Chapter 2
Howie:
"So
she just totally blew you off?" I questioned as AJ took a seat next to
me.
"Yeah. I thought I'd at least get a 'hi' or a smile or something,"
he said exasperated. "She's not someone you forget easily."
"No kidding."
"No, I'm serious D. This isn't the typical person. Durbbie's just, Durbbie
I guess. I can't figure her out."
"She's a chick. You're never going to figure her out."
"And she'll kick my ass if she finds out we called her a chick." Both
of us laughed lightly at that. Out of all of us, AJ and I have remained closer
than basically anyone else. Kevin's mad at all of us for no apparent reason,
Brian's off with Leighanne doing who knows what, Nick's upset, AJ was looking
forward to all of this, and I'm over here stuck in the middle. Melissa, Durbbie,
and I didn't part on horrible terms like the others. We were just kinda there
and then kinda gone and things move on. You can't dwell on this stuff.
Durbbie:
Melissa went off
to get AJ because I wasn't up for it and before I knew what was going on, AJ
was standing in front of me wanting to know where to go and what his motivation
was. I decided to take Melissa's advice into consideration. I sucked up my feelings
and decided to get on with it.
"A little more to the left," I said getting the effect I wanted and
clicking away. I took my eye away from the camera. "Shade to the right,"
I said to Melissa. "It'll contrast just enough."
"Note taken," she replied. "Hey AJ? Are you going to have a different
hair color tomorrow?"
AJ looked shocked. "We always do research on our clients before a shoot,"
I explained. "That way we know what to expect. You gotta love the Internet."
"I wasn't planning on changing anything to tell you the truth," he
said.
"Great, fine. Just don't go drinking tonight," Melissa said. AJ looked
at us as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Make up can only hide so much under
these lights. We're not going to finish you until tomorrow."
"Go get washed up," I said. "Can you make it in about 45 minutes
early tomorrow?"
"I guess." AJ studied me for a moment.
"What? Do I have a goober hanging out my nose?" I asked feeling self-conscious.
"No. I was just thinking how different you are."
"How what?" I did a lot of stuff, but change wasn't one of them.
"This morning you were totally involved in your work and blew me off like
psycho bitch woman from Mars and now you're civil. I don't get it."
How do I respond to this one? "Um…I gotta get my stuff packed up and
let the others know…You know what? Never mind. I've got some stuff that'll
work on your skin. They're leaving the clothes here, so we're all set. Just
come in at 7:15 and you'll be on schedule," I finished off shyly.
"How long are you going to be here?"
"You are SO random," I said bluntly
AJ shrugged. "Answer the question. How long are you going to be here?"
I took a quick glance at my watch. It was already quarter to 7. "About
another 15 minutes or so. I've gotta get all this stuff back to the apartment
and do some stuff at home before I can get going to the…" I caught
myself before I went any further. "Another 15 minutes."
"You've got a date?" AJ asked incredulously
I crinkled my face. "Do I look like I'm ready for a date?"
Melissa:
Durbbie
and I were the last ones out of the theater from the crew of media and we were
finally off to go back to the apartment.
"I can't wait to get ready for tonight," Durbbie said.
"Is it another Tuesday night already?" I asked adjusting my grasp
on my mixture of art supplies and camera equipment.
"Yeah. Are you coming?"
"I don't know. I kinda wanted to do some more layouts on the computer and
try some new methods with some of the film we've done before this. Can I skip
tonight?" I asked hoping Durbs would understand.
"Yeah. No problem. I just wanted to run through a few things before I left
anyway. Can I run them by you before I leave?"
"Sure."
15 Minutes Later As Durbbie Is About To Run Out The Door
Melissa:
"Is
that ending OK?" Durbbie asked as she nervously fiddled with her hoop earrings.
"I like it much better than the other one. Keep it."
"Thanks buddy," Durbbie said as she threw a jacket on, ran to the
mirror to check herself over one more time, and hugged me quickly.
"Knock 'em dead tonight, OK?" I asked starting to make myself comfortable
on our small couch in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn in hand and my
laptop in the other.
Durbbie smiled. "You bet."
AJ:
As
much as I love New York City, I couldn't find anything to do. There was nothing
on TV. No good movies. I didn't feel like working out. I knew clubbing was a
bad idea since Melissa and Durbbie could figure out where I was last night and
warned me about tonight. Finally, I got so flustered at my lack of creativity
that I decided to go out. Out where, I had no idea, but New York was huge and
there had to be something amusing around here somewhere.
I had been walking about 10 minutes or so when I came across a little coffee
shop with a sign that said 'open mic night.' So being the curious one, I stepped
inside.
The whole place smelled like a mixture of light tobacco, strong coffee, and freshly fallen rain. I decided on standing in the doorway because the small shop was crowded and I could use some fresh air. The once lit stage in the corner went dark and the place fell silent. It was almost as if they were waiting for this moment. I leaned against a wall near the door with my arms folded to see what was about to happen.
What I saw almost made me fall over. A familiar voice sounded before any lights went up and started to sing an enchanting melody. I recognized the voice as soon as the lights went up. There was Durbbie clad in a skirt and a nice sweater, singing her heart out on a stage in front of a crowd. The rough exterior was gone. If I didn't know any better, I would have said that it was non-existent.
Durbbie
got off stage once her few minutes were up and as soon as she did, most of the
people started to move out of the shop. I was amazed. Durbbie actually packed
in a crowd. I didn't even know she had a different part other than little Miss
Tomboy.
On her way out, I caught her arm. "Durbbie," I said.
"You gonna be OK Durbs?" one man asked on his way out.
Durbbie looked from me to the man and back. "It's OK Joe. I think I've
seen this one before." She bid goodbye to Joe and turned back to me. "What
are you doing here?"
"I got bored and went out for a walk and here I am."
"What? No security?"
"Nah. Didn't need them." There was a slight pause as we exited onto
the windy streets of New York. "You never told me you could sing."
Durbbie shrugged. "There was no need to." There was another pause.
"Where's your hotel?"
I pointed up the street. "About 5 blocks up."
"My apartment's only another half block. You wanna come in for coffee or
something?"
Was Durbbie actually being open? This was a first. "That'd be nice,"
I replied.
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