Jun 24, 2008

Chapter Nine

Samantha woke early the next day. Rolling over, she noticed it was still dark out, and she groaned at the fluorescent red numbers on her bedside clock that read 5:15 AM. It was cold in the apartment, and she sank deeper beneath the blankets, trying to fall asleep again. Tommy was curled up next to her in a warm ball, and as she moved closer to him to share his warmth, her thoughts wandered back to the night before.

He kissed her. That’s all she could think about, and though it felt like such a teenage thing to do, she was dying to call Alex and tell her. The entire evening had been so sweet – Richie seemed much more comfortable with her and she was ecstatic at the way she felt around him. Despite her earlier feelings of adjustment and trying to take everything in, now she felt content and happy, as though this were a regular and constant part of her life. She smiled up at the ceiling, and felt warm again.

Tommy moved and looked back at her with a frown on his face, as if to say gimme some space, will ya, woman? Samantha made a face at him. “Fine,” she said aloud. “I see how it is.” Tommy readjusted himself away from her and went back to sleep.

Samantha, however, found herself too full of thoughts and butterflies to sleep, and despite the early hour, threw back the covers and swung out of bed. Grabbing the robe on the back of her door, she wrapped herself in it and padded into the kitchen to find something to eat.

She scrambled a few eggs and brewed a fresh pot of coffee, then popped some bread into the toaster. Settling down to eat, she switched on the TV and watched the news. Aside from the weather forecast, which predicted heavy snow later in the week, nothing interested her. She sat on the couch, bored, and tuned out the TV as she wished it were later than quarter to six.

Her eyes fell on the CD rack to her left, and as she scanned the titles from the couch, she was suddenly hit by a desire to hear Richie’s voice again. Her eyes found his solo albums and she hesitated briefly. “Well, it’s better than nothing,” she mumbled to herself, and muting the television, she crossed the room and picked up Stranger In This Town. She popped it into the stereo and flipped through the tracks until it landed on “One Light Burning”.

The opening chords struck her differently than before, and when Richie’s smooth voice began singing, she felt chills up and down her spine. She never really had given much consideration to the meaning behind most of his solo songs; while she had always appreciated his talent and musical ability, the hidden sentiment of his lyrics always eluded her. She closed her eyes and soaked in the entirety of the song, loving his voice, the guitar, the words, everything about it.

She wondered what he was doing today, and when he would call. He said he was going back to Jon’s place – he was “used to him crashing there”. Would he call from Jon’s then? And if he did, would he want to do something together again? Or would he be busy? She knew they had been working on business yesterday before Richie came over for dinner, so they might need to finish it up today. Maybe he’d forget to call. No, she thought, pushing the thought from her mind. He said he’d call.

The knock at the door jerked her from her thoughts, and Sam jumped, twisting around. Tommy and Gina burst to life from her bedroom, and they came skittering down the hall, barking madly.

“Shhh!!” she hissed at them, not wanting them to wake the entire building. “What the hell?” she whispered, as she made her way over to the door. Who in the world would be knocking at her door before 6 AM on a Sunday morning?

She peeked through the peephole, but whoever was on the other side was standing close to the door and looked blurry in the glass. She unlatched the security lock and opened the door cautiously, as James fell through the doorway and nearly to the floor.

“Oh my God,” Samantha stifled a shriek. “James?!” James righted himself, though unsteadily, and offered her a crooked grin. “Hey sis,” his words were slurred.

“What the hell happened to you?” Samantha demanded, closing the door behind him. Tommy and Gina, realizing now that it wasn’t a stranger, wagged their tails happily and jumped all over him, greeting him with licks and whines.

James crossed the room, swaying slightly, and sat down immediately in a chair. The dogs followed him, and battled for his individual attention, but James ignored them. He rubbed his face and tried to compose himself before looking up at Samantha.

“I was party,” he declared solemnly.

Samantha merely looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “You were party.” She repeated flatly.

James looked at her confusedly before realizing what he said. He laughed at himself, and tried again. “It was for a party,” he looked at her as if that explained everything.

“What was for a party?” Samantha crossed her arms and eyed him. She was first and foremost curious as to how and why he was wasted – James wasn’t a heavy drinker – but she was also fighting the urge to laugh. He wasn’t making any sense, and once she got everything squared away, she’d have something to tease him about later.

“No,” James shook his head vehemently, which caused him to lose his balance. Steadying himself in the chair, he took a deep breath. “I went out with them after the party – we went to the bar. Midnight? I…” he stopped and paled, then fell forward and promptly threw up all over the dining room floor.

“Oh God…James!” Samantha groaned, then rushed over to haul the dogs away from the mess so they wouldn’t get sick themselves. As she rushed them down the hallway, she heard James getting sick again behind her, and after locking the dogs in her bedroom, she grabbed the bathroom trashcan and hurried back to him. She thrust it into his hands, and he held it in front of him, vomiting over and over again. Samantha had never been good with the gag reflex or seeing anything come back up, so she retreated into the living room and stood with her back to him, trying to ignore the sounds.

When James finished, he moaned and put his head in his hands, weakened and pale. Samantha stepped over his mess on the floor and gently helped him stand. “How much did you drink?” she asked as she put his arm around her shoulders for support. James merely groaned and mumbled something incoherent. Samantha walked him over to the couch and helped him lie down.

“Sleep,” she ordered. “You need to sleep this off.” James groaned again and rolled over, but within minutes he was fast asleep.

Samantha grabbed a roll of paper towels from the kitchen and cleaned up the dining room floor, then, feeling slightly queasy, cleaned out the trashcan and let it soak in hot soapy water from the kitchen sink.

She realized Richie was still singing from the living room stereo, and she turned it off, somewhat reluctantly. Glancing at her sleeping brother, she shook her head and unfolded a thick blanket from the back of the couch over him. She had a hundred questions for him when he woke up – like why he was out partying with coworkers on a Saturday night, why he hadn’t gone home, and how the heck he got here.

She shivered and realized she was still cold, and, figuring she was up for the day anyway, closed herself up in the bathroom for a hot shower.

*****

Half an hour later she emerged from the steamy bathroom, dressed warmly in a heavy sweatshirt and jeans, and headed for the phone. It was barely seven, but she knew Katie would be worried if she awoke and James wasn’t home, so she dialed the number. Katie answered sleepily on the fourth ring, and Samantha explained the situation to her. Katie agreed to come pick him up, and twenty minutes later, she knocked at the door.

Samantha answered the door. “Hey,” she said. “He’s still sleeping – I figured I’d wait to the last minute to wake him up.”

Katie sighed and glanced over at James asleep on the couch. “I should have known he’d do something like this.”

Samantha tilted her head to one side. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we had a fight last night,” Katie said timidly. Up close, Samantha could tell her eyes were slightly puffy, as if she’d cried herself to sleep.

“We were talking about future stuff – like marriage and everything – and out of nowhere he asked me to marry him. I got mad at him for asking me on a whim, and that turned into a big argument about our plans. I told him I wasn’t ready to get married now, and that if that’s all he wanted from me, he was better off alone.” Katie looked at Sam sheepishly. “I know I shouldn’t have said that, but I was angry – and emotional – and it just slipped out.”

Samantha was stunned, and a million questions raced through her mind at once. Forcing them away, she thought of the only logical thing to say. “So, there was no party?”

Katie looked at her curiously. “Party? No, none that I know of.”

Samantha closed her eyes. So her brother had asked his girlfriend to marry him. Out of nowhere. Or so it seemed. And she had gotten mad. And they had a fight. And he presumably stormed out of the house and got raving drunk at some bar, then, not wanting to go back home to her, had come to his sister’s place. But he didn’t want her to know the truth – that’s what got Samantha. He was her brother – they told each other everything. Was he ashamed for acting on impulse and didn’t want to admit it? Or had he been actually planning to ask her to marry him, and didn’t want Samantha to know that yet? She didn’t know, and that bugged her.

She went over to the couch and bent down next to James, gently shaking him awake. He opened his eyes blearily, and it took a moment for him to get her in focus.

“Katie’s here,” she said quietly. James furrowed his brow slightly, and narrowed his eyes. Samantha took him under the arm and helped him slowly to a sitting position. “Come on, James, we need to get you home.”

Samantha placed one hand on his back and took his arm with the other and tried to support him standing up, but to no avail. He instantly fell back, completely devoid of energy. “I can’t…” he mumbled, irritated. Everything was swimming before his eyes, and he felt sickeningly dizzy. “Need…sleep…” he gingerly lay back down on his side and curled up under the blanket, his eyes heavy and closing.

“No, James, you need to go home,” Samantha insisted, but James didn’t reply. Samantha stood up in frustration. Katie was standing by the door with her arms crossed, and raised her eyes to the ceiling briefly when Samantha looked at her.

“It looks like he’s not going anywhere right now,” Samantha said, stating the obvious. “Why don’t we just let him sleep and I’ll bring him home later. Did he drive?” she asked, praying the answer was no.

“No, he said he was going to a friend’s house, and he hailed a cab,” Katie answered. “He said he’d be home late, so I didn’t bother to wait up for him.”

Samantha sighed. “Okay. I’ll bring him home later. I’m sorry you had to get up and come all the way over here so early. You’re welcome to stay for some breakfast if you’d like.”

Katie shook her head. “It’s fine, I’m usually a fairly early riser. I can take a nap later anyway. Are you sure you’re okay with bringing him back?”

Samantha nodded. “Yeah. I’ll give him hell for it, but it’s fine.”

“Thanks, Sam.” Katie said, looking tired, and she turned to leave. Samantha closed the door behind her, and with a sigh, returned to her bedroom.

*******

Richie called around three o’clock. James was still asleep: Samantha had spent the morning reading and doing a bit of work on her laptop in her room, not wanting to wake him up.

“Hey beautiful,” Richie greeted her when she answered, and Samantha instantly felt her stomach tighten with butterflies.

“Hey there,” she quipped back. “How’d you sleep?”

“Great – until Jakey came toddling into the room and decided I was a good runway for his toy plane.”

“Jakey?” Samantha asked quizzically. “Oh – Jon’s son! That’s right, I forgot he’d be there.”

“Yeah, Jesse and Jake are with Jon for the weekend. Stephanie had some party to go to last night, so she and Dot stayed in Jersey.”

“Does the whole family usually come here on the weekends?”

“Eh – sort of. It’s not really a regular schedule, you know? Sometimes Jon’s here alone, sometimes he has the kids, sometimes it’s the whole family. I really don’t get it.”

“So why’d he buy this place in the Hamptons anyway? What’s wrong with Jersey?”

Richie made a funny noise. “Damned if I know, darlin’! None of us can figure out why he bought the penthouse. He’s not selling the Jersey house – the studio is on the grounds there anyway. I think he just wants a place to get away – as if he’s at home 24/7. You’d think traveling around the freakin’ world would be enough getaway time.”

Samantha giggled.

“Anyway, speaking of Jon’s place, whatcha doing later?”

“I don’t really know – I hadn’t made plans, but I have company.” Samantha glanced down the hallway.

“Company?”

“My brother. He arrived…unexpectedly…this morning.” Samantha didn’t feel like explaining the situation to him.

“Oh,” Richie said, confused. “Well, are you free? Jon and I have to work on a few things business-related, but I thought it might be nice if you wanted to see his place and have dinner with us.”

Samantha’s face lit up. “Holy moly, I’d love to,” she said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

“Great! Do you want me to pick you up?”

“Uh…sure, that would be fine. I just need to get rid of my brother somehow. Can I call you when he leaves?”

Richie laughed. “Tough love, eh?”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “You have no idea.”

They hung up and Samantha marched into the living room, determined to wake James up.

She shook him gently, but firmly. “James,” she said loudly. “James, get up.” James mumbled something and pulled the couch pillow over his face, shielding his eyes from the light.

“Come on, bro, I have a date. You need to go home.”

James peeked at her from behind the pillow. Samantha tugged at the blanket and helped him sit up. “How are you feeling?”

“Like crap,” he replied, closing his bloodshot eyes.

Samantha snorted. “Well at least you can form real words now. You basically gurgled at me this morning, after you threw up.”

James opened his eyes slightly and squinted. “I threw up?”

“Uh huh, all over my dining room floor I might add.”

“Well that explains the God awful taste in my mouth,” James grimaced.

Samantha made a face. “How much did you drink, exactly?” she tried again.

James rubbed his face and ran his hands through his disheveled hair. “I don’t know really – I lost count after about six beers.”

Samantha whistled. “Jesus, no wonder you’re trashed.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about it?”

James looked at her. After a brief pause, he said quietly, “You talked to Katie, didn’t you.”

Samantha nodded. “She was here earlier. I called her to let her know you were here, and she came to pick you up. You couldn’t even sit up, let alone stand, so I said I’d take you home and she left.”

James blushed deep red. “I’m an idiot.”

“Yes you are. Why’d you have to go and get completely wasted, James? That’s not like you.”

“It’s not like me to propose, either.” He sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. “I don’t know what got into me.”

“So you went to the bar because she said no?”

“No. Not really. Well maybe.” James squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. “It was mostly because I was so angry at myself. I screwed up the entire night – everything we were talking about, then proposing out of nowhere, then the way I handled it afterward…” he trailed off, a pained expression on his face. “I love her, Sam.”

“I know you do.” Samantha said softly, smoothing his hair away from his face. She was still a bit unclear – it still seemed too extreme of a reaction for a night like that, especially for James – but she knew now was not the time to press him further.

“Let’s just get you home, okay? I have a life I need to live,” she joked.

James blushed again. “I’m so sorry for putting you through this…did you say you have a date?”

“Yeah, Richie’s going to pick me up to have dinner with him and Jon.”

James offered her a lopsided smile. “That’s great, Sam. So you two have really hit it off, huh?”

Samantha smiled. “Yeah,” she said. “I think we have.”

1 comment:

Alina said...

Poor James... alcohol is not a solution - but I can understand his urge to drink after his propose "failed".

Sam is a really good sister - I guess being a twin fix them together in a special way ;)

I'm interested how Jon will think about Sam when they have dinner - because he didn't have less prejustices...