Chapter 8

By Saturday evening Alex was ready to cut loose and have some fun. She had spent the better part of the week getting distribution of the wheels set up with the East Coast. Teddy had complimented her on so promptly getting them into business, or fast wheelin' and dealin' as he put it. He went on to laughingly ask her if she had found a nice "round the way boy" to keep her company, since she was she was so good at working fast. He jokingly said he was only asking since Alex's brothers would want him to keep tabs on her.

"Speaking of my brothers, have you seen the lads lately?" she asked trying to hide her trepidation.

"No, they're not back in town yet, I would've seen them." Teddy said, his voice betraying his obvious reluctance to disappoint her. "But on the up side, no one else seems to be looking for you three either. Why don't you call Robert and Jimmy's office – I'm sure they could tell you where they've spirited your brothers away to. And gimme your phone number out there so we can get in touch with you."

"Umm, I haven't gotten a phone in my house yet, I'm still trying to get set up out here, but you have a number for the Zephyr shop right? They're an interesting bunch in there…I'm sure I could get a message from there if you need me." Alex replied, stifling her disappointment with the lack of news on the home front.

"Interesting bunch, huh, so I'm gonna guess that's where the latest beau's coming from?" said Teddy lightening up the conversation.

"You are such a girl Teddy!" bantered Alex. "Fish much for gossip?

"So you're telling me you've got nothing on your social calendar for this weekend?" retorted Teddy.

"Wellll, I am going to see the Allman Brothers with a fine lookin' skater boy tonight, if you must pry." giggled Alex.

"Yesss! I had a ten spot wagered on the fact that girls that look like you don't sleep alone." he gloated.

"Excuse me! I believe this is an evening of shared interest in the Southern Rock genre" Alex said trying to sound outraged through her laughter. "And remind me to have my brothers beat the crap out of you as soon as I reunite with them."

"Ooh, I'm worried; tell me, Alex, has any Boylan ever paid to see the vast number of bands you've all been associated with?" Teddy asked.

"Not in cash, baby, not in cash." Alex taunted. "Hey, as much as I enjoy messing with your head, this phone call is costing me a fortune, speaking of cash. I'll talk to you soon."

"You take care girl, give those Cali boys something to sing about," Teddy signed off, worrying about his far-away friend more than his words implied.

Alex hung up the pay phone on the corner and started walking happily towards her house. Tonight's gonna be fun, she thought. And for only being here on her own for only a short while – things are going pretty well. Time to revel in being girly and get ready for Date Night! What to wear, what to wear? She pondered as she walked home. OK, lots of factors to consider. Let's start with the shoes-well, because I just really like shoes she thought. Heels definitely, they just make everything look better. They showcase your assets, as her mother was fond of saying. Alex would always tease back and say "your assets or your ass, Mom?" Her mom would wink and say "with the right high heels they are one and the same." She missed her mom.

But no dark thoughts today she decided as she went into her house and headed for her closet, which honestly was still a collection of boxes exploding into her bedroom. I think the cork soled wedges, she decided, they got lift but still stable enough for boogying in darkened theaters. You can't be a Rambling Man (or girl) without the right dancin' shoes! And what goes better with my wedges than this denim mini skirt, plain except for the one hand drawn flower near the hem. Hmmm, top it off with this scoop neck tee shirt that brings out the ginger color of my hair.

Now, this being a date night, I gotta give equal consideration to what goes underneath. Black lingerie? Too obvious. Red? Too trashy. She pulled out a peach colored set with a lacy bra that had its clasp in the front. She smiled to herself as she thought how front closures confused some guys, but hey if they couldn't get through the gift wrapping, they didn't deserve the present. Alright then, let's hit the shower for some serious lotions and potions.

Alex finished twirling around in front of her bathroom mirror, trying to check out her whole outfit in its small reflection. Gotta get a full length one she thought to herself, but then again I gotta get some chairs or a couch or something to sit on too. One step at a time and tonight's step was having some fun.

The door bell chimed then and Alex opened the door to be greeted by a smiling Stacy. The look on his face assured her of what the small mirror couldn't, the prep had been worthwhile. "Come on in, Stacy" she said happily. Stacy passed through her door in a cloud of shining blond hair and freshly shampooed scent.

"Thanks Alex", Stacy said, looking her up and down admiringly. "You look great tonight, well I don't mean just tonight, I mean especially tonight…" Stacy shook his head at his own stammering and smiled while he turned red. He looked around her still pretty barren living room and tried to recover with: "I see you're still going with the minimalist decorating."

"Yeah, I just haven't had time to go out and get those perfect paintings of Elvis on velvet yet. But you remember my seating arrangement? Please pull up a floor," she gestured welcomingly. "Do we have time for a drink of something? Soda, beer, wine?"

"Sure, a beer sounds good." Stacy said watching her walk out to her kitchen. He commenced looking around the room intent on finding that pile of records he didn't have time to check out when he was first here. Instead he spied something even more intriguing, there in the corner standing up in a stage stand was a shiny black Fender Stratocaster plugged into a Marshall amp.

Alex walked back in with a cold beer, a bottle of red wine and a coffee mug. "Here ya go" she said handing him the beer. "I'm more of a wino myself," she poured wine into the coffee mug and shrugged "A wino without stemware- better add that to the house decorating to-buy list."

"But you have a Strat! That's cool" Stacy decided still looking admiringly at the guitar. "Are you any good?

"Oh you know, I can manage five strings out of six." Alex demurred. "My brothers and I had a bit of a band at home and in fact my whole family was pretty musical. Sorta like the Von Trapps, without the whole making clothes out of the drapes and escaping the Nazis thing," she said referencing the Sound of Music.

"I thought it was Scarlett O'Hara who made clothes out of the drapes?" teased Stacy with a smile on his face, flashing on the classic GoneWith the Wind, "and I'm pretty sure the Nazis didn't burn Atlanta."

"As God is my witness, I'll never be thirsty again!" Alex enthused reaching out her coffee mug to clink Stacy's beer in a toast. "And thank you for following where I drifted."

"We better get going, cause we've got a bit of drive to get to the Forum in time for the concert" Stacy said downing his beer. "Besides we've got thirty years of movies to catch up on before we can even get into talking music." He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the car, each thinking that sounded music to their ears.