3 GUYS, A GIRL, AND A ROSE
Chapter Three
Jack, Fabrizio, and Christina sat in
Underground, one of the hottest clubs in New York City.
"You should become a model,
Christina," Fabrizio said to her, loudly, to overcome the music.
"Me? No way!"
"Yeah. Why not? You look great."
Jack winked at her, and she tried hard not to blush.
"I don't know." A portfolio that
Jack was carrying around caught her eye.
"So, Jack, what is this thing you drag
around?" she asked him.
"Oh, nothing."
"Really? Nothing?"
"Yeah, nothing." Jack turned away
for a second, and Christina grabbed it out of his hand. "Hey! What are you
doing?" Jack tried to act angry.
"Well, lookee here. We have an artist at
our table!" Jack blushed. "Wow, Jack, this is beautiful work!"
"I don't know. I draw whatever catches
my eye."
"So, all these girls in here happened to
catch your eye?" Jack smiled, realizing he had several nudes in there.
"Yeah."
"Interesting." Jack just then
remembered he had a drawing of her in there. He drew it the night before after
his long train ride with her. Jack suddenly tried snatching the portfolio away.
"Hey, now! I'm looking at that!"
"I think you've seen enough!"
They were tugging on the portfolio. A picture
fell on the floor, and she let go of the portfolio to pick it up. Jack was
relieved at first, but then noticed what was on the floor. He was too late to
pick it up. He felt embarrassed.
"Well, Jack. It looks like I caught your
eye."
"Yeah. You certainly have." She lit
up, looking at the picture. It was a beautiful drawing.
"So, how long have you been
drawing?"
"Since I was fifteen years old."
"Interesting." A waiter came to ask
what they wanted to drink. Fabrizio and Jack ordered a scotch on the rocks.
"I'll just have a club soda."
"What? No alcoholic beverage?"
Fabrizio asked.
"I'm only eighteen."
"We have a teen here," Jack shouted
to Fabrizio.
"Nothing’s wrong with that!" she
yelled.
"Yeah. I guess you just turned legal to
buy cigarettes. We just turned legal to drink! We'll try not to get drunk. We
wouldn't want you to be going home alone now. I'll try not to put any moves on
you." Fabrizio laughed at her, and she threw peanuts at him.
"Hey!"
"Ignore him." Jack smiled at her,
holding one of the roses they gave her. "So, tell me about yourself, Ms.
Castillo."
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"When's your birthday? Stuff like
that."
"My birthday, huh? I was born December
nineteenth. What about you, Mr. Dawson?"
"November eleventh."
"You know I was born in Barcelona,
Spain?"
"Really?" Jack noticed a beauty
mark by her lip. It turned him on.
"Yes, I was. Now, tell me were you born
here in New York."
"Well, when my parents died when I was
fifteen, I moved out from Chippewa Falls in Wisconsin. I traveled around a lot.
I have been in New York for about a year now, though."
"Oh. Sorry about your parents."
"It's all right. What about your
folks?"
"They divorced when I was nine. My
sisters and I lived with my mom. We visited my dad occasionally. It's funny,
because my older sister's name is Celia and my other one is Camilla. We're the
three C's. My brother's name is Juan."
"That's cute. I have a brother named
Ryan. He's married with children. I don't talk to him much. I get a few letters
here and there."
"Oh. Well, my brother is much older than
me. He is thirty-two. My dad was married before he married my mom. My mom was
also married before she married my dad. Celia has a different dad than us. Her
father died."
"That's sad to hear." They were
silent for a brief moment. Jack was playing with the rose. He rubbed it on
Christina's skin.
"That tickles!"
"Really? Well, why don't you join me for
a dance?"
"No. I can't dance!"
Jack pulled her up and made their way to the
dance floor. They were dancing to house music. About ten minutes later, they
came back to the table.
"You are such a liar, Christina! You're
an amazing dancer!"
"Yeah, I know!" She laughed. She
then noticed Fabrizio talking to a young man wearing a black fedora hat.
"Oh, hey, Jack, Christina! This is Tommy
Ryan."
"Nice to meet you!" Tommy said.
"Are you Irish?" Christina asked.
"Yes, I am. Straight from Dublin! What
gave it away?"
"I don't know. Your accent maybe?"
Christina laughed, and so did Tommy. Jack noticed a little bit of flirtation.
He got a bit jealous.
"So, Tommy, how long have you been in
New York?" Jack asked.
"About two months. The only people I
know here are my landlords and co-workers."
"Maybe you could hang out with us
sometime," Christina suggested. "I only met these boys last night and
we're having a great time. Right, boys?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Jack and Fabrizio said
at the same time.
"All right, then! Let's all exchange
numbers and go out for drinks sometime." They all gave each other their
numbers. "Well, I better get going now. I'll see you guys," Tommy
said.
"Why don't you come to Lucky Seven's Pub
tomorrow night?" Fabrizio asked.
"Yeah, sure."
"Christina works there," Jack added
in.
"I'll be there. Night." Tommy
smiled at them and winked at Christina. They all said good night to him, and he
left.
"Well, there goes meeting a new
friend" Christina said.
*****
Jack, Fabrizio, and Christina were walking
around.
"Tommy's a nice fellow," Jack said.
"He's cool," Christina said.
"You guys stole my friend,"
Fabrizio joked.
"Hey, Fabrizio. Since we just hung out
with our new friend Christina here, what do you rate her from a scale of one to
ten?"
"I don't know. Because she is hot, I'll
give her a four."
"I'll give her a two." Christina
slapped both of them on the back of their heads.
"Ouch!" they both said.
"We're just playing. We give you a
twenty for being hot," Fabrizio said.
"Yeah, and for shaking that ass!"
Jack added in.
"I feel loved!" Christina said.
Christina held on to them, arm-in-arm, as
they walked to the train station. The three new friends kept on laughing. This
was the beginning of a new friendship.