The Reynolds/Bradshaw Connection Chapter 3
The Reynolds/Bradshaw Connection
Quick update here. The inspiration just hit me, and off I ran.
Warning: This chapter doesn’t really advance the plot much. Maybe you think of this as a fluff chapter, I think of it as something else, but you may not see things that way until more chapters are finished.
Opening lyrics come from Lifehouse’s You and Me; end lyrics are from Meatloaf’s The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be
Chapter 3: The Drift
---------------------
There's something about you now
I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right
---------------------
Amy’s POV
Last night, Lucy and I had a very productive talk, I thought, at least until I woke up this morning. Something was still striking me as odd about Lucy and Scud from yesterday, but I couldn’t put a finger on it. Add to that situation the fact that Lucy’s ex was quite possibly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and I was definitely not in a good mood.
Lucy was still in bed as I walked outside to collect the morning paper. To my surprise, Max and Dominique were already up, smoking in the brisk morning air. Max held a newspaper with what looked like highlighted markings in her hands, and she and Dominique seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation, oblivious to the point that the door had just opened and that I was standing in the doorway.
“I told you she was up to no good! We even get her out of all the shit she was in, and she betrays us like this?” Max said, betrayal and anger obvious in her voice.
“Max, you ‘ave no idea what she iz really up to. You like to read zings into ozer zings zat aren’t really zere.” Dominique countered.
The conversation was beginning to intrigue me, and I needed to know what the hell was going on that would make Max react like this (not that much doesn’t make Max react homicidally, but she seemed especially pissed off right now). “Hey, what’re you guys talking about?” I asked.
“This,” quipped Max as she threw the paper to me unexpectedly. I managed to catch most of it, ads and other sections still slipping out as I tried to control it. I flipped over the newspaper to yesterday’s Automobile Ads section that was already open and looked at the highlighted ad I had noticed earlier. Pink sports car with lightning/thunder paint job was the description of the car in the ad in question. “Read the highlighted letters to yourself,” Max instructed, “and then tell me what you think about your girlfriend.”
I did as instructed, noting that the encoding system seemed very similar to the one Lucy had used while writing to me during our time apart before Endgame. No one apart from Lucy and I, besides possibly Scud knew about our correspondences during that time period. After I had figured out where each word began and ended, I read aloud “Meet at Port Suérvo at 1300 hours. Come alone…” I contemplated this for a second. The implications were enormous, if this was what it appeared to be. “Max, first, why would you think that Lucy did all the highlighting here?”
“We found it in your trashcan. None of the three of us or Scud did it, so unless you’re not telling us something about you,” her eyes narrowed, “then your girlfriend’s at fault here.”
“My girlfriend has a name, Max. I suggest you call her by that. And besides that, doesn’t this seem a bit obvious to be what it could be? I think we need to ask her.”
“You go ahead and do that. If I even so much find out that she’s said one word to anyone in Pink Thunder, you can count yourself single, got it?” I glared at Max. She was my best friend, but she could make me more infuriated than anyone. She had a true Napoleonic Complex where she attempted to control everyone and everything, probably making up for the fact that she had self-admittedly had been abused by her parents. She could never budge on something she believed in, and at the moment I was being just as stubborn.
I stepped closer to her so that we were about nose to nose. “And if you do that, the D.E.B.S. will have to find themselves a new leader,” I retaliated. Max raised her fist, and being the borderline psychotic personality that she is, would have proceeded to punch me if a jubilant Janet had not come skipping outside at that moment.
“Hey guys! I just figured out what the ad meant! Lucy met someone yesterday who wants to sell her a Pink sports car! Scud says it’s Amy’s anniversary present!”
---------------------
Lucy’s POV
“Lucy, we gots a big problem here.” Scud said as he handed me a cup of coffee. He had just woken me up, telling me that he had something he really needed to talk about.
“Scud, how early is it?” I asked.
“Time for you to get up. It’s eight, but I need you to hear me…and actually listen, not just do a nod to make me think you’re listening.”
“It’s too early. I’m going back to bed.” I said groggily. My conversation with Amy last night had caused me insomnia. I hadn’t ended up actually falling asleep until after three in the morning.
“Though it’s not too early for you to screw up, obviously. The D.E.B.S. found the newspaper with the message.”
I bolted up and sat straight on the bed. Shit! For all I knew my cover was blown. I would be in the doghouse forever with Amy, especially considering that today was our anniversary…Shit again! Today was our anniversary, and I had forgotten to call in our reservation at Amy’s favorite restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, which had good vegetarian dining for Amy, and was rated the twenty-first best restaurant in the world, which definitely made it worth the short car ride from Barcelona to Girona.
“Okay, Scud, first things first…pass me the phone.”
“Did you hear me? D.E.B.S., newspaper, message, Pink Thunder.” Scud said exasperatedly. I did not reply and simply stared at him. “Fine, here’s the phone.”
I dialed El Celler de Can Roca’s number, and soon a receptionist picked up.
“Hola, El Celler de Can Roca” Hello El Celler de Can Roca, the receptionist greeted. Luckily, I had been studying up in my Spanish since Amy and I arrived in Barcelona, and I felt fairly confident that I could hold a conversation.
“Hola, quisiera poner una reservación para esta noche.” Hello, I'd like to place a reservation for tonight, I replied.
“Apesadumbrados, somos llenos. ¿Podemos programar una reservación para la man¢ana para usted?” Sorry, we're full. Can we schedule a reservation tomorrow? Somehow, I just knew that was the response I would get. This was one hell of a start to my day.
“No, gracias, tienen un buen día.” No, thank you have a nice day. I hung up the phone and turned to Scud.
“Scud, now that tonight’s ruined, what do you suggest we do about the newspaper? What do the D.E.B.S. suspect?” A smile crossed his face at that last question. If there’s one tell Scud possesses, it’s the fact that when he smiles, you know whatever he’s got planned is something devious.
“I kinda told Janet that they stumbled across your plan for Amy’s anniversary present.”
“What?” I asked incredulously.
“The ad was in the auto ads section, with a description of a pink sports car with…”
“I know,” I cut him off, “and you think I should give this as an anniversary present to Amy? Scud, you obviously don’t know women well, that’s not a romantic present to give a girl.”
“Sorry, but you don’t really have the reputation of a Casanova yourself. Besides, Janet thinks it’s something typical of me, and we all know who you always need advice from,” he paused dramatically and cleared his throat, “you always need advice from the God of Advice.” He bowed and a smile cracked on his face. “I called up a local car dealer, and they’re prepared to do a quick paint job on a Pink VW and sell it to you for $25,000. Just borrow from your dad’s stash.”
“Scud, that’s gotta be one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard. And somehow, it’s also one of the most brilliant.”
“Thank you, thank you. No autographs please. Oh, and what’s the name of your restaurant? I’ll hack the reservation in for you, just bump some loser out. You and Amy enjoy yourselves, leave me and Janet here.”
---------------------
Amy’s POV
**************That Night**************
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only was Janet right, but this had to be one of the cutest things Lucy had ever done for me. Currently we only had one car, so she would drive me to school while she drove to the docks for work. Sometimes it was a hassle, but I had learned to live with it. Lucy had made me promise to cover my eyes until she said it was okay. She had then led me down the stairs and outside by the shoulder. When she told me that it was alright to look, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Parked in the driveway was a pink sports car with a yellow, blue and white lightning decal.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the paint job was all about, and to tell you the truth, it was downright hideous, but the gesture was amazing. I walked over to Lucy, who was standing in front of the car.
“Well, what do ya’ think?” She asked. I didn’t respond verbally. Instead, I cupped her head with my hands, gazed into her deep, dark eyes and put on the best smile I could. This woman knew me in ways that astounded me. I had mentioned a want for another car once or twice, but she had given me absolutely no indication of this present.
I slowly moved closer to the mouth that I had explored every inch of. Normally, when you know something through and through, it gets old, tired, but this never did. As her lips met mine, I felt the same electricity that had been present at our first kiss at the bank vault exactly a year ago. We kissed deeply, tongues exploring every cavern in each other’s mouths, as if each one was a new discovery. Eventually, as hard as it was, I pulled away.
“You, Lucy Diamond, are the most amazing girlfriend anyone could ever ask for.” I let her know.
“Yeah, I know, you’ve told me before.” She said nonchalantly, as a sinister grin formed on her face. “Now, let’s get going or we’re going to be late!”
“Late? Where are we going?” I knew we were going out for dinner, but she had told me the reservation was for six, there was only one place Lucy would drive an hour to, but I needed her confirmation. If it was the restaurant I thought it would be, she deserved something more than the now seemingly inadequate bouquet of black roses that I had given her.
“Oh, it’s a surprise, but I know you’ll love it.”
“Luce, are we going to El Celler de Can Roca. I really want to know.” Okay, maybe I could be a bit overeager, but I couldn’t see where else we could possibly be going.
“No comment, next question. Just wait until we get there.”
************About an hour later************
I must admit, a car ride with Lucy was never dull. She had this crazy perfect lip-syncing thing that she did when any of her favorite songs came on that just cracked me up. Currently, she was lip-syncing to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The song was at the part where Freddy Mercury and backup singers sing the “Galileo” call and response. Lip-syncing to each voice, she had a different face for each person’s response. It was simply to die for.
“Lucy, we’re here, you’re parked. Can we get out of the car now?” She turned to me and shook her head as her lips went along to Freddy Mercury’s strains of “Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me…”. It was practically six, and the song was too long to continue listening too, so I opened the door and started walking towards the restaurant. My suspicions had turned out to be correct. Lucy had planned the perfect night at the perfect restaurant, and she deserved something extra-special tonight.
She joined me with a mock pout on her face. “What’d you do that for, I was listening to that?” She jokingly complained, simultaneously snaking an arm around my shoulder. “Come on, let’s enjoy the night.”
We walked into the restaurant and a loud argument greeted us. Apparently a redheaded customer was having a problem with the Maitre’D.
“What do you mean my name’s not on the reservation list? I made these reservations three days ago!” The woman angrily interrogated.
I looked at Lucy, she was blushing and wore a knowing smile. I punched her arm lightly as I whispered “Lucy!”
“Have a look if you must, there is no reservation for a Christine Redsburg.”
“Well then, you won’t ever see me, or anyone I know here ever again!” The woman replied, as she stormed and turned around. As she headed out the door I got a good look at her and my jaw dropped. Red hair, stunning eyes, square jaw…it couldn’t be.
“Lucy?! What are you doing here?” asked the woman incredulously.
“Chastity Red,” Lucy said menecingly, “What draws you out of your rat hole?”
“No need for harshness Lucy. Long time, no see. And I’m sure I’m here for the same reason you are.” Chastity said with a smugness one would expect from a master of crime.
“I don’t know what reason you’re talking about, but I don’t want to be involved with anything that you’re involved with.” Lucy replied.
“I never said you wanted to, just that you were. Ta-ta.” Chastity walked out of the restaurant. I looked over at Lucy, and instantly knew that our night had just been ruined.
“Lucy,” I started.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Reservation for Diamond,” Lucy told the Maitre’D as she walked over to the table.
“Ah, yes, Ms. Diamond, right this way.” He led us to a highly decorated table. The antique, formal look of the place, which usually helped to set the mood today, cast a mocking glare as the old had been introduced to the new.
We sat down and were silent for an extended period of time, talking only to order our wine and meals.
---------------------
Lucy’s POV
I sat in the restaurant, thinking about Chastity. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no respect for her anymore, but if I had to be truthful to myself, I was curt with her more because seeing her reminded me of how beautiful she was and, for a time, how good I thought we had it. I had let Chastity ruin the perfect evening, much as I had let her ruin two years of my life. I knew that the silence between Amy and I was not fair to her, especially on our anniversary, but the atmosphere had been utterly ruined. Eventually I did talk, though it was about the only thing on my mind.
“Amy, have I ever told you why I wanted to sink Australia?” I asked, confident that I had not.
“All I know is that you told me you did it every time you thought you’d been dumped.”
“True, but that’s not the reason. See, on a night much like this, Chastity broke up with me. It was our second anniversary, and I must have waited in the restaurant for an hour and a half. I was scared out of my mind that something had happened to her. Then, out of nowhere, this guy shows up and sits down at my table. ‘G’day mate,’ he said, ‘‘Ere, this is from Chastity, if you’re Lucy Diamond, she says this is for you. G’day.’ You know what it was? It was a freakin’ Dear John letter, except it said Dear Lucy, of course, but she broke up with me on our anniversary. Since that day, I’ve never forgotten about that guy and his STUPID Australian accent.” I was getting too worked up about this. Maybe Chastity hadn’t ruined today, maybe I was responsible.
“Okay, Lucy, can we please talk about something else.” Amy sighed, dejectedly. It broke my heart to see her this way, but there was nothing I could do right now.
The rest of the dinner was tense, neither of us speaking much to the other. This was definitely not the night that I had imagined that it would have been.
**************Later that night, back at the house**************
“So Luce, how’d everything go? Getting some tonight, huh?” Scud asked jokingly. Normally I’d have elbowed him or have done something of that nature, but it just wasn’t in me right now.
“Don’t want to talk about it, Scud. I ran into Chastity, enough said.”
“Man, and I did all that work. This is how you thank me, you couldn’t have tried to make the evening work still?” Scud was actually a bit perturbed, very unusual for him. I had to admit that he had put a lot of time and effort into tonight.
“Couldn’t you have tried to make sure that the reservation we hacked into wasn’t Chastity’s?”
“What?” Scud asked, obviously, he never even took that possibility into consideration.
“Let’s see, the first name started with the letter C, the last name started with Red-, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that could be another identity!”
“Well sorry I’m not perfect, neither are you! I’m sure Amy would agree with me on that one. Maybe you should go see her, if she still wants to talk with you.”
I did what he suggested, and went up to Amy and my room. I felt like apologizing, but I wasn’t really in the mood for much else. Opening the door, I saw Amy in a seductive, black teddy that I’d never seen before. Normally this would have sent my heart racing, but not today.
“Hey you,” Amy said beckoningly, “I know tonight didn’t go great, but it’s still salvageable. Why don’t you come over here?”
I did what she asked, not for the reason she wanted me to, though. I sat down on the bed, and Amy crawled behind me. I felt the warm sensation of her lips on my neck, trailing her way onto my chin. Once again, this normally would have driven me wild, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I pulled away from her, and could almost feel her face drop. She didn’t warrant this, and I didn’t know why I was putting her through this, she definitely deserved better.
“Lucy, this really isn’t like you. You’ve been acting all distant recently. Tell me the truth, is this about Chastity?” She asked.
I nodded my head. It was all I could do, anything that would have come out of my mouth would have been a lie.
---------------------
I never knew so many bad times
Could follow me so mercilessly
It's almost surreal
All the pain that I feel
The future ain't what it used to be
---------------------
Next Chapter: Pink Thunder - http://laharlthedemon.livejournal.com/1384.html
Quick update here. The inspiration just hit me, and off I ran.
Warning: This chapter doesn’t really advance the plot much. Maybe you think of this as a fluff chapter, I think of it as something else, but you may not see things that way until more chapters are finished.
Opening lyrics come from Lifehouse’s You and Me; end lyrics are from Meatloaf’s The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be
Chapter 3: The Drift
---------------------
There's something about you now
I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right
---------------------
Amy’s POV
Last night, Lucy and I had a very productive talk, I thought, at least until I woke up this morning. Something was still striking me as odd about Lucy and Scud from yesterday, but I couldn’t put a finger on it. Add to that situation the fact that Lucy’s ex was quite possibly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and I was definitely not in a good mood.
Lucy was still in bed as I walked outside to collect the morning paper. To my surprise, Max and Dominique were already up, smoking in the brisk morning air. Max held a newspaper with what looked like highlighted markings in her hands, and she and Dominique seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation, oblivious to the point that the door had just opened and that I was standing in the doorway.
“I told you she was up to no good! We even get her out of all the shit she was in, and she betrays us like this?” Max said, betrayal and anger obvious in her voice.
“Max, you ‘ave no idea what she iz really up to. You like to read zings into ozer zings zat aren’t really zere.” Dominique countered.
The conversation was beginning to intrigue me, and I needed to know what the hell was going on that would make Max react like this (not that much doesn’t make Max react homicidally, but she seemed especially pissed off right now). “Hey, what’re you guys talking about?” I asked.
“This,” quipped Max as she threw the paper to me unexpectedly. I managed to catch most of it, ads and other sections still slipping out as I tried to control it. I flipped over the newspaper to yesterday’s Automobile Ads section that was already open and looked at the highlighted ad I had noticed earlier. Pink sports car with lightning/thunder paint job was the description of the car in the ad in question. “Read the highlighted letters to yourself,” Max instructed, “and then tell me what you think about your girlfriend.”
I did as instructed, noting that the encoding system seemed very similar to the one Lucy had used while writing to me during our time apart before Endgame. No one apart from Lucy and I, besides possibly Scud knew about our correspondences during that time period. After I had figured out where each word began and ended, I read aloud “Meet at Port Suérvo at 1300 hours. Come alone…” I contemplated this for a second. The implications were enormous, if this was what it appeared to be. “Max, first, why would you think that Lucy did all the highlighting here?”
“We found it in your trashcan. None of the three of us or Scud did it, so unless you’re not telling us something about you,” her eyes narrowed, “then your girlfriend’s at fault here.”
“My girlfriend has a name, Max. I suggest you call her by that. And besides that, doesn’t this seem a bit obvious to be what it could be? I think we need to ask her.”
“You go ahead and do that. If I even so much find out that she’s said one word to anyone in Pink Thunder, you can count yourself single, got it?” I glared at Max. She was my best friend, but she could make me more infuriated than anyone. She had a true Napoleonic Complex where she attempted to control everyone and everything, probably making up for the fact that she had self-admittedly had been abused by her parents. She could never budge on something she believed in, and at the moment I was being just as stubborn.
I stepped closer to her so that we were about nose to nose. “And if you do that, the D.E.B.S. will have to find themselves a new leader,” I retaliated. Max raised her fist, and being the borderline psychotic personality that she is, would have proceeded to punch me if a jubilant Janet had not come skipping outside at that moment.
“Hey guys! I just figured out what the ad meant! Lucy met someone yesterday who wants to sell her a Pink sports car! Scud says it’s Amy’s anniversary present!”
---------------------
Lucy’s POV
“Lucy, we gots a big problem here.” Scud said as he handed me a cup of coffee. He had just woken me up, telling me that he had something he really needed to talk about.
“Scud, how early is it?” I asked.
“Time for you to get up. It’s eight, but I need you to hear me…and actually listen, not just do a nod to make me think you’re listening.”
“It’s too early. I’m going back to bed.” I said groggily. My conversation with Amy last night had caused me insomnia. I hadn’t ended up actually falling asleep until after three in the morning.
“Though it’s not too early for you to screw up, obviously. The D.E.B.S. found the newspaper with the message.”
I bolted up and sat straight on the bed. Shit! For all I knew my cover was blown. I would be in the doghouse forever with Amy, especially considering that today was our anniversary…Shit again! Today was our anniversary, and I had forgotten to call in our reservation at Amy’s favorite restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, which had good vegetarian dining for Amy, and was rated the twenty-first best restaurant in the world, which definitely made it worth the short car ride from Barcelona to Girona.
“Okay, Scud, first things first…pass me the phone.”
“Did you hear me? D.E.B.S., newspaper, message, Pink Thunder.” Scud said exasperatedly. I did not reply and simply stared at him. “Fine, here’s the phone.”
I dialed El Celler de Can Roca’s number, and soon a receptionist picked up.
“Hola, El Celler de Can Roca” Hello El Celler de Can Roca, the receptionist greeted. Luckily, I had been studying up in my Spanish since Amy and I arrived in Barcelona, and I felt fairly confident that I could hold a conversation.
“Hola, quisiera poner una reservación para esta noche.” Hello, I'd like to place a reservation for tonight, I replied.
“Apesadumbrados, somos llenos. ¿Podemos programar una reservación para la man¢ana para usted?” Sorry, we're full. Can we schedule a reservation tomorrow? Somehow, I just knew that was the response I would get. This was one hell of a start to my day.
“No, gracias, tienen un buen día.” No, thank you have a nice day. I hung up the phone and turned to Scud.
“Scud, now that tonight’s ruined, what do you suggest we do about the newspaper? What do the D.E.B.S. suspect?” A smile crossed his face at that last question. If there’s one tell Scud possesses, it’s the fact that when he smiles, you know whatever he’s got planned is something devious.
“I kinda told Janet that they stumbled across your plan for Amy’s anniversary present.”
“What?” I asked incredulously.
“The ad was in the auto ads section, with a description of a pink sports car with…”
“I know,” I cut him off, “and you think I should give this as an anniversary present to Amy? Scud, you obviously don’t know women well, that’s not a romantic present to give a girl.”
“Sorry, but you don’t really have the reputation of a Casanova yourself. Besides, Janet thinks it’s something typical of me, and we all know who you always need advice from,” he paused dramatically and cleared his throat, “you always need advice from the God of Advice.” He bowed and a smile cracked on his face. “I called up a local car dealer, and they’re prepared to do a quick paint job on a Pink VW and sell it to you for $25,000. Just borrow from your dad’s stash.”
“Scud, that’s gotta be one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard. And somehow, it’s also one of the most brilliant.”
“Thank you, thank you. No autographs please. Oh, and what’s the name of your restaurant? I’ll hack the reservation in for you, just bump some loser out. You and Amy enjoy yourselves, leave me and Janet here.”
---------------------
Amy’s POV
**************That Night**************
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only was Janet right, but this had to be one of the cutest things Lucy had ever done for me. Currently we only had one car, so she would drive me to school while she drove to the docks for work. Sometimes it was a hassle, but I had learned to live with it. Lucy had made me promise to cover my eyes until she said it was okay. She had then led me down the stairs and outside by the shoulder. When she told me that it was alright to look, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Parked in the driveway was a pink sports car with a yellow, blue and white lightning decal.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the paint job was all about, and to tell you the truth, it was downright hideous, but the gesture was amazing. I walked over to Lucy, who was standing in front of the car.
“Well, what do ya’ think?” She asked. I didn’t respond verbally. Instead, I cupped her head with my hands, gazed into her deep, dark eyes and put on the best smile I could. This woman knew me in ways that astounded me. I had mentioned a want for another car once or twice, but she had given me absolutely no indication of this present.
I slowly moved closer to the mouth that I had explored every inch of. Normally, when you know something through and through, it gets old, tired, but this never did. As her lips met mine, I felt the same electricity that had been present at our first kiss at the bank vault exactly a year ago. We kissed deeply, tongues exploring every cavern in each other’s mouths, as if each one was a new discovery. Eventually, as hard as it was, I pulled away.
“You, Lucy Diamond, are the most amazing girlfriend anyone could ever ask for.” I let her know.
“Yeah, I know, you’ve told me before.” She said nonchalantly, as a sinister grin formed on her face. “Now, let’s get going or we’re going to be late!”
“Late? Where are we going?” I knew we were going out for dinner, but she had told me the reservation was for six, there was only one place Lucy would drive an hour to, but I needed her confirmation. If it was the restaurant I thought it would be, she deserved something more than the now seemingly inadequate bouquet of black roses that I had given her.
“Oh, it’s a surprise, but I know you’ll love it.”
“Luce, are we going to El Celler de Can Roca. I really want to know.” Okay, maybe I could be a bit overeager, but I couldn’t see where else we could possibly be going.
“No comment, next question. Just wait until we get there.”
************About an hour later************
I must admit, a car ride with Lucy was never dull. She had this crazy perfect lip-syncing thing that she did when any of her favorite songs came on that just cracked me up. Currently, she was lip-syncing to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The song was at the part where Freddy Mercury and backup singers sing the “Galileo” call and response. Lip-syncing to each voice, she had a different face for each person’s response. It was simply to die for.
“Lucy, we’re here, you’re parked. Can we get out of the car now?” She turned to me and shook her head as her lips went along to Freddy Mercury’s strains of “Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me…”. It was practically six, and the song was too long to continue listening too, so I opened the door and started walking towards the restaurant. My suspicions had turned out to be correct. Lucy had planned the perfect night at the perfect restaurant, and she deserved something extra-special tonight.
She joined me with a mock pout on her face. “What’d you do that for, I was listening to that?” She jokingly complained, simultaneously snaking an arm around my shoulder. “Come on, let’s enjoy the night.”
We walked into the restaurant and a loud argument greeted us. Apparently a redheaded customer was having a problem with the Maitre’D.
“What do you mean my name’s not on the reservation list? I made these reservations three days ago!” The woman angrily interrogated.
I looked at Lucy, she was blushing and wore a knowing smile. I punched her arm lightly as I whispered “Lucy!”
“Have a look if you must, there is no reservation for a Christine Redsburg.”
“Well then, you won’t ever see me, or anyone I know here ever again!” The woman replied, as she stormed and turned around. As she headed out the door I got a good look at her and my jaw dropped. Red hair, stunning eyes, square jaw…it couldn’t be.
“Lucy?! What are you doing here?” asked the woman incredulously.
“Chastity Red,” Lucy said menecingly, “What draws you out of your rat hole?”
“No need for harshness Lucy. Long time, no see. And I’m sure I’m here for the same reason you are.” Chastity said with a smugness one would expect from a master of crime.
“I don’t know what reason you’re talking about, but I don’t want to be involved with anything that you’re involved with.” Lucy replied.
“I never said you wanted to, just that you were. Ta-ta.” Chastity walked out of the restaurant. I looked over at Lucy, and instantly knew that our night had just been ruined.
“Lucy,” I started.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Reservation for Diamond,” Lucy told the Maitre’D as she walked over to the table.
“Ah, yes, Ms. Diamond, right this way.” He led us to a highly decorated table. The antique, formal look of the place, which usually helped to set the mood today, cast a mocking glare as the old had been introduced to the new.
We sat down and were silent for an extended period of time, talking only to order our wine and meals.
---------------------
Lucy’s POV
I sat in the restaurant, thinking about Chastity. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no respect for her anymore, but if I had to be truthful to myself, I was curt with her more because seeing her reminded me of how beautiful she was and, for a time, how good I thought we had it. I had let Chastity ruin the perfect evening, much as I had let her ruin two years of my life. I knew that the silence between Amy and I was not fair to her, especially on our anniversary, but the atmosphere had been utterly ruined. Eventually I did talk, though it was about the only thing on my mind.
“Amy, have I ever told you why I wanted to sink Australia?” I asked, confident that I had not.
“All I know is that you told me you did it every time you thought you’d been dumped.”
“True, but that’s not the reason. See, on a night much like this, Chastity broke up with me. It was our second anniversary, and I must have waited in the restaurant for an hour and a half. I was scared out of my mind that something had happened to her. Then, out of nowhere, this guy shows up and sits down at my table. ‘G’day mate,’ he said, ‘‘Ere, this is from Chastity, if you’re Lucy Diamond, she says this is for you. G’day.’ You know what it was? It was a freakin’ Dear John letter, except it said Dear Lucy, of course, but she broke up with me on our anniversary. Since that day, I’ve never forgotten about that guy and his STUPID Australian accent.” I was getting too worked up about this. Maybe Chastity hadn’t ruined today, maybe I was responsible.
“Okay, Lucy, can we please talk about something else.” Amy sighed, dejectedly. It broke my heart to see her this way, but there was nothing I could do right now.
The rest of the dinner was tense, neither of us speaking much to the other. This was definitely not the night that I had imagined that it would have been.
**************Later that night, back at the house**************
“So Luce, how’d everything go? Getting some tonight, huh?” Scud asked jokingly. Normally I’d have elbowed him or have done something of that nature, but it just wasn’t in me right now.
“Don’t want to talk about it, Scud. I ran into Chastity, enough said.”
“Man, and I did all that work. This is how you thank me, you couldn’t have tried to make the evening work still?” Scud was actually a bit perturbed, very unusual for him. I had to admit that he had put a lot of time and effort into tonight.
“Couldn’t you have tried to make sure that the reservation we hacked into wasn’t Chastity’s?”
“What?” Scud asked, obviously, he never even took that possibility into consideration.
“Let’s see, the first name started with the letter C, the last name started with Red-, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that could be another identity!”
“Well sorry I’m not perfect, neither are you! I’m sure Amy would agree with me on that one. Maybe you should go see her, if she still wants to talk with you.”
I did what he suggested, and went up to Amy and my room. I felt like apologizing, but I wasn’t really in the mood for much else. Opening the door, I saw Amy in a seductive, black teddy that I’d never seen before. Normally this would have sent my heart racing, but not today.
“Hey you,” Amy said beckoningly, “I know tonight didn’t go great, but it’s still salvageable. Why don’t you come over here?”
I did what she asked, not for the reason she wanted me to, though. I sat down on the bed, and Amy crawled behind me. I felt the warm sensation of her lips on my neck, trailing her way onto my chin. Once again, this normally would have driven me wild, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I pulled away from her, and could almost feel her face drop. She didn’t warrant this, and I didn’t know why I was putting her through this, she definitely deserved better.
“Lucy, this really isn’t like you. You’ve been acting all distant recently. Tell me the truth, is this about Chastity?” She asked.
I nodded my head. It was all I could do, anything that would have come out of my mouth would have been a lie.
---------------------
I never knew so many bad times
Could follow me so mercilessly
It's almost surreal
All the pain that I feel
The future ain't what it used to be
---------------------
Next Chapter: Pink Thunder - http://laharlthedemon.livejournal.com/1384.html