A. C. Meyer - Crazy For You

Jo's still quiet, looking at the menu. George and I exchange glances.

"Aren't you going to tell us what's going on, Jo?” George sniffs. "I thought we were best friends. I really feel so devastated by your attitude. Julie and I tell you everything , and what do you give back in return?” He looks at me and takes his hand to his chest before looking back at her. "You ignore us and push us away from your life. It's too much for a poor heart, you know?”

I support his words, holding George's hand and patting it lightly. Jo looks at us, raises an eyebrow holding a look on her face like she can’t believe what she’s seeing, and becomes the lawyer in the courtroom.

"You're taking it way over the top, George. I went to three stores to look for a new briefcase because mine looks terrible, but I didn't like any. Then I went to the bank to make some payments. I ran into a lawyer on the way and we chatted for half an hour. If you still want to measure my time, I stopped about ten minutes to pee and came to meet you.”

"I don't know why, but you didn't convince me," George says, looking at me. "But it's okay, I'm going to let it go. I'm going to respect your moment.”

***

We left the restaurant and made a stop at Starbucks. A cup of coffee is gonna go down really well to remove the rest of my hangover. Reminder: never drink more than two glasses! While we wait for the barista to call our names, Jo takes her Kindle out of the bag and starts reading.

"Which one are you reading now?”, I ask, stretching to see.

“ A reason to dream, from Jennifer Van Wyk”, she smiles at me.

"Ohhh... Captain James...” George and I sighed at the same time.

"Have you read? It can’t be! You didn't even wait for me”, she looks at both of us, pouting.

"Jo, my dear, I'm sorry, but I could never leave Captain James waiting for me," George replies, and we both laughed.

The three of us love reading, and we're always exchanging reading tips.

At this time, our names are called.

We stand up to get our cappuccinos when I hear behind me:

"Well, well. What a delicious surprise. Juliette, the hottest singer of the moment.”

I turn around and meet Alan.

"Alan! Hey, what a surprise.” I approach to kiss him on the face. Wow, how nice he smells and... Ops! How cheeky! He turned his face and almost kissed my mouth! I push away a little, but he pulls me hard and whispers in my ear.

"Babe, this time was on the edge of the mouth, but next time, you won't escape me.”

Oh my God! I'm sure I'm red as a chili.

"Did you know that our duet has become a hit on YouTube? There’s already been a staggering number of views. I talked to Rafe today, and he told me that a critic is going to After Dark on Friday to meet us. Cool, huh?”

"Wow, Alan! That's great news!” I answer as he passes his arm by my waist and pulls me against him. He squeezes me hard and I feel protected in his arms. All right, he's not as strong as Danny. He has a thin structure, yet he’s still muscular. I try to get away, but he squeezes me a little more.

"I love your spontaneity. And perfume”, he says and licks my neck. I hop off him stepping away slightly.

"Well, Alan... It's really great news. We need to go, don't we, George?” I look at George, who is standing still with our cappuccinos in hand and open-mouthed. I look at Alan again. “It was good to see you. E-mail me the songs you guys want to play on Friday!”

He looks at me with a mischievous smile and nods.

"Sure, pretty girl. I'll send it over. And Friday, you're going to be mine.”

I grab my glass from George's hand, give a wry smile and go out dragging my two friends behind me. After climbing the escalators to the fourth floor of the parking lot as if being chased by the ten plagues of Egypt, George stop me, laughing in my face.

"Well, well, well. What was that?”

"What?” I ask, trying to talk my way out of it, but my tone comes out a little louder than I intended.

"He licked you! Jo, did you see that? A lick on the neck!”

“Of course I did.”

"Me, if I were her, I would have licked him in full, every inch. And I'm sure that in some places, he has several centimeters!”

“ George !”

"Whoa, I'm just telling you the truth. You're red.”

"What? No, I'm not!”

"Yes, you are. Jo, how does she look?”

"On fire!” my friend replies, looking at me. They burst out laughing.

I turn around and go to the parking lot, with the two of them laughing their heads off behind me. I have to go home. Now. Take a shower.

A very cold one.

After the shopping marathon, my week was pretty quiet. I rehearsed quite a lot the setlist of the show on the stage of After Dark that we would present on Friday. Daniel hadn't come back from the business trip yet, which reassured me. Rafe said he should only really come back on Saturday and didn't bring up any obstacle for me to rehearse at the bar. As they say, as soon as the cats get out, the rats throw the party!

Finally Friday arrived. In the afternoon, Jo and I go to a salon near After Dark to fix the hair and get the nails done.

I put on denim shorts and a loose blouse that falls on the shoulder leaving it exposed. On the feet, flat sandals. I let my hair down, even though I can't fix it the way George did.

Yet. Learning to groom myself is among one of my goals for the next few weeks. I hold the makeup case and apply mask on the eyelashes and a gloss.

When I finish, I look closely in the mirror and feel different. It's not just the clothes or the loose hair. It's like there's a different glow in my eyes. A greater awareness of who and what I am, and the certainty that I need to make changes to my life.

The loss of my parents in childhood was a huge impact on my life. The longing and sadness of not having them by my side knows no limit, of course. But more than that, the feeling of being alone in the world, of not having any blood bond with anyone else —even with the Stewarts being amazing people—and losing the key life references that a child may have inevitably influenced me to become the person I am today. Yes, I'm proud of myself, but I'm also fully aware that I need to work on my self-esteem.

As I look towards my reflection in the mirror, I see the face of a person eager for a life change. Of a woman reaching her maturity and achievement. And that awareness makes me feel safer.

With a sigh, I pick up my cell phone and call an Uber to go to Mary and Paul's. I arranged with Jo to have coffee there before we went to the salon.

In the car, I hear my stomach growling and I can barely contain a little smile. I didn’t eat anything beforehand, as Mary is one of those mothers who makes a point of feeding the family. And when I say feeding, I mean really stuffing up. It takes a 14-hour fast to be able to cope with your following breakfast. I don't know how none of us had problems with hormones in our teens.

As soon as I get out of the Uber I see Paul, who's already at the door waiting for me. I run up to him and he gives me a super hug.

"Julie, it’s been so long! We missed you.”

"Me too, Paul," I speak with a smile on my face, showing all the affection I feel for him.

"Let me see you. You’re looking beautiful!”

At this point, Jo comes out of the house and smiles.

"Dad, you didn't see anything. She sang at AD last week. George and I fixed her up and she turned out really hot. She didn't look the same person. Just look at it.”

To my surprise, she opens a picture on her cell phone that I hadn't even seen it had been taken. I recall the exact moment of the photo. I was backstage, next to the guys of the band. George had been kidding with me, talking rubbish, as usual, and I had a big smile. I am surprised by my expression of cheer joy in the photo.