CHAPTER 5
"Be afraid. Be very afraid," Jen shook her index finger at Tristin.
"Why do you say that?" Tristin asked, smiling at Jen, confused at her apocalyptic revelation.
"That friend of yours? Flavor of the week," Jen said.
"Jen!" Joey reprimanded her friend.
"What? I might as well tell him that Charlie will hit on anything that is female, stands on two legs and is over the age of eighteen," Jen shrugged her friend's remark.
"You'd be surprised at what Rory does," Tristin said smugly.
"Oh, how sweet. When was the last time you saw your friend?" Jen asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Junior year?" he asked himself loudly.
"Did you keep in touch?" she grilled him on.
"No," he replied. Not that he would've wanted to when he left for North Carolina. There were moments that he was contented that he was able to end his love/hate relationship with her on a high note: a smile and a promise.
"So what makes you think that Rory is immune to his charm?" Jen asked evilly.
"Trust me, she isn't the kind that gets smitten," he said. The boastful comment made his pulse quicken. Would she have changed that much in over a year?
"Is there a reason you're trying to assassinate Rory's character? You barely know the girl," Joey asked in disappointment.
Jen blushed. "I am not taking potshots at her… I am just saying Charlie isn't the type that should be trusted with anything female."
"This coming from a girl who just made out with him when things got a little heated?" Joey pointed out her earlier disappearing act with Charlie.
"Fine," Jen raised her hands, giving up. "Fine. But don't say 'I told you so'."
"So," Joey changed the subject. "What do you think of your look alike?"
"I can see how you could've mistaken me for him," Tristin replied, chuckling. "However, the hair…"
It was Joey's turn to giggle. "Funny you'd mention that. Audrey and I thought Charlie had a hair cut."
The trio finally reached the coffee counter. After ordering their drinks, they sat on an open couch, waiting on their brew.
"You know, I am actually relieved that I finally met Charlie," Tristin hummed. "I don't have to look like a moron and keep on saying, "But I'm not Charlie"!"
"That bad, eh?" Jen sympathized. Their coffees were brought to them.
"Yeah," Tristin took a sip of his drink.
"So what prompted you to do the search?" Joey asked. "Other than Audrey and me mistaking you for him."
"Well, there was this guy in a Mustang that harassed me last night during my run rambling about me jilting Rory- not that I knew he might've meant the same Rory I knew..."
Jen choked on her coffee. "Pacey did what?"
"Who's Pacey?" he asked.
"The guy who was apparently needs to retake Politeness 101," Joey clarified. She faced Jen to continue on the story. "Charlie volunteered to take Rory home last night despite Pacey's protests."
"She's a better woman than I am," Jen smirked. "I wouldn't have gotten on that bike, or any bike for that reason."
"Told you she's different," Tristin replied, before taking another gulp of coffee.
"That's how she found out about the job," Jen spoke her thoughts aloud.
"Is that bad?" Joey asked.
"No," she just hesitated. "It's just I don't want her to wind up falling for him and when he moves on to the latest and greatest, she'd quit the job. No girl's supposed to go through that, especially for him."
Joey and Tristin watched her in amazement.
"Alright!" she sighed. "Is it wrong that I think he's the devil incarnate in one hot package?"
Joey laughed as Jen's eyes locked with Tristin's.
"No offense, Tristin. I just don't know you," she blushed.
"None taken," he chuckled.
"It's just that he infuriates me to no end!" Jen ranted on. "He has that look- the one that makes you think that he's in to you only to realize he's thinking about laundry or the chord progression to the song playing…"
"Wow," Tristin remarked. "Have you ever been told you're paranoid?"
Jen looked at Joey who was keeping mum before responding to Tristin, "As a matter of fact, Charlie did."
"Maybe he's really in to you," he shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes we want the girl to meet us halfway. We want to know that you're interested in us, too, you know?"
Jen looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure you're not related to him?"
"A hundred and ten percent," he said seriously. "We're not that much of a mystery."
"Obviously," Jen smirked before her cell phone vibrated. She looked at the text message before shoving the device back in her pocket.
"Well, duty calls," Jen sighed, policing her napkin and cup.
"Work again?" Joey asked.
"Worse," she quipped. "Jack."
"Ah," Joey left it at that.
"Tristin, nice meeting you," Jen said. "Don't be a stranger."
"I'll try to remember," he replied in amusement.
Just as quickly, Jen exited the Tully's franchise.
"Well, I need to head back to campus," Joey said. "Wanna share a cab?"
"Rain check?" Tristin begged off. "I promised Rory I'd drop off a cup of coffee her way before heading back."
"Oh," Joey said, disappointed at his response. "Alright then. See you at class then?"
"Yes, you will," Tristin guaranteed.
Joey got up and started walking away.
"Oh hey," Tristin called out after her. She turned his way. "Thanks again."
"Glad to be of service," she smiled at him sweetly.
As she walked away, she made a mental note that she and Pacey had some unfinished business to deal with once everything is said and done.
oooo0-----0oooo-----------
"So, tell me about him," Charlie grilled Rory.
"Hmm?" Rory didn't even bother looking up from her book when he spoke.
"Tristin. Tell me about him," Charlie ordered her as he put his hand over the pages.
"Don't you have a radio show to run?" Rory asked, smiling sweetly at him.
"In A Gadda Da Vida is playing. I have time," he flashed his pearly whites at her in retribution.
"There is nothing to tell about him!" Rory replied, rolling her eyes at him.
"So that's why you blushed when I asked you about him?" he grinned.
Rory stood up making a quick mental note that he was straddling the metal chair quite seductively. For a moment she wondered how it would feel to be pinned under those sinewy legs.
"What do I get if I give you information?" Rory tried to negotiate a bargain.
"What do you want, Harvard girl?" he winked at her.
Rory's knees knocked after he flirted with her. She had to remember that he's one smooth talker.
"Tristin and I were not actually friends, if you catch my drift," she quipped.
"But that doesn't mean he's a complete stranger, right?" Charlie inquired.
"All I know about him is that he's an only child, changes girlfriends almost as often as he changes underwear and that he and I could never be friends," she summarized.
"Because you won't allow him to play doctor on you?" he asked, grinning.
"Because he and I had different priorities," Rory answered heatedly. "He wanted to get kicked out of school, which he eventually accomplished, and I wanted to get in to a prestigious university. End of discussion."
"So, no family?" he continued his interrogation.
"His parents were getting a divorce when I met him," she said. "He and I didn't exactly become pen friends when his dad sent him to military academy."
"See?" Charlie said, standing up. "Was that so difficult?"
He chuckled on his way out of the break room. Rory didn't realize that she held her breath as he walked away. She stared at his denim-covered rear. Rory, get a grip!
"Hey, you owe me something!" she chased after him.
"And that is?" he asked as he opened the sound proof room.
"I don't know," Rory blabbered. She can't believe she was tongue tied around the blonde. Her eyes scanned the room quickly until she found something tangible enough to ask him about without looking like a moron. "There!"
"My bass?" he raised his eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, you owe me lessons," she replied smugly.
"Fine," he said, sitting on his chair.
"You're serious?" Rory clarified in excitement. She grabbed the bass recklessly by the neck.
"Whoa, whoa, sweetheart," he warned her, getting up a bit from his comfortable position. "You gotta treat the girl with a gentle hand."
Rory grabbed the heavy instrument and laid the body across her thighs. Charlie quickly turned around and cued another song before coming around her. She felt tingly all over after the thighs she just lusted over hugged her posterior.
"Things you have to know," he whispered in the shell of her ear, "are basics."
"And that is?" she barely got the words out of her lips.
"This," he started at the smallest end, "is called the headstock. It holds the tuning keys in place. Next to it is the neck."
He took a hold of her fingers, closing his left hand over hers.
"Now this thing we're stroking? It's called the fingerboard. Some call it the fretboard because this little section is called a 'fret'. Bessie here is a 24 fret girl."
Rory felt her breath shorten to pants. All she could think about was the timber on his voice turning her insides into jello.
"Lastly," he gently guided his hand over her right arm, "we get to the body. Four strings, two pick-ups and the volume and tone control."
A moan escaped Rory's lips.
"So, you think you can stroke this baby?" he asked, kissing her neck.
"I-I think so," she stuttered.
A knock on the door broke the moment. Seconds later, a head popped in.
"Oh, hi. Am I interrupting anything?"
It was Tristin nursing a hot coffee cup in one hand.
"No, no," Rory immediately said, accidentally elbowing Charlie on the mouth.
"Ouch!" he winced.
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, putting the bass guitar down to tend on him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, pushing her away.
"Are you sure?" she asked, eyeing his bleeding lip.
"Yeah. You go with Tristin," he ordered her. "Have a good evening."
"Okay," she whispered quietly. "Uhm, thanks for the bass lesson."
"Any time," he groaned as he tried to wipe the blood with the back of his hand.
Rory walked out of the room and secured the door behind her.
She looked at Tristin mumbling a soft apology. "I hoped you weren't waiting long."
"Not really," Tristin replied. He didn't see any reason to tell her that he saw her with Charlie through the bay windows and how comfortable they were with each other. Maybe there was some truth to what Jen said.
"I'm done here for the night. Would you want to walk me to my bus stop?" Rory asked.
"Tell you what," Tristin suggested. "Why don't we get back to Worthington? I've got a car and I can drop you off."
"You don't have to do that," Rory said.
"No, I insist!" he replied. "We can catch up with each other's ghosts. What do you say?"
"Sure. Let me get my stuff," Rory told him.
Minutes later, they walked out of the building, past the large glass partition. Charlie watched them walk away.
"We're taking a break for our station identification," Charlie murmured into the microphone. He rubbed his chin wondering if Rory would've stayed if they weren't interrupted.