Chapter 27 Austin - Adult Responsibilities
Chapter 27
Austin - Adult Responsibilities
T hings moved fast once we moved to L.A. I had bills: rent, utilities, phone, car payment, and insurance. My entire childhood, I longed to be an adult. It looked cool to have your own money and make your own decisions. Now that I knew the truth about what an actual drag adulthood could be most of the time, I wanted my childhood back.
Our townhouse had a tiny deck off the kitchen. If it wasn’t raining, I would sit out there as I drank my first cup of coffee in the morning. The deck overlooked trees and a small section of undeveloped land. One neighbor told me it wouldn’t be long until another row of townhouses popped up to take over the view. I enjoyed listening to the birds. This swarming metropolis of cement and smog didn’t suit my country boy’s heart. I missed breathing clean air and seeing the stars at night.
Lost in my revelry, I didn’t hear the sliding door open. Samson padded past me and went down the stairs to take care of his business. He wasn’t quite full grown yet, but he was already a big boy. Sydney crossed in front of me to sit in the other lawn chair. She wore an oversize t-shirt that she’d slept in, and her curly hair bordered on unruly. My chest tightened at the sight of her rumpled, dewy-eyed appearance. She set her mug of hot tea on the side table and curled her feet under her .
“Good morning.” I croaked. Guess I hadn’t warmed up my vocal cords yet.
“Ditto,” she rasped.
“Do we have an agenda today?” I never kept track of our work schedule.
She sipped the steaming liquid. “Yes, we always do. Work. Remember that? Do you want to drive today?”
“I can do that.”
“Thanks. I do like riding in your car with the top down and the wind blowing in my hair.”
“I know. Me too. When traffic isn’t standing still, that is.”
We sat in silence. I let my mind wander. I wasn’t feeling creative today. We had accepted invitations to a party later, and I looked forward to having fun in the middle of the week. Then a brilliant idea popped into my head. I had to get Sydney in on my shenanigans.
I reached over and touched her bare knee. “Let’s play hooky.”
She pursed her lips and gave me side eye. “Seriously.”
“I am being serious.”
“Okay, funny boy. I will give you sixty seconds to convince me. Why should we play hooky?” She punched buttons on her phone. “Ready, set, go!”
“Go? What do you mean?” I stammered.
“I’m timing you. Fifty-five seconds left. Time’s a-wastin’.”
“Okay, okay, okay! I want to be irresponsible today. We’ve been working hard these past few weeks and I figure we’ve earned a free day. Call off. We’ll take a drive up the coast. Stop and get fresh seafood. Maybe lay in the sand and dip our toes in the ocean. Get ice cream at a roadside stand on the way home. I’ll go by myself, but it’s more fun with two delinquents.”
She let out a breath. “Tempting. But not quite what I had in mind.”
“Okay. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“How about this? We each get to pick one activity, and the other must participate without argument. As long as it’s legal. Deal?”
“I’m on board with that. I already know what we’re going to do for my pick.” I wagged my eyebrows up and down, teasing her.
“Okay, mister. I will go with you. Stop making that face so I can call off without laughing. You’re buying dinner.”
“Done. I’m going to get ready while you make that call. You’re committed now.” I sprung out of my chair and grabbed my empty coffee mug to put in the dishwasher.
I turned to head down to my room, and heard Sydney mutter, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
We met at my car. Sydney stood next to the passenger door, fidgeting and humming.
“What did you do?” I had to know.
She shook her head. “Nope. Not telling. But mine has a time stamp on it. I get to go first. This is going to be fun!”
“Am I allowed to ask questions to try and guess what it is? I need to know the general area we’re headed to for navigation purposes.”
She pulled a piece of folded paper out of her back pocket and waved it in the air. “All I will tell you is that it required a reservation.”
“Everything in L.A. requires a reservation. That’s no help.”
“Not my problem. I already have the route pulled up on my phone. I will give you directions as we go.” She had this all figured out, the little gremlin. But I had a surprise up my sleeve, too.
I turned on the radio and hit the button to put the top down as I backed out of the garage. She opened her purse and pulled out a tube of sunscreen. She offered it to me, but I declined. After protecting her freckles, she put on a fancy pair of pink sunglasses with rhinestones rimming the lenses. I had my Kansas City Chiefs ballcap on to keep the sun out of my eyes.
When she instructed me to park in The Grove parking lot, I was disappointed. Shopping. Sydney saw the look on my face and held up her hand.
“Before you start pouting, we are parking here because it’s the most convenient. I do not intend on dragging you around shopping all day. You will have fun, I promise. I can’t wait to see your face when we get there.”
“Are you sure I won’t be carrying shopping bags all day?”
“One hundred percent. Don’t get your boxers in a twist. But we have to walk through part of The Grove to get there.” I checked my phone. “We can’t lollygag if we want to make it. Let’s hustle. ”
When we reached the other side of The Grove, CBS Studios loomed large in front of us. My face lit up. We must be touring the studio lot. Sydney showed them her ticket at security, and they waved us through. I started seeing signs with arrows for The Price is Right . My mom always let me watch it when I stayed home from school sick. Then it hit me.
“Sydney, are we going to go watch The Price is Right ?” I grabbed her arm and tugged at it.
“If I say yes, will you stop yanking my arm out of its socket? You’re stronger than you think.”
“Seriously? That’s what we’re doing? This is the best day ever!” My excitement could not be contained. I skipped alongside her short strides. We got into the line forming outside the studio. “Do you think our names will be called? I will lose my mind if that happens.”
“I read about that when I looked up the tickets. They select a total of nine people out of an audience of three hundred. That’s a three percent chance that your name will be called. Don’t hold your breath.”
Then I thought of something. “We can’t be on TV when we’re ditching work. What if Venus watches the show?” I started having second thoughts about playing hooky.
“It’s a taping. The show won’t air for at least a couple of months. Relax.”
“Gotcha. That makes sense.” We waited in several queues before getting inside the studio. One of the producers came to speak with us, and my hat prompted a question about our former hometown. I put on my best Southern drawl and turned on the charm in hopes of getting selected. We posed for a photo in front of a green screen and when they added the background, it looked like we had our hands on the big wheel, ready to win prizes. Sydney splurged for the souvenir photos.
My excitement amped up once we got in line to go to our seats. Our tickets didn’t have seat numbers, but we got escorted to specific chairs. It surprised me that the studio is a lot smaller than it appears on TV. By the time the studio filled up, the noise made it impossible to talk to Sydney. It became even louder once Drew came out and the show began. The time went by too fast, and before I knew it, we stood back out on the sidewalk.
“That was awesome, Sydney! I never would have thought of this.”
She glanced up at me as we made our way back towards the parking garage. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Whenever they called for another contestant, I felt sick to my stomach. If they would have called my name, we would have been swapping name badges.”
“Not to change the subject, but are you hungry? ‘Cause I’m starving. Let’s see if we can find a place to eat in this retail monstrosity.” I took Sydney’s hand, and we crossed the street. I didn’t even think about it until we made it across.
She dropped my hand and crinkled her nose. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I wanted to be safe.” I couldn’t explain my impulse any other way.
“Okay. But I do know how to cross the road, silly.” She brushed it off. “Now, where can we get some grub? Let’s check out this map.” We consulted the giant directory posted in the middle of the walkway.
“There’s a place called Umami Burger, or we could try Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill. Those seem like places where we can get normal food. This guy does not eat sushi or bean sprouts.”
We settled on Wood Ranch. I got a tasty brisket sandwich, and Sydney got a burger. One thing I liked about eating with Sydney was that she didn’t get a salad to make a point. She got what she wanted, whether that was a burger or a chicken breast. She said that people judged her food choices whether she ordered a salad or a triple cheeseburger, because of her size. She had to train herself to stop caring about what strangers assumed about her health from rude glances.
When we got back in the car, I set my GPS for our next location. “Would you like a clue as to where I’m taking you?”
Sydney smacked her lips after applying a fresh coat of tinted lip balm. “Nope. I like surprises. As long as you’re not going to make me sweat or make me make a public spectacle of myself.”
“Duly noted. Let’s skedaddle.”
As we pulled into the parking lot of the Los Angeles Gun Club, I checked Sydney’s reaction out of the corner of my eye. Her mouth hung open, and I didn’t know if that meant good or bad. I kept a handgun in my nightstand at the townhouse, but I’d never had a conversation with Sydney about guns. It occurred to me that I didn’t know how she felt about them. If she didn’t want to do this, I figured we could go bowling. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
I turned off the engine and twisted towards her. “Is this okay? We can use my backup plan if not.”
Her eyes grew big. “Even if you’d given me a hundred guesses, I never would have figured it out. I’ve never shot a gun. This will be a new experience for me.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise. “How did you live in a red state like Missouri and not have any experience with guns? I’m flabbergasted.”
She shrugged. “I’m not a Missouri native, remember? My dad doesn’t hunt. He doesn’t own a handgun. It never occurred to me that I should know how to handle a gun.”
I opened the car door. “Let’s change that today. It’s better to know how to shoot a gun and not need it, instead of ending up in a situation where you have one but don’t know how to handle it.”
“Lead the way.”
I held up my index finger. “One minute. I need to get my gun out of the trunk.” Sydney raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. Once inside, I rented safety equipment, a Glock 19 for Sydney to use, and rounds of ammunition. I only rented one lane since Sydney needed assistance picking up the basics.
I instructed her on gun safety and how to load ammo and showed her how to stand to prevent her from falling over from the kickback. She needed minor adjustments, and I stood behind her to guide her into the proper stance. Touching her arms and standing close to her sent tingles through my body. Her lilac shampoo bewitched me and took my breath away. My brain became a discombobulated blob of mush under her spell.
She picked up the mechanics faster than I expected. We took turns shooting at the target. Her enthusiasm made my head swell a little. It felt good to select an activity that she liked. For the last round, I made a proposition.
“Want to make this last round interesting?”
“Maybe. Tell me what you’re thinking, Cowboy.” I loved it when she called me that, but that’s my little secret.
“I know you said I’m buying dinner. If you score higher than I do, I will still buy dinner. But if the tables turn, it’s coming out of your wallet. I will even take a twenty-point handicap to start. What do you say? ”
She put her finger to her mouth and tapped it a few times. “That seems fair. But don’t hold back on my account. I figured I would pick up the dinner check since you spent so much money on the range. But if you want to lose and pay for dinner, too, I don’t mind. Bring it on, Cowboy.”
“Best out of ten shots?” I knew she had a competitive streak and wouldn’t refuse my challenge.
“You’re on.”
I bowed out of the way. “Ladies first. I insist.”
She readied her stance and fired off ten rounds. We exchanged her target for a fresh one and ran it out for me. I pulled back the hammer and loaded the first round. I took a deep breath and fired as I exhaled. We added up our shots, and with my handicap, she won by two points.
She jumped up and down, clapping. Without warning, she grabbed my face and kissed me square on the lips. I didn’t have time to react. I just stood there, dumbfounded. Did that happen? Can I see the replay? I had no clue what to do next.
I took a chance. I grabbed her waist and pulled her against me. I leaned in and gently placed my lips against hers. The pressure from her kissing me back met my lips. I moved my hand behind her neck and tilted her head towards mine. I parted my lips and matched her, move for move.
Her gentle touch made me tingle. The sensation ran down from my head and settled in my crotch. Her back met the wall divider, and I melded my body against hers. I had plenty of experiences with women, but this felt different to me. It wasn’t merely a sexual release. This meant something, and that scared me. I backed away, ending the moment.
Sydney gradually opened her eyes, searching my face. “What happened? Did I do something wrong?”
I didn’t want her to think that. “No, of course not. I don’t want to complicate our friendship. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”
Her eyes turned downward, and I knew that I disappointed her with my response. “I see. I don’t want to ruin our friendship either. No need to apologize.” She busied herself collecting the gun and safety gear to return to the desk. I felt like a colossal asshat, but I’d already said the words. Damn it. How could I be that stupid?
On the way home, I asked her, “Where are we going for dinner? My treat, remember? ”
She replied without looking at me. “I’m tired. Can we rain-check it?” The wind whipped her curls around her face and I etched her beauty in this moment into my mind.
I ached to tell her the truth about how I felt, but I held back. “Sure. We can do that another time. Next stop, home.”