Greetings! Aboveyouraverage has received its first international view! Thank you India! 🙂 Just thought I’d share that; it’s very exciting.
Anyway, here’s a story I just finished that I had started a while back. It’s a little romance mixed with a little humor. I don’t think anything in it is offensive but I apologize in advance if it is. Also the song mentioned is “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel. I do not now, nor have I ever claimed any rights to the aforementioned song. All credit goes to him. I think I’ve covered everything… Hope you like it! Comments!
The Beauty at the Bar
“Guess what tonight is,” Jackson said to his older brother Vincent.
Vinny smiled at his brother. “Friday. The night we go to the bar and try to impress the piano player. I know.”
It was indeed Friday night. And just like every other Friday night for the last 6 months, 22 year old Jackson and his 25 year old brother Vinny went to The Jazz Singer, a local club, after a long week of running their Miami surf shop. The piano player was a beautiful young woman, Stephanie Malley, who spent her weekend nights at the old Steinway at the end of the bar. Jackson had seen her at Mass on the Sundays he wasn’t hung over.
The two brothers walked in around 10 p.m., and the place was already hopping. Stephanie was filling the room with her music and the dance floor was full. Vinny ordered drinks for he and his brother and found a booth on the far end of the room. Jackson brought their drinks over from the bar and they surveyed their options for the night. A short Cuban girl came over and drug Vinny out to the dance floor where they disappeared in a sea of moving bodies, leaving his little brother alone at the table.
There has to be some way to get her attention, Jackson thought, gazing longingly at the sleek red hair of the pianist. Suddenly, he realized the seat at the bar next to the piano was open; a rare opportunity he literally jumped at.
When he sat down she smiled in recognition at him but kept singing. When the song was over she led right into a hard dance riff that she used to fill her breaks.
Jackson tried to break the ice. “Does Father Christov know you work here?”
“Does Father Christov know you drink here?” she bit back, laughing. “Haven’t seen you at Mass in a while.”
He decided to try a different tactic. “You keep me here too much.” She blushed and it was his turn to laugh. “On that note…Do you take requests?”
She smiled at him. “Nope. But if you tip well I might happen to play the song you want next. I might even let you sing. I bet I know what song you want too.”
With the toss of a 10 in the mason jar on the piano’s top, he nodded to her.
“You get four counts.” She immediately hit a four note descending scale and Jackson began singing, flirting with Stephanie the whole time.
Come out Virginia, show me the way
Them Catholic girls start much too late
Oh sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one
Darlin’ only the good die young!
When they finished the song, everyone cheered for them. Jackson decided to leave her alone for a little while and let his time with her set in. He didn’t return to the piano until 2 a.m., when the club was closing down. “May I walk you out, Virginia?” he asked, pulling in the name from the song.
“It’s Stephanie. And yes you may.”
They went out to the back parking lot where Stephanie’s red sports car was parked.
“Wow you sure didn’t pay for that with that Mason jar.” Jackson smiled at her.
She blushed. “I work for a marketing agency during the week. And I take classes at the local university part time and online. I hope to start my own business when I graduate.”
Jackson checked his phone when he noticed Vinny’s car wasn’t where they had left it.
Took the Cuban home. Find your own ride. V.
“Well that sucks,” he said.
“What?” Stephanie smiled at him.
He jammed his phone back in his pocket. “My brother took some girl back to our place and left me here without a car.”
“Well, I might have room for an abandoned brother in my car and at my apartment.” She got in the red car and leaned over to unlock the passenger’s side. “Come on. Get it.”
Jackson thought he’d died and gone to heaven. This beautiful Irish-descended girl, with long, flowing red hair and piercing green eyes in a cocktail dress was inviting him to her place. He got in without saying a word. The engine revved and Pitbull blared from the speaker system.
“Really? Pitbull?” He laughed at her.
“’This is worldwide!’” she mocked the opening to his songs. “I’m excited for the new Men in Black. That’s what this song is for.”
Jackson looked warily at her iPod. “This is weird. It starts all ‘Say what? I’m Pitbull!’ Then it’s all 50’s-ish…”
“It’s called ‘Back in Time’ for a reason silly.” They drove to the business district and pulled into a lot behind a large apartment building. “Well, here we are,” she told him. “I’m on the 17th floor; little studio apartment in the corner. Lots of windows.”
He silently followed her into the building and they rode up in the elevator until it lit in red ’17.’ Her apartment was on the corner of the block and overlooked the entire city out to the beach. Stephanie flipped on the lights and apologized for the disheveled look of the place. Thick economics books were stacked on the small, two person dining table and blankets and clothes covered what Jackson assumed to be a futon, since there was no other bed-like structure. There was a small kitchen, a closet, and a nice bathroom.
“If you want to get a shower you can.” She was putting away clothes and making up the bed on the futon.
“I think I will. Thanks.” He went into the bathroom, undressed, and showered. The only non-feminine soaps there were a bottle of generic ocean scent shampoo and a bar of Dial soap. The buzz from the night was starting to wear off. He wondered to himself if she would make hangover food in the morning. After drying off with a fluffy white cloud of towel, he brushed his teeth with his finger and some toothpaste, then came out of the bathroom. “Got any pizza?” he asked as she went in to change and wash her face.
She chucked her phone out at him. “No, but I know a guy. Speed dial #1.”
Like a fool he just called without checking to see who it is.
“Pizza-Palooza. Whatcha need?” an Irish accent asked.
Jackson was stunned. He liked this girl even more if she had pizza on speed dial. “Uh… extra-large meat lovers?”
“Alrighty. I can do that for ya. Be right over.”
“But…!” The dial tone came on. “I didn’t even tell you the address…”
Stephanie laughed. “He’ll be here. Don’t you worry. I dunno about you, but I’m not very tired. Wanna watch a movie? I’ve got some cookie dough ice cream we can have with the pizza.”
He smiled, and for the first time noticed she had a slight Irish accent also. Didn’t surprise him, judging by her red hair and bright green eyes. “Sure. Do I dare hope you like Bond?”
At this, she came out of the bathroom in pale pink flannel sleep pants and a matching silk camisole. She opened a drawer beneath the television; it was full of James Bond movies.
“I love you,” Jackson said jokingly. She picked out Casino Royale and popped it in the DVD player just as the doorbell rang. She went over to answer it; he realized he was laying in his boxers on a futon in the apartment of a girl he had no relationship with whatsoever.
“Thanks Sam,” Stephanie said, hugging the pizza guy.
Sam hugged her back. “No problem sis.” He noticed Jackson and laughed. “You kids have fun now.” With that, he was gone.
Jackson just looked at his hostess. “Your brother is a pizza guy?”
“My brother owns one of the most successful pizza franchises in southern Florida, thank you very much.” Her long legs sauntered over to the freezer and pulled out most of a tub of ice cream. Finding two spoons, she plopped down on the futon with ice cream, Jackson, and a big, meaty pizza. She flicked the movie on.
The rest of the night was the greatest Jackson could remember. They basically reenacted the entire movie, knowing what each character would say before they said it. He learned that she had never slept with a guy and planned to keep it that way until she was married, she went to Mass every Sunday, and was also a big fan of Mission Impossible.
Just before the movie ended, he looked down and saw Stephanie had fallen asleep on his chest, her flame red hair blanketing him in its softness. She looked like such an angel, just lying there asleep. As quietly as he could, he turned off the TV—the only light in the room–, pushed the empty pizza box and ice cream carton on the floor, and wrapped her in his arms. Everything about her was perfect in his embrace. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
And they had only just met.
When Jackson woke up the next morning, it took him a moment to remember what had happened. It all came back when he rolled over and saw Stephanie wearing black slacks and a blue silk blouse with all her hair tied up on her head.
“Wake up stupid. I’ve gotta go to work.” She laughed, pulling him off the futon. “I can drop you off at your place if you want.”
Being rushed the whole time, Jackson got dressed and ate a few pancakes she had made. Within 15 minutes they were back in her car and heading to the surf shop. Five minutes more and she was kicking him out of the car.
“Wait!” he yelled before she took off.
“What? I’m gonna be late!”
“I just wanted to say thanks. And I was wondering if you wanted to grab some coffee sometime?”
She smiled. “Sure. I get off work at 5. Meet you at Starbucks downtown. See ya!”
She sped off, drifting the sharp turn back onto the highway.
Jackson smiled at himself. “At least I get a real date. Vinny can’t even speak Spanish.” He chuckled as he opened up the shop.
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