This Old Hotel - Chapter 02
Chapter 2 - Starburst
May 14, 2010; Apartment 2106 - La Belleza Pequeña Apartments
My eyes opened to the shady twilight haze streaming through my window. Below the sounds of the occasional lonely car floated up to my open window. The early morning air was rolling over my exposed skin. Everything screamed for me to stay under my covers for the rest of the day. Today, though, I couldn’t ignore the world outside. Shifting my head into the pillow I sighed before quickly ripping the covers back.
I rolled toward the edge and exited the fluffy confines of my bed. Albeit, with much reluctance. The hardwood floor of my room was cold and the chill nipped at my exposed arms and toes. This was the evil of rising early; the heat was set to stay low until eight in the morning. In LA it didn’t make since to keep it on at this time of year anyway. Not that I could really afford it when it was the right time of year.
Frowning quietly to myself I headed into my private bathroom. As long as I couldn’t sleep I would start my day. Stripping out of my tank top and underwear I climbed into the shower. The hot water raining down on my head felt exquisite. The one thing about rising early that never got old was the time to take a nice leisurely shower.
I must have stood there for twenty minutes before getting out, but it still felt like it was way too short. Wrapping up in a towel I shook out my dripping hair before heading from the bathroom to my walk in closet a couple feet directly across from the door. Today had the makings of a long day written all over the place; so, I chose a long sleeve grey tunic number and Jolly Roger three quarter length leggings. Without thinking I braided back my long black hair. Some of the red strands escaped my hasty work, but I wasn’t aiming for perfection.
A quick glance in the mirror gave me some reassurance that I didn’t look like a complete hobo. Satisfied, I walked out of my room to the rest of my small apartment. It was even quieter out here than in my room. The only sound to be heard was the light breathing of Leslie on my couch. On my way into the kitchen I caught a glimpse of her. She was sleeping partially falling from the couch with her arm thrown over her face leaving only the tangle of pink hair visible. How she managed to stay asleep in that position was a mystery to me.
Setting the coffee maker up I began pulling out things for breakfast. Les would appreciate it when I kicked her ass off the couch in a little while. After sorting out my supplies and making batter for waffles I poured a cup of coffee that was much deserved. With the waffle maker heating up I put on a skillet for bacon. It was also at that moment the phone rang.
“What do you want?” I answered with little enthusiasm. People that call before eight in the morning were jerks. End of story.
“Well, morning to you too Ms. Attitude.” Keith’s dry tone reeked of hidden mirth.
A small smile pulled at the corner of my mouth as I took another sip of my coffee and walked away from the kitchen and toward my balcony. “I’m only answering how you would if someone called this early.”
“Fair, but you and I both know about your an insomnia. How long have you been awake for already?” His voice tone had been teasingly smug but quickly was played down by his concern.
At this point I had walked outside so I wouldn’t wake up Les. This was the best feature of my apartment, this slightly battered balcony. It gave one of the best views of the city I had ever encountered. In the pink and grey of morning it was almost unrivaled in my eyes. “I’ve only been up about forty minutes actually. But, Les did keep me up pretty late.”
We had conversations like this often. I guess that’s the territory of big brother figures. “I’m glad. I’d rather have her keep you up a little late and you get some sleep than have you feeling like you did last week.”
“Last week wasn’t so bad.” Sitting on the wicker chair by my ledge I curled up with the coffee tight in my hand and the phone nestled against my ear.
His snort was audible over the line. “You hadn’t gotten a good night sleep until two days ago.”
“I was getting anxious for the next the concert,” I spoke into my cup as I took another sip.
“Whatever you say, we’ll talk about this later. I was calling to talk about the meeting. Were you planning on driving?” His question caught me by surprise, but I shouldn’t have been. Keith’s mind moved far faster than my mind usually.
“Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking about picking you and Leslie up. The guys stayed over last night so it would just be easier to use one car.” I heard a groan from the background of his end. He must have been waking up the guys.
Setting my cup down on the ledge I straightened up in my chair. “How long would it be until you got here?”
“About an hour and a half, these guys are dead on their feet. It’ll take a while to get them out of the door.” More noises of disgruntlement could be heard from the background, along with what I suspect was a few curses.
“That’s fine. Leslie is still asleep and we both know how long it will take her to get ready.” Keith and I were the only two early birds in the group. It made for some entertaining mornings.
“Yeah, I know how she can be. I’ll leave you to work on her, while I take care of these guys. See you soon.” There was a loud crash from the other end and this time it was Keith cursing.
Laughing, I said bye and hung up the phone. I walked back into the kitchen and set the phone in the cradle. The skillet was already more than warm enough to start the bacon, I turned it down and added a few strips. Then I started the first waffle. It only took about fifteen minutes to make enough for the two of us.
Breakfast was the easy part, now I had to wake up the queen of late mornings. She was still sprawled on the couch about to fall off. Stepping lightly I crouched down next to her head. “Hey, babe. It’s time to get up.”
“Ugh. Mmm,” Leslie mumbled in coherently as she attempted to roll away from my voice. She only caused her body to completely roll to the floor. She still pulled the pillow over her face as she turned away from me anyway.
I poked her in the shoulder with toe. Being through this routine enough I knew she would attempt to squeeze another thirty minutes of sleeping time out of thin air if she could.“You’re here for me to wake you up. So get up.”
“I don’t wanna.” Her childish whine was muffled by the carpet her face was currently turned into.
“Too bad, there’s bacon, waffles, and coffee in the kitchen.” I yanked on a lock of pick hair as she made to burrow away from my offer of breakfast.
“Okay, I’m up.” Leslie raised her head from the ground. The tangles of her strawberry pink hair were in a disarray about her head. “What time do we need to be at Sabrina’s?”
“Nine thirty, we’re all going to take one car to make it easier to leave there and head to the studio.” I offered her and hand up and went back into the kitchen to grab plates and utensils.
Leslie shuffled in after me. Her focus was intend on the coffee, but she grab a piece of bacon on her way. “Are we taking your car or will Keith be our ride?”
“Keith called to say he was picking us up. Georgie and Alexander stayed at his place last night so it’s just simpler that way.” I set our plates on the table. She practically fell into the seat behind the preprepared plate I had made.
The first thing her hands found on the table was the bottle of syrup that she proceeded to empty onto her waffles. It was a good thing she was in the habit of buying the syrup supply for my place. “Cool, are you bringing anything?”
I gave her a shrug. “A sketchbook I guess. Always looking for more memories.”
“I’m bringing Marcy,” Leslie stated while scooting the floating pieces of bacon to a safety zone at the edge of her plate.
“Marcy, will you be calling her that when we get there?” I gave her a skeptical look as she munched happily away on the lake of syrupy waffles.
“Yes, she’s not some nameless object. Marcy needs to experience everything with me. She’s been there since the beginning.” As I tried to think of a response to her statement she finished her plate and went to get ready for the day. I started on the dishes while she was in the bathroom.
I loved her, but it was easy to see why people found Les just weird enough to avoid in normal circles. Her particular idiosyncrasies that most people found eccentric, combined was the stubborn, matter-of-fact nature that ran in her family was a lot for new people to take in. Even despite how sweet she generally was. God, she was practically a neon pink rainbow made of cotton candy. But, she still managed to throw people for a loop when she met them.
I was sitting in the living room watching some Julie Roberts movie I didn’t remember the name of when the doorbell rang. It was quickly followed by a battering on the door itself.
“That’ll be the boys.” Leslie sang as she leapt from the bathroom. Her bubblegum blue panted legs whizzed past my vision as she ran to get it.
Sure enough all three of my favorite men stood in the hallway waiting for us. I said hello to them as I turned off the TV and want to retrieve my bag and coat. Since I had managed to get her up with time to spare Les was ready within minutes of me getting to the door. Her skelanimal jacket on, the cat earred hood up.
We all walked to the car like a group of rambunctious teens laughing and talking the whole way. There was nothing in that moment that could bring us down. It was almost surreal as we scrabbled into Keith’s car and started out of the parking lot.
This was going to the beginning of it all. Looking back at my tiny flat from my place in the back seat I took in a deep breath. This was going to be hard, but it was definitely going to be worth it.
A/N: It's been a while; I hope the second chapter is worth the wait I gave everyone. It was just hard working on this chapter. I couldn’t make up my mind about how to introduce Gerard. Finally I settled on introducing him and the band at the beginning of the next chapter. Please let me know if you like this chapter. I will promise an update by April 15, if I get 3 comments.
In the mean time I’ll be going to the MCR concert this coming Sunday in Seattle. I can’t wait to see them again! So excited. :D
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