Page 3 of Stoker's Serenity
It wasn’t cooler by much, but any breeze off the ocean was better than the stagnancy out here.
“Where do you live, anyway? I can maybe take you home.”
She opened her mouth to reply, the rush of her inhaled breath sharp, but she closed it so sharply before speaking I could swear her teeth clacked.
“I mean, I have a ride, I just have to wait for them to come out. I don’t want to put you out any further than you already have been.”
“Hey, I told you.” I spoke gently. “It’s no trouble, and before you even suggest it, I’m not leaving you out here to wait all alone.”
She smiled and it was edged in a sadness, but she murmured a thank you. A long pause ensued and she let out a shuddering nervous breath before asking, “So what do you do when you aren’t saving hapless females from concert ruffians?”
I had opened my mouth to reply when the fast-paced clacking of approaching boot heels interrupted me, followed shortly thereafter by, “Ren! What are you doing out here!? I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“Oh, God, Linny!” Serenity intercepted her friend, brushing past me, and her perfume, a light, airy, floral scent tickled my nose slightly. I liked it. I figured I would like her, given a chance to get to know her. I turned and her much taller and much blonder friend embraced her smaller, darker, counterpart.
“What happened?” Linny demanded. “And where’s my shirt?”
Serenity went about filling her friend in, and she couldn’t help it, she got tearful again. I got the impression that she didn’t get out much, which was a shame. She was a beautiful girl.
Her friend hugged her when Serenity started getting apologetic about losing her friend’s shirt, of all the dumb things, and shushed her. “It’s fine, it’s just a stupid shirt!” she exclaimed.
“I know, but you trusted me to wear it and –”
“You didn’t even want to wear it, you goof, and I’m not the least bit worried about it. I’m worried aboutyou.” Her friend looked up at me, and said with a sigh, “Thank you for looking out for her. I hate to ask, but do you think you could wait with her for just a little while longer while I go find my boyfriend?”
I nodded and said, “It’s no trouble at all, you do what you gotta do. She’s cool.” I winked at Serenity, who was looking back at me over her shoulder, and her friend stepped back and let her go.
“Two minutes, I swear, and then I’m getting you the fuck out of here. I’ve never seen a crowd do that before. Usually metal guys are like him.” She thrust her chin at me. “Some of the nicest guys out there. I’m so sorry, Ren.”
“It’s okay,” Serenity said, taking a step back from the taller blonde. “I just want to go home, though.”
“Absolutely, two minutes, I promise!” her friend called, walking backwards back to the door. My captain and his woman were looking this way and I gave them a nod. They went back to talking softly, over by the bikes, and I turned back to Serenity who was wincing as she looked at me.
“You must think I’m a total headcase,” she said.
I shook my head. “No. I have to figure you don’t get out much. Makes me feel bad for you that when you finally let yourself be talked into going out this is the kind of shit you have happen.”
She let out an explosive breath. “You’re right,” she said, gazing out toward the street with its occasional passing set of headlights. “I haven’t been getting out much aside from work. Partially because money, but mostly because I’m just a homebody. Linny really wanted me to come, although I prefer low-key to all of –”She waved her hand back at the building and the drone of muffled bass pounding out from the walls. “This.”
I smiled and nodded, burying my hands in the pockets of my frayed jeans. “I’m headed that way myself,” I said honestly, sucking in a breath between my teeth. “The older I get, the more I’m liking spending time on the beach by the bonfire versus the constant grind of gigs that cost me more money than they pay out, only to get absolutely nowhere. It’s frustrating, you know?”
She nodded and said, “I can only imagine.”
I gave her a crooked smile and was about to say something else when I was interrupted by her friend, keeping to her ‘two-minute’ promise. Here she came, a dude striding alongside her. He was clearly irritated.
“She wants to go home, Tyler, and I know it’s not fair, but making her stay isn’t fair either,” she was saying to him, and I knew Serenity had caught it, because she visibly wilted, her shoulders dropping, her chin dropping too, her entire body radiating defeat.
“Yeah, well, I’m not ready to go,” Tyler practically snarled.
Serenity piped up.
“It’s okay, I can just wait out here. I would just feel better if I had my purse and keys. I’m really sor –“
“Hey, no. Don’t apologize,” I said at the same time Linny cried, “Honey, no!”
Tyler pulled his keys out of his pocket and the lights flashed on a nearby Prius, which figured. The guy looked like a poser and he’d already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he was a fucking douchenozzle. Serenity made a break for it like she expected the dude to hit the locks and keep her from her things. I half expected him to.
He and Linny were getting into it and I had to say – I liked Linny a lot for standing up to her boyfriend.
