CHAPTER SEVEN
The girls sit in the room for another half an hour, just discussing general things before Jewel brings up that she doesn’t have a place to stay. She asks Alyssa if it is okay to crash at her place.
“Ash and I are getting our own place soon but I had to give up my apartment, so if I could stay with you, it’d just be tonight. I’d really appreciate it. What do you say, girly?
Alyssa laughs, “Of course, you can stay with me tonight. I’m happy to have you. It’ll be great to spend some more time with you after you’ve been gone for so long.”
Jewel laughs before getting up, “You wanna go ahead and go now?”
“Sure.” Alyssa gets off the fridge and walks into the studio, the man wearing the Grimms vest is still there and he’s talking with one of the studio guys.
“You girls ready to go somewhere?” he asks.
“Mhm.” Jewel responds.
Together they wait around for the guy to call the cab and they tease each other. Once the cab finally gets there Jewel thanks the Grimms guy and he leads her and Alyssa to the cab.
Man. Jewel is going to have influence with the Grimms soon. That could be me too. We wouldn’t do much, but we’d get respect and information. Alyssa smiles. That could be fun, especially if the gang finishes transitioning to a legit business, then there would be a lot less to worry about.
In the cab, the girls continue to tease each other. They just do it at a whisper so the cabbie can’t listen to them as they speak. The cab driver is a nice, pretty woman who on occasion interrupts their conversation because she can’t hear them over the low lull of her radio. Jewel and Alyssa only chuckle but they continue to make conversation until they get to Alyssa’s place.
“Sorry about the mess. I’ve got things hanging around all over the place… I’ve been trying to see what I want to get for the boutique, and sometimes that involves a little homework. I’m always trying out new combinations to see what I can put together in the store. Anyway, if any of the clothing is in the way just hang it up on the rack against the wall beside the T.V. I’ll take care of it later.” Alyssa explains as she unlocks her door and welcomes Jewel into her place.
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been here before.”
“Oh yeah, sorry. It’s just been so long since I’ve had guests over.”
Alyssa’s place is a quaint, little loft. Her living room is decorated with light pastels, and the kitchen has a darker, more modern tone. The dining room mingles the two with a mixture of dark and light colors. Alyssa closes the door behind them and drops her stuff down beside the door with a relieved sigh.
“Goodness. It’s been such a long day. I’m so glad to be home.”
“Agreed. I’ve been travelling most of it, and I’ve got not ‘home’ yet.”
Alyssa walks back through to the kitchen and pulls a couple beers from the fridge. “I got beer!” She says as she taps the glass together before putting together a plate of cheese and crackers for them to snack on.
As Alyssa walks back, Jewel has already made herself comfortable on the couch and Alyssa sets the plate down on the light gray coffee table. Immediately, Jewel reaches forward to get some. Alyssa puts the beers down and grabs for the remote to turn on a television show. It’ll be good background noise if nothing else, she thinks as she makes sure to turn it to a channel that won’t have something she’ll be disappointed in missing.
“Thanks, Alyssa.”
“Yeah, no problem. There are more beers in the fridge when you finish that one.”
“Haha, alright. But I don’t want to drink all of yours.”
“I’ll be okay. You know,” Alyssa begins, “Vincent and I have already had sex again. When you left he came straight to me and that’s how we ended up in that room.”
“Guess you’re lucky everyone was on the other side of the studio. I know how loud you two are together.” Jewel chuckles as she says the last part.
“Can’t help it. I don’t have to fake anything with him.”
“Well, that’s good. It’s the same for Ash. Something about those energetic musicians, huh?”
“I guess so.” Alyssa says as she pops the top on her beer and takes a swig.
“I know a bit about Vincent if you’re interested.” Jewel offers as she shoves another snack into her mouth.
Alyssa grabs a couple of crackers and puts a couple slices of salami between them before adding two layers of cut cheese. She eats it before enquiring about what Jewel knows. “So, what do you know? Don’t just mention it and not say anything!”
Jewel laughs, “Okay, okay. Don’t bite my head off. Well, I know that he definitely has a thing for you. Like I said earlier, he hasn’t been the same since we went on tour. He wasn’t the same as when he was around you. So, there’s that. But, as far as I know, he hasn’t ever really had a serious girlfriend – so, if you’re thinking about filling that gap, he may be a bit of a newbie.” Jewel pauses so she can drink down some more of her beer.
Well, I can deal with a newbie. I mean, he’d have a lot to learn, but it can’t be that hard. He must know what to do. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Go on girl! Alyssa thinks to herself as she puts another cracker sandwich together.
“So, his life has been preee-tty wild. He started off in a foster care, and I guess to make up for it, he joined some pretty tough gangs. He’s known the gang life all of his life and you know at one point he was even in a rival gang of the Grimms. But your guy has a bit of a heart, or a brain. When the Grimms started moving towards a less criminal lifestyle, he quit to join them.” Jewel pauses to slowly and dramatically put more food in her mouth.
“Come on! What are you doing?” Alyssa says as she pushes Jewel towards the arm of the couch. Jewel tries to laugh with food in her mouth and then has to put a one moment finger gesture up so that she can finish chewing and talk again.
“I was being suspenseful and dramatic. You want to know more about this guy and I’ve got all the information. If I pause and eat instead of talking it builds suspense.”
Alyssa burst into laughter, “No, no it really doesn’t. You pretty much just ended your explanation and then acted like a dufus.”
“What if I said I knew why he wanted to join a non-criminal gang? Hmm?”
“Well, then you might have my attention back.”
“Good.” Jewel replies as she picks up more food.
“No!” Alyssa says as she tries to snatch the food away.
Jewel manages to shove it in her mouth, and gives a muffled, “haha” as she chews. So Alyssa grabs Jewel’s beer and finishes off the rest of it, and then finishes the rest of her own so Jewel can’t take it.
Jewel glares at her but finishes eating, then her mouth is so dry that she realizes it’s difficult to talk and she has to get up to get another beer Ha. In your face. Your plan backfired, Alyssa thinks to herself confidently.
“Okay. Okay. I’ll continue.”
“You’d better.”
Jewel hesitates just to build her suspense again, but then she speaks teasingly, “Your precious Vince wanted to live a normal life. Well, he wanted a chance at a normal life,” Jewel laughs a little bit, “Well, as normal of a life as a rockstar can get.” She says. It’s obvious she’s thinking about how Ash’s life has affected her own normal life. Jewel sits back down next to Alyssa and puts Alyssa’s beer in front of her as she starts sipping on her own.
Alyssa just nods, thinking about it in her head. A normal life typically involves having someone that you can love, maybe even raise a family with. The thought helps spread a smile across her face and Jewel instantly starts asking about it. Soon Jewel is pushing her the same way that she once pushed Jewel.
“Sooo. What caused that smile? Hmm?” Jewel asks. “You can’t just smile and not tell me.” Jewel says imitating Alyssa.
“Haha. Just the thought of Vince wanting a normal life, duh. I thought it was cute, that’s all. You know, not something you expect out of a guy like him.”
Jewel glares at Alyssa for a moment, who puts on an innocent look. It takes a moment but Jewel accepts her answer and takes a swig of her own beer. Alyssa grabs hers from beside the couch, open it and takes a sip. As she’s drinking her beer, she glances at the television and there is a scene of a monkey in a superhero costume sipping on apple juice, he throws it in someone’s face and starts to run out of the room. Jewel and Alyssa look at each other with a confused expression. Alyssa laughs and grabs the remote to change the channel.
“Well, whenever you’re ready for bed Jewel, the bottom cabinet in the hallway has the extra blanket and pillow for you. Just in case I forgot to tell you later.”
The girls continue to talk throughout the night, they get comfortable on the couch, finish off their snacks and occasionally let their attention slip to the television. I’m so glad I’ve got this night with Jewel. We really do need to spend more time together, especially like this…