Part 25
It had been several hours since they’d arrived in LA. Like he’d said, Howie had taken Stormy to the hotel and AJ had gone straight to his house that he had once shared with Sarah. As time passed, Stormy had grown increasingly fidgety. Now, she was like a caged animal, pacing from window to window in hopes of catching a glimpse of him returning and jumping every time there was a noise out in the hall. The ticking of the clock echoed in her head as time crept by at a snail’s pace. Fifteen years of silence had been a piece of cake compared to waiting for Alex to return.
Howie finally gave up on what he was doing. She had him distracted with her pacing and he felt sorry for her. Getting up, he stepped in front of her to stop her. With his hands on her shoulders, he tried to calm her. “Everything is going to be okay.”
Helplessly, she looked at him. “He wanted to take a drink on the plane. What if she pushes him so far that he takes one now?”
“He’s not going to take a drink.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Did he take the drink this afternoon?”
“No, because I stopped him.”
“I promise you, if AJ had TRULY wanted that drink, NO ONE would have been able to stop him. Stormy, he’s so much stronger now and he’s happier than I’ve seen him in a very long time.” Taking her hand in his, he said, “Come on, sit down and relax. He’ll be here before you know it.”
Stormy allowed Howie to lead her to the couch and they sat together.
“How long are you two gonna stay here?”
“I don’t know. We told my father that we’d be there for the weekend.”
Stormy went on to tell Howie about her family while they waited for AJ and before she knew it, AJ was walking through the door. In a flash, she was in his arms practically knocking him down.
Laughing, AJ hugged her. “A hell of a greeting. Maybe I should go see an ex more often.”
“DON’T YOU DARE!” she scolded. “You want this kind of greeting more often, just ASK!”
“Umm, I DEFINITELY want more,” growled AJ as he held her tight. “Now, go get ready for dinner. I’m taking you out.”
“What do I wear? Fancy? Casual?”
“Whatever you want to wear.”
“Are you gonna change?”
“Yeah, it a minute. Go on, beautiful,” urged AJ. “I want to talk to Howie for a minute.”
AJ gave her a kiss before she hurried off to get ready.
As she disappeared into their bedroom, Howie asked, “How did it go with Sarah?”
“About like I expected. She cried, screamed, threw things….a complete bitch but the house is hers and I’ve made it clear we’re over.”
“What took you so long?”
“I took the dogs and my stuff to be shipped back to Orlando. Mama’s gonna get it for me since we’re headed to Virginia after this.”
“Stormy was worried about you…scared that you were gonna take a drink.”
“Really?”
“AJ, I told you, she’s good for you.”
AJ blushed and dropped his gaze from Howie’s. “I bought her a ring.”
“This fast?” questioned Howie, his surprise quite evident.
AJ quickly realized what Howie thought. “No!! NOT a diamond. It’s her birthstone.”
“So you’re not gonna propose?”
“No! Not yet,” answered AJ pulling the ring out to show Howie. “D, don’t laugh but I’m gonna ask her to go steady. I mean…I know it all sounds so high school but…I can’t explain it. She’s just so different. What do you think she’ll say?”
Handing the ring back to AJ, Howie smiled, “I think she’ll say ‘yes’. I think it’s really cool, AJ, and it’s NOT high school. You’re taking it slow which is a good thing.”
“You know, we haven’t even had sex yet. Hell, we’ve barely made it to second base. I want this to be perfect.”
“Barely to second base, huh? Damn, ‘J’!! That’s a new record for you. You’re usually hitting a homerun by the time you say good night on the FIRST night,” teased Howie.
“Ahahahaha…you’re so fuckin’ funny, Dorough,” retorted AJ but he was smiling. “Look, what are you doing tonight?”
“Pollyanna and I are gonna meet Kryss at ‘The Mint’. Why don’t you bring ‘Stormy’ there after dinner?”
“I don’t know. ‘The Mint’ is where all of Sarah’s friends hang out. I think it would be kind of awkward to take her there and I really don’t want her to run into Sarah.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that big of a problem. The place is big enough I’m sure you could avoid any problems.”
“I’ll ask her…see what she wants to do. Thanks for keeping her company this afternoon.”
“No problem. Go get ready for your date. We’ll talk later.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
