled at the corners as she came closer. “I guess you want to talk to Jen. Here she is.” She held the phone out, mouthing, “Saturday,” before she relinquished control. She then crossed her arms and stood sentry over Jen to make sure she asked.
“You disappeared last night,” Dave said. His voice was extra deep and thick, like he’d just woken up. A thrill rushed through Jen at the idea of him thinking of her first thing after waking. At one-thirty in the afternoon. On a weekday.
“I had class early this morning, so…but the band was great,” Jen said.
“Yeah, they’re frickin’ brilliant, aren’t they?”
Maria tapped her foot, her olive features set rigid.
Jen clamped her eyelids tight and went for it. “Hey, a week from Saturday my roommates and I are throwing a dinner party here at the apartment. Want to come?” She held her breath.
“Free food? Sure.”
Jen breathed. That had been easier than expected. “Great!” She gave Maria a jubilant thumbs-up. Maria narrowed her eyes as if she didn’t completely believe her, but walked away to let them finish their conversation in a modicum of privacy.
Chapter 5
The dinner party was for eight people, including Maria and Tom, Jen and Dave, Chris and her roommate Carrie, and Kate and her friend Brett, a classmate from the psychology department. Brett was a last minute substitution because Kate’s boyfriend Jake was mired in a school project and couldn’t make it down from Chicago. Jen, Maria, and Kate all had specific assignments for the evening, and Tom was the bartender. Since Jen had completed table setting, and the music was playing, she was free until it was time to serve the salad.
Jen breathed a small sigh of relief when Dave sauntered in twenty minutes later than everyone else. She hadn’t talked to him all week and was afraid he’d forgotten. Maria had answered the door and walked Dave over to Tom—at the farthest reaches from Jen. From the opposite corner of the room, she felt a rush of gratitude for Tom when he immediately struck up a friendly conversation. He was a lot nicer than his girlfriend.
Dave caught Jen’s eye and smiled, then turned his attention back to Tom while her gaze lingered a little longer. Dave looked particularly stunning in dark jeans and a black, button-down shirt that he wore untucked. The crisp ebony of the shirt contrasted beautifully with his golden hair and bright, green eyes. It seemed as if he’d made an extra effort to look nice this evening. He’d even changed his earring to a silver skull and crossbones.
Chris blatantly drooled over Dave. She soon stole him away from Tom, standing a little too close and talking a little too loud. Over Chris’s head, Dave gave Jen an amused grin, and Jen tried not to laugh while she listened to Kate and Brett talk about ids and egos. She excused herself from the conversation and took a step toward Dave only to be sidelined by Maria.
“This music’s too hardcore for dinner. Switch it to something more mellow,” she said.
Jen knew her roommate was just trying to keep her away from Dave longer, but she complied, going to the player and scrolling through selections. She settled on Jason Mraz. By the time she’d replaced wailing guitars with coffeehouse pop, Dave was magically beside her. She smiled into the beauty of his perfect face. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He bent to give her a soft peck on the lips.
Once Dave was with Jen, he didn’t appear interested in talking with anyone else. He was subdued, less cocky now that he’d been taken out of his own element and plopped into Jen’s. She took his hand and walked him over to Kate and Brett. “Hey, guys, this is Dave. Dave, this is Kate and Brett.”
“Hey.” Dave shook Brett’s hand and nodded at Kate.
“You look familiar,” Brett said. “Are you in a house?”
“Do I live in a house?” Dave asked.
“Fraternity house,” Brett explained.
“No,” Dave answered. “I sometimes do, ah, business with them, though. Which one are you in?”
“Sigma Chi.” Brett’s chest puffed when he answered.
Dave nodded. “I know a couple of guys there.”
“Oh, yeah? Who?” Brett asked.
“Just some guys.” Dave shrugged and left it at that. His eyes wandered the room, and he made no attempt to restart the conversation.
Jen found Dave’s shy side endearing, but the silence that settled on the four of them became uncomfortable. She ran madly through her brain for something—anything—that Dave might have in common with Kate or Brett, besides the Sigma Chi’s he apparently didn’t want to identify.
“You are so dead!” Maria shouted from the other side of the room. Chris and Carrie had pushed aside plates on the meticulously set table to start a game of quarters. All attention turned toward the squabble.
Dave took advantage of the distraction. He grabbed Jen’s elbow and pulled her down the hall. “Which one’s yours?” He gestured with his free hand toward the bedroom doors.
“That one.” Jen pointed, and he led her into her bedroom. Once safely inside, he spun to face her and grabbed onto her other elbow. He bit his lower lip, examining her through sneaky eyes. “What do you say we blow this joint and go see the band? They’re playing in the next village.”
“Village?” Jen wrinkled her nose at the odd word choice. “Is that the name of a bar?”
“In the next town, whatever.”
“Village?” she repeated.
Dave narrowed his long lashes over his eyes. “Get over it. Do you wanna go?”
“The next village, say you? Shall we take the carriage and four? I say, it’s been a twelvemonth since I’ve been to the next village in a carriage and four.”
“Hey.” Dave growled, pulling her close.
“Are you vexed with me, sir?” She laid her arms over his shoulders.
“Are ya done now?” He stretched his hands around her waist and tilted his face to stare down at her.
She knew by his irritable tone that she should stop, but she held his gaze and pressed her lips together in a tight smile, slowly shaking her head back and forth.
He sneered and in one quick motion, wrapped an arm around her waist and the other behind her legs, swinging her into the air. Jen shrieked. He tossed her onto the bed and leaped on her, holding her arms down and tickling her neck and shoulders with his chin. Jen tried to struggle against him, but instead exploded into a fit of giggles.
They halted their wrestling when they heard a loud “Ahem.” Jen looked out from under Dave to see Maria standing in her doorway with her arms folded. “The salad isn’t going to serve itself.” Maria turned on her heel and stormed back down the hall.
“Whoops,” Jen said.
Dave groaned and rolled off of her.
She stood and grabbed both of his hands to pull him up. “My roommates would kill me if I ditched the party. You can see how wound up Maria is about it. But you should go see the band.” Dave was obviously uncomfortable with her friends, and she was happy he’d shown in the first place. She didn’t want to torture the poor guy.
“You sure?” He bent to rest his forehead on hers, mesmerizing her with those sparkling eyes.
“Yeah,” she murmured. As soon as she said it, she realized she didn’t really mean it. She was just being nice. But she couldn’t take it back now.
“You’re the best, Gigi,” he murmured.
“Gigi?” she whispered back.
“Yeah—like the letter G—Good Girl.”
Je
n smiled. He’d thought about her enough to give her a nickname.
Dave pulled her mouth to his for a long, wet, wonderful kiss. Jen slid her hands up his back, pressing the crisp, black fabric into his tight muscles. He gripped her shoulders, pulling her against him. Jen’s mouth again stretched to its limit in an effort to take in as much Dave as humanly possible. All thought of bands and villages and good girls was momentarily forgotten.
The spell broke when Maria’s voice carried down the hall in a sharp “Jen!”
She pushed back from Dave.
“She’s really starting to get on my nerves,” Dave growled.
“Try living with her.” Jen grabbed his hand and began leading him out of her room, but stopped just before the doorway. They hadn’t made any plans to see each other again, and she didn’t want to spend another week waiting for her phone to ring. “I don’t have class next Thursday, so I was thinking I could make it a late night on Wednesday. Do you want to meet up at Romans?”
“It’s a date.”
A date. That’s what he’d said—a date. Jen practically skipped all the way down the hall.
“Do you want to eat something before you go?” she asked as they emerged from the hallway. She grabbed a big bowl off the counter. “I made the salad.”
“If I don’t go now, I’ll miss my ride.” Dave grabbed a piece of lettuce from the bowl and munched on it. “Mmm, good.” He leaned to press his lips just under Jen’s jaw, giving her a small lick. “Mmm, good,” he repeated in a deep purr.
Jen gripped the salad bowl in an effort to stop herself from tossing it across the room and pouncing on him.
Dave said, “Later,” to everyone else and was off to the next village.
During dinner, Maria cast several glares at the empty spot at the table. Dave clearly hadn’t scored any points with her, but Jen wasn’t bothered one bit. She had a confirmed date with him for the next week and the memory of their flirty fun in her bedroom to dwell on until then. What more could she want?
About halfway through the meal, Maria made a not-so-subtle insinuation that Jen should give up on Dave and think about other guys: “I saw your boy David the other day, Jen. He’s looking good.”
“At least that’s what Maddie thinks,” Chris chimed in with a dirty laugh.
Jen caught a sharp look pass from Kate to Chris, who immediately pressed her lips together, glancing quickly at Jen and then away.
“What?” Jen asked.
“Nothing. Madz just thinks he’s cute. That’s all,” Chris said.
Obviously there was more to the story, and Jen was annoyed her friends wouldn’t spill it. Not that she cared what may or may not have happened with David and Maddie. She was bothered because her friends thought she cared. How could they think she was still hung up on David when she was with Dave now? She realized she couldn’t say anything, though. Pursuing the issue would only firm their mistaken opinion that she cared.
The dinner conversation went elsewhere, and Jen joined in to prove how much she didn’t care. When discussion stayed pointed safely in another direction, she allowed herself to wonder if David and Ellie had broken up. That bubblehead Maddie hardly seemed his type. Then again, neither did Ellie. When Jen thought about it, she’d never really understood him and Ashley, either. What was up with David and girls whose names ended in the long ee sound? Oh, who cares? she finally scolded herself.
When it came time to clear the dishes before hitting the bars, Jen announced, “You know what? Leave this to me. I don’t really feel like going out tonight. You guys go, and I’ll clean up.”
“Score!” Chris cheered, slapping her roommate a high five and backing away from the table.
Kate and Maria studied Jen, asking, “Are you okay?” at the same time
“You’re not upset he skipped out on you, are you?” Maria added. “Because he’s totally not worth—”
“That’s not it. I’m not upset about anything,” Jen truly wasn’t bothered about Dave leaving. She simply didn’t see what she had to gain by going out, especially when there was zero chance of running into him. “I could use a change of pace, so please go out and have fun. I’ll expect some good stories in the morning.” From the look her roommates exchanged, Jen guessed they weren’t convinced. “Go!” she insisted, and finally they agreed.
Once everyone else had cleared the apartment, Jen lifted her arms high above her head and stretched, relishing the solitude. She put away the food and stacked the plates. Then she plugged her phone into the speaker and selected a random playlist so she could dance while she did the dishes. About four songs in, she realized she was listening to a retro mix David had made for her during freshman year. It had been forever since she’d last listened to it.
Just when she started in on the last pan, the phone rang, cutting into the music. She peeled off her rubber gloves and dashed to her phone, forgetting to look at the ID before answering. “Hello?”
“Hey.”
“David?”
“Yep.”
“Hi! What’s up?”
“Is Dave with you?”
“Not anymore. I’m home and he left a couple of hours ago to see his friends’ band.”
“Oh.”
“Why?”
“His dad’s been trying to call him but he’s not answering his phone. I remembered he said something about going to your place.”
“How do you know Dave’s dad?”
“When we moved in he got all Dave’s housemates’ numbers, just in case. He texted me when he couldn’t get ahold of Dave.”
“You and Dave live together?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. That’s…wow.” When Dave had told her Ellie had set him up with roommates, she hadn’t realized he’d meant David.
“I guess. Kind of nice to have the place all to myself tonight, though.”
“You’ve got nothing better to do on a Saturday night than be Dave’s messenger boy?” Jen teased.
“You’ve got nothing better to do on a Saturday night than wait around for me to call so you can hassle me? Why didn’t you go with Dave to see the band?”
“Roommate obligations. And now they’ve left me here like Cinderella to clean up after them. Le sigh. Why aren’t you with Ellie tonight?” She wondered if she’d get the Maddie scoop.
“She’s at some study group.”
Apparently he and Ellie hadn’t broken up if he knew her Saturday night whereabouts. “A study group on a Saturday night?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Hey, guess what I was just listening to—the very first mix you ever made me.”
He let out a small, approving grunt. “Seems like it’s about time I made you a new one. Do you know The Replacements?”
“I…don’t know.”
“You’ll know them. Oh, man, I’ve got a ton of cool shit in here. Pogues, Jane’s Addiction, XTC.” He sounded excited at the prospect of a new playlist in the making.
“Do you have The Strokes? Dave loves those guys.”
“Eighties only, and I’m not making a mix for Dave.” A brief, awkward silence followed before David asked, “Did you see Arcade Fire is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live tonight?”
“Ooh. I like them.”
“I figured. Turn it on.”
Jen fumbled for her remote and flicked the TV onto NBC. “How long has it been since you’ve watched this show? I don’t think I’ve seen it since starting college.”
“I actually catch it once in a while. It’s a pretty good cast, including an hilarious chick from Chicago.”
They watched the show together on two separate TVs, laughing along with some of the skits and making fun of others. During commercials, they talked about other things that had been going on in their lives, staying on the phone together until after the band played. By then they were both sleepy, and the conversation had diminished to few words and many yawns.
“I better get going to bed so I can fall asleep before the drunken girl
s come home and keep me up all night,” Jen said. “It was fun watching the show with you.”
“Yeah, we should do this again sometime.” Jen couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic.
“Well, good night.”
“Good night.”
“Hey, David?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad we’re still friends after…everything.”
“Me, too.”
They hung up and Jen smiled, her mind full of happy thoughts about her friendship with David and her impending date with Dave.
Chapter 6
Jen felt like an idiot. She’d spent her whole night at Romans standing near the top of the attic stairs, waiting for Dave. He hadn’t shown. To make things worse, her only option for a ride home had left half an hour earlier. The party would start winding down soon, so she moved toward the edge of the dance floor to look for someone she knew, hoping to beg for a ride.
After about a hundred subconscious glances toward the stairs, her heart leaped at the sight of Dave’s studded leather jacket and messy golden hair. She watched him scan the room until he found her. He flashed a lazy smile and sauntered over.
“Hey, baby.” His eyelids stayed drooped so that his eyes were half closed. He’d clearly had a few drinks and maybe something else. Jen wondered if he even realized he was three hours late. “Let’s grab a drink,” he called over his shoulder to his companion, who’d followed him over. Jen was pretty sure the other guy was Jason, the one who’d driven them home from the Garage. “Want one?” Dave asked Jen.
“Sure.”
Dave and Jason disappeared into the thinning crowd, leaving Jen to wait alone. Again. They soon returned, and Dave handed her a beer. He downed his in a matter of seconds. Then he and Jason talked together in low voices, laughing between every other word so that Jen couldn’t understand a thing. She stood quietly by, sipping her drink and watching the dancers while she tried to control her temper. She didn’t want to blow the entire evening by starting a fight. At least he’d shown up, and he’d clearly come looking for her.
“Drink up, buttercup,” Dave said, finally paying her some attention as she lifted her drink. He tilted the bottom of her cup, spilling beer into her mouth and some onto her shirt. “Oh, sorry,” he laughed, wiping at her blouse while Jason snickered. “Look, I’m kind of messed up. Wanna get out of here?”
