Disclaimer John and Claire not mine.Film quotes not mine. song lyrics not mine.
A/N : this is only a short one,sorry. Be patient, this is building up to something.
"...so we offered her the job right then and there," Simon finished as they opened the doors to the bar.
John ordered them both a beer and led Simon to a dark secluded corner,far away from the noisy,mostly college-student crowd.The lights were dim and the atmosphere was smokey,and in the corner an old fashioned wurlitzer spewed old fashioned country music. Nobody was paying any attention to it,or to anyone elses business. Simon quite liked the place. They slid over the red vinyl benches into a booth.
Simon leant his elbows on the table and fished in his jacket pocket for his cigarettes. He offered them to John,who took one without thinking,not remembering he had quit until the first drag burned in his lungs. Coughing her reached for his beer and took a deep swallow. But he didn't throw his cigarette away. Simon narrowed his eyes as he watched him,a half smile lingering on his mouth. John took the second drag slower,and spoke on the exhale.
"So, is she that good then?"
Simon nodded enthusiastically, lighting his own cigarette.He dragged a hand through his rumpled peroxide blonde hair and stared into the middle distance for awhile,formulating his response.
"And then some,buddy. You should see her. She's like...pure sex. The air around her wavers in the heat,man,it's incredible. Sometimes her voice is like broken glass,sometimes it's like silk,but it's always real,it's always honest. She never puts on all that fake sexy stuff you get with most female vocalists, she IS sexy,and when she feels horny,the whole fucking world knows about it,because you can hear it in her voice. I...can't explain it. You won't understand,until you've heard her sing. Like,you know, with most good singers,it's like they drag their hearts out of their chests and lay it bare for the world to see,with savannah, it's like when she does it, you realise that that's exactly how you feel. She just seems to know. Maybe she picks up on the undercurrents in the air,whatever. She's incredible.The same way you used to be." John opened his mouth to protest,but Simon stopped him.
"No Bullshit,Bender. You were that good. Once upon a time." John sighed and changed the subject.
"She sounds interesting. I'd like to see her perform"
Simon cackled and slapped his hand on the table,
" Bull,man, you mean, you wanna see her naked." He laughed. John sat up, outraged.
"No!" he exclaimed "No,that's not it at all! I've got Claire,she's more than enough woman for me." Simon snorted as he tapped his ash in the ashtray.
"No, you've just gone too long without. Your poor dick has lost it's connection to your brain.
I mean,sure, Claire's pretty,she's polite, she smells like Chanel number five. Whatever. Savannah's something else entirely. And you know it." He smiled, leaning in to John.
" Do you remember,Bender. All those girls...over the bra...under the blouse...shoes off,hoping to god your parents don't walk in? Over the panties,no bra...blouse unbuttoned...Calvins in a ball on the front seat past eleven on a school night..." He smirked, and John couldn't help himself from smirking back. The best line he ever used on a woman. He remembered. It was never the same line twice,but it was always the same MO, catch the eye of a pretty girl,hold it,hold it...just long enough for her to feel uncomfortable,then speak slow,soft profanity in her ear until you got that look from them, that look that said what you were seeing in your mind,they were seeing in theirs. Then you had them man,hook line and sinker.Do a little dance,make a little love... There was a fierce joy in the ritual.
He used to love the crazy ones,the rebels. He'd had a thing with Allison for awhile,but they'd never hooked up. He couldn't get her to talk to him,let alone sleep with him.But she was pure energy in motion,sparking with life. He'd loved that about her.
Claire used to berate him about his past,about the "casual" sex he had with what she'd called "those heavy metal crack whores" but to him they'd been anything but casual. It had been desperate, passionate, sometimes it'd hurt, but it was never casual.
Every single girl had given him something he desperately craved; solace, unquestioning acceptance,sanctuary. And he'd returned the favour. They ran from their lives as fast as they could,doing anything,trying everything to forget the cold harsh reality;that they were poor, that they would always be poor, and they would never ever amount to anything. Better to burn out than fade away, he used to say. And man,did those nights ever burn.
Sometimes he could have sworn the whole city had felt the heat of their fires,that the whole world rang with the cries of their rebellion. But he didn't need it anymore. The harsh buzzing anger that used to drive him out of his mind was gone,drained. He'd found real peace. Real solace. He was loved. Finally he shook his head at Simon once more.
"I told you Simon,and I'll keep telling you, I don't miss it. I don't miss it and I don't need it. I'm growing up. Maybe you should too." Simon cackled and stood up.
"No way man, I'm gonna be a kid forever." He put one of his feet up on the vinyl bench, testing it. John gave him a wary look
"What the fuck are you doing?Si? SI?" He demanded. Simon didn't answer him, just shifted his weight forward and sprung up until he was stood on the bench. He swung his arms briefly for balance.
"I mean, that's what a rock star is,right?Just a big,rich kid." Si grinned down at John. He strummed away at an imaginary guitar, John tugged at his pants leg.
"Si,come down,we're gonna get thrown out" Simon shook him off, then suddenly threw his head back and squeezed his eyes shut,one hand clutching the neck of his air guitar,the other his imaginary mike, then he opened his mouth and yelled at the top of his voice:
"WHEN I GROW UP, I WANNA BE, A BIG ROCK AND ROOOOOLLLLLL STAR!"
John couldn't help it,he cracked up. Simon threw his head back and howled,then sucked in his cheeks and scowled moodily down at John, bending over and stealing the sunglasses out of his pocket,and slipping them on his face
"You gotta have the right 'tude man. You gotta make the ladies melt...treat em mean,keep em keen..." John's laughter started to get hysterical. Simon sucked in his cheeks a bit more and started rocking out on his air guitar, singing out the tune,with his foot tapping the beat.
"Dum dum,da da dum,da da da da da,dum dum da da dum..." Suddenly from the door,a loud voice rang out "I can't get no...satisfaction..." Simon looked,forgetting to pout for a second,
"Sav!" He yelled "Come on, I'm teaching bender how to be a rock star!" John laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. Claire just stood,mouth agape. Savannah yelled back:
"Do you need my help!" Si jumped up onto the table and resumed air guitar position.
"Hell yes! Get your butt over here,woman!" She ran to the table and jumped up in one bound,spoiling her impressive feat by wobbling a little and clutching Simon for balance. John found he was looking right up at her crotch,and there was a tear in the denim on her right butt cheek. And she wasnt wearing panties. He closed his eyes and forced the image away. NO. Down boy! He leant back and took a long draught of his beer, exhaling smoke on a laugh as the two of them assumed pouty rock star attitudes. John grinned and raised imaginary drum sticks, tapping them together and yelling:
"ONE,TWO THREE FOUR!" Then the three of them launched into a rowdy version of the Rolling Stone's Satisfaction, stopping only when the bartender yelled at them to-"SIT DOWN OR GET OUT, YOU GODDAMN PUNKS!"
Simon flopped down to lie lengthways on the bench, letting out a loud "oof!" When Savannah dived right on top of him,wiggling around until she was lying on him like a couch. Simon gave Bender a pained look over her head as she wriggled around,and John had to choke back a laugh. He heard Claires voice right next to him and felt the smile fall off his face.
"What was that all about?" she asked, her voice sharp. John bit back a grin and said
"Oh,nothin' sweetie, Simon was just giving a rock star lesson,we'ren't you Si?" Si nodded and laughed,holding his hands out to John and Savannah for high fives and crowing when they obliged.
"Oh" Claire's smile was strained as she stood next to the table,awkwardly. John remembered his manners and jumped up to let her slide into the booth,but Claire's eyes were fixed on his hand. Too late he remembered the cigarette he was holding. Shit. He was for it now. Hurriedly he tossed it on the floor and stomped on it. He looked over at Savannah and Simon, who were whispering together,totally oblivious,as he cast around for something to say.
"Shit,Claire, I'm sorry, I forgot. It was just this one time and..." He trailed off, trying to think of what to say to get that vast look of disappointment off her face. She slid into the booth,her face closing into tight lines, her full lips pressed together in a thin line.
"It's alright. I'll have a cosmo,please." She said,quietly. He looked again at Simon and Savannah, who were now staring at the scene before them with something akin to horror on their faces. He nodded at Savannah and asked her
"Can I get you anything?" She nodded and dug into her jeans pocket for money. John choked back a laugh as Simon's eyes closed and he tipped his head back with the expression of a man suffering divine torture as she squirmed around. She pressed a twenty in his hand,her face still totally serious. She said softly
"This round's on me,John." John shook his head and tried to give her the money back
"I never let a lady pay for her own drinks." But she insisted,closing his hand around the bill,a slow smile spreading over her face.
"I'm not a lady John. I pay my own way. Come on, I'll help you carry the drinks." She heaved herself up from Simons lap and shuffled her way out of the booth. As they headed for the bar together, John felt a whooshing sense of relief. Claire was severely pissed at him,but Savannah had just given him a stay of execution. Suddenly he liked her,forgetting his jealousy of the way she was with Claire. He felt himself smile reluctantly. The next week or so was going to be very interesting indeed.