Save the Date (Modern Arrangements) (2 page)

Dixon didn’t miss a beat. He walked up
to her and grabbed her arm. Spinning her around, he started singing with her.
The smile that was on her face was gorgeous and watching them was hilarious.
They both started to air guitar at the same time and that was when I recognized
the song,
I believe in a thing called love
by The Darkness. They started
to dance foolishly with each other. She grabbed his face and kissed him on the
forehead when the song was over. This must be his girlfriend. She moved and
turned off the music.

"Game over already?" she asked
and even her voice was amazing.

"Yep and we creamed the
pussies" Dixon motioned to us and she looked over. I watched her face turn
pink and then deepen into red. She smacked him on side of the head. "OW!
Shit! What was—?

"You could have told me that you
brought people home with you idiot!" she yelled at him and glared. He gave
her a look.  She just started smiling at him and lightly punched his arm.

"I’m sorry," he batted his
eyes at her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear that a
lot from you." Her eyes narrowed but her lips split into a grin.

"At least I’m consistent," he laughed.
"Alright, Lilli this is Oscar and Aidan, guys this is the roommate
Lilli," he introduced.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled
and gave a small wave.

"Pleasure," Oscar responded as
I nodded.

"You both want beers, right?"
Dixon shouted from inside the fridge.

"Yeah," we answered in unison.

"Lilli?" Dixon peeked over the
refrigerator door.

"Nope, I’ve got some reading to do
and then I need to get to work," she grabbed an apple from a bowl, a
bottle of water that was on the counter and then pulled her IPod from the
docking station in the kitchen.

"You have to work tonight?"
Dixon shut the refrigerator door, two beers in each hand.

"Of course I do, it’s Saturday
night." Rolling her eyes, she walked out of the kitchen. She glanced at us
still standing "You guys can sit and make yourselves comfortable. Don’t
expect him to be a good host." She motioned to Dixon and then disappeared
down a hallway.

We sat for a couple of hours watching a
game on TV and having typical guy conversation. Dixon wanted to know how many
women I had in my life now in comparison to college. Oscar was all too happy to
join in on teasing me about my lack of commitment, so to say.

When we were all arguing about the best
player ever in baseball, Lilli emerged from the hallway. Dixon was still
talking but both Oscar and I were distracted by jeans that looked like they’d
been painted onto her by Michelangelo himself. Her black leather vest teased us
with deep cleavage and an exposed midriff.  Long mahogany hair lay in loose
curls down her back. Then there were her boots. Shiny, black, knee high heeled
boots.

Dixon took one look at our lustful faces
and followed our gazes to Lilli. 

"Close your mouths, boys." He
chuckled.

"Hey, Vixen, is it time for work
already?"

She nodded and her hair bounced as she
walked from the kitchen.

"Unfortunately," she wrinkled
up her face.

"It’s kind of early, isn’t
it?" he looked at his watch and then back to her.

"I have to meet your girlfriend,
we’re working together tonight," she smiled knowingly at him.

"You're working with Celia
tonight?" he asked, smiling like a kid in a candy store.

"Yep," she smiled and ruffled
his hair. "Does that mean I should leave your name with Sam?" He
smiled. "I’ll leave it with him. Later."

"Bye Lilli," he shouted as she
grabbed her bag and headed toward the door.

"Bye," she looked at Oz and
me.

"Bye," we said—in unison
again, like we were fucking losers.

"You can close your mouths
now," Dixon said right before bursting into laughter.

Oz and I both joined in his amusement.

"That is just a roommate?" Oz
asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Lilli and I go way back. Neighbors
since I was like sixteen," he shrugged.

"Damn," Oz sighed. "If
that’s just a roommate then I want to see this girlfriend you have," he blew
out a heavy breath.

Dixon gave a large toothy grin.

"Technically, she isn’t my
girlfriend. But she is fucking hot as hell! Her and Lilli work together. That’s
where I saw her for the first time. We’ve only gone out a couple of times,
nothing serious." He shrugged.

"Where do they work at?" I
asked.

"Downtown at Club, Inc.,"
Dixon said. "I can get in easily thanks to Lilli," he smiled.

"We were there the other
night," Oz looked at me and I nodded as I took another drink of my beer.

"You must not have been at the bar
or you would have noticed Lilli," Dixon chuckled. "She draws some
attention."

"Looking like that would—"
Dixon cut Oscar off.

"No, no, they all dress similar and
all the girls at the bar are ridiculously hot," he took a drink
"Lilli does bar tricks and draws a crowd. When she and Celia are together
it is dangerous."

I raised my eyebrow and Oz answered.

"We were up in the VIP area, so we
had our own bartender."

"Well if you want my advice, next
time request Lilli and/or Celia. They are the best and will keep everyone
happily entertained between their tricks, antics and witty sarcasm." He
took another drink.

"So Dixon…" Oz looked at me
then back to Dixon "What are you doing tonight?"

Dixon smiled.

Chapter Two
Conditions
Aidan

Oscar and I left Dixon’s apartment,
heading home to clean up and prepare for a night out. Dixon was going to give
us the
Dixon special,
as he called it.

Once I was showered and in the
appropriate clothing for the club, I sent Oz a text saying that I was on my
way. He drove this morning, so I was driving tonight. We would meet Dixon
there. Once Oz was in the car, he called Dixon to tell him that we were on our
way.

Dixon got there before us and told us to
meet him inside at the bar. Calling ahead, I got Oz and I on the list, so when
we arrived the bouncer let us right in.

Inside, the dance music was pounding
loudly and lights were flashing. During the fade between songs Oz smacked my
arm and pointed toward the bar. There was Dixon.

"Hey man," Oz said as he
slipped in next to him.

"Shh, just watch, this is a perfect
song," Dixon responded and motioned with his head to look forward.
‘Dangerous’ by Akon was pumping and in front of us was a tall, perfectly curved
blonde. She looked like she could have easily given Marilyn Monroe a run for her
money. She was gorgeous.

"That’s Celia," Dixon said in
a cocky tone.

Lilli moved in next to Celia, they
started dancing and singing to each other. I think every person at the bar was
a guy, a lesbian or would have definitely become a lesbian. People crowded up
at the bar, hollering and whistling, as well as drooling, over the contrast of
beauty in front of them.

Celia was six feet of intimidating curves
and long blond hair with lightly tanned skin. Lilli was mahogany waves, cream
colored skin, probably no taller than five feet five inches but with well-proportioned
curves for her frame. She had a very pinup girl type of figure. Celia had
bright blue eyes and Lilli’s were hazel.  They were a complete contrast but
seemed to blend perfectly.

Then Celia and Lilli threw bottles, flipping
them in the air. Circling around each other, they ground and sway against each
other, pouring drinks. Like Dixon had said, she knew how to draw a crowd.

Lilli appeared before us.

"Need a refill?" She smiled at
Dixon. He pushed his glass out to her. While Lilli was making his drink, she
yelled over to us. "What can I get you guys?"

"Can I get a Corona?" Oz
yelled.

Lilli nodded and looked to me with a
raised brow as she sat Dixon’s drink down.

"Bourbon." Smirking at my
request, she moved to get the drinks. Lilli slid the beer to Oz and then placed
the Bourbon down in front of me with an umbrella in it. I laughed when she
winked and smiled at me. Then she was gone, moving on to the other patrons.

Oz and I finally dragged Dixon to a
table near the bar. We sat talking and flirting with women most of the night. A
tall, lean red head appeared at our table and requested my presence out on the
dance floor.

"Hey there gorgeous," the red
head leaned down to me. "I think you need to dance with me," she
grabbed at my chest, gripped my shirt and pulled me onto the floor.

Who am I to hurt her feelings?

As we passed the bar, I heard a loud
burst of merriment and noise.

"Oh, dude, she totally burned you!"
A guy with slick dark hair yelled at a sulking blond haired guy. Then I noticed
Celia high five Lilli and toss her head back.

At the end of our night, we said goodbye
to Dixon who was waiting till closing for Celia and Lilli. Oz drove since I was
way too many drinks under. The plus side being that I had more time to
preoccupy myself with Lorna in the back seat.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Waking up to the familiar blue walls and
large windows of my bedroom the next morning was brutal. It was even worse when
the redhead from last night found out I couldn’t remember her name. Then I realized
she was still dressed.

So wasted I couldn’t perform, nice
Aidan.

Monday rolled around too quickly. It was
time to get back to AIS and Grandfather. The week passed with long hours and
boring client dinners. However, the weekends became a change from the normal go
out, drink, hook-up and move on routine.

Oz and I had started spending more
Saturday mornings playing ball with Dixon. We even spent more time hanging out
with him at his place. We were very close to becoming the three musketeers. It
was nice to having another guy to hang out with since Oz would often have to
work a weekend shift at the hospital.

Lilli hung out with us occasionally. She
liked baseball, some video games and had a massive
guy
movie preference.
I found out through small conversations with her, or with Dixon, that she was
trying to finish college while working nights and weekends. I was confused as
to why she worked more than went to school. That seemed a little odd to me, but
it wasn’t my business. I just enjoyed her when she was around. Lilli was
becoming a friend and was fun to hang with.

When we introduced James into the mix, I
was little nervous. He can come off a little blunt. Dixon was put off at first,
but learned to just brush James off and give it back to him. Lilli seemed to
tolerate him, but when he was around she would avoid the group. At least that’s
what it seemed liked.

A couple of months went by and we seemed
to become a group. Dixon came to my place with Oz after work one night when I
wasn’t working late with Grandfather.

"Holy shit," Dixon exclaimed
when he entered the two story apartment. "Explain to me why we have been
hanging at my shitty place when there is this option?"

"There is nothing wrong with your
place." I handed him a beer and we gathered around the pool table in the
game room.

The game room was just an extra room
that could have been a dining room but I wasn’t holding dinners here. So in its
place went the pool table, dart board, chess board, etc. James showed up with another
friend and we hung out for most of the night. It was just us guys, until James called
over some
friends
. James
friends
were typically of the young,
fake breasted variety.

When the doorman buzzed up, James barked
his order to let them up. I apologized to Jeffrey immediately.

"James, don’t fuck with Jeff man!
He’s a cool guy!" I smacked his arm.

"Whatever, he should have some
respect for who you and I are."

I rolled my eyes.

On the Saturday morning before my life
entered a fucked up reality, I arrived to Dixon’s place. I was supposed to meet
him so that we could all head out to a Yankee’s game. We were meeting Oz and
James at the box.

Lilli answered the door. Her eyes were
swollen and red. It was obvious she had been crying.

"Dixon’s not here," she said
as she opened the door.

"Oh…he told me to meet him here, is
he…?" she walked away from the door. "Hey are you okay?"

The messy knot of hair on top of her
head shifted up and down with her nod.

"Yeah, I’m fine." She was a
bad liar.

"Are you sure? If something is
wrong I can—"

She forced a smile.

"Everything’s fine, thanks. Just
reality comes crashing in on me every once in awhile," she laughed half-heartedly.
"Dixon is probably running behind. You can wait here for him." She
forced another smile and went down the hallway. I sat down feeling really
shitty for interrupting her ‘moment’.