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I was not normally the clubbing type, so I was a bit blown away
by
the inside of the building. There were *so* many people ... the
music
pulsated through my body. AJ took a look around, and finally
spotted a
table in the corner. “Hey, they’re over there, let’s go,” he
said into my ear.
We approached the table. I vaguely recognized his bandmates,
thanks to some hasty research through the magazine rack at the airport.
The
tall, dark haired one was Kevin -- he was leaning against the table,
chatting
up not one but two girls in tight tops and barely-there skirts.
The one with
the light, curly hair was Brian ... he was deep in conversation with
three
girls, plus an older man and a tall blonde kid -- Nick. I peered
at Nick ...
sure enough, I could see the faint trace of a bruise around his left
eye.
Someone else tapped AJ on the shoulder. I turned to look
at him --
short, Hispanic, ponytail ... Howie. “Hey, man, I didn’t think
you were
coming,” he said to AJ.
“Changed my mind. Hey, D, I want you to meet Tori.
Tori, this is
Howie.”
Howie smiled at me and offered his hand. I shook it, smiling
back.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” Howie said. The look in his eyes told me that
he was
terribly curious ... about what, I didn’t know.
AJ had turned away to shout greetings at a couple of other people,
so I leaned in closer to Howie. I gestured to the edges of the
crowd, where
more than several people were staring at our table, whispering behind
their
hands. “Doesn’t that bother you?”
Howie shrugged. “I’m used to it. People are watching
us wherever
we go, unfortunately.” He pulled out a chair for me. “So,
where are you
from again?”
“Kansas.”
“Kansas? For real? Wow, so ...” He looked at
me, puzzled. “We
didn’t go through Kansas, so how’d you end up hooking up with AJ?”
So AJ really *hadn’t* talked to anyone since he got back.
“I was
traveling through Illinois,” I told Howie.
“Oh, okay ...” He still looked confused, but I didn’t know
whether
or not I should enlighten him further. He was AJ’s friend, it
probably
wasn’t my place to fill in all the details of our weekend.
AJ saved me from further comment by appearing in back of my
chair. “Wanna dance?” he asked, leaning over me.
“Absolutely.” I waved at Howie, but he was already engrossed
in a
conversation with one of the other girls at the table. So, I
shrugged and
allowed AJ to lead me onto the dance floor. “I’m warning you,
though,” I
told him, “I don’t dance like this very much. I don’t know if
I’m any good.”
AJ grinned at me. “Just follow my lead, you’ll be fine.”
The song playing was a dance remix of one of the currently popular
Latin songs -- I couldn’t discern which one. It didn’t matter
... as soon as
we found an open spot on the floor, AJ began moving to the rhythm,
pulling
me with him. After a few false starts, I fell into step and found
the beat.
The swarm of moving bodies forced us to dance closely ... AJ rested
his
hands lightly on my hips, guiding them in the same movements his were
making.
Dancing with AJ was almost as exhilarating as having sex with
him
... he brought the same kind of wild abandon to both activities.
I lost all
sense of the crowd of people around me -- for a few brief minutes,
the only
people in the club were me and him ...
I lost track of how long we danced. Finally, I felt my legs
wobble,
and tapped him on the shoulder. “I have to sit down ...”
He looked like he could have gone on forever, but he just smiled
and
took my by the arm. “Let’s go back, then.”
We walked slowly through the crowd. AJ was glancing everywhere
but at the corner table. I tapped him on the shoulder again.
“Why are you
so intent on avoiding them?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
As we approached the table, Kevin spotted us. “Hey, Bone,
you
gonna introduce us to your lady?” he called over the music.
Suddenly, all attention was on us. I tried not to squirm
with
discomfort. “Everyone, this is Tori ... Tori, this is ... well,
everyone,” AJ
said, shrugging. “Introduce yourselves, folks.”
I was hit with a barrage of names, most of which I’d never
remember. I just smiled politely, said hello, and took my seat.
Brian, Nick,
and the group talking to them caught AJ’s attention, so he went to
talk to
them, while I sat at the table, wondering what to do next. Who
should I talk
to? Should I go insert myself into AJ’s conversation?
After a few minutes of staring into space, I scooted a little
closer
and turned half an ear to what he was saying. I caught the tail
end of a
sentence. “ ... don’t know. Maybe.”
“There’s legal shit involved, you know,” Brian said. “She
couldn’t
stay for the whole tour.”
“I know, I know. I’ve still gotta figure out the details.”
Nick looked up at AJ, who was leaning against the table.
“Is that
what you really want?”
“Yeah ... maybe ... I think so. I need something, someone,
out here,
man, something to keep my sanity.”
Nick snorted, while Brian punched AJ in the arm. “Sanity?
What
sanity?”
Suddenly, AJ saw me looking at them. He smiled at me.
“You
doing all right?” he asked.
“Yeah ...” I stood up. “I’m gonna go get a drink at
the bar. I’ll be
right back.”
I wandered away from the table in a daze. Granted, I had
only heard
a partial conversation ... but from what I gathered, AJ wanted me to
come
on tour with him. At least, I was assuming I was the ‘she’ being
discussed.
This was not something I had expected to happen.
Would he ask me? And if he did, what would I say?
