December 8th, 2004
Abby was really happy things didn't change too much after the talk they had in the hospital. She liked Ray and she didn't want him to be weirded out around her. This whole thing could turn out to be something really good.
"Wake up." Ray mumbled as he rubbed Abby's back. She groaned into his chest. "Wake up."
"You're comfortable." She said. A deep rumble of laughter came from within him causing Abby to groan again.
"I've never heard that one before." He said. Abby opened her brown eyes.
"I want to lay here in bed with you all day." She said. Ray sighed as he caressed the small of her back.
"I want to lay here in bed with you all day too, but I can't." He said. Abby rolled her eyes and fell back against the bed.
"I know." She said, "You have an important audition and I'm going grocery food shopping for you. What an amazing life I lead."
"You don't have to be so melodramatic." Ray said sitting up.
"You don't need to be an ass." Abby smirked.
"I never act like an ass." He said.
"Oh please!" She laughed loudly sitting up. She brushed her hair away from her face, "You act like an ass as often as possible. It's like in the Ray Barnett rule book."
"What does that say about you then? You're dating me." He said. Dating. They never actually said what they were doing.
"That makes me an ass pitier." She winked and jumped out of bed, "Christ, you need rugs." Abby grabbed her socks and pulled them on.
"You need clothes on. You're going to catch a cold." Ray said.
"Yes, Dr. Barnett." She mumbled grabbing her pants, "Now is there any food requests or can I get all tofu?" Ray grimaced. He hated tofu. The stuff tasted like ass to him.
"Meat. A lot of meat. I love meat." He said, "And a cucumber and tomato."
"Okay." She laughed. "I'll surprise you." Ray nodded as he pulled his jeans on. She could tell he was very nervous about the audition that was being held today. He had no reason to be though. Ray was an amazing guitarist.
"Your cell phone is ringing." Ray said. Abby looked around and sure enough she heard the beeping.
"Shit." She picked up her shirt and saw her cell. "Hello?"
"It's me." Neela said.
"What do you want?" Abby asked.
"Well, you didn't come home last night so I was sort of worried." Neela said, "Are you at Ray's?"
"Yes I'm at Ray's." Abby said. Ray smirked as he walked to the kitchen, "I'm doing some grocery shopping for him later. Do we need anything?"
"Bread." She said. "You've been spending a lot of time with Ray lately."
"Do you miss me or something?" Abby chuckled.
"Sort of." Neela returned the laughter, "I'll see you around maybe."
"Maybe." Abby hung up her cell phone. "Neela missed me." Ray laughed.
"How sweet." He said handing her a cup of coffee, "Don't forget the coffee too."
"I won't" She said cradling the coffee mug in her hand. "So, what song are you going to do for them?"
"Well," Ray cracked his knuckles, "Iron Man of course. A little Sabbath never hurt anyone." Abby groaned with a smile.
"Black Sabbath. That sure brings back some memories." She said. Ray arched his eyebrows.
"How so?" he asked.
"Troy Follows in the back of his mustang." Abby grinned. Ray groaned loudly.
"I shouldn't have asked." He said.
"Troy had a red mustang. I've wanted one ever since." She said.
"Now that's a nice car." Ray told her, "I may be able to hook you up with one. I have a friend who is into cars." Abby shook her head.
"That kind of car is impractical for me now." She said.
"You're not a soccer mom toting around your three kids yet." Ray told her, "A mustang is perfect. Only the old kind though."
"Of course." She said, "We'll see."
"Oh get some peanut butter too." Ray said.
"I will." Abby kissed his cheek, "Kick ass on that audition."
"I will." Ray grinned.
Ray sat is guitar case on the floor right beside him as he stared up at the stage. A black man was already there playing. He looked at the band. They seemed to be enjoying this. Crap, Ray thought. One of the men turned around and smiled.
"Are you Ray?" He asked. Ray nodded stepping over to them
"Ray Barnett." He said extending his hand.
"Cool." He said, "I'm Mark. This is mike our drummer and this is Trevor our bassist."
"It's a pleasure." Ray said, "I saw you guys play at Stanker's a few months ago."
"You like?" Trevor asked.
"Well of course. If I didn't I wouldn't be auditioning." Ray chuckled.
"Good." Mark laughed as the black man stepped off of stage, "That was good man. Ray, you're up." Ray nodded as he picked up his guitar case. He could do this. Abby thought he was amazing and it wasn't like this would be his first band.
"What are you playing for us?" Mike asked him.
"Iron Man." He said.
"Nice." Trevor sat back, "Anytime your ready." Ray put his pick in his mouth as he got his red strat out. He put the shoulder strap around him and stood up. Ray began to play the familiar song. The power chords rang out. The extra licks, the extra embellishments sounded weird to his ears but he liked the smiles upon everyone faces. The words played in his head as he watched his fingers fly over the strings. His heart pounded as the song ended. Ray looked up.
"How was that?" Ray asked.
"Excellent." Mark said looking at the black man and then back to Ray, "We're going to have a really hard time choosing between the two of you."
"I understand." He smiled at the other man. This was what he hated. He hated waiting. "Let the best man win."
"I suppose." The other man said. Ray bit back a groan. There was no way he was going to get it. But there were always more auditions.
Abby lugged in five bags of groceries into Ray's apartment. He was so lucky she found him hot or she wouldn't have done this. She hated food shopping. She had to do her own food shopping. She couldn't believe she let Ray con her into doing his. She walked into the kitchen and found Ray sitting at the kitchen table.
"I bought a lot of meat. Your credit card is bent." Abby chuckled.
"That's okay." He said watching her open the freezer. She glanced over her shoulder.
"You don't look happy." She said putting some of the meat away, "You didn't get it did you?" Ray sighed deeply.
"This dude before me played Stair Way to Heaven." He said. Abby groaned.
"Ouch. That's a hard song. Did he nail it?" She asked him. Ray scrubbed his hands over his face.
"Yeah he nailed it." He said. Abby sighed as she walked up over to him.
"Ray, there'll be other auditions. I promise." She said, "I'll help you look for some. We can form a band called 'Emergency'." Ray smiled weakly at her.
"There's no more auditions, Abby." Ray said.
"Of course there are. I'll go get a paper and we'll look for some." Abby said walking to the fridge. Ray grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.
"There's no more auditions because I'm in the band." He said with his stupid grin upon his face. Abby stared at him.
"But....but you said the guy nailed his audition." She said.
"He did, but I nailed mine too and I did better." Ray said to her. Abby stared at him in disbelief.
"You're in the band?" She asked. Ray nodded.
"I'm in the band." He was grinning from ear to ear.
"You little fuck." She smacked his shoulder, "I thought you were heartbroken and had no band." Ray laughed dodging her hand, "Shit head."
"You should have seen your face." He said, "You looked so sorry."
"You're going to look so sorry when I kick you in the nuts for doing that to me." She muttered. Ray wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Are you proud of me?" He asked.
"Yes." She said looking at him, "I really am."
"We need to celebrate." Ray told her, "Have any ideas?" Abby thought for a moment.
"Well, I bought a steak. I can cook that up, we can eat it, and then we can have a lot of sex." Abby smirked. Ray nodded. He liked that idea. He liked that idea a lot.
"Cool." He said letting go of Abby.
"Congrats, Ray." She said. There was a sparkle in his eyes she had never seen before. He looked genuinely happy. It made Abby feel good to see so much excitement in his eyes. She was proud of him, but yet she was slightly envious. He was happy. She wasn't, but she was getting there. The more time she spent with Ray the more happy she got. She was stepping onto new territory and she liked it.
