I went out the back door. It was getting dark and there was a slight breeze, but it wasn’t too cold. He had a beautiful deck. In the back yard was a huge pool. A corner was separated off and looked like a Jacuzzi.
This was definitely the life to lead. I looked around and suddenly noticed someone sitting on one of the patio chairs. “Oh, hi, I didn’t see you.”
“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming. How are you?” Howie said.
“Fine, and yourself? What are you doing out here?”
“Some fresh air. It was getting hot in there,” he looked a little sweaty from dancing.
“I didn’t know so many people could fit into one room,” I laughed.
I had only spoken with Howie a few times. I mostly knew Kevin, from the coffee house and then he would occasionally come over to play the piano, and Brian. But Howie had always seemed very friendly and talkative, which reminded me some of Brian.
But with Howie, it was mostly lack of opportunity. Not like with AJ and Nick, who just weren’t as interested in getting to know me. AJ and I, I guess, had two different personality types, and Nick wanted to keep company with tall blondes like Carmen.
“Excited about the break?” he asked.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get home. I wasn’t expecting to stay in Florida this long.” I hadn’t seen my family in six months, not counting the weekend they came down to see me on my birthday. “How hard it is to come back and have such a short time to rehearse before the concerts start?”
“Well, for us it’s always hard getting back into shape and do the dances again. Kevin and I especially are too fond of home cooking, that’s for sure. But it always works out all right in the end,” Howie said.
We talked for a few minutes. I heard the back door open.
“Yo, D, there are some ladies looking for you,” Brian laughed. “Uh-oh, they aren’t going to be too happy to see you’ve ditched them for another girl!”
Howie put his arm around me. “Tell them, I’m sorry, but I’ve moved on!”
We laughed and he said, “well, it seems I’m needed! Brian, make sure you console August. She’ll be heartbroken in my absence.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll manage fine,” I crossed my arms and looked off. “I always liked Brian better anyway,” I smiled.
“So that’s how it’s going to be? Women are fickle, Brian, be careful,” Howie warned before he returned inside.
Brian took a sip of his drink. I eyed it. “Relax, its Coke.”
I laughed. “Sorry, I saw AJ dancing on the table singing Hit Be Baby One More Time awhile ago. I’m wondering how many drinks he’d have to have before he’d do that. Wasn’t a pretty picture. I didn’t want to relive it seeing you try Genie In A Bottle or something.”
“AJ trying Britney? I wish I’d been here to see that!” Brian said. “Did Carmen not come?”
“No, she’s here. I believe she has Kevin cornered upstairs. Hopefully she’ll find me eventually.”
“Hmm... I guess that’s who Nick was looking for. Carter has a lot to learn about women.”
“You setting the example for him?”
“Dang straight, I am,” he said in his Kentucky accent. He yawned. “Man, it’s been a long week! My flight’s Monday morning, I’ve gotta be packing all tomorrow. It’s going to be a hard weekend. Lil Tyke doesn’t like being told he’s nothing but cargo to the airplane industries. He prefers first class.”
I laughed. “Well, hopefully he’ll get back his resentment after the long flight to Kentucky.”
“No, he’s too smart. He’ll blackmail me for awhile.”
“Maybe we just need to get Nick a dog to teach him how to handle women. Your dog sure seems to have you whipped,” I teased.
I looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful night. Clouds were sporadically placed, so you could still see the moon and the glowing stars. Beautiful.
Brian stood up. “I better say hello to the party thrower. You want to see if you can track down Kevin’s stalker?”
I stood up and followed him. A slow song was playing, and Brian stopped. “Well, AJ can always wait. Care to dance?”
He wrapped his arms around my waste and we swayed to the music. It felt so right to be standing in his arms.
I went to find Carmen, and convinced her that it was time to leave. Brian caught us right before we headed to the car.
“Hey!” he smiled to us, and gave me a hug. “Have a good Christmas!”
“You, too!” And Carmen and I left to pack and enjoy the break.
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten
Dreaming of Destiny
Frick's Fairytales