Brian sat quietly at the kitchen counter stirring his bowl of cereal around as Meg and Nat ran around the house in a crazy frenzy. Nat’s alarm hadn’t gone off and presently, her favourite shoes were missing. Kevin sat on the counter beside Brian, both snickering quietly as they watched the trauma unfold. Nat was scared to death over her audition; she knew that for some reason or another, Kevin and Jamie believed in her, but she wasn’t as confident in her ability to ‘wow’ the crowd as they were. She was just about to flop down onto the kitchen floor and burst into tears when she heard Jamie’s car pull into the driveway, but then Meg’s voice echoed through the condo.
“HERE THEY ARE!!!” Meg yelled triumphantly as she galloped down the stairs. “They were under your bed, you goofball!” she laughed as she dropped them down in Nat’s lap. “You’ll be amazing!!!! I know it! Now, get going or you’ll be late!!!”
“I love you, baby! I wish I could come with ya, but I know you’ll be great! Just be yourself...who couldn’t love you!!!” Kevin said jumping down off the counter and offering her a good luck kiss on her cheek. “Don’t be late for your party!!!” he yelled as she ran out the door to meet Jamie.
“You finished, Bri? We better get down to the club!” Kevin asked, gulping down his last mouthful of coffee. Brian slugged the last bit of milk from his bowl and dropped it in the sink.
“All done! Let’s jet!”
“Where are you two going????” Meg asked.
“You know where and you know why....we won’t be long,” Brian said, giving her a bear hug.
“I can help y’know, I’m pretty good with parties,” she begged, batting her eyelashes.
“No you can’t....you know that this is our little surprise for our favorite birthday girls!!” Brian said, kissing her deeply. By the time he pulled away, she had forgotten the question and kissed him goodbye as they went out the door.
Alex hadn’t realized how rusty his golf game had become until he set out on the links that morning. His new job didn’t start for another week, but he thought that he should brush up a little bit. He set out early to get on the course before the members arrived, but by the 12th hole, his clubs on his back felt like lead, as they did now, as he carried them into the front hall and dumped them down onto the floor. He kicked off his cleats and threw down his keys as visions of a cold shower and long afternoon nap before the party danced through his head. As he started to climb the stairs, he saw a note with his name on it waiting for him. He picked it up and smiled to himself and turned back around and headed out onto the patio.
He smiled at the vision that greeted him....Jamie lying on her stomach, floating freely on an inflatable alligator in the pool. The sun shone brightly down onto her naked body as she paddled around in circles.
“Hey honey, watcha doin’ home so soon?” Alex asked as he sat down and dangled his feet into the pool.
“I got the afternoon off because Mr.Ross was so pleased with Nat!” she smiled as she paddled closer to her target. She paddled over to him and smiled as she clutched onto his ankles for support. Jamie smiled naughtily and sat up pulling herself closer to Alex where her hands instinctively dove for his belt buckle. In a quick motion, she ripped it from his shorts and continued to release the button and the zipper.
“C’mere, sweetie,” she smiled a provocative smile. He slid to the edge of the pool and placed his hands gently under her arms and pulled her off the alligator and onto his lap. She squealed with delight as he did this and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed it.
“Ooo, so we meet again,” she said between kisses once she was settled on his knee. “Y’know, the whole idea of being out by the pool is getting wet,” she teased.
“You’re doing a fine job of that!” he teased back as she ripped off his golf shirt and then tipped her body toward the pool, taking Alex with her. Surfacing for breath he swam over to her and pulled her close and she wrapped her legs around him. He kissed her deeply and massaged her breasts as she pulled off his shorts and boxers with her thighs. Once he was free and had joined her in her birthday suit, he instructed her to take a deep breath. Once they had, he pulled them down onto the bottom of the pool where they had their own grown-up version of “the tea party.”
By the time they had finished their ‘tea party’ for the third time, Jamie realized that it had gotten dark out. They had been so wrapped up in each other, literally, that they had completely lost track of the time.
“Holy Cow, Alex, we are going to be SO LATE for the twins birthday party!” Jamie exclaimed as she sprung from the pool and ran into he house without even stopping to grab a towel. She ran all the way upstairs and leapt into the shower. Alex quickly followed her, right into the shower, where they again, completely lost track of the time.
It had taken a fair amount of begging by the girls, to convince Nick to leave his room and come to their party. Reluctantly, he dawned his favourite clothes and went. He was feeling a bit shy and backward again, a little socially unacceptable, but once he heard Brian mention that CJ might be there, he quickly changed his mind and got dressed.
Howie and CJ were already there once the birthday girls and their posse arrived. Nat and Meg were speechless at how amazing the club looked. They were almost in tears when they realized how much trouble Brian and Kevin had gone to for them.
“Brian this is so AMAZING!!!” Meg beamed as she jumped up and down. “I can’t believe that you guys did all of this for us!”
“It’s beautiful, baby, but you shouldn’t have!” Nat said as she snuggled up close to Kevin as they made their way through the people. Nat caught sight of CJ and Howie in the back and waved. “Look Nick, there’s CJ, I think she’s waving to you!” Nick waved shyly at CJ and she motioned for him to come over.
“Hi CJ!” he said with a shy smile. “You look nice.”
“Hey Nicky, how ya feelin’, hon?” CJ asked with a big smile. Nick nodded that he was okay. “Well you look mighty fine, sweetie!” Nick was taken aback by her compliment and began to fiddle with the bottom of his leather jacket. “What’s the matter? You don’t seem quite yourself?” CJ asked as Howie came over and shook Nick’s hand.
“Hey Nick, you look well.” Howie offered along with his hand and a smile. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Join me in a rootbeer Nick?” CJ asked with a wink. Nick nodded and Howie left to place the drink orders.
“C’mere Nick, come down here to my level,” CJ ordered, motioning for him to kneel down. Nick did with a smile. “Are you okay? You don’t seem like the Nicky that came to Florida with us……you wanna tell me what’s going on with you?” CJ asked, taking his hand in hers. Nick began to perspire as a feeling of awkwardness through his body. CJ was his friend, but she was also his fantasy. She had shown him things that he had never even dared to dream about before. She had taken him to a higher plain of learning. She had helped him tap into emotions and desires that had been supressed so well by his parents and his strict up-bringing. She had always been able to help him look at life in a completely different way than it really was and he loved her for that, he truly did, and now he wanted to show her just how much. He couldn’t help it, he hadn’t asked for it to happen, but he was falling in love with her and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.
He cleared his throat and forced himself to be brave and look her in the eye. He smiled shyly and took a deep breath.
“What is it Nick? You can tell me anything,” she said softly.
“CJ, there is something that I need to tell you……something that I want to tell you……..” he trailed off, his eyes dropping down to his hands, as he watched them intertwined with hers. The words were trapped, he wanted to blurt out that he loved her and that he had never met anyone like her before, but he couldn’t’. He fiddled with his hands some more as he tried to tell her how happy she made him and that he would do anything for her, but he couldn’t.
“What is it?” she asked gently again, starting to feel a little scared by his distance. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t judge you….you know that……” she said, but before she could finish her sentence, he had found the courage that he needed, like he had drained it from her body and instinctively, like a true player, he grabbed her face gently between both of his hands and kissed her. He kissed her deep and he kissed her hard, stunning her and shocking everyone else around them. Taken aback, she was paralyzed in the moment, she wasn’t exactly kissing back, but she didn’t exactly push him away either. Seconds seemed like minutes as Nick fulfilled his fantasy. Finally, CJ held up her hand on Nick’s chest to push him away, but it was too late, Howie was already breaking through the crowd, rootbeer in hand and witnessed the whole thing.
Nat and Kevin saw the kiss too. Nat was not surprised, she had sensed something brewing in Nick, as if he was confusing CJ’s friendship with him for something else. At least that was what she felt; whether or not CJ shared Nick’s feelings Nat was unsure.
“Nick’s in love with her ya know,” Nat said to Kevin as they watched the look of horror and disappointment spring up on Howie’s face.
“I thought that CJ and Howie had resolved their differences though,” Kevin said. Nat shrugged her shoulders and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the club suddenly exploded with Howie’s voice.
“CJ, YOU STUPID BITCH….I CAN’T EVEN TURN MY BACK FOR A SECOND AND YOU’RE BACK AT IT!!!” Howie yelled dropping the glasses and turning to storm through the people before CJ had anytime to explain. CJ pushed Nick away and noticed that all eyes were on them. “HOWIE WAIT…YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!!” CJ yelled after him, but it was too late, he was gone. Nick jumped to his feet and wiped his mouth as tears formed in his eyes. He hadn’t thought about what he was doing. He wasn’t thinking about Howie, all he was thinking about was how much he adored CJ and how much he thought that she adored him.
“CJ, I’m so sorry…..I’m so sorry….I didn’t mean anything……I just……” Nick started to cry in shame. “I just wanted to show you how much I love you……I wasn’t thinking about you and Howie…………” Nick hung his head.
“It’s okay Nick,…..Howie will understand……if I can find him,” CJ said, trying to appease Nick, worried that things with Howie would be blown for good. “Does anyone know where he went?”
“I think he went up to the balcony,” Kevin offered, pointing to the staircase. Nat poked him in the ribs. “Oh, I’ll go and get him.” Kevin took off through the crowd and climbed the stairs to the balcony. He opened the door to see Howie leaning against the railing, resting his head in his hands.
“Hey Howie look…..” Kevin started.
“Don’t even bother……..just stay away from me,” Howie said bitterly, not even lifting his head.
“Uhm, ya….whatever…..listen, I think that you’ve got things wrong down there and CJ wants a chance to explain.”
“Just fuck off, Kevin and leave me alone……go back downstairs, isn’t it your turn to be with her???? You deserve each other….you’re both back stabbers.” Howie jabbed.
“LISTEN! THIS ISN’T ABOUT ME…IT’S ABOUT NICK AND CJ….I’M TRYING TO DO YOU A FAVOUR, MAN,…..BUT IF YOU’RE GONNA GIVE ME A LOT OF CRAP….THEN SCREW YOU!!!” Kevin yelled as he turned to head back inside. Howie lifted his head and turned and grabbed Kevin by the shoulder.
“Wait a second Kevin, you forgot this!” And as Kevin turned back around, Howie clocked him right in the nose. Kevin was stunned and crumpled over and buried his face in his hands.
“YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!” Kevin yelled as he grabbed at his bleeding nose. “What the fuck was that for???”
“That was for everything that you’ve ever done to me….that was for Morgan…that was for Nick…..and that was for cheating men EVERYWHERE!!!” Howie yelled as he leaned back against the railing. Kevin stood up, blood running down his face and onto his shirt.
“Look Howie, I think that it’s time that we let by-gones be by-gones. I’ve explained everything to you about Morgan and I’ve apologized for all of that a thousand times. She lied to me before she lied to you….if I had know she was your girlfriend…I would never….I have so much respect for women and for relationships. I can’t apologize for that anymore…I won’t. As for Nick, you know that he is going through something right now…and I don’t know why he kissed CJ, but he did. I think that he’s really confused about his place here right now. She has been really good to him and I think that through his naiveté, he misread her. She was as shocked as anyone, believe me. This wasn’t her fault.” Kevin finished, digging through his pocket for a hanky. Howie stood there listening to Kevin’s words, still hurt by the sight of Nick kissing CJ which was now engraved into his memory.
“Hey Kevin, listen man, I’m sorry about your nose,” Howie said with a slight smile. He offered his hand and reluctantly, Kevin shook it. “I’m sorry for being such an ass lately.”
“Hey don’t worry about it, better you than me,” Kevin teased and opened the door and headed back downstairs. On the way down, Alex met them in the stairwell.
“Hey there you guys are, Nat sent me up here to make sure you weren’t fighting…..WHOA!!!” Alex stopped, noticing Kevin’s bloody face and shirt. “Kevin what happened to you???”
“A little misunderstanding,” Kevin answered, turning and winking at Howie.
“Well hurry up, Jamie’s just about to make some announcement,” Alex said, turning around and darting back down the stairs.
Howie walked straight over to CJ and knelt down beside her and kissed her cheek.
“I’m so sorry CJ, I’m sorry I didn’t trust you……I just…..I don’t want to be hurt again. I love you and I need you and I’m sorry for not believing in you,” Howie said, flashing her that smile that melted her heart everytime. CJ kissed him and hugged him tightly. She was stunned, she thought that she was going to be the one to have to apologize. She didn’t know what Kevin had said to Howie, but she knew that she was going to have to thank him later.
Kevin had followed Howie back downstairs, but instead of sticking around to watch the tearful reunion of he and CJ, Kevin tried to disappear towards the men’s room without being seen. He failed. He had almost made it, the men’s room door was only a few feet away when he felt a tug at his sleeve, prompting him to stop in his tracks.
“Kevin, honey Jamie is going to make some big announcement and she wants us all to gather around the stage,” Nat said cheerily, running her hand down his arm till she found his hand. Kevin didn’t turn around, he didn’t want her to see him like this, but in his hand he still clutched the bloody handkerchief.
“I’ll be right there, baby,” he said, still facing the men’s room door. He pulled his hand away and began to proceed to the door when he heard her scream.
“KEVIN! What’s THIS??? Are you BLEEDING?” she screamed, running around in front of him so that she could face him. Her jaw dropped open when she saw how his face had been rearranged.
“Oh my God, what happened? Who did this to you?” she asked, raising her hand to touch is face. He jerked his head away before she could touch it.
“Howie and I had another disagreement,” Kevin understated. “Everything’s cool between us now……I’m just gonna go and clean up a little and I’ll be right there, okay?” he smiled tenderly and then winced in pain.
“Oh sweetie, we better take you to the hospital, your nose is all over your face,” she said, screwing up her face.
“Don’t be silly, I’ll put some ice on it when we get home. I’m fine,” he smiled again, this time holding it, this time convincing her. “I’ll be right back.” And with that he disappeared into the men’s room.
Nat had gone running back to the party mortified over the sight of her boyfriend. She immediately ran over to Howie and began to beat her closed fists on his chest. Howie backed up Kevin’s story, saying that things were good between them now and that he was sorry. Meg came over and hugged her tightly and asked Brian if he’d go and check on Kevin.
Brian and Howie both went into the men’s room to check on Kevin. Kevin was naked from the waist up and had tissues dangling out of both nostrils.
“Cute outfit,” Brian teased as he jumped up on the counter beside Kevin. He curled up his lip at the sight of all the blood. “Geez Kevin, you really gotta learn to duck, man!”
“Tell me about it,” Kevin said dryly as he washed the drying blood from the corners of his mouth.
“Ya know though, this is really turning out to be a great nite,” Howie chimed in as Kevin pulled some of the tissue from his nose.
“Oh ya, how do ya figure?” Kevin asked.
“Well despite all this,” Howie said, pointing to the bloody tissues, “I’ve decided that this is what I wanna do….as a career!”
“What? Hitman?” Kevin snickered.
“HA-HA! Very funny!” Howie sneered as Brian cracked up laughing. “No, club owner!” Howie stated, quite proud of himself.
“Hey that’s a pretty cool idea!” Brian agreed. “That would be a very lucrative venture.”
“Ya, I thought so. I’ve always thought about it, but I’ve never seriously considered it, but when we got here tonight the bartender said that this joint is closing down in a couple of weeks cuz the owner died and they couldn’t find anyone to buy it,” Howie explained. “All I have to do is take out a bank loan and I’m in business!” Howie smiled.
“Or find a partner,” Brian suggested. Howie raised an eyebrow. “I’d be more than happy to go in on this with you, if you’re interested,” Brian offered. Kevin pulled more tissue from his nose and realized that the bleeding had finally stopped.
“I dunno, that would be a lot of money that I’d be borrowing from you…..” Howie hesitated.
“Then borrow is from both of us,” Kevin suggested as he pulled his black tank top back on and smiled. “Three heads are better than two, aren’t they?”
“I guess….you mean you guys would really be interested in doing this?....with me?” Howie asked, checking to make sure that he wasn’t hallucinating.
“As sure as I’m sure I’ll never be wearing this shirt again,” Kevin said, as he tossed it into the trash.
“Hey....and I’ve got the perfect name for it too, since you guys are always acting like animals,” Brian smiled.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please, just for a moment?” Jamie spoke kindly into the microphone from center stage, just as the new partners rejoined the party. “Sorry for this brief interruption, but I have a short announcement to make and then we can get back to the PAR-TAY!!! I would like everyone to join me in singing Happy Birthday to our birthday girls, Meg and Nat!!!!” Jamie said as the music began to play and a big birthday cake was wheel out onto the stage. Everyone sang, rather in tune as the birthday girls each turned beet red and buried their faces in their boyfriends chests. When the song was done balloons dropped from the ceiling and streamer flew around the room. Jamie smiled and the crowd cheered. As she waited for them to quiet down again, Howie, Brian and Kevin ran up onto the stage and whispered in her ear and took the mic from her.
“Sorry to steal your spotlight Jamie, but we have something very exciting that we would like to announce,” Howie said as Brian and Kevin stood at his side. “We would like you all to know that you are now standing on the dance floor of our club,” he said, motioning at himself, Brian and Kevin. “We’ve bought this club and we would like to invite you all back here in two weeks for our grand re-opening….the grand opening of THE ZOO!!!!!!” Howie yelled, thrilled to pieces and then shook hands with his new partners. “Sorry girl, didn’t mean to steal your moment, but we know that you have something much more important to announce,” Brian whispered and winked at Jamie.
“And now I’d like to ask you to turn your attentions back around to our girl, Jamie!” Kevin said and the crowd obliged.
“WoW! That was some crazy announcement….Okay, now as most of you know I am a talent coordinator for JAX Records and I would like to take this moment to introduce our newest artist to all of you. She doesn’t know this yet, but we want to sign her to a major recording contract. She’s smart, she’s beautiful and she can sing like nothing I’ve ever heard before and it just so happens that she is one of our birthday girls. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for Nat Wilson!!!!!!” Jamie yelled and motioned for Nat to come and join her on stage. Nat was in shock, she buried her face in her hands and thought for just a brief moment that she was going to die of embarrassment. She didn’t want to go up there and Kevin knew it, so he came down and escorted her up onto the stage where he gave her a beautiful and passionate kiss. Nat waved at everyone shyly as they cheered and applauded her. Jamie wanted her to sing something, but she refused and Jamie didn’t press her.
“I can’t, I’m not prepared,” Nat whispered quietly in Jamie’s ear, her eyes begging Jamie not to make her do this.
“Alright, but you will at the grand opening of this place, okay?” Jamie compromised. Nat smiled and agreed and waved down to Meg who was happier than anyone else in the audience. Nat motioned for Meg to come up and join her and she did. The twins hugged and began to cry; Meg had never been so proud of someone in her entire life. She pulled away and congratulated Kevin on his new venture too and then went over to Jamie and whispered something in her ear.
“Before we start the music up again, apparently there is one more announcement,” Jamie said, handing the mic over to Meg. Meg cleared her throat, suddenly overwhelmed by all of the eyes on her.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “Uhm, since everyone is making all of these announcements, I guess I might as well too!” she trailed off. Nat looked over at Brian, who just shrugged his shoulders; neither of them knew what she was going to say. “Well, as most of you know, I’m an aspiring dancer. I’ve danced all of my life and have taken years and years of lessons. My dream has always been to become a professional dancer,” she paused as her voice began to quiver. “Well, I just want to share with everyone my good news. I’ve been going to auditions since we moved to Florida and I finally won the part of my dreams….Next month I will be joining the cast of Guys & Dolls……” she trailed off as people began to applaud her. A smile sprung onto Brian’s face. “……in New York City!”
Everyone applauded and cheered for her great success. Jamie hugged her and so did Nat. Tears flowed freely down the girls cheeks; happiness rained throughout the club, but not for Brian. The smile drained from his face as the last four words Meg spoke reached into his chest, gave a little twist and yanked his heart out, holding it up for all the crowd to see.