Pure Passion (5 page)

“Unless it looks like a war zone, I’m in,” I assured him. 
Even
if it resembles a war zone, I wouldn’t miss a minute of Max working around the
house all sweaty and stuff.

“Brea is going to lose it when she finds out we’re all
living together.  She’ll probably want to move back from Miami,” he replied,
shaking his head. 

Crap!  I forgot about Brea.  She will be pissed if she
knows Max is living there, too.  I have to talk to Derek about that at work
tomorrow.  Neither she nor my mom will let me live down my past obsessions. I’m
going to play it cool this time.  Everything will be fine.  He will me mine!

Max

What an incredible night.  First, I walk in and find out
that Lara has transformed herself into a smokin’ little hottie and later I find
out she’s solved my housing issues, as well.  The only way she could be more
incredible would be if she somehow became a blue-eyed, curvy blond! 

Both of us were a little buzzed, so we ended up making out
on the dance floor.  I knew things were probably moving too fast, but it felt
so good to be wanted again.  At the end of the night, I asked her to stop by my
place on her way home.  It’s not as if I wanted to nail her on my pathetic
little futon or anything.  I just didn’t want her to go home yet.  She made me
feel alive.

Fuck!
  As I made the corner in front of my workshop,
I saw Celeste’s car idling by the curb.  My good mood instantly soured as I
pulled over and walked back to stop Lara.  I could also see her expression
change, when she realized whose car was parked in front of my place
.

“I guess I’m going to have to deal with her, Lara.” 
Please
don’t be hurt.

“We can go somewhere else,” she replied, with a pleading
look in her eyes. 

“That’s totally tempting, but there’s no use avoiding the
inevitable.  I at least need to listen to what she has to say.  After nine
years, I at least owe her that much.” 
Then again, I really don’t owe her
shit!

“I guess you’re right,” Lara replied, looking down at the
ground. 

Man, the last thing I want is for Lara to crawl back into
her shell!  She always makes me feel so good, and now she’s upset because of my
crazy ex.  Shit! Shit! Shit!

 “Don’t worry, Lara. I’ll deal with her.  You just get out
of here.  I don’t want you messed up in this.  I’ll call you later,” I assured
her. 
I’ll have to make this up to her somehow.

I felt terrible leaving Lara, but if I didn’t go talk things
out with Celeste, she would just keep coming back.  Celeste always reminded me
of a pit bull when she wanted something.  She was relentless, so it was best
just to give in right away.  In the end, she always got what she wanted
anyway.  In this case, however, there was no way she was getting me back.  I
had to find a way to get rid of her once and for all.

As I watched Lara walk back to her car, I heard a car door
slam.  Celeste was standing at the end of the sidewalk as I pulled in the
driveway.  She walked toward me as if I was the one who should be on the
defensive. 
She’s coming here to give me attitude?  I don’t think so…

“Who was that?” she snapped, as I got out of my car.

“A friend. Why?” I replied coldly. 
None of your fucking
business is what I should have said.

“The same friend who was here the other night?” 

She stood there glaring at me, with her hands on her hips.

“It’s none of your business, Celeste.  I already told you,
we’re through!  If you think I was bullshitting, you had better think again. 
Now you show up and interrogate me?  Fuck you, Celeste!” 

Having said my piece, I turned to unlock the door. 
Please
go away.

“Wait, I’m sorry,” she began to pretend she was sobbing.  “I
don’t care who that was, I just can’t stand the thought of losing you.” 

She wrapped her arms around me from behind. 

“I’m sorry Celeste, but I can’t even look at you after what
happened the other night,” I replied, keeping my back toward her.  “How did you
think this was going to play out?  You thought I wouldn’t mind if I had to
share you with my dad?  Jesus! Just go home, Celeste.”

“I’m not giving up on you that easily, Max,” she said as I
felt her arms drop away from me.  “We’re soul mates, you’ve told me that a
million times.”

She was right.  I used to say it all the time.  I may have
been confused about what a soul mate was though.  It was true that I loved most
things about Celeste: her looks, her body, how she moved in bed.  However, a
soul mate should also make you feel good about yourself, something she hadn’t
done in a long, long time.  That’s what I found most attractive about Lara. 
She made me feel good.

“Good night, Celeste.  I’m going to sleep on my little
futon.” 
Just go away. Honestly, it’s all I want from you.

“You don’t need to stay here. Come home, Max!” she pleaded
irrationally.

“Home?  That’s not home, Celeste.  Just walking through that
door again would make me hurl!  We’re done, so please just leave me alone.  I
don’t want to see you around anymore!”

After closing the door, I gazed out the window as she walked
slowly down the sidewalk muttering to herself.  Nine years was a long time.  Even
if I could manage to forgive her, things would never be the same between us.  It
could never be the same.

Lara

Driving home, I couldn’t help wondering what was happening
between Max and Celeste. 
Damn. Why did she have to show up?  We were having
such a great time together.  There’s no way Max would take her back.  Would he?

Almost home, I decided to turn back and drive by Max’ workshop
again, just to see if Celeste was still there.  If she was, I wasn’t sure what
I would do about it anyway; if she was gone, then at least I would have slept
better
. 
I hated not knowing
. 
Within two or three blocks of his
place, my phone buzzed. It was Max.

“Hi, Max!” 
Ok, that was a little over-the-top excited.

“Hi, Lara. Sorry our night got cut short,” he said, sounding
exasperated.

“That’s alright. How did everything go?”

“Fine.  She’s delusional if she thinks I’m ever taking her
back.  I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”

Yes!

“Is that what you told her?”

“Pretty much. I don’t remember exactly how it went down, but
I couldn’t even look at her.  She finally left after I went inside.”

“Do you want me to stop by and talk?” 
Please say yes.
Please say yes.

“No, just stay home and get some rest.  You have to work
tomorrow.”

“That’s true, I’ll touch base with you after work,” I
replied, hoping he wouldn’t notice my disappointment or the fact that I was
still driving around.  Then I would have had to make up a story, like I stopped
at the grocery store at 2:20 a.m.  Luckily, he didn’t notice the background
noise.

When I finally got home and went to bed, I was too excited
to sleep.  Not only was Max interested in me, but now we would be living under
the same roof. 
Yum!  This is going to be great!

~~~

Driving to work on Saturday, I thought out my dilemma with
Max and Brea.  Somehow, I had to tell Derek not to let Brea know that I was
living under the same roof as Max.  If he mentioned it to her, she would
probably show up on our doorstep the next day hoping to “talk me down.”  At the
same time, I didn’t want Derek to know how obsessed I was with Max in my
younger days.  Both Mom and Brea had made me feel as if I were a crazy person,
and I didn’t want Max to ever see me that way.  Besides, I needed to play it
cool since guys tend to run when a girl is overly obsessed with them.

I decided the easiest way out would be telling a little
white lie that Brea had a huge crush on Max in high school.  She lived almost
seven hours away, so it wasn’t as if she would be hanging around anyway.  When
Derek arrived for work, The Deuce was still dead, so I took the opportunity to
talk to him about it.  He understood why it would be best for Brea not to know
all of the details but was shocked that Brea had such a major crush on Max.  As
her older brother, he felt he should’ve known about it. 
Anyway, mission
accomplished even though I didn’t feel too good about it.

About 5:00 p.m., my night drastically improved.  Max showed
up and took the same stool as last time, at the corner of the bar.  He seemed
to like that stool because it was right in front of the taps.  He could sit and
make eyes at me while I was pouring beer.  He was so cute.  He seemed a little
shocked by my attire though.  It was a gorgeous day, so I wore one of my cute
little sundresses and sandals, not really considering how sticky the floor
would be behind the bar.  What seemed to upset him was the fact that several of
the regulars took a liking to my metamorphosis and pulled up to the bar in full
flirting mode.  It was fun teasing them as they vied for my attention.  It kind
of caught me by surprise, so I may have enjoyed it just a little too much.  Max
seemed to be getting increasingly irritated as the night went on.  Everything
was going according to my plan.

“Maybe you should wear your old clothes and those cat
eyeglasses when you’re bartending,” he finally said, after an extended
silence. 

“I didn’t think you liked that look on me,” I replied with a
subtle smile. 
Oh, he is so jealous. I love this!

“Well, I think I would like that look on you when you’re
working here, I mean.  Besides, your sandals are getting ruined.”

He really didn’t like other men looking at me, definitely an
interesting turn of events. “Yeah, I never thought about how gross it would be
back here.  I’m going to have to wash my feet and legs when I get done here.”

“I can help you with that,” Max quipped, with that gorgeous
smirk. 

Oooh, flirty, cocky Max is back! 
“I’ll bet you
could,” I replied, leaving to deliver customer orders.

The great part of all of the extra attention was my
overflowing tip jar!  Before, if a beer was $3.50, I would get a 50-cent tip;
with my new look, I was getting mostly $1 or $1.50 tips. 
Men sure are easy
to manipulate.
  Each time I gathered a pile of cash off the bar rail, Max
would smile at me and shake his head.

“There’s another upside to my new look,” I told Max, as I
pulled out a huge wad of cash to bring back to the safe.

“Yeah, but all of those guys flirting with you is making me
awfully jealous!” 

Wow! I can’t believe he just said that out loud.  It’s
not like we’re even dating. 

“And that’s a bad thing?” I asked as I curled the side of my
lip and raised my eyebrows.

“You’re killing me, girl!” he replied. 

I’ve got him right where I want him.  This couldn’t have
worked out better if I planned it!

Max

One short week ago, I walked in on the most devastating
thing that’s ever happened to me, other than my mom and grandparents dying. 
Tonight, I’m sitting here completely into this spunky little brunette who’s
turning my world upside down without even trying. Until recently, I wouldn’t
have even thought she was my type.  Maybe I just thought curvy, blue-eyed blonds
were my type because of Celeste.  All I know is that she definitely has my
hormones surging tonight.  Man, that guy at the end just gave her another $1.50
tip.  He’ll be dealing with me if he thinks he’s getting anything in return!

“What time are you done?”

“I’m on ‘til close, why?”

According to my watch, it was only 11:15 p.m. I had already
been on that bar stool for over six hours.  I really wanted to go home, but I
wished I could take Lara with me.

“Just wondering. I’ve gotta get out of here so I don’t end
up in the same shape as last time.  If I spend too much time around booze, I
tend to drink too much of it.”

“Alright.  I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon over at the
house,” she replied.

“Yeah, unless you decide to stop by on your way home to let
me help you clean up.” 
Hint, hint
.

“You don’t even have a shower.  Are you going to give me a
sponge bath or something?” 

“Hey, it’s beer.  I could just use my tongue!” 
Ok, that sounded
much funnier in my head.

“I think we could find way better uses for your tongue than
that,” she said, coming around the side of the bar.  She looked me straight in
the eyes and gave me a soft kiss on the lips, which caused uproar from the
fellow patrons. 

Let’s see if they keep tipping now
, I thought giving
them a reassured smile
.

“I’m all gross and sticky, so I’m going straight home after
work.  However, I will see you tomorrow afternoon to look at our new pad.”  She
leaned forward kissing me again. 

If she keeps kissing me like that, I’m going to have to
go home and rub one out! 

“Alright. I’ll see you at 1:00 tomorrow,” I replied, drunk
with desire.  As I made my way to the door, I couldn’t help looking back over
my shoulder.  She looked up from what she was doing, as if she anticipated my
move.  She blew me a kiss and gave me that coy smile. 
Man, what is she
doing to me?  We aren’t even dating, and I already want to beat up any other
guy who looks at her.  I’ve never been the jealous type before.

Driving home that night, I began to over-analyze my
feelings. 
This has to be a rebound thing.    After all, I just went through
hell last weekend.  Maybe this is all happening too soon.  But man, she really
turns me on, though!  Damn, there’s that dick twitch again!

Lara

I loved how Max was stewing about the attention I received
from other guys at the bar that night.  That’s why I went over and gave him a
little reassurance.  If anything, my tips improved after that, too.
Can you
say win/win?
  I was glad to see him look back at me before heading out the door. 
When guys do that, you know they’re into you, according to the waitresses. 
Even though I was exhausted by the time I finally got home, all I could do was
lay there in bed thinking about Max
.  Everything is going great.  I played
my cards perfectly tonight.  I’m so proud of myself for not going over to his
place, even though he flat out asked me to.  Now all I need to do is keep my
cool.  How am I going to keep my cool?