Back to Life (4 page)

“Mom,
you’re a trip, you know that?” Just then, Maria came over to our table carrying
a beer and another glass of white wine.

“Here
you are. Your food will be out soon,” she said, and looked at me again,
blushing.

“Thank
you sweetie,” I said, winking at her again. She smiled widely and walked away.

After
we had our lunch, we were sitting at our table, still chatting. “So, what are
you up to tonight?” Mom asked me. I cocked an eyebrow at her, and she smiled.
“I’m just asking, I’m not suggesting anything.”

“I
didn’t have anything planned. I thought I might call Nick and hit up a bar or
something.”

“I’ve
heard good things about this club called Shadow. You could check it out.”

“Where
did you hear about Shadow?” I asked, amused.

“Darling,
everyone knows about Shadow. I hear they have great music,” she said, smiling.

“Uh
huh. I’ve heard about it too, but I’ve never been there. I might check it out.”
Shadow definitely had a good reputation. They always have some kind of big band
playing there, but I hadn’t been and wanted to check it out. Guess tonight was
the night.

“Great.
See, I’m not totally out of the loop,” she said, still smiling. I looked at my
watch. If I was going out tonight, I wanted to get home and shower. I didn’t
want to smell all sweaty from moving all day if I wanted to get laid tonight.
Maria had already brought our check over, and I leaned across the table to pick
it up. “Oh no, Liam, let me get this. I invited you,” she said.

I
shook my head. “Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t pick up the
bill for a beautiful lady?” I asked.

She
smiled warmly at me. “You’re such a sweet man, Liam. Thank you.”

“Anytime,
Mom.” I said, as we stood up.

“I’ll
let you go. You have fun tonight, and be careful, okay?” she said, a twinkle in
her eye.

Kissing
her on the cheek, I said, “I will. Have a good evening,” I said, and watched as
she walked out.

As
I walked up to the register to pay Maria was standing with a group of other
waitresses, and they were all giggling to each other. As I got closer, one of
them locked eyes with me and blushed, said something excitedly to Maria and she
turned around to face me. “Hi,” she said meekly. “How was your meal?” She
tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lightly bit her bottom lip.

“Everything
was great,” I said, handing her my credit card. “Especially the waitress.” Her
breath caught in her throat and she smiled sweetly at me. She swiped my card
through the machine and after a moment she handed it back to me with a slip of
paper to sign. After I quickly signed my name to the paper, I handed it back to
her.

“Thank
you, Liam Tanner,” she said, reading my name off the paper. When she handed me
the receipt, her fingers touched mine for a brief moment. I was about to put
the piece of paper in my pocket when something on it caught my eye. It was a
phone number. I looked up at her and she was grinning. “I’m off at eight,” she
said. I smiled sexily at her and with a wave I walked out of the restaurant.
Well, I knew what my bad decision for the night would be.

Three
hours later, I had dragged Nick out and we were at Shadow listening to music
and drinking in the scenery. There were definitely some hot ass girls here. I’m
glad I had decided to come. I hadn’t had to pay for a drink all night because
women kept sending them to our table, but even though I was getting a lot of
female attention, I still had planned on calling Maria after I left. She was
really cute, and wasn’t shy about putting herself out there. Hopefully she knew
this was just going to be a one night stand. I may sound like a dick, but I
wasn’t about to dive into some relationship. I was just looking to get my rocks
off.

“Damn,
these chicks here are unbelievable,” Nick said, taking a drink from his beer. He
had on his predator face, as I liked to call it. I don’t know why he tried so
hard. He was actually a pretty good looking guy. He had dark hair that he kept
buzzed almost to the scalp, tan skin, and was pretty built. He had a few
tattoos, but not as many as I did. For all that he had going on, for some
reason he felt the need to use cheesy one-liners to pick up girls. “Why the
hell haven’t we been here before?”

“I
don’t know. I heard this place was cool, but I’ve just never been.”

“Well,
I am definitely loving the scenery around here,” he said, letting his eyes scan
the room. “Here, have another shot,” he said, sliding a bottle of bourbon
toward me. “I think it’s on that blonde at the bar that’s been staring at you
since we got here.”

“Well,
I don’t mind if I do,” I said, picking up the bottle and pouring a shot into my
glass. After slamming it back, I sucked air through my teeth and set the glass
down on the table.

All
of a sudden, I heard Nick gasp loudly and mutter, “Son of a
bitch
!” What
I saw when I looked up knocked me on my ass. My breath caught in my throat. Two
women were walking toward the table next to us. One had long, straight brown
hair and was wearing a tight black skirt, and the other…she was a goddess. She
had long wavy red hair, creamy ivory skin, and more tattoos than I had seen on
most men. She was wearing a pair of skin tight skinny jeans and a tight black
tube top that showed off her tattoos. She had a tiny diamond stud in her nose,
a pair of tiny snake bites in her lip, and I could make out a pair of gauges in
her ears when she threw her hair over her shoulder. It was like she’d stepped
right out of my wettest dream. I wanted to touch her, to see her naked and
writhing in pleasure on my bed. The only thing I knew at that moment was that I
had to know her…I had to have her in one way or another.

Rory

The
rest of the day went by in a blur. I am usually busy, because I am booked three
to four weeks in advance, and I was happy because that not only made the days
go by fast, but it kept my mind from wandering. After my last client for the
day was gone, I started to do my usual end of the day cleaning. After every
color bowl was washed, every trash can had been emptied, and every station had
been cleaned with disinfectant, I looked at my watch and realized it was past
time for me to leave. I walked quickly to the break room and grabbed my bag. I
looked out around the salon floor, and most of the stylists had already left. Brian
was putting on his jacket, and was scrolling through his phone, checking his
messages. “So, are you heading to the airport now?” he asked me.

“Yeah,
Marissa and I are meeting there and we’re going to wait together.” She had to
be a ball of nerves at this point.

“All
right, well, have fun girl. And make sure to bring your brother by,” he said
with a wink.

I
rolled my eyes and smiled at him. “Yeah, okay.  Bye, babe. I’ll see you next
week,” I said, and kissed him on the cheek. Saturdays were usually busy, but I
was so anxious for Brody’s arrival and was dying to show him the city, so I cleared
out my entire schedule for the week of his arrival.

“See
you girl,” and he walked out the door. I slid into my jacket, and walked out
behind him after waving goodbye to Samantha. As I was hailing a cab, my cell
phone started ringing. I looked down at the caller ID, and saw Marissa’s face
on the screen. “Hey, I’m heading to the airport right now. You on your way?”

“Yes,
I am almost there.  Should we meet by the east entrance?”

“Sounds
like a plan. You okay?” I asked, noting the panic in her voice.

“Of
course I am, everything is find, er, I mean, fine. Everything’s
fine,
”
she said.

“Take
a deep breath. It’s just Brody. You’ve known him for eleven years. He probably
looks the same as he always has.”

She
paused on the other end of the line, and finally said, “Oh god, you’re right,
he probably does. Better even, which means I’m really going to say something
stupid. That is if I can even speak at all.”

“Marissa,
it’s going to be fine, I promise.  I’ll see you in a few,” I said, and we both
hung up. For her sake, I hope her nerves calmed down before he stepped off the
plane, but I just didn’t see that happening.

The
cab got to the airport right on time and I grabbed my bag, paid the driver, and
jumped out. I had only been inside the airport for about five minutes when I
felt a tap on my shoulder. “Hey, Rory, there you are.” It was Marissa, all
fidgety and nervous.

“Yeah,
I just got here. When was his plane getting here again?”

“It’s
already landed, and they should be letting the passengers off any minute. He’s
coming out at gate thirty seven,” she said, and I turned and followed her. We
stood there at the gate waiting for a good two minutes, not really talking. I
looked over at Marissa, and she looked white as a sheet.

Placing
my hand on her shoulder, I said, “Just breathe. You look like you are going to
pass out, and Brody is going to know something is up. If you don’t want him to
find out you are in love with him, then be cool. He’s living here now, so
there’s plenty of time to let him know how you feel, if you want to. Until
then, just have fun and be happy to see your friend that has probably missed
you as much as you’ve missed him.”

She
turned to me, and pulled me into a hug. “Rory, I love you. You always know what
to say. Thanks.” We pulled apart, and we waited for my brother to come off the
plane.

The
passengers started to come through the gate one by one. After about twenty
people walked by, I was looking around, anxiously waiting to see him, when I
heard a voice say loudly, “Rory! Marissa!” I looked up and there was my brother
Brody, handsome as ever, coming toward us in a half-sprint. My sometimes-icy
covered heart started to thaw at the sight of him. He was wearing a white
button down shirt with the top two buttons undone, faded jeans, and black Docs.
His dark hair was in a faux hawk style, and he was rocking a five o’clock
shadow. He dropped his bags in front of us, and pulled Marissa and I into a
tight group hug. We must have stood there for a full minute, just hugging each
other. 

“Brody,
we are so glad you are finally here!” I squealed, and he released us.

“I’m
glad to be here too. Sorry about grabbing you guys like that, but I was so
happy to see you both I didn’t want to hug one before the other,” he smiled. He
looked at me, and said, “Rory, you look beautiful, little sister, as always.
You’re doing okay?” he asked. I know he was asking if I was doing okay mentally…that’s
what everyone means when they ask me that question.

I
smiled reassuringly and said, “I’m doing just fine, big brother.”

I
then looked over at Marissa, and his eyes followed mine. As soon as their eyes
met, her breathing picked up slightly. Be cool, girl, I thought. “Brody, it’s
great to finally see you. I-uh, we’ve missed you so much.”

He
smiled a wide, all-white-teeth killer smile at her. He pulled her into a big,
warm hug, and whispered, “I’ve missed you too, Minnie.” ‘Minnie’ was Brody’s
nickname for Marissa because he always said she was as quiet as a mouse.
Pulling away, he took her hands in his and said, “Marissa…you look absolutely
incredible.”

Marissa
cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink. She smiled widely, and simply said,
“Thank you.”

He
continued to smile, and said, “I mean, seriously. You look amazing! Did you do
something different?”

She
shrugged her shoulders. “No, I’m still the same as I’ve always been. Just a
year later.”

“And
with an awesome new job at Vogue,” I bragged. Marissa was one of the
photographers that took the pictures of celebrities for their photo shoots.

“Yeah,
I’ve seen some of your stuff. You’re really talented, but then again, you
always have been,” Brody said, and I saw Marissa slightly blush.

“Since
when do you read Vogue Magazine?” I teased. “Which reminds me, did you leave
your purse on the plane?”

He
shoved me playfully, and threw his duffel bag over his shoulder. As I leaned
down to pick up his other two bags, he said, “Very funny, you brat. I saw a
copy of Vogue in the doctor’s lounge one time, and I was flipping through the
pages. I saw Marissa’s name on some of them, and I got so excited I think I
showed them to the whole hospital staff. The pictures I saw were very
beautifully done. You should be proud. I know I am,” he said, smiling at her. She
looked down at her feet for a brief moment, but I saw her smile to herself.

“Well,
what’s say we all pile into Marissa’s Beamer, drop your stuff off at the loft,
and then head out to celebrate?” I asked.

“That
sounds awesome. I dozed off on the plane for a bit, so I am rested and ready to
go.”

“Let’s
go, I am parked this way,” Marissa said, and began walking in front of us. As
Brody and I walked through the sliding doors together, I looked up at him. His
eyes were fixed on Marissa, and he had a slightly surprised look on his face. After
a few moments, he looked at me and noticed I was staring. “What is it?”