Disclaimer: Nope, Nothing of interest. All I own are dvd boxsets of both seasons, a Harbor sweatshirt hoodie and Peter Gallagher's CD. Who's interested in that, right?
A/N – Hm…there's really no particular time-line to this story. Actually – wait, yes there is a part in here that references some of the things that have happened thus far during S3. So this story is set sometime during early S3. I would say this story takes place after the events of The End of Innocence, but none of the events of the episodes following. At the moment, I don't believe I'll reference many events from the recent episodes at all, I don't think there will be a need but I'm not entirely sure. So if there are any changes I'll let you know.
Rating: T to be on the safe side. Some minor language though nothing heavy. There also may be minor themes implicated later on.
This is my 1st OC fic. Although I'm not new to fanfiction in general so…I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter One : First Impressions
The air was cool in the marble hallway as Seth Cohen dragged his padded feet against the beige tile. Shivering against the slight chill, he pulled his blue cotton robe securely over his lean frame. Rubbing his eyes free of sleep, he dragged himself into the spacey kitchen.
The smell of coffee filled the air and the thought of indulging himself in a cup was all consuming. Seth ran a hand through his mop of curly dark hair, closed his eyes and rolled his neck until he achieved a satisfactory pop. He opened his eyes and smiled at the medium built, sandy-haired young man residing in one of the two barstools at the end of the island.
"Hey, Ryan. Java smells good."
Ryan Atwood held up his coffee mug and nodded his head in acknowledgement.
Reaching for a red coffee mug, Seth grabbed the pot handle. He aimed the spout into the cup but somehow managed to miss the mug altogether. He cursed to himself, set down the pot and reached for a towel. He sopped up the mess and placed the dishrag under the faucet to his left.
Turning on the water, he squealed, dropped the dishrag, and jumped away from the counter. Ryan smirked at the girlish sound that emitted from his best friend.
Seth rubbed his hand against his robe and stared at the sink as if it would reach out and attack him.
"Jeez that was cold water. Freezing water isn't supposed to come out of the spout, at least not when it's on hot. " He muttered and cast a glance to Ryan who just rose his eyebrows in surprise to tell that he knew nothing about it.
Seth frowned and blew hot air into his hands. He sighed as Sandy Cohen, clothed in board shorts and sweatshirt, paced into the kitchen.
"Hot water's out again boys." Sandy informed them. "Went to take a shower after my surf, almost froze to death." He said reaching into the kitchen cupboard for a coffee mug.
Seth nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately we found that out already. My hand had a Mr. Freeze moment." He held up his hand in to his father, who smirked.
Sandy blew his floppy dark hair out of his blue eyes and raised a thick brow. "We're having the water heater fixed this afternoon."
Seth rolled his eyes and heavily sighed. "Ugh… great. Cold water. I'm a child of hot, sunny, southern California and now I'm forced to take cold showers."
"Seth…it's only for a few hours." Ryan reminded him before shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
"A few hours? Ryan its 8am, I'm still in my pajamas, I'm meeting up with Summer in less than an hour, I haven't taken a shower yet this morning, I spilled my coffee, and to top it all off my hand is now a frozen ice cube." He shook his hand to annunciate his point.
Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Uh, Seth, don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?"
"Overreacting?" Seth repeated, his eyes going momentarily wide. "Dude, this is how it always starts."
"What starts?"
"The cycle, man, of a bad day. I mean spilled coffee, cold water, I'm running late, my day's never going to recover. It's cursed now."
Sandy shook his head, "Ah, c'mon Seth, it's not that bad."
Seth turned to face his father. "Okay, uh, Dad did you not hear the part about my having to take a cold shower?"
He nodded his head slowly. "I did son. I did." He chuckled, "But trust me that's nothing compared to what I had to endure in my days as a broke kid attending Berkley."
Seth cast him a sideways glance. "Oh, ' that so? Guess I'll have to take your word for it."
"You bet. Cold showers, squeaky faucets, rodent infested dorm rooms…"
"-Dad, it was Berkeley it couldn't have been that bad, 'sides Mom went to college there too. No way Grandpa would've sent her to a school with…'rodent infested dorm rooms.'" Seth quoted interrupting Sandy, his tone inspired with disbelief as he rolled his eyes.
"Well it wasn't that bad." Sandy confessed with a nod of his head. "But it was pretty bad for a poor Jewish kid from the Bronx. I admit there weren't any rodent infested dorm rooms, but we did have the occasional squeaky faucet and cold water shower." He moved from standing by the coffeepot to stand by the island bar near Ryan.
"Sounds like you had it rough." Ryan commented crunching on his cereal and glancing up at Sandy from his sitting position.
Seth huffed lightly from his position standing on the other side of the island near the refrigerator. "Oh please, he's from The Bronx. Berkley was leisurely, like heaven for him."
Sandy nodded and shrugged. "Well you know…we all had our good days and bad." He leaned his elbows on the counter of the island and bit into an apple. He glanced from Seth to Ryan and his blue eyes sparkled as he lowered his voice, "But I'll tell you this, the best days for me…were always the time and days I spent with your mother."
Seth rolled his eyes and groaned in disgust. Sandy chuckled lightly to himself at his son's obvious discomfort. He leaned towards Ryan and winked with a smirk, causing a small smile to play across Ryan's lips.
"Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun." Ryan said inbetween bites of Wheaties cereal.
Sandy sighed and nodded slowly, his eyes glazing over with the memories. "Ah, we did. We were young, just getting to know each other. It was great."
Seth scoffed. Ryan chuckled.
Sandy sent a mirrored gaze his son's way. "Seth I'm talking about your mother here, could you at least pretend to be a little more respectful?"
"Sure Dad. 'Cept you're talking about you and mom, and you know how I feel about that subject. I'd rather not spend the rest of my failed day dwelling on it."
"Well I'm sorry to hear that you're uncomfortable hearing about your Mother and I."
"Dad, uncomfortable doesn't even begin to cover it. Mortified, now that covers it."
Ryan frowned and gave Seth 'a look'. "C'mon man…" he drawled.
"It's true, Ryan." Seth immeadiately defended himself. "Believe it or not, I didn't always feel this way about it. There was a time when I was more than happy to indulge my parents in their 'old people sex talk' but then I turned 13 and it was the night of my Bar Mitzvah. The party was over, Mom and Dad praised and hugged me as only proud parents would before sending their young man off to bed. Of course I didn't go to bed right away, I was a man now after all, I felt I was entitled to stay up an hour later. Oh how I've regretted that decision ever since. Who knew that the night I was declared a man would actually end with me mortified to ever become a man?"
Sandy rolled his eyes at his son's exaggeration but said nothing.
Ryan frowned, confused. "What could've been that bad that it left you mortified?"
Seth drooped his eyes and rose his brows giving Ryan a look as if to say 'Duh.' "Dude…I walked in on my parents, man."
Ryan suppressed a chuckle. "Well having not been there, I'd say that it was your fault. You caused your own discomfort. Seriously, c'mon, what were you doing in your parent's bedroom?"
"I wasn't in my parents bedroom." Seth defended strongly. "I was walking through the livingroom to get to the kitchen. They were on the couch." He slanted his eyes.
Ryan's eyes went wide and he glanced to Sandy, whose cheeks had gone a light shade of crimson at his son's recollection.
Seth read Ryan's expression. "Yeah that's right, the couch. In the livingroom, on the couch, the couch, Ryan. People sit on the couch. It's for sitting, and it was clear even to a young boy that what they were doing wasn't sitting. I was old enough to know what they were doing, and my poor young innocent eyes at only a mere thirteen got alot more then just a glimpse of his parents. No child should have to have seen that, let alone have the image burned into his corneas."
Sandy shook his head and sighed, "Now Seth…" he said warning his son to not pursue the conversation any further, feeling he had taken it too far already.
Seth held up his hands and motioned with them. "Fine. Yeah. Got it. I'm shutting up now."
Ryan chuckled lightly, Seth shutting up that would be the day. He turned to Sandy with his eyebrows raised. "So did you really…you now I mean…on the couch?" He lowered his voice at his last question and rose an eyebrow.
Sandy shrugged and a sheepish smile spread across his lips. Ryan nodded, his question answered he turned his head away to hide the smile that crossed his lips.
Seth looked from Sandy smiling widely to Ryan who had his head ducked. "Yeah of course, dude. I said I saw it, didn't I? I wouldn't just make this stuff up. I mean it was the livingroom, it was supposed to be neutral territory, as in Non-Sexed Up territory. I thought it was the safe-zone. But after that night I realized that no room in this house was sacred. None, not anymore."
Sandy shot Seth a warning glare that was enough to make the younger boy flinch. Ryan just heaved his shoulders, knowing that Seth was a fan of the over eccentric exaggeration.
Noticing that Ryan was not amused and Sandy not pleased, Seth sighed and hung his head. "Okay. I'm done now." He muttered.
"Good. And just for your information son, this is your parents' house."
"Right. Yes. So I noticed that night of my Bar Mitzvah. I also realized that you two can do whatever you want, wherever you want."
"Seth, that's enough." Sandy said sternly.
"Yeah I'm sorry. Sorry." He apologized feebly.
Sandy looked from the defeated Seth to Ryan. "Well having heard all that, I'm sure you'd like to hear the story of the night Seth was conceived." He winked at the blonde haired boy and smiled.
This emitted a disgusted groan from Seth who hung his head to the side. "Oh, god, please no. I can go my entire life without hearing that story, spare me the embarrassment. And please spare Ryan from what I'm sure is going to be a horrendously visual recollection."
His plea fell on deaf ears, as Sandy looked from his disgruntled son to Ryan who with a shrug replied, "I don't mind."
Seth groaned again and saving himself from what he was sure to be a humiliating moment, shuffled away from the kitchen island to the table, where he slumped into a chair and let his head drop to the table. He buried his head in his arms hoping that most of the conversation would be too muffled for him to make out a single word.
Both Sandy and Ryan smiled at Seth's embarrassment, before Sandy turned to tell his story to Ryan, eyes sparkling as he recalled the events.
"Well it was shortly after Kirsten and I had married. We moved into this cramped little house in Berkeley, much to her father's chagrin, but I had just started a job as a lawyer in the DA's office, and Kirsten was working on her art history degree. At this time I was swamped at work and we barely saw each other during the day, but at night…" Sandy chuckled, "Night was the best time for us. We spent as many nights as we could together. I would come home from an entire day of work, exhausted, and Kirsten would welcome me with open arms and dinner, she didn't cook it of course, she was never much of a cook. She tried too at first, but after burning three consecutive breakfasts and letting a roast burn dry during the first month or so of our marriage, she realized then that we would just be better off eating take-out, so I she would order Chinese and by the time I got home we would eat. During dinner we would catch each other up on how our day went."
Ryan crunched on his cereal as he replied, "Sounds nice."
Sandy nodded. "Yes it was. She would catch me up on the latest gossip and I would tell her about the DA office's newest pro-bono case. Now I knew she would feign amusment, she really didn't care for the cases at the office unless they were something catchy and high profile. I think the only reason she pretended to listen to me was because, and even to this day, everything I said was charming. Believe it or not, Kirsten found me quite the charmer."
Hearing this, Seth huffed and snickered from his position by the table.
His father frowned, "It's true," He told his son. Seth just waved a dismissive hand in the air.
Sandy sighed and looked back to Ryan. "I was a charmer alright… on the couch, on the table…In fact, I remember Kirsten and I had quite the encounter on the living room sofa one night."
"Ah you're one for the romance, I see." Ryan said with a nod of his head so Sandy would know he was paying attention.
Sandy smiled and tilted his head, "Well you know…" His voice trailed as he shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I do have mad skills in that department."
Ryan smiled and Sandy continued, " If I recall correctly I had just gotten home from work and surprised Kirsten with a wide arrays of flowers, after she had gotten over the initial shock, well…let's just say we christened the couch that night when we…"
"What did we christen? I heard we christened something?" Kirsten asked as she walked into the kitchen to join the three men.
Seth lifted his head to greet his mother with a nod upwards and Ryan smiled, "Good morning."
A smile spread across Sandy's face at the sight of his wife. "Oh, honey, Good Morning." He leaned in and greeted Kirsten with a swooping kiss he displayed just for the kids. It received the wanted result as Seth scrunched up his face and Ryan smirked, but looked away.
Kirsten blushed as he brought her back up, "Sandy! Well, Good Morning to you too." She chuckled. "So what was I hearing? What is it that we christened, dear?" She looked from Sandy's smirking face to Ryan with a raise of her eyebrow.
"Sandy was just recounting the events of Seth conception for me." Ryan filled her in.
"Oh?" She looked back to Sandy. "You were telling Ryan that we christened the couch?" She asked with a frown.
Sandy shrugged. "Yeah. Honey don't you remember the night I came home with two bouquets of flowers for you?"
She nodded. "Yes. If I remember correctly that night ended with the two of us on the table."
Sandy nodded, "That's right. That's right." He looked to Ryan who furrowed his brows in confusion, "You guys did it on the table?" He asked in mild disbelief.
"Well of course." Sandy replied. "In fact we still have that table." He looked to Kirsten, "That's right, we do." She confirmed with a nod. "It was a wedding gift from my parents." She added talking to Ryan.
"It's the only piece of furniture we brought here from our house in Berkeley." Sandy motioned with his head to the kitchen table where Seth was laying his head in embarrassment. "It's been our kitchen table for over 20 years."
Seth heard this and his eyes widened, he shot up from the table and pulled his arms away as he sprung up out of the chair. He crunched up his face and shook his arms as he gave out a disgusted cry and cringed his body.
Ryan smirked at his actions and Kirsten looked from Seth to Sandy. "Not only that, Ryan," He continued looking to Ryan and then Kirsten, "We used to christen the furniture all over the house. The table, the couch, remember when we christened the hot tub for the first time?" His eyes sparkled at the recollection.
Kirsten smiled and her eyes sparkled as well as she remembered, "Sandy…" she started, "What have you been telling our boys?" She smirked in amusement.
"Only the truth." He chuckled.
Seth looked away from standing near the table and turned to his mother. "God, mom, please make him stop. I don't think I can take anymore of the love-making in odd and visually mortifying places." He cast his glance towards the table, "And oh god, I can barely look at this table let alone eat at it ever again!" He groaned in disgust and hung his head to the side.
Ryan leaned over the island chair and lightly patted Seth's arm, "It's alright buddy," he muttered quietly, somewhat amused. Dismissing Seth's exaggeration with a slight roll of her eyes, Kirsten lightly slapped Sandy, a playful smile crossing her lips.
"What?" He asked her with a smile. "Honey, I was simply reliving all the fun we had in our younger years."
She eyed him warily, not entirely believing the explanation for his motive, but then crossed her arms and smirked flirtatiously at him. "Yeah, well we're still young." She said with a small smile, her eyes slanting seductively.
Sandy matched her eyes and his voice lowered, "Oh, but we don't christen the furniture nearly as much." He waggled his brows in enjoyment and leaned over and kissed the side of her head, and pulled her hair behind her ear so he could place a kiss on it.
"Sandy! What are doing?" She gasped through giggles as the feel of his breath tickled her ear.
"I'm trying to prove my point…" His voice rasped quietly "…with a visual aid." He finished, kissing the side of her head again, and bringing his arm across her waist pulling her closer to him.
Hearing this, Ryan blushed and turned his head away and eagerly ate what was left of the cereal in his bowl. From his standing position Seth scoffed, tilted his head to the side and shut his eyes as he turned his gaze away from his parents.
"Oh, dad, we got it. Trust me, we get the point and believe it or not, we need no visual aids. I have plenty of my own and they're bad enough." He drew his hands and held the side of his head as he continued, "And please god, don't tell me you two have christened the pool house."
Hearing this, Ryan looked up from his empty bowl and raised his eyebrows, that thought hadn't crossed his mind.
Sandy shrugged and a light blush crept his cheeks, Kirsten titled her head and averted her eyes to the side. Noticing his parents' hesitation, Seth's eyes grew wide and he gaped his mouth. "Ah, I was only kidding, I didn't think that you'd actually…" He couldn't even finish his sentence, as he turned away with a mumbled "Oh my god…" as he groaned.
"Twice." Sandy finally answered sheepishly.
Kirsten looked to Sandy, "Actually it was three…" He frowned and she caught his eyes, "…Remember?" She prodded his memory as she rose her eyebrows.
Realization dawned on Sandy as he recalled the night, "Oh, right." He turned to Seth who looked at him with wide eyes, "Your mother's right, it was three."
Seth ran his hand down his face. "Ugh, I can't take this…just the thought of my parents on the…the…in the…pool-…pool-" He stammered over his words, the thought making him nauseous as his imagination burned the image into his brain.
Kirsten looked to Seth and then to Ryan who was a light shade of crimson, he rose his eyebrows his expression quizzical. As Seth ranted on the doorbell rang.
He sighed as his body fidgeted, glad for the distraction of a visitor. "Oh, please be the sound of sweet death!" He rushed out of the kitchen to answer the door, as Sandy and Kirsten made no motion to move.
Kirsten caught Ryan's 'look.' A comforting smiled crossed her lips, "Oh don't worry, honey. It was long before you came to live with us."
"Oh yeah." Sandy added. "It's been thoroughly scrubbed down since then." His eyes twinkled as he smiled.
Ryan chuckled lightly, and embarrassed that she had even caught on to his question, brought his gaze to look away from them and to stare at the countertop.
Seth took his steps hurriedly and swiftly opened the door to ensure that whoever was behind it wouldn't be waiting too long. He breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes were met instantly with liquid brown pools.
"Oh, thank god, Sum-"
Taking one look over him she interrupted, "Cohen why aren't you dressed?" Summer asked, motioning with her hands to his appearance.
He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Well between imagining the kitchen table on fire and being scared celibate, the truth is, I didn't have time."
She frowned, clearly confused. "Wait a minute…what did you say?"
His mouth opened to explain, but he shook his head changing his mind, and took a hold of her arm. "Just…c'mere." She followed as he pulled her into the kitchen, stumbling upon a conversation already taking place.
"…And then I did one of these." Sandy was explaining to Ryan who was listening and watching intently as Kirsten gasped in surprise while Sandy suddenly took her in his arms. Caught off guard her sudden surprise turned into a fit of giggles as he twirled her in place demonstrating his past actions for Ryan. He then gently leaned her over and placed a kiss on her lips.
Ryan was grinning from ear to ear as he watched their display and Kirsten blushed red but giggled as Sandy wore a smile. She dislocated out of his arms, and placed her hands on his chest, as he kept one arm around her waist.
"And that's how I wooed her with my charm, and obviously, I would consider that our first date. Really, I'd like to think of it as the night she fell in love with me." Sandy finished explaining his smile grew broader as he cast a loving glance to his wife besides him.
Kirsten looked up at him, the same look of love in her eyes, and she agreed with a small nod, "Well you know, it was the eighties," she explained to Ryan, "…and I was a little bit drunk that night, and well, who could resist this?" She said touching her hand to his left cheek and placing a kiss on the other to prove her point.
Summer broke her arm away from Seth's light hold and her facial features softened as she cooed, "Awww…Cohen, your parents… that is so cute!"
Before Seth could say anything, Kirsten turned around upon hearing Summer's voice. "Oh, hi Summer." She quickly broke away from her husband's arms as she attempted to explain feebly, "Sandy and I were…"
"Dancing." Ryan finished for her, as he grinned up at Summer in acknowledgement of her presence.
"Yeah, we were just rekindling the magic for Ryan. And… a little bit for ourselves, I must admit." Sandy explained looking to Kirsten and then back to Summer with a small toothy smile.
Seth shook his head and in a criss-cross motion shook his arms in the air besides his chest and walked into the kitchen. "No, No, No. From here on in no more rekindling the magic. And please, god, if you have to, definitely don't do it in the kitchen of all places. In fact I'd appreciate it if there was no more further talk about rekindling anything, and none of this christening the furniture stuff, I think I've heard about all my stomach can muster of that, and please no more…" He did the best he could to imitate his parent's twirling in the kitchen with a motion of his hands, "Conoodling over the bagels. We eat them for breakfast."
He sighed the last part out exasperatedly as he walked to the counter island and reaching past Sandy, Kirsten and Ryan, he grabbed the bagel basket off from the middle of the counter and walked to the table with it. Eight set of eyes watched him curiously as he walked to the kitchen table with the basket and just when he was about to place it on the table, he hesitated, and thinking twice about putting the basket there, he quickly turned to the side and plopped it on the floor next to his feet.
Ryan chuckled at Seth's odd behavior, Summer frowned and slanted her eyes trying to figure him out. Sandy's brows furrowed in confusion, and Kirsten frowned, "Seth!" She quizzically exclaimed as only a mother could, and awaited his answer.
Seth turned back to face his mother, "Well you don't expect me to still eat bagels on this table after that horrifying story you just felt the need to have to share with Ryan and I, do you?" When no one answered he continued with his train of thought, "You know what, better yet..."
He walked to the left end of the table, "Ryan," he gestured to Ryan and the blond haired boy jolted up in attention, "Grab the other end and we'll throw it outside." Ryan sighed at Seth's exaggeration and leaned an elbow on the island counter where he was sitting, Seth continued as he motioned to his girlfriend, "Sum, find some matches…"
"Seth." Sandy warned lightly with a shake of his head, as Kirsten fidgeted besides him. Seth rolled his eyes knowing that plan was foiled from the start.
"Cohen, what are you doing?" Summer asked him with a shrug of her hands.
"We're not eating on this table before it's disinfected. Until it's properly and painstakingly wiped down, we're eating on the floor." He answered her gesturing to the basket of bagels to the right of his feet.
Summer frowned and dropped her shoulders, "Okay, Seth, what's up? Why are you acting so strangely all of a sudden?"
"What's up?" He repeated looking to her, "Oh I dunno, why don't you ask them." He nodded with his head to his parents who stood near the counter behind Summer.
She turned to face Sandy and Kirsten. "What's the matter with him? Why is he acting this way?"
Sandy shrugged it off dismissively and Kirsten rolled her eyes, his actions predictable. "Oh it's nothing." She assured her.
"Yeah," Ryan agreed, "He's just overreacting. Sandy just spent the better part of an hour telling us the story of when Seth was conceived on that table." He gestured to the kitchen table that Seth stood near.
Summer's eyes slightly widened and she rose her brows in surprise. "Oh…" She nodded her head in understanding as she turned to face Seth who was rambling something to himself about the cleanliness of the kitchen as a whole.
"Is that all it is?" She said to Seth who met his eyes with hers and shrugged with a nod as if to say, "Yeah, duh."
Summer blew if off with a "Pfft…" of her lips, "Seth you're way overreacting about this. There's nothing to be ashamed of." She tried to calm him down.
"Now Seth calm down," Sandy added, "We've had this same table for twenty years and so what ifyou were conceived on it…" he trailed off as his voiced lowered and he added with recollection, "…Or… it could've been the patio table." He looked to Kirsten with a frown as he tried to remember.
Her expression looked just as quizzical, "Well yeah now that you mention it, that could be a possibility."
"Oh my god No! What is this Sex and the City meets Desperate Housewives?" Seth exclaimed as his eyes widened, "Is there anywhere and any room in that house that you guys didn't have sex in that night?"
Summer and Ryan turned to look to Kirsten and Sandy awaiting an answer from them. "Well?" Seth prodded after a moment of prolonged hesitation from the two.
Sandy shrugged to answer, "Well son, to be honest, the events of that night are alittle hazy, it was over 18 years ago, and-and we might have had some wine to drink and… well, we did it pretty much everywhere that night."
Seth sighed and dropped his head in disgust, "Ugh," He groaned, "And I thought Julie and Jimmy Cooper did it like rabbits." He muttered to himself but audible enough for everyone else to hear. "Great." He continued to ramble to himself, "Now the patio table has to go too."
He lifted his head up and trailed passed his parents and Ryan, grasping Summer's arm, "C'mon Summer we gotta go find some matches and then drag the patio and kitchen tables to the beach. Guess we'll just have a bonfire tonight and we'll cook some s'mores or something…"
Summer sighed and pulled away from his loose grasp, she lightly cuffed him over the head. "Ow!" he exclaimed softly instantly running a hand to the back of his head.
"What is wrong with you?" She asked him, hands on her hips.
He rubbed the aching spot on his head with more pressure, "What you mean besides the fact that my brain's now bruised?" He replied dryly.
Interrupting Summer's reply, the phone rang and Kirsten reached over Sandy to grab it and look at the caller ID. She sighed as she read the name, "It's Julie."
"Julie?" Sandy repeated. "What is she doing calling you at this hour?"
"Dad, it's 9am." Seth informed him. Sandy just looked to Seth and shrugged a whatever, as Kirsten explained.
"Well you know honey, with both my father and Jimmy gone and Marissa staying with you," She motioned to Summer who nodded her head, "Julie's been lonely lately, and she needs a friend, someone to talk to."
Sandy rose his eyebrows in surprise. "And she chose you?"
Kirsten sighed, "Well Julie doesn't have a lot of friends…" a thought occurred to her "…actually she's doesn't have any friends." She corrected herself. "And she hasn't seen Taryn and the girls since they excluded her from the group during her…" She suddenly became aware of the three teenagers in the kitchen, and realized that the kids didn't know anything about Julie's porn tape scandal last year.
Sandy caught on to her hesitance. "…during her personal debacle last year." He finished.
She nodded grateful for his save. "Right, so you know, now that she's been forced to start over her life, I just don't want to see her sad, and if I can be there as a friend for her…then I guess I am. After all she was married to my father and in a way became part of our family, and she does consider me her closet friend."
"Her only friend." Sandy reminded his wife.
Kirsten titled her head, accepting that. "I promised her that we'd have lunch at the club today, my treat."
"So why's she calling now?" Sandy asked. Kirsten shook her head and pushed the 'talk' button, placing the phone to her ear. "Oh, hi Julie!" She exclaimed walking out of the kitchen for privacy.
As they talked, Ryan stood up and walked around them to the sink, rinsing his empty cereal bowl before placing it in the dishwasher and leaning his back against the counter.
Still absentmindedly rubbing the sore spot on his head, Seth commented. "I hope Mom and Julie Cooper don't become too schmoozey with each other. I'd hate to lose another family member to the dragon-lady."
"Believe it or not, son," Sandy replied, "Julie Cooper wasn't always the dragon-lady. In fact at one point in her life she was considerate of others. Of course that wasn't until after your mother and I had wed, and she was married to Jimmy."
"But she was also only 18." Ryan added, remembering their history having heard it from Marissa.
"Ah yes, young Julie Cooper. Fresh out of Riverside, a newlywed, and pregnant with a baby. I remember those days well." Sandy sighed.
"I'm sorry but it's hard to picture Julie Cooper young and not… rich." Seth stated.
"Well at one point we were all young and not rich." Sandy informed them. "In fact I was poor as dirt when I was in college, I struggled just to make it through paying off my student loans. I didn't have a penny to my name when I met your mother."
Summer perked up, "Oh how'd you two meet, Mr. C?" She asked.
"Oh, well it's a long story." He replied. "I don't know if you'd be up to hearing it."
Seth shook his head. "Yeah, that's right, I think I've had my full of stories today."
Summer lightly swatted him on the chest. "Of course I'm up to it. We've got no where to be."
"What about the mall?" Seth asked her, hoping to spare himself from yet another story.
Summer dismissed it away. "Oh that? You're not even dressed and we already missed the sale at Abercrombie & Fitch a half-hour ago. Besides, we can go to the mall any day, but it's not everyday that we get a chance to hear this." She giddily pulled out the bar stool that Ryan had been previously sitting in while he ate at the island, and she took a seat, indicating that she'd be there for a while.
"Ryan, why don't you come over here and take a seat?" Sandy motioned to him. "You got anywhere to be?" He asked as Ryan pulled out the stool next to Summer, "Nope." He answered sitting down next to the energetic brunette. "And after everything that I've heard this far, I wouldn't want to miss out."
Sandy smiled. "That's the spirit. Seth," He looked to his son, "You gonna join us?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Sorry father but I'm afraid to admit that I'm going to have to unfortunately skip out on this quality time. You guys have fun though." His lack of enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed by the three, as he mumbled a hasty, "I'm just gonna go…take a shower." They watched as he made his retreat from the kitchen and stumbled up the stairs to his room.
"Well guys, are you comfy?" Sandy asked Summer and Ryan drawing their attention back to him, "Cause you know how us lawyers like to talk."
They nodded to confirm that they were comfortable and Sandy rested his hands on the countertop. "Well When I first met Kirsten, actually she was Kirsten Nichol at that time, it was back in 1983 and we both were attending college at Berkley…
Flashback
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY
OCTOBER 31, 1983
Young Sandy Cohen shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I just can't do it tonight."
Paul Glass, Sandy's friend and fellow law student, stood up from the chair where the two men were sitting, conversing in the library. "C'mon man…it'll just be the two of us and Kelly."
Sandy shrugged his shoulders as he looked over his law book, "Look, the last thing I want to do is play third wheel to you and your girlfriend. You guys go and have a good time. Besides, I should hit the books tonight."
Paul sighed. "Sandy, you're always hitting the books. You get good grades every semester and you're excelling. You definitely don't need to be hitting the books, especially since you've been studying every night for the past couple of months. Ever since Rebecca left, you've been-"
Sandy exhaled sharply and looked to his friend. "This isn't about Rebecca." He cut in.
Paul rose his eyebrows. "Really? Then show me. Come with Kelly and me to the Halloween party tonight. It'll be fun."
Sandy sighed and turned his palm upwards, "Oh I dunno…" he hesitated uncertain.
"C'mon…" Paul persisted placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Rebecca's gone. She's been gone for months. You need to move on and start living again. The books can wait, you need to have some fun for a change. Come with us."
"Well…" Sandy debated, he had to give Paul credit, he was a good speaker, great with persuasion.
"It's understandable that your hesitant, you were with Rebecca for 3 years. But things change and you just can't stop living after stuff happens. You find a way to move on and get past it. This is the perfect opportunity for you to move on and get to know some new people, new girls in particular."
Paul was persuasive. "Okay, I guess." Sandy answered with a heavy sigh.
"Great!" Paul exclaimed a little louder than what was allowed in the library. Studying students turned their eyes towards the two men, distracted. Paul quickly lowered his gaze and his voice as he sat back down into the chair facing Sandy and continued, "This is great, man. We're gonna have fun tonight."
Sandy agreed with a wayward tilt of his head. "Yeah. You, me, your girlfriend…"
"Oh look, if you want a date, I can set you up with somebody."
Sandy cast an unbelieving glance to his friend, "Oh, who? Chandra Woo? Or maybe the cafeteria lunch lady?" He asked with a raise of his bushy eyebrows.
"No. I've got something even better, Kelly's dorm mate. Her and Kelly are always talking, I hear she's single."
Sandy chuckled. "Paul..." he said in warning
Paul nodded. " Look this'll be perfect, you can come with me to pick up Kelly at the dorm tonight, and then you can pick up Kirsten."
Sandy rose an eyebrow and glanced up at his friend, "Kirsten?"
"Yeah. That's her name. Kirsten Nichol."
"Nichol, as in Caleb Nichol?" Sandy had heard of him, the man was making quite the living in Newport Beach, word had it that he owned Newport. The King of Newport, that's what he was becoming.
"Yep. That's the one." Paul confirmed with a nod of his head.
Sandy couldn't help but smirk. "C'mon…there's no way a girl like that is going to want to go on a date with me. I mean look at me. I'm a poor Jewish kid from the Bronx, with bushy eyebrows, what's the rich 'Princess of Newport' going to see in me?"
"She's not a princess." Paul defended. Sandy shot him a slanted glance.
"Fine okay." Paul relented. "Maybe she is. But she's not the princess of Newport, Orange County, maybe yes, but…"
Sandy cast him a slanted glare. "Hm. Yeah, Paul, that doesn't help. Orange County is even bigger."
"Okay, just don't worry about it." Paul tried to reassure him. "After all, you've still got the eyebrows that make the Cal ladies swoon. What's not to love about you?"
"I don't know, Paul. I haven't been on a blind date since before-" Sandy cut himself off as he found his thoughts wavering to Rebecca. Rebecca Bloom. The love of his life, she was Jewish, brunette, her father was his mentor. God, how he missed her.
"This'll be good for you, man." Paul said catching on to Sandy's hesitance. "This date will be good for you. Think about it, you need to move on, and pretty, blond, Protestant, Kirsten Nichol is everything Rebecca wasn't, they're complete opposites. And you know what they say about opposites." He added with a wink.
"Fine. Perhaps you're right." He sighed in response.
"I know I'm right."
"Okay, Okay," Sandy motioned with his hands. "I'm cool with it. I'll be there with…" He rolled his head, "Kirsten Nichol."
"Awesome. Great." Paul looked at his watch. "Speaking of which, I have to go catch up with Kelly. Oh this will be perfect, I'll just talk to her and get her to persuade Kirsten into a double date."
"With a complete stranger." Sandy reminded him.
"Fine a blind date then, whatever. Don't sweat it man, just charm her with those eyebrows of yours. I'm telling you, you'll have her swooning over you in no time."
Sandy chuckled. "Ha. Ha. That's a pretty convincing speech. Too bad I don't believe you."
Paul just smirked and tilted his head in response.
"Look, I gotta get back to studying since I'm going out tonight…" Sandy explained.
"Right, right, right. I'll leave you to that." Paul stood up, and Sandy went back to his book reading. Paul did a double-take.
"Oh, before I forget," He added turning to Sandy. "It's a Halloween party, so Kelly and I will be dressing up tonight."
Sandy looked up from his books. "And what do you suggest I be? I haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was 8. I'm not really the costume wearing type."
Paul shrugged and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Oh don't worry about it, just throw something together. Maybe a…mask or something to cover up those eyebrows." He suggested.
Sandy frowned, "I thought you said I had eyebrows that make the Cal ladies swoon?"
Paul nodded. "Well you do. But you're going on a date tonight, my friend. The first date, might I mention, that you've been on for years. You don't want to scare Kirsten away before you even get the chance to talk to her." He added with a smile.
"Oh thanks, pal. That's very reassuring." Sandy replied sarcastically. "How 'bout I just throw a bag over my head and call myself the elephant man? After all for all she'll know I have a trunk and tusks, It'll be like I'll be something walking right out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not."
"That would work." Paul chuckled. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah." Sandy muttered with a smirk nodding his head as he turned back to study his law book.
------------------------------
"Ah, man that paper bag looks ridiculous." Paul commented with a smile as the two men walked down the hallway of the girl's dormitory. "I thought you were joking about the paper bag thing."
Sandy shrugged his shoulders, the end of the paper bag crinkling with every movement. "Look, the only reason why I'm coming tonight is because you convinced me to have more fun."
"I did. But I don't think a paper bag over your head is a requirement of that." Paul replied.
"If you recall I didn't want to come to this Halloween party in the first place. Odds are that I'm just gonna meet some chick who probably has frizzy hair that fingers could get stuck in, a mustache inherited from her grandmother, and a horrendous case of halitosis."
"Halitosis?" Paul frowned. "Bad breath? C'mon man…"
"I'm serious. I'm serious. That's why the paper bag." Sandy quipped pointing to the bag on his head.
Paul rolled his eyes and nodded, the two were still smiling when they reached the girl's room.
"Here we are," Paul said as they stopped by the door. He lightly slapped Sandy on the back, "It'll be okay. You'll do fine. Even with that bag on your head."
Sandy's voice was muffled as he chuckled behind the paper bag. He had cut three holes in the bag, a place for his mouth and two slots for his eyes. It ended up looking more like a jack-o-lantern face then anything else.
"Hm. This place is not too shabby." He commented, his voice muffled by the bag on his head. He looked around the neatly-kept dorm, and glanced into a room that had been vacated for the moment. "It's definitely in better condition then the men's dorm."
"Yes, that's because they're women, they clean, it's what they do." Paul rapped once on the door and Sandy shifted his feet as they waited.
He looked his friend over and frowned, but Paul wouldn't have been able to see his expression anyway. "Who are you supposed to be again?"
Paul was dressed in flashy white bell-bottoms with a shirt and vest to match, fake gold necklaces hung at his neck, and he wore a fake black wig and a matching bushy mustache. "Sonny Bono, man. I thought you knew that."
Sandy slowly nodded his head. "Oh, right. I should've guessed. So I'm assuming here then that Kelly must be Ch-"
"Cher!" Paul exclaimed as Kelly opened her dorm room in her Halloween costume. She wore the exact same outfit to Paul, except she wore her usually curly black hair, straight down to her back, with extensions obviously to the rest to make it longer, turquoise earrings dangled at her ears, and platform sandals completed her outfit.
"Hey." She smiled giving Paul a brief kiss.
"You look great." He commented as they pulled away.
"Hey Sandy." Kelly acknowledged him with a smirk. "And who are you supposed to be?"
Sandy wore a faded gray suit, no tie with an open collar, polished black dress shoes on his feet, and of course the paper bag over his head. "The blind date." He answered with a chuckle.
"He took that literally, I see." She commented to Paul with a smile. "Well…" Kelly still held the door open and looked to her back inside the room, "Kirsten should be here any minute. She was touching up her last minute costume stuff."
"Are we waiting on me?" Kirsten said with a smile as she appeared in the room.
"Kirsten, you look radiant." Paul said in greeting. Kirsten blushed, "That's very sweet of you, Paul. Thanks."
"Oh, you do look good." Kelly nodded looking to Kirsten her stood behind her.
Kirsten was dressed in a flowing pink gown that clung to her curves, her blonde hair curled with ringlets falling upon her face, a fake silver crown rested amongst the mop of curls, glittering jewels hung on her ears and neck, and the tips of silver dress shoes peaked out from underneath the mass of fabric that flowed freely from her waist to brush the floor.
Kirsten shrugged unsurely at her appearance. "Uh, I don't know. I don't look that good."
Kelly shook her head. "Aw c'mon give yourself some credit girl. You did a marvelous job at making yourself up. See I told ya all those gym lessons would pay off." She joked and winked to Paul who smiled and added, "You make a beautiful Princess Kirst."
Kirsten brushed her arms across her flowing dress, ruffling the sleeves. "If you say so."
"Oh you do. Trust me. You look fine." Kelly reassured her, rubbing her hand over the length of Kirsten's dress, smoothing out the wrinkles.
Sandy shuffled his feet and looked at the woman that he was supposed to be dating tonight. So this was her, huh? Well, she didn't look too bad. Blondes really weren't his type, but for being Caleb Nichol's daughter, he had to give her credit, she did look good, better then he had expected for a spoiled rich girl. But he could only chuckle once he realized she dressed up as a princess. But like they say, "If the shoe fits…"
"Oh," Paul faintly jolted as he remembered Sandy by his side. "I almost forgot to introduce you," he held out a hand towards Kirsten, "Kirsten this is my friend Sandy Cohen. Sandy this is-"
"Kirsten Nichol. I know. I've heard a lot about you."
Kirsten eyed him warily, she couldn't keep her gaze away from the paper bag he had on his head. "Uh, hi." She answered amusement evident in her voice.
Beneath his paper bag, Sandy smiled amused that she was amused. "Hi."
He locked his eyes with her, and held her gaze. Blue eyes. She had liquid blue eyes, like pools of the ocean. For some reason he couldn't pull away, it was like an instant attraction, pulling him and his senses, he couldn't tear his gaze away from her. And for her part, she couldn't either.
She had to admit, he wasn't what she was expecting, and she did find him a bit odd with the bag over his head, but perhaps, she thought to herself, it was better this way. Maybe he was some ugly duckling, with gapped teeth and a bad case of halitosis, hence the reason behind his paper bag. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could see his eyes, he had brown eyes that instantly pulled her to look at them, gaze into them, and in turn perhaps see a recess of his soul.
Paul and Kelly exchanged glances as their two friends became silent, lost in their thoughts. He cleared his throat snapping the two out of their reveries. "Well shall we go. We don't want to miss the party."
"Yeah, I'd hate to miss that." Sandy quipped sarcastically.
Paul shot him a look as Kelly wrapped her arm around his and they made their way to Paul's car parked outside.
Following behind, Sandy struck up a conversation with Kirsten Nichol. "So have you ever been to this Halloween party. I hear they have one every year."
She shrugged. "Yeah, usually."
"Hm." Sandy acknowledged, nodding his head. She was quiet and more reserved than what he had been expecting. "I've never been to this party. Tonight's my first time." He shared with her.
"Oh. Well it's – fun." Was all she said.
They walked in silence as Sandy took a moment to observe her, finally he said, "You don't talk much, do you?"
She faintly chuckled. "Do you usually talk this much?" She smiled at him.
He shrugged and returned the smile, although she couldn't see it. "Only when I'm nervous."
"You're nervous?" She inquired with a raise of her eyebrows.
"Just a little bit." He answered.
She smiled and looked down shyly, as if his admitting that he was nervous to be going out with her, had her embarrassed. She pulled a lock of curly hair out of her face, and it was then that Sandy realized just how beautiful she was. She had a cute button nose, he thought, and her sparkling blue eyes shone through accentuating her face with a golden light.
She caught him gazing at her and smiled timidly, he looked away discomfited that she had caught him staring. He opened the door for her, and she acknowledged his chivalry with a faint smile, but neither said much of anything else as they joined their friends in Paul's car and headed to the party.
The Halloween party was held in the Alpha Beta Gamma dormitory and a couple hours into it, Sandy was already wishing he was back at his dorm studying. Sure, he enjoyed his date, but parties weren't really his thing, and now he knew why as he watched most of the party-goers drink bottles and bottles of beer and throw up near the bathroom.
He sighed, he had taken a seat on a vacated couch, a half-hour ago he had lost sight of his date. He thought he had seen her a few minutes ago talking with the walking skeleton near the corner of the room, but he didn't see her now.
In the center of the room there was a barrel for the bobbing-apples. Of course this being a college Halloween party, the apples were bobbing in a barrel full of beer. Now he liked beer, but something about that just seemed wrong to him. At the moment the skeleton, a bunny, a jedi from the Star Wars movies, and a walking zombie were enjoying bobbing for the apples and dunking their faces in the liquid pool of beer.
He took a sip from the half-empty bottle of Budweiser he held in his hand. It was his first and only drink of the night, he decided as he watched the bunny make a hasty retreat from the barrel to throw-up in a corner of the room.
----------"Huh." Ryan interjected Sandy. "A man is really degrading himself dressing up as a bunny."
"He was a pink bunny." Sandy added with a smile.
"Pink? Oh," Ryan grimaced. "That's just - sad."
Sandy laughed. "Yeah, he was quite a sight. It didn't help him either when he's dressed up in a giant pink bunny suit tossing his cookies all over the dance floor."
"Ah, but it was eighties." Ryan explained it away, smirking. "Sorry to interrupt. Go on." He said with a wave of his hand.
Sandy chuckled. "Right. So anyway I'm just sitting there watching these guys and Paul comes up to me…"
------------
"Hey how's it going?" Paul asked him, shouting over the music.
"It's good." He shouted back.
"Having fun?" Paul inquired.
"Not really." He answered.
"Sorry to hear that."
"Party's aren't really my thing." He shouted back.
"Whoa, I'm feeling a little dizzy." Paul held his head and swayed slightly. The bag on his head crinkled as Sandy moved over on the couch so Paul could sit down.
"How many beers did you have?" He asked his friend.
"Only two. But I may have gotten worked up dancing."
"Dancing?" Sandy frowned.
"Yeah they have some karaoke thing going in the other room. Kelly an I were competing with Barbara Streisand and Elton John. I think we may have one too."
"You think?"
He shrugged. "Well I don't really know. Elton sorta passed out drunk right on the floor during his big musical number. And Barbara, well I think Ray Charles swooped her off her feet because the two disappeared right before she was to sing her musical number."
"What was she supposed to sing?" Sandy asked.
" 'It Only Takes a Moment'." Paul replied with a smile.
Sandy chuckled. "Well by the sound of it, it only took Ray a moment too." The two men shared a laugh.
"Did you get a sight of Thumper over there?" Sandy said in amusement gesturing his head to the bunny who was keeling over in the corner.
Paul chuckled, "That guy is so wasted."
"Yeah." Sandy smiled and agreed
"So what do you think of your date?" Paul asked him. "She everything you expected?"
"Actually, she's everything that I didn't expect." Sandy answered honestly.
"Really?" Paul was surprised. "Is that a good thing?"
Sandy nodded. "It could be."
"So you like her then?" Paul asked, amused.
"Maybe. I don't know. Don't get ahead of yourself. She's just totally unlike what I had expected. When I look at her, I get this feeling that there's just so much more to her then what meets the eye."
"I told you. Opposites attract." Paul said with a wink.
Sandy opened his mouth to object, but Paul cut him off. "Where is she, by the way?" He asked looking around the room.
Sandy shook his head, the bag crinkling. "Beats me. I thought I saw her talking to the skeleton about a half-hour ago. But I lost sight of her."
"She's quite the party girl, so I hear." Paul commented.
Sandy was surprised to hear this, he rose his eyebrows. "Really?"
Paul nodded. "Yeah."
"But she's so quiet." Sandy was finding it hard to believe.
"She may be that, but she's quite the drinker, or so Kelly says."
"So she's a rich girl with a naughty streak. Rebellious daughters of rich fathers. There's one I didn't see coming a mile away." Sandy quipped.
"Yeah well if you find her keep an eye on her."
"What if she's drunk?" Sandy asked as Paul stood up.
He shrugged in reply, "Then just…give her your bag to toss her cookies into." He gestured to the bag on his head.
Paul adjusted the collar on his suit. "Well, I'll catch up with you later, don't want to miss my musical number with Cher."
"I Got You Babe?" Sandy asked.
Paul shook his head, "All I Really Want To Do." He smiled a toothy grin behind his fake mustache. "Oh hey," Paul rummaged in the pockets of his white polyester bell-bottoms. He took out his car keys, "Here if you find Kirsten, drive her back to her dorm." He tossed the keys to Sandy.
Catching them, Sandy asked, "Why, what are you doing?"
Paul smiled at him mischievously and said, "I'm spending the night with Kelly. It could be a pretty late night too, I wouldn't wait up if I were you." He winked at his friend, not so subtly.
Sandy chuckled. "Well good luck with that."
"I assure you, I intend to get luck involved tonight, if you know what I mean."
Sandy nodded, he knew what he meant. He watched as Paul went off to find Kelly, and noticed that Thumper was now in a drinking match with various costumed characters huddled around him, cheering him on. He rolled his eyes, the last thing Thumper needed to do was to drink some more. He turned his gaze and took the last sip of his beer, out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of pink and gold.
He stood up to see Kirsten swaggering towards him. Swerving, she bumped into a table, spilling the beer bottles and snacks onto the floor. Sandy placed his empty bottle onto the coffee table in front of him and stood up, catching her arm as she swerved again. "Hey there."
She looked up at him with a lazy lopsided grin. "Hi." Then her face went pale and she grimaced, "Oh, I don't feel very good." She furrowed her brows as her stomach felt queasy.
"Drinking too much will do that to you." He said matter-of-factly as he led her by the arm to the couch.
"I- wasn't-drinking." She mumbled.
He chuckled and nodded his head. "Ha. Ha. Yes you were." He set her down on the couch and sat next to her.
She held an arm protectively over her waist, and leaned over. She groaned, "I think I'm gonna be sick."
She ran a hand to her mouth. "Whoa, just a minute!" Sandy held up his hands and looked around frantically for something to give her.
"Yep, definitely gonna be sick." She nodded. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa." Sandy muttered, rolling his eyes he quickly snatched the bag off his head and turned it around, handing it to her. She instantly threw up in it.
Sandy breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to be scrubbing the carpet clean, although someone would have to scrub the carpet from Thumper's mess, he thought. He leaned back into the couch as she held the bag to her lips.
"Feel better?" He asked as she looked up, still holding the bag near her mouth. Her brows creased in a quizzical expression for the first time upon seeing the face of her date. She nodded.
He wore a broad smile. "Well, throwing it up always helps. I knew there was a reason I wore that bag over my head, came in pretty handy, huh?"
Her vision hazy, she was seeing double, but somehow still managed to feel attracted to the face that she saw for the first time besides her. Her last thought before passing out into the bag was how crazy his eyebrows looked.
Sandy sighed as she slumped over, passed out. "Great." He chuckled. "Just when I felt we were really connecting."
He sighed and stood up. Looking around, he saw no sign of Paul and Kelly. He looked down at the slumped figure before him. Being his date, he was responsible for taking care of her. Realizing that if he were to take her to her dorm, he wouldn't be able to get into it without Kelly's key, and seeing as how there was no way he would dig into Kirsten's purse to find her key, he decided the next logical choice would be to take her to his place.
He pulled the bag away from her grasp and threw it in a trashcan near the table. Lifting her up into position into his arms, he carried her out to Paul's convertible. The hood open, he laid Kirsten lightly in the backseat before pulling the keys out of his pocket.
He drove them back to his and Paul's shared apartment a few blocks up from the college dorms, and hoisting a lightly mumbling Kirsten into his arms, he made the walk to the apartment. Instinctively she wrapped an arm around his neck, halfway walking, halfway stumbling, Sandy made it into their room and knocked the door shut with the back of his foot.
Going to place her on the couch, he halted a moment as he stared at her sleeping face. He studied her, the shape of her face, the peaceful way she looked when sleeping, how a mass of blonde curls fell across her face. Brushing the curls aside, he inhaled this moment so that it would never escape him, looking at her still, he realized that there was just something about her. Some beautiful, mysterious, lingering – something. There was something that felt so right about the feeling of her arms around his neck, the feeling of her in his arms, that he didn't want to let it go it just felt right, good, calm, peaceful. He imagined that this was the way it was supposed to feel.
Reluctantly, he reached over and untangled her arms from around his neck eliciting a grumble and moan from her. He gently placed her on the coach and she squirmed her body until she was comfortable. Tearing his eyes away from her sleeping form, he walked to the bathroom took a bottle of aspirin from the cabinet and filled a glass with water.
Walking back, Sandy knelt down besides the couch, "Hey." He whispered, lightly patting her on the cheek.
Her eyes opened slowly, and it took a moment for her to register who he was. "Ugh, my head hurts." She mumbled.
He nodded sympathetically, "Yeah, that's gonna be one hell of a hangover tomorrow. That's why I brought you this. Here, you should take it." He said handing her two aspirin tablets.
She rolled onto her side when he held the glass of water out to her. He brought it to her lips, gently tilting it, and she sipped the water until the pills had been successfully swallowed.
She mumbled a hoarse, "Thanks," to him before rolling onto her back with a grunt, and pulled a hand over her face and shut her eyes.
"Anytime." He replied quietly, not sure if she heard him or not. He waited there for a moment, just watching as she drifted off into an alcohol-induced sleep.
----------------
Sunlight crept through the blinds of the dormitory windows, casting a blanket of light over Kirsten's face. Squinting and moaning uncomfortably from the brightness, she rolled over on her side, the taste of inebriation paled in her throat to that of the pounding she felt in her head, like a hammer pounding on the head of a nail.
Moaning she pushed herself up on the burgundy sofa, bracing herself when the pain in her head resented the action of her body. Feeling her stomach turn at the motion as well, she held her waist tightly as she stumbled her way off the couch. Wondering to herself how she ended up sleeping on the couch when she had a bed, it occurred to her then that she couldn't clearly remember the events of last night.
She did remember a man, he was her date, with a bag over his head, no wait he had taken it off, she laughed inwardly as she remembered that he took the bag off to reveal a warm smile and eyebrows – the wackiest eyebrows she had ever seen.
She halted in her steps as she looked around the room, wait a minute, this didn't look familiar. She frowned, "Where the hell am I?" She asked herself aloud. She stumbled over a couple empty beer bottles and dirty socks strewn on the floor. This wasn't a dorm room, that was for sure, it was bigger, and it definitely wasn't anyplace she could remember. By the looks of it, she figured she was in a man's apartment. But the only man that she remembered – she gasped aloud as a thought occurred to her. Had she spent the night with her date!
No, no, she couldn't have. Could she? She wouldn't. Well she didn't think she would. But she had been drunk, after all. And it really wouldn't surprise her if she had.
Ugh, her head spun with the thought and he stomach churned once more, she ran a hand to cover her mouth and suppress the queasiness she felt. The bathroom, she had to find the bathroom. She looked around the dorm room, "Where the hell's the bathroom?" She mumbled to herself.
There were a couple closed doors down the walkway to the left of her, she assumed them to be bedrooms, and if the door closest to her didn't have a bumper-sized sticker with the picture of a toilet on it, she would have assumed it to be a bedroom too. Silently she thanked god that the bathroom was labeled, but outwardly she chuckled as she thought that Boys would be Boys, and sticking a picture of a toilet on the door of their facility was just a typical thing for them to do.
Shuffling her feet and holding her left hand to her queasy stomach, with the other she bent over to grasp the door handle to the bathroom. Turning it, she stumbled in. It was to her sudden surprise to realize that this bathroom was occupied – with her date from last night.
Clad in only a white towel wrapped around his waist, Sandy smiled at her sudden embarrassed expression. "Oh my god!" she shouted out in shocked surprise, running her free hand to cover her eyes. "I am so sorry!" she apologized.
-------- Summer laughed and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, Mr. Cohen, she didn't, did she?"
Sandy nodded and tilted his head. "Ha. Ha. Yes she did."
Summer gaped her mouth, amused, "She walked in on you?" She gasped and giggled, clasping her hands to her mouth. "Oh, I bet that was so embarrassing."
Sandy shrugged, "Well…it was more embarrassing for her then it was for me, I found it amusing."
"But you were like – decent, right?" Summer asked, her cheeks blushed with enjoyment.
"Oh, of course. She didn't see anything beyond the towel I was wearing." He thought for a moment and then added, "Well…not at that time, that came later." He winked to the two, and Summer giggled, but Ryan blushed and looked away.
"So, yes, where was I…" Sandy continued.
-------------
Fresh out of the shower, Sandy's hair was damp and darkened, he held a razor in one hand, shaving cream on one side of his cheek, the other he had just finished.
Smiling wide in amusement, he chuckled. "I'm quite use to woman directing that exclamation towards me, of course there's the occasional ...Oh my god, Sandy! but not particularly in greeting and not in my bathroom."
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize-" her voice cut off as the excitement made her queasy stomach churn its uneasiness once again.
"It's okay." He reassured her, he used a towel and wiped away the excess shaving cream on his face. He turned to her, "Good morning, by the way. Hope you slept well. I certainly did. I gotta hand it to you, You're something else."
She frowned not completely computing his words. Did he just say she was 'something else'? What did that mean, did it mean that they had- she really hoped that she was just too hung-over to properly understand him.
The bathroom was still foggy from his recent excursion into the shower, with droplets of water condensing on the mirror. The faint scent of sweat and man tingled with the sporty scent of Old Spice and the sweet mountain pang fragrance of Irish Spring soap. The smells themselves were usually pleasant and dangerously tantalizing to her on normal days, however today was not a normal day, and the mix of scents drove her stomach even further down and she found herself plunging towards the toilet.
Anticipating it, Sandy quickly dodged out of her way and then knelt down to assist holding her hair out of the way. He chuckled. "Yep, definitely something else, you downed way more last night than I would have thought possible of you."
She moaned, still not clearly understanding what he said. She was just too sick and her head hurt too much to compute anything correctly at the moment.
"You know," he said as she took a moment to compose herself, "This morning-after stuff is a good reminder to me as to why I didn't drink more then a beer last night. It's hell, the hangovers, the vomiting, making sure your hair doesn't get in the way…" he weakly quipped.
She didn't laugh, instead she frowned, confused by his words. "Morning after?" She asked feebly, her head still pounding, all his words didn't register with her, but she did catch 'morning-after'.
"Wait-" she continued perking up slightly, "Morning after. Is that why I'm not in my room? Did something happen? Did we-" her face registered panic and her eyes grew wide.
Sandy cut her off with a shake of his head, he chuckled, "No. No. We didn't." he turned serious. "Trust me. I'm not like that." He said honestly. "You just drank a little bit too much last night."
He stood up. "That's why you're here." He further explained.
She sighed relieved. "You okay now?" he asked her.
Catching her breath and steadily breathing to ease her stomach and no longer feeling the queasiness, she nodded. "Yeah I think so. Feels like it."
He held out hand to her and she took it, allowing him to help her up. He led her out of the bathroom and into a little booth in his kitchen. Filling a glass of water, and taking a few tablet out of the aspirin bottle from last night, he handed both to her. He smiled, "Take this. It should help you with the pounding in your head."
Graciously she took it from him, sipping the water and swallowing the pills, she watched as he moved around in the small kitchen, taking a bagel out of the bag and placing it in the toaster,
"So," he said to her as he worked, "Is waking up drunk in some stranger's apartment a common occurrence for you?"
He turned to her with a smile on his face. Feeling too weak to reply, she just shook her head to say 'no.'
His smile broadened. "Ah, it doesn't happen often then?"
He took her silence as an answer and continued as he poured out two glasses of orange juice, "Well I have to say for a rich girl from Newport Beach with Daddy Warbucks for a father, you're not what I expected."
By the sound of it, she was very sure she would have taken offense at his last statement, however she was just too hung-over to care.
She groaned and dropped her head to hold in her hand. "Here," he said holding out a glass of orange juice to her.
She looked up and frowned, he gestured with the glass, "Trust me, you need to drink this." Taking it from him, she wondered how he knew so much about how she was feeling, didn't he just say that he didn't drink? No, wait, maybe he said he didn't drink last night…ugh, she was so confused and – hung-over.
He shuffled around in the kitchen for a few more moments, and then finally set a small plate down besides her. At her questioning glance he said, "It's a bagel. With cream-cheese and blueberry schemer. It's a specialty of mine."
She moaned and answered raspily, "No thanks. I don't feel like eating."
He tilted his head and gestured with his shoulders, "Aw c'mon….you have to eat something."
She shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to keep it down."
"No, that's not true." He replied pointedly, "What you couldn't keep down was the liquor. You need something else in your stomach besides alcohol."
She gave the bagel a quizzical lingering glance. "Ya can't beat the schemer." He smiled. "Just eat it for me, okay?" He said sliding the plate closer to her.
She shrugged and heavily sighed, picking up a half of the heavily creamed bagel.
"There you go." He said. Polishing off his glass of orange juice, he continued, "Now I'm gonna go get dressed. While I'm gone, I want you to eat, capiche?"
She frowned, What did he just say? Was that a Hebrew word? Jewish maybe. Was he Jewish, did she even know? He said schemer earlier too, did that make him Jewish? No, it couldn't have, she said schemer, that didn't make her Jewish. Shaking her head of the lingering thoughts, she just nodded in reply.
Nibbling on the half of bagel, she then realized what he had said, he was going to get dressed. Had he been in just a towel this whole time, while making and serving her breakfast? Wow…even suffering with a hangover there was still just something disturbingly hot about that.
Letting her thoughts drift to the visual she had caught earlier with him in the towel, she unconsciously ate at the bagel and was only snapped out of her reverie when she heard the shuffling of his feet and his voice ask, "So how's the bagel?"
"Kirsten?" He repeated when she didn't answer.
"Oh!" She shook her head to dismiss her thoughts. "Good. It's good." She answered taking the last bite.
Dressed in a long-sleeve light blue shirt and jeans, white socks on his feet, he nodded. "Glad to hear it." Schemering his own bagel, he placed the plate on the table next to hers, "Want some coffee?" he offered as he poured himself a cup. "Might help."
"No thanks." She declined his offer.
"Suit yourself." He shrugged and walked to the booth, eating his bagel as he stood. "Well," He said to her in-between mouthfuls, "I've got an early class today. You want me to drive you back to your dorm?"
Taking a moment to compute his words, she finally asked, "Why am I here?"
He smiled in amusement. "Oh, well, your roommate Kelly had a long night…with Paul. In fact, they're still out." He said smirking. "You were pretty wasted last night, so I brought you here. Hopefully my attempts at curing your hang-over were successful." He munched on his bagel.
She nodded, "Well I feel a little better, thanks."
"Ah, it was nothing." He shrugged. Looking at his watch he said, "Oh, I gotta scoot. Meeting with the guys in 15 minutes. I can drop you off on the way there, if you'd like." He offered again, since she hadn't answered.
She thought for a moment, as the pain relievers kicked in, and she was able to remember her schedule for the day, then she shook her head saying, "No. That's okay. I don't have any classes until noon today."
He chuckled, "Well lucky you. I tell ya, the law classes can really be a pain in the butt."
He was a law student? She thought to herself. She would be relieved when this hangover passed and she'd be able to remember all of that.
"Before I go," he rose his bushy eyebrows, "Can I get you anything? A book, glass of water, change of clothes, your homework maybe?" he chuckled lightly at the last one.
She smiled at his generosity, and found herself chuckling at his humor as well, "Thanks, but I'm alright. I can call and have Kelly pick me up."
"You don't have to do that, It's not a problem for me to drive you there myself."
"I don't want you to have to do that. You've done so much for me already. Made me breakfast-"
"It was only a bagel." He interrupted to say it was no big deal.
"-helped me with my hangover."
"-That's just the pain relievers." He dismissed once again.
She smiled. "Still, that's very kind of you to offer, but Kelly wouldn't mind either."
"Alright." He sighed in defeat, he grabbed his bag full of law books and fingered car keys in his pocket, making sure they were there. "Well I should break for lunch about 11:30, so I'll come check on you if you're still here."
"In the meantime feel free to make yourself at home then." He gestured to the living area off the kitchen.
"I'll be fine, thanks." She assured him. He flashed her a pearly smile and she watched as he left, the door clanking shut behind him.
Holding her gaze on the door that he had just walked out of, she found herself wondering about him in amazement. She was left feeling entranced and intrigued by him, by this nice, caring, sexy, good-looking guy who held her hair back for her and didn't complain, who fed her breakfast and shared his pain-relievers, all the while making sure she was comfortable.
Then it occurred to her.
She didn't even remember his name.
------ "Wait so, she didn't even remember who you were?" Summer asked in surprise.
Sandy nodded but waited a moment to reply as he chewed on a freshly schemered blueberry bagel. "No. But she remembered who I was later."
"So that's how you met her, huh?" Ryan asked.
Sandy nodded and was about to reply when a fully clothed Seth came scampering into the kitchen from upstairs. With a dry towel and a spray bottle of disinfectant in his hands, he headed straight to the kitchen table without a word to those in the kitchen.
Ryan raised his eyebrows and looked to Sandy whose face bore the same quizzical expression, all eyes turned to watch as Seth sprayed the table and wiped on it with the towel.
Finally, confused, Summer broke the silence. "Uh…Cohen, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? Disinfecting the filth."
This elicited eye rolls from Ryan and Sandy. "Now, c'mon Seth…" Ryan started.
Towel in his hand, Seth turned from the table to Ryan, interrupting him. "You know Ryan, there comes a point in every child's life where they may hear something or hear about something that's been done, and wish that they'd never heard it. I think that moment is at hand for me right now. So, I'm gonna wipe down this table, and I'm gonna wipe it really good, using elbow-grease, which by the way, is something I'd never do, and then I'm gonna make a sandwich and eat at this table, all the while hoping that I'll never have to hear that story again, and then perhaps, just perhaps if I'm fortunate enough, as the days wear on I'll forget it altogether."
Ryan slanted his eyes and tilted his head, "I don't know man. Judging by you enthusiastic reaction to wiping off the table, I'd say that image must be permanently imbedded in your brain. So, your hope at this point, is pretty much futile."
Summer nodded, agreeing with Ryan, "Well if it's any consolation Cohen, you missed a good story." She said trying to sound sympathetic.
Seth smirked, "Well I'd prefer to not hear about the soap-esque like antics of my parents while first meeting in their younger years."
"I dunno man, it wasn't too soapy." Ryan disagreed.
"Unless of course you count getting drunk at a Halloween party…'soap-esque'." Summer quoted him.
"Yes, your mother was quite the character when I first met her." Sandy agreed.
Seth nodded, absorbing the information, then looked to his father. "So mom was drunk when you first met her. Well that's quite – not that shocking actually."
A small smile spread on Sandy's lips and he giggled, "Yeah, she sure was a handful. If only I knew that I was getting in way over my head. It wasn't until we started dating though, did I realize the extent of what I was getting myself into."
"Oh, but then by that point, you just couldn't stay away." Ryan commented with a spread smile. Sandy exchanged smiles with his blonde-haired son, and Seth piped up, "Wait – so I missed a story about a Halloween party?" He asked, his mind still occupied with the bits of information he had been given moments earlier.
"Yeah, you did." Summer said.
"It's not too late man, you can still join the party." Ryan said, patting the place on the counter island next to him.
Contemplating it, Seth looked to his father, "On one condition-" He held his index finger in the air, "-There's no talking about doing it on the household furniture, or anywhere else for that matter."
Sandy nodded slowly, as if processing the terms of his condition, "Alright, son." He agreed to satisfy his son. "I can abide by those rules, if there's a part in the story, I'll skip over it." Wearing a smirk, he glided his hand in the air to demonstrate 'skipping over it.'
"Okay, thank you." Seth said taking a seat between Ryan and Summer.
"Besides…" Sandy titled his head, as 6 set of eyes fleeted up to acknowledge him, "…that part comes later – on our wedding night." He winked at the kids.
Seth groaned and rolled his head. "Aw, c'mon Dad…"
They erupted into giggles at Seth's agitation, "Ha ha, way to salt his game Mr. C." Summer said in-between laughter.
TBC
Next Up: Sandy continues the story with his and Kirsten's 1st date. And for the first time Young Sandy meets the "Donald Trump of Newport," himself... Mr. Caleb Nichol. And if you thought they hated each other 20 years down the line...just wait.