Chapter 18

Dusk had settled throughout the evening, replacing the daylight with darkness.  On his
porch, AJ sat with his trademark pack of red-and-whites and an open notebook.  Trapped
between the space of blankness and of spilling his heart out with the pen, he leaned back
on the chair he was seated on and watched as a stray cat crept down the street, breaking
the serenity of the neighborhood.  Thinking back on the day, he grew somber when
remembering the irritation and uncertainty he had seen on April’s face for becoming an
unsteady and uncontrollable interruption in her life.  Of course, she didn’t strike him as
the type of person who would stay home all night, waiting for a guy who had made a
mere promise to her in plans.  Yet he was surprised when she didn’t phone him already
asking of the time he’d be showing up.  He had left her in the dark purposely, just to see
if she’d fall under the facade and she had, she didn’t quite resist or protest when he had
knowingly trapped her into saying yes for dinner.  Caught between seeming rude to one
of Nick’s friends or pleasing herself, she had chosen the goodgirl choice and became
flustered before agreeing.  He hadn’t decided where he was going to take her, all he knew
was he wanted someplace quiet; private.  He wanted to talk, not be gawked at while he
ate.  Nor did he really want to eat but it was the only sure-as-shit thing she’d agree to
doing with him as opposed to...a movie; they wouldn’t be able to talk and it’d just feel
more like a date.  Maybe grabbing some take-out and heading to Riverhill Pointe would
be good.  Notoriously famed for a make-out spot lightyears ago, it was now more of a
scenic overlook than the place for a quick smooch in your awkward teen years.  The
ringing of the phone broke his thoughts free from planning as he stood up and went
inside to answer.
“ Hello?”
“ Hey, AJ.”
“ Brian, what’s up?” 
“ Not much, just got back from Nick’s...”
“ Ah, really?” AJ said unintrestedly, annoyed at the quiet moment being broken.
“ Yeah,and I saw April.”
“ Great.”
“...So what were you doing over there this morning?”
“ Is that why you called?  I was waiting for Nick.”
“ And?”
“ And I took the liberty of cooking them breakfast.”
“ Why?”
“ Just felt like doing something nice.”He answered, impatience growing.
“ AJ, you hate cooking.”
“ So?  Listen, Brian, I was kind of in the middle of something, did you have a point in
calling me or was it just a random thing.”
“ She also mentioned that you two were going to dinner,” Brian paused expectantly.
“ To Nick?”
“ Nope, Nick was getting drinks,”
“ Uh-huh, and?”
“ Don’t play dumb, AJ, what are you planning?”
“ I don’t know, I was thinking maybe a nice french place-”
“ You know thats not what I meant, what do you have up your sleeve?”
“ Absolutely nothing.” He aimed for what he knew Brian would buy.
“ To be honest, I just felt really guilty over treating her like shit and I wanted to make it
up to her.”  Brian was quiet and AJ could hear the doubt ringing in his ears.
“ Are you sure?” 
“ Yep, I swear,” He lied easily.
“ Could you hang on a second, Bri?  There;s someone on the other line,” AJ clicked the
flash button and waited several seconds before clicking back.
“ Whoops, it’s my mom, I gotta go.”
“ Ok, tell her I said hi,”
“ Will do, Bri.” He hung up and sighed, wanting the clarity of the silence to resume and
his annoyance to taper off but instead found no relief when the phone rang again.  After
checking the caller i.d., he picked it up.
“ Nick, I’m really busy, I can’t talk,”
“...It’s April, sorry, I’ll call tomorrow.” 
“ April, hang on.” He put the phone down and inhaled deeply and taking a quick drag off
the Marlboro in his hand, hating the fact he was caught off guard.
“ April?  What’s up?” He spoke in a casual, relaxed tone to make up for snapping.
“ Oh, nothing...I just wanted to know what time are we...?”
“ Oh yeah, sure...Um, well, I guess since I have to meet up with a producer at five, maybe
around nine?”
“ Nine for dinner?”
“ Unless you have any objections?” 
“ Oh, no.  I just thought it was kinda late for dinner.” She said uncertainly.
“...I guess but I’m not free earlier than that and the next night I have a business trip,” He
waited for her to answer and realized with a jolt that she was waiting on him.
“ So nine it is?”
“ Ok, I’ll see you at nine then...Where are we gonna meet?” He chuckled to himself.
“ Oh don’t worry about it, I’ll come pick you up.”
“ Oh.  Ok, great,” 
“ Talk to ya tomorrow,” He replaced the phone in it’s cradle and glanced out the window
and gave up on sitting outside waiting for it to grow dark, seeing how it already was.  He
retrieved his pack of Marlboros from the porch and locked up the front door before going
to sit in front of the television...






Main Page

Contents