Epiphany
Disclaimer: Yeah, like you read these things. < 18, I won't ask, you won't tell. I would tell you to leave, but you won't listen *N Sync, I don't know nothin' 'bout em. Fiction, people! FIC. TION. Chapter Titles are taken from lyrics from Jonathan Larson's Rent Not just a sex show! I'm one for true romance - looking for a quickie? Look elsewhere. Thanks for writing, everybody! Sorry this took so long in coming out. Finals week and I need to take a vacation from everything.
email me at mykster@prodigy.net
Visit me! http://mykster.homestead.com
Two: When All The Scars Of The Nevers & Maybes Die!
"So, that's how we met. Not true love at first sight, I can assure you of that. I can't believe that I yelled at him, but with every thing that happened that night, well, let's say I was on edge. I have a really bad habit of that, holding things in until I blow up, at the wrong person, of course. I was actually glad we got stuck in that elevator. After I calmed down a bit, and I took a step back, we actually hit it off. Too bad I just broke up and he was going back to Florida in a couple of days. And I knew that bottle of Tequila would cause problems in the morning.
"I don't know why I took him to my room; I guess I wasn't thinking. I could have told the front desk about him. I mean, he did live on the penthouse level; he must have been someone important, right? They would have taken care of him. I could have taken him back to his floor myself, used his key to get his room number and problem solved. But I was tired. Let's see how you are after being locked up in an elevator with a stranger for five hours. And I'm claustrophobic, but I digress. One of my many faults - I let my mind wander and I end up tangents that no one cares about. There, see, I did it again. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I knew there would be problems in the morning after my guest arrived and there were. Problems galore."
The sounds of a toilet being flushed awoke me from my dreamless sleep. I looked at the travel clock. 9:30. Damn, I slept most of the morning. I usually wake up no later than 7. I must have had a wild night, but in my sleepy stupor, I didn't remember a thing. I saw Deny walk out of the bathroom clutching the wall for support. He looked . . . hung over. Deny never drinks. I groped for my glass and when I could see clearly, I let out a yell. This was not Deny. The blond winced in pain and the sound. Muttering in his deep voice, he told me not to yell. Thick southern accent. Realization of the previous night's escapades hit me like a Mac Truck. "Sorry about that. I forgot about you," I whispered.
He gave me a strange look. "First you don't know who I am and then you don't remember me. You're doing wonders for my ego, here. Maybe you should meet Justin and work on his a little." he smirked.
I gave him a confused look. Why should I know him? Before I could ask, the blond bolted for the bathroom again. I got up, a little concerned. Praying to the porcelain god was something I hated to do, and I don't think my guest here liked it any more. James. That's right, his name is James. And heard a flush and I peeked into the bathroom. "Are you alright?"
He glared at me, eyes squinting in the fluorescent lighting. "Do I look alright to you?"
I laughed quietly at my stupidity. Searching for something witty to say, I let loose the first thing that came to mind, blurting out "well, as long as Jesus didn't tell you to cut off you pee-pee you'll be fine." He gave me a startled, questioning look. "Threesome." A more confused look. "It's a movie." No change in facial features. "It's a habit of mine. In uncomfortable situations, quote random lines from obscure movies."
"I'll just be a minute, David." James looked as if he was going to reply when we heard a voice in my room. Deny. I excused myself from the bathroom to confront him. He was over by the dresser, packing his suitcase with his clothes that he brought. A strange man who looked vaguely familiar stood by the door. I looked back at Deny. He was ignoring me completely.
"Why did you even bother packing clothes for, Deny? Why waste money on this room if you weren't planning on staying from the beginning?"
Deny looked up. "Excuse me? It was my money, wasn't it? Who are you to question what I do with it. This is the way I wanted it and if you try. . ."
"Deny, stop. You promised not to cause a scene." David looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please?" What ever Deny was about say, he changed his mind. The three of us stood in silence until the suitcase was packed. Deny got up and headed toward the door. "Check out's in an hour. If you're late, you get the bill." They left. So, that's why his left me. Money. I had none. But it was never a problem before, or he never let on that it was ever a problem. Before I could mull over the things going through my head, James' voice interrupted.
Who was that?" James stood in the bathroom doorway, apprehension in his eyes.
I sighed. "I guess that was my ex."
"You're gay."
I did not want to play this game right now. "Yes, James, I am. Is that a problem?"
The look of anger in his face was unexpected. Face flushed red, eyes narrowed to slits, lips quivering in a thin line, his whispering voice shook as he spoke. "So that's why you 'didn't know' who I was. Get me all liquored up, take me too your room and do what you want. God, I don't believe I fell for that lame act of yours."
I had it will his smug attitude. "Excuse me?" I yelled. "First of all, I don't know who the fuck you are. Nor do I fucking care, and I fucking don't want to know! Who the hell do you think you are, thinking you know exactly who I am and what I'm like just because I'm gay? No, I did not take advantage of you! If you had a fucking brain, you would've realized you got off of the couch, still fully dressed! But no, I had to drag a fucking idiot with a big ego problem back to my room because he can't handle his fucking liquor!" I grab his stuff and threw it out the door. "I have too many things going through my mind to deal with you, you bigoted ass. Get the hell out of my room!" I shoved him out of the room and slammed the door in his face. After standing there for a few minutes, I began to calm down enough so that I could pack up my things and get out of the Plaza.
"Yes, I know that I swear a lot when I'm angry. It's not a welcome habit of mine, believe me; I still think it will be the downfall of me. Someone will say we've made a mistake; we don't need your mouth here. "Anyway. That would have been the end of everything. I left the Plaza, vowing never to go back. I planned to get drunk in my apartment and let the world go on without me for a couple of days. Not to be so. Rachel found out, and she dragged me out into the world of the living. To a karaoke bar, of all things. She knows I hate to sing in public and I hate those bars. Everyone says them wrong. CARE - E - O - KEY. I hate that. Americans. Don't they know it a Japanese word and in the Japanese language, there is no hard "A" sound? Just that fact makes me shun those bars, but when Rachel wants something, Rachel gets it, always. But I wasn't going to sing. A couple of gin and tonics solved that problem, too."
"Thank you, Travis, for that stirring rendition of 'Vogue.' Come on, everybody, let's give it up for to Travis!" I smiled drunkenly at the audience and they gave me a standing ovation. Stumbling over to the table, I found Rachel there, laughing hysterically, tears pouring out of her eyes. "God Travis, that was SO BAD!" Rachel couldn't look up at me, she was laughing so hard. "And what's with this crotch grabbing thing! I almost peed myself!" "Hey, the goddess does it in the video, or some video, why can't I? And you're up next, dear one. Let's see how you do." A moment of sobriety hit me. I looked at my best friend since kindergarten. "And Rachel, thanks for everything." She peered at me from the bottom of her fuzzy navel. "Anytime, Trey, anytime." I guess it was because of the absurdity of the situation and the fact that we were both drunk that we started cracking up. We noticed the emcee took to the stage and Rachel started straightening up; it was now her moment to shine. Or so we thought. "OK, everybody. Simma down now, simma down. Before we get to the amazing vocal talents of Miss. Rachel I would like to introduce a few very special guests - Justin Timberlake, J.C. Chavez and Lance Bass, three of the members of *Nsync!" The spotlights moved in on them and three guys waved. The crowd went wild. Amidst the deafening noise, I heard Rachel groan. "I can't believe it. I'm getting bumped! By a boyband! Even in a karaoke bar, I get the shaft." I winced. "KA, Rachel, not CARE. KA, like the sound the crow makes or the 'C' in cause. And both 'Es' are soft, like in elephant. Ka - Re - O - Ke." "I can't believe you! I'm going through a huge trauma here, and you're correcting my grammar!" I laughed. "That's what you get for staying friends with a person who got a degree in English." Before she could reply, the emcee caught our attention again. "Now, I want to do something different. We all know what Justin and JC sound like but Lance never gets a solo, so, if you would grace us with you vocal styling, Mr. Bass?" The crowd went wild and after a minute, a young man with blond spiky hair stood up. If we were closer, I'm sure I would have seen green eyes. I dropped my glass. "Oh my God." Rachel looked at me, concern filling her eyes. "Trey, you all right?" Not taking my eyes off of him, I answered, "Remember that random guy I told you about? Well,. . .." "Oh my God, Trey! You cussed out a boyband! Good for you!" I ignored her. Why did he tell me his name was James? "I watched as he took to the stage. Janet's 'If' came on. He started dancing and singing and you could barely hear him over the crowd. He had a nice voice, though. And in any other situation, I would have found it hilarious to hear a boyband member sing that song. I mean, 'your soft and shiny head so good between my lips, sugar' is not a lyric used by any boyband member I know of. But I was oblivious to it all. I just prayed he didn't notice me on stage. No such luck. He looked over at my table, caught me starring and smiled. I quickly looked away. Starting to hyperventilate, I stood. Rachel looked over and started to get up. I waved her down. "I just need some air. I'll be fine. Plus, you're up next." I left the crowded room and breathed in the air of New York City. I sat on the curb trying to calm down. I'm not one to yell at anybody, and to find out that person is a celebrity, well. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around. It was not Rachel. I stood quickly. "Hey." Lance kept on looking at the pavement, looking nervous. "Hey," I replied back. The situation seemed so unlikely that, for the first time in my life, I was speechless. Luckily, Lance had an agenda for coming out here. "I just wanted to apologize for being such an ass this morning, but I'm used to people trying to take advantage of my celebrity status, so, I overreacted. Sorry." He still didn't look up. I sighed. I scared him to death. Yeah, he was a boyband member, but I usually don't hold people to their faults that much. I hated yelling, and I scared the crap out of him. I'm surprised he came out here to apologize. "Don't worry about it," I said. "Actually, it should be me who should be apologizing. I overreacted and took everything out on you. You were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was really mad at Deny, and I yelled at you. I'm not that bad of a person, really." He smiled a little at that and glanced up. God, I love those eyes. Nothing more was said between us, and the silence was getting awkward, but Rachel has perfect timing. "I can't believe you missed me singing Trey! I was the bomb and. . ." She trailed of when she noticed Lance. The silence broken, I regained my senses. "Rachel, Lance Bass, Lance, this is Rachel. Best friend, would be lover, if I wasn't gay, that is." Rachel smirked and Lance coughed. "You wish. I wouldn't do your scrawny ass even if you were straight." Looking over at Lance, she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Lance. I loved your performance up there." Lance grabbed her hand and shook it. "Please, call me James." He looked at our confused faces before continuing. "Lance is my middle name. I hate it, but management, well, you know." He stuttered off and Rachel started grinning. "I see you boyband members are very eloquent speakers." Rachel started laughing as James started blushing. I thought it was kind of cute. "Scoop, we're leaving." The three of use looked up and saw the other two members of *Nsync walking towards us. Out of nowhere, a limo pulled up and they quickly slipped inside. Rachel, ever the talker, felt she need to say something. "Boy, eloquent AND friendly. What a combo." James looked up. "Pardon my friends. They usually get the spotlight and are irritable when it's not on them. Hey, you guys need a ride somewhere? It's the least I can do for this morning." "Yes, thank you." Rachel, damn you. I looked at her. Not backing down, she looked back. "Yes, Trey, we do want a ride." Our staring match began and as usual, she quickly won. Looking over at a smirking James I replied "Yes, thank you." We got into the limo and I gave the driver directions. Justin and JC, after a brief introduction, said nothing. James was subdued into silence. Rachel, for once, said nothing. As we rode in the overwhelming silence, I felt the alcohol taking effect on my senses, and I slipped into the abyss of my mind.
next up: Three: No Day But Today