Chapter Five: Fragments
Hold my thoughts, I'm at an impasse
Past the place I stopped before
The sweeper's sweeping fragments
Of my head out the door...
-Vertical Horizon
Corrina leaned over to pick up a few of the dirty shirts lying around on her apartment floor. How in the world could she let it get this messy? She'd cleaned it the other day, and it already looked like a total disaster area.
She sighed and carried an armful of clothing to her hamper. After leaving it there, she picked up from the bathroom counter a used plate containing the dried remains of what looked like macaroni and cheese.
Okay...I know this is not mine. This stuff is gross. She wrinkled up her nose and held the plate at arm's length as she carried it to the kitchen.
Corrina found cleaning therapeutic. Maybe it was something about the cleansing aspect of it, but after she went over her apartment from top to bottom, she always felt renewed, with a sense of control and calmness. It also gave her lots of quality time to think. While she cleaned, she insisted that her roommates leave for a few hours, so she was guaranteed some peace and quiet.
This afternoon her thoughts kept turning to the night before at the club. More specifically, to Gwen. Corrina made it a habit to worry about her best friend - Gwen the workaholic, who never took the time to take care of herself...innocent, virginal Gwen who still knew so little about the world...insecure Gwen, who never told anybody what she was really feeling, who just let everything bottle up inside of her. Sure, she was smart and a beautiful person inside, but sometimes she just got herself tangled up in problems that seemed impossible to solve. Corrina hoped that wasn't what was happening now.
Damn...I don't want to be pessimistic. In fact, I'm surely overreacting. But I know trouble when I smell it, and I sure smell...something. She snorted softly, out of amusement.
Trouble's brewing, and poor Gwen doesn't even see it coming. I know that girl better than she knows herself.
Suddenly, the shrill ringing of the telephone burst throughout the empty apartment, causing Corrina to jump uneasily. She jogged to the phone cradle on the desk in her bedroom and picked up the handset.
"Bueno?"
"OhmygoshCorrinait'smeAdrienne!!" Corrina just barely made out the words while holding the phone six inches away from her ear.
She grimaced as she responded, "Hey Adrienne...um, do you think you could bring the volume and the pace down just a little? For me?"
Oh god...she's in her high-pitched-squeaky-excited-hyper-total-spaz mood again.
Adrienne giggled happily. "Sorry, I'm just a little excited. Guess who I've got a date with tonight?"
"Um...the guy from the bar last night?"
"Huh?" she answered, confused. "Oh, him. No, he hasn't called me yet. But no, tonight I'm going out with...Chase!" She started giggling hysterically once again.
Corrina rolled her eyes. "Well, congrats hun, but what
about the guy from the bar last night?"
"Dude, if he hasn't called me yet, I'm still free as a bird! It's a well known fact."
"Well, do you think he's gonna call you at all?"
Adrienne laughed triumphantly. "Corrina, of course he will. I wrote my number on his arm in permanent marker!"
"Not that trick again," Corrina sighed. "Look, if you're so sure he's going to call you, why are you bothering going out with Chase?"
"Corr, Chase is way hot! But then, so is...that guy from last night." She cleared her throat quietly.
Corrina's jaw dropped. "You don't even know his name?!" she asked indignantly.
"Come on," Adrienne answered defensively. "We were dancing, the music was really loud, we didn't even have a conversation. It'll be the first question I ask him when he calls."
"Okay..." Corrina responded, at a loss for words. She really didn't have anything to say to that. Her mind was racing.
After a moment of awkward silence, Adrienne interrupted her thoughts. "So, um, how's Gwen?"
Corrina was startled. "What do you mean, how's Gwen?" she answered defensively. "How should I know?"
What does she want with Gwen? It's almost like she read my mind...
"Well, she's your best friend, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we're psychically connected." Corrina let out a short, nervous laugh, in order to appear completely calm and normal. "Darlin, I haven't talked to her since last night."
Adrienne's voice was determined. "Well, what did she say then?"
"She said a lot of stuff," Corrina answered vaguely. "Why so curious?"
"No reason. Just...curious, is all." Another pause. "Well Corr, I'm gonna get going. Have to go primp, you know!" She burst into giggles yet again, and in the privacy of her own apartment on the other end of the line, Corrina rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
"Bye, Adrienne." She placed the phone back into the receiver and placed her hands on her hips. Something was in the air today. What was happening?
AJ burst through the main studio doors at a run. Racing down the hall trying to find the specific recording room he was supposed to be in, he attracted several stares from people loitering around. He didn't care, though; his mind was focused on one thing only.
Must get there. Must get there soon. Only one hour late. Where's the damn door?
Finding it, he opened it quickly and eased inside to find everyone turning to glare at him. "Sorry," he muttered sheepishly, closing the door behind him and unconsciously tugging at the left sleeve of his shirt.
"Dude, you're an hour late," Nick tossed at him, annoyed.
AJ bit back a sarcastic retort, deciding it would be better to apologize sincerely and have it over with. Maybe then they wouldn't get as nosy as they otherwise might.
"Hey, I really am sorry. I overslept. So what are we working on today?" He slid into a chair with a completely innocent expression on his face. Kevin and Brian both looked at him curiously, but after sharing a knowing glance with each other, smiled and moved on with their work, informing AJ about the day's plan. Although he found his mind drifting once in a while, AJ actually discovered that he was having an easier time staying focused than he had been over the past few days and weeks.
"All right, guys," their producer announced later that afternoon. "It's Friday. Let's call it a day and have a nice weekend. See you back in the studio Monday morning. And don't be late this time!" The Boys let out a chuckle directed at AJ, who grinned sheepishly.
"My bad," he replied with a smile.
However, AJ noticed - too late - that sometime during the past hour or so, while they were hard at work, that he'd pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. The purple phone number was obvious on his forearm, and although he immediately pushed his sleeves back down, his face flushed a deep red.
"Whoa there!" Howie exclaimed. "What's that on your arm, Aje?" He playfully grabbed AJ's arm and, to AJ's embarrassment, pushed up his sleeve to reveal what he'd been trying to hide all day.
"Howieee," AJ growled through clenched teeth.
Howie just laughed and waved AJ's arm in the air. "Check this out, guys! I think AJ may be back to his old self!"
"Ooh, AJ," Brian teased. "Back to pickin' up the girls?"
AJ fought to keep himself composed and realized that if he acted exactly as they expected him to - as "pimp AJ" - this would go very smoothly. "Of course, Bri," he said smoothly, with a coy grin. "You know they can't resist me."
"So, who is this girl?" Brian asked.
"Nobody you know," AJ said evasively. "But damn, she's frickin' hot." Everyone in the studio laughed, accepting AJ's answer completely. Of course they were curious, because AJ hadn't acted like this since he and Amanda had started dating - and that was a
long time ago. But they let it go and one by one left the studio, heading for their cars in the parking lot and a fun Friday night.
When AJ reached his car, he sat down in the driver's seat but didn't take the car out of park. Instead, he watched through the window as the other guys pulled out and drove away. He sat there for a few more minutes, leaning his head back against the hot leather headrest and letting the air conditioning cool down the car in the unbearable Florida heat.
Impulsively, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and, holding his left forearm out in front of him, dialed the numbers written there. He held the phone to his ear as he heard it ring on the other end.
However, all he got was a recording: "Hey, this is Adrienne. My phone's off right now, so like, call me back later." *Beep*
So that's her name! And it's a cell phone number, he mused to himself.
Smart girl. After the beep he cleared his throat and began his message. "Um, Adrienne?" he said, his voice turning her name into a question as if testing out the feel of it on his tongue. "This is AJ...we met last night at the club. I was just wondering if you wanted to do something this weekend. Give me a call."