Downtown
I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
Friday
It had to have been one of the hottest summers ever, it had been forecasted all year, but everyone knows the weather forecaster rarely gets it right, but this one must have been properly trained, because they'd got it spot on, it was sweltering. There's been no rain for nearly a month, some moments of overcast but nothing. Everyone was moving around in slow motion; you know that feeling you get when it's just too hot to do anything and you have something to do. Midday and hardly anyone was on the streets, the heat wave was visible, bottles of water were being delivered to most buildings, air conditioning was working overtime, a hyper typical Californian summer.
Right at this moment it wasn't overly hot for Sam and his friend Azimio; who he, along with everyone else in their world referred to as Zee. They lived in the same building in West Hollywood and worked in the Hills, this was one of those rare weekends when they were both off and both in town, they'd just finished track running on their buildings air conditioned, roof top, gym and now they were sitting in the semi warm tub relaxing their muscles.
It was Friday night, they'd finish work, and settling into their planned weekend starting with a rigorous workout, then a muscle relax session, followed by food, maybe a beer or two, music, and shooting some pool.
Zee was fast becoming a well-respected sports agent, while Sam ran an up-and-coming record label. The two had originally met in college, both studying business as their major, they had a few classes together, and clicked after taking on an assignment together. Zee was goal orientated, while Sam paid great attention to detail, meaning they worked well together in the classroom and played hard together outside of it.
In the early days after college, when they were getting themselves established in their chosen careers, their evenings would generally be filled with parties, girls, alcohol, and anything else they fancied, but Sam had grown out of that, having come to the realisation that being used wasn't a nice thing anymore.
So now nudging thirty, after a heavy workload, when they could, the guys relished relaxation, Sam's Saturdays were usually filled with planning for the coming week, he'd sit in his office at home, trying to get contracts read, signed or worded, ready for his PA on Monday, while he was doing that he'd be listening to the numerous demo's that had passed through his office that week, in the hope of finding his next star.
Zee had another life, he was out there with his players, keeping everyone sweet, travelling up and down the country, watching games, getting contracts, getting his players seen, he always seemed to be on the go, and his bed was never empty long enough for him to moan about that part of his life, he labelled himself as choosy, but not picky.
"What do you say we go out later?" Zee asked as the spa cycle finished,
"What do you suggest?" Sam asked "And please don't say the Grand, I am so sick of that place"
"Don't tell me, the women there aren't in your league" Zee laughed
"Any woman is in my league, the one's that frequent the local clubs just happen to know who I am, so it's hard for me to take them serious".
"I know how you feel" Zee laughed "But you know meaningful conversations, and long-lasting commitment isn't what I'm looking for".
"I get that" Sam laughed.
"Maybe somewhere different, what do you say we go downtown?"
"One of those nights?" Sam laughed remembering the last time they decided to go downtown for entertainment, they got more than they'd asked for
Flashback (Sam's POV)
The last time we'd ventured to downtown, we ended up meeting a couple of fun-loving ladies, I guess they caught our eye because they were the life and soul, and to be honest we were looking for girls to do all the work, they seemed to fit the bill. The ladies had ended up in our suite, we usually booked a suite when we went clubbing, we tended to party hard, so driving home was never a thing.
"So" Santana; the one Zee had hooked up with smiled, before slamming herself on his lap "Do you guys play games?"
"Depends on the game" Zee grinned at me, to be honest bondage sort of flashed across my mind, but as long as they knew I was doing the bounding that was cool
"We call them bedroom games, but they can happen anywhere" Brittany smiled looking into my eyes, she was hell of a cute to be honest
"We have separate bedrooms" I told her, wondering what the sparkle was in those eyes of hers
"Fine for sleeping, but I wasn't talking about sleeping" Santana informed us
"What are we talking about?" Zee asked suspiciously, his tone alerting me to something going wrong in this conversation
"Minaj a twa" Santana smiled "Only with four of us"
"No" Zee and I snapped together, a picture of Zee trying to kiss me, flashed through my mind for a second, it made me shiver with cold
"We're not into that" my stern voice quickly added
"Have you ever tried it?" Brittany asked me
"Never have, never will" Zee assured them
After that the night sort of took an awkward turn, it took us a while to get rid of the very persistent girls, we were dying for sleep, but we just couldn't feel comfortable falling asleep with them lurking. The next day we both agreed that would never happen again, we could have been so compromised if those ladies had a mind to mess us up, that was my memory of downtown.
It was the total opposite in our local area, there was no code, and no one was up for sharing, everyone was just out for what, or who, they could get, the bigger the wallet the more the hassle, and we didn't just have fat wallets, we had access to fatter wallets, it was like being in a market hall behind breakable glass walls.
End of Flashback
"That is never going to happen again my friend" Zee laughed
"What's never going to happen again?"
"Brittany and Santana" he laughed "I still remember their names".
"Who?"
"Don't tell me your mind didn't jump straight to that night when I mentioned downtown?" he laughed at the smile on Sam's face "That was like something out of an X-rated wasn't it?"
"It was something" Sam agreed "Tell me" he laughed "If I hadn't have been there, would you...?"
"Damn straight I would have" Zee laughed "Every man's dream" he looked at his friend "Wouldn't you?"
"Maybe twenty something Sam, but no I wouldn't"
"You are so weird" Zee laughed "Anyway this night out, you up for it?"
"I'll need a couple of hours to get those contracts read, if we're out in the morning" Sam told his friend
"Thinking around ten thirty, it's around a forty-five-minute drive to Compton, should give it time for the party to start" Zee picked his phone up out the pod "I'll book the usual place"
"Great" Sam got out the tub and grabbed his towel "See you later"
"Don't forget, this is not a suit and boot occasion dude" Zee shouted after him
"Shut up" Sam laughed
Ten thirty they were both stood outside their building waiting for the cab to arrive, adorned in slacks, sandals, and casual shirts, Sam in sky blue, Zee in white, it was much too hot for anything else. The conversation about work as usual, it was harder for Sam to switch off than Zee.
"Okay" Zee held his hand up to the approaching cab "End of work"
"End of work" Sam assured him getting in the cab, singing along to the tunes in the cab as they moved towards their destination, Zee shouting out at nearly every female along the way, regardless of whether they were with someone or not
"I pray those chicks are there, I'm in the mood for a Niki" he finally wound the window up, to let the air conditioning do its job
"You're a freak you know that?"
"You in?"
"Count me... out, definitely out" Sam laughed
"Could you take the next right please?" Zee asked the driver as they neared the end of their journey
"Where are we going?" Sam asked watching the cab take an unusual turn
"This clubs actually called Downtown, reviews on its blog says it's up and coming, I thought we'd check it out"
"I hope you know what you're doing" a little way down the street and the cab came to a stop "Looks good yeah?" Zee smiled opening the cab door, the loud music pumping out the building every time the door opened told them it would be electric inside, there was a queue waiting he quickly jumped in it "Let's do this"
"Let's watch out backs at the same time" Sam looked at the rather young crowd as he stood beside him
"We'll stick to beer" Zee assured him "Oh" he laughed "Looks like we've got some catching up to do" they stood looking at a group of girls behind the doorperson surrounding someone, as she vomited in the street "Nice"
"Zee?" someone called making them both search for the voice coming at them from the front of the queue "It is you, come through dude" a hand waved at them telling them where the person was
"Oh, it's Matt" Zee waved at the guy, nodding for Sam to follow him "What are you doing here?"
"This is my gig" Jake laughed "But, I really didn't expect to see you in these parts"
"I know" Zee laughed "I'm usually working but, tonight I'm not, saw the raves on your socials and thought we'd give it a try, you remember Sam?"
"Sam" Jake held his hand out "I remembered your face, just the name, I'm no good with names"
"Good to see you again, I'm just as bad to be honest" Sam laughed
"Go through" Jake moved to the side for them to pass "I'll set you guys up in a booth, you won't be disturbed unless you want to be"
They walked into the club Zee instantly turning on the girl magnet charm "How much?" he asked a girl leaning on the bar holding a tray with half empty glasses on, and a smile
"Sorry?" she looked at him puzzled
"How much for the night?"
"Fuck off" she snapped at him turning to put the tray on the bar
"Dude" Sam shook his head "Out of order"
"That was a classic move, she was making a classic move" Zee laughed "So hold up, I'm in the wrong?" he stopped walking to look at Sam
"Dude, a girl can smile without it meaning come to bed"
"They can, but we all know even the most forced smile leads in that direction"
"Your mind still on that on way track?"
"It's on that track" Zee warned
"Well don't pull me in, I'm not up for any shit tonight, strictly chillaxing"
"Say notin" Zee rolled his eyes
"Now I'm dealing with ghetto Zee" Sam laughed
"Slip into it dude, downtown" he bopped off waving his arms in the air to the music
"This way" the same girl jumped in front of them smiling "Jake tells me you're VIP"
"And you are?"
"Kitty" she looked into Zee's eyes teasingly "Jake's wife"
"Shit" Zee frowned "Sorry about earlier, I really was only..."
"Flirting" she finished for him "I get it a lot" she smiled "And you're lucky you walked away as fast as you did, because that conversation usually finishes with something like, you fucking loser, I feel sorry for your sister, mom, wife or something like that" she laughed "Here you go" she stopped at a booth "And Bree here will be your waitress for the evening" she turned to point at the cheeky looking, prettily clad woman, "Anything you need"
"Feisty" Zee laughed watching her walk away "I bet she's got a cute kitty under that outfit?" he sat watching the petite blond
"Isn't she your friends wife?" Sam asked
"Shame" his attention turned to the dark haired, taller, but just as petite woman, standing at their table "Two beers please Bree, and just keep them coming"
"Will do" she turned to leave "And before you start verbalising your thoughts, I'm Jake's sister"
"Family run business" Zee smiled impressed, before looking at Sam "Not bad at all, thank you very much" he raised his eyebrows
"Did you take something when we walked in?" Sam asked laughing
"It's been near on three months since we blew out, come on man, loosen up"
"I'm loose" Sam laughed "Just not in the mouth region"
"Dude's got jokes" Zee laughed
Sam sat taking in the room smiling to himself, five years ago he'd have already worked the room to find the drunkest girl on the dancefloor, made his move by grinding on her backside until she turned around, then he'd make his move. He giggled to himself for the move actually working, he'd pull her to him and kiss her so passionately he'd literally hear her swoon, as soon as that happened, he knew he was in, he'd break away, quick enough to see her eyes still closed imagining where this was going. He focused on a couple of girls as he remembered his playboy days "Ready" he smiled seeing his younger self nod towards the door and grab her hand to make their way outside, but the night didn't always end there.
Sometimes they'd be worth a quickie, or even a bed, and on the way to the hotel, he'd give all the you're the sweetest girl chat, in between making out and fingerbanging, testing the waters, before they'd end up in bed, giving him exactly what he wanted. He was who he was back then and most of the time, the women would wake up to an empty bed, being told by the housekeeper what time check out was. "Count yourselves lucky you didn't meet that guy"
"What you say?" Zee asked
"Nothing man, reminiscing"
"You're thinking about that time you caught that girl with her mouth rapped around my dick in the alley, aren't you?" he laughed
"Most definitely not" Sam laughed "Believe it or not your dick isn't something I ever think about"
"I can tell when you're lying" he laughed
"If that's what you think, you really can't" Sam shook his head smiling "Drink up, maybe with alcohol comes clarity"
"I hope not" he moved to the music "I'm going to hit the floor, make a girl swoon, see what's happening"
"Hit that floor" Sam held his hand up for another drink, he was firmly rooted in the booth, he'd never been one to take to the dancefloor for fun, without being three sheets to the wind, and with Zee acting so strange he'd appointed himself the sober one for the evening.
The music was pumping, he was nodding along, even singing sometimes, but only the thought of the songwriter, singer, guitarist, all the mechanics of bringing a music production together, brought smiles to his face, some he knew well, some impressed him, and some made his ears bleed. He didn't know what amount of alcohol he'd consumed by the time he started banging the table to the beat of the baseline, but he knew what stopped him
"Matt's friend, right?" a voice entered his space
"Ah yeah" Sam looked up at the woman holding someone in her arms
"She's wasted, but I need to perform, well it was we but..." she looked at the girl slouched in her arm "My girl here got carried away with the shots"
"Oh"
"She's had two, but as a rule she doesn't drink, my fault really I was trying to help get rid of her nerves" she rolled her eyes "Jake said you're cool to look after her for a song or two"
"I can?" he watched her sit her friend in the booth before the woman slouched forward, face down on the table "I guess" he half smiled at not being given the choice
"So embarrassing" the woman hissed before walking off towards the dancefloor
Sam sat looking at a mop of extensions, mangled and messy, this woman had really done a number on herself, maybe she was the girl throwing up outside when they were arriving, whoever she was, he seemed to be the only person concerned with how things looked right now. Suddenly there was life, her head seemed to be moving, he rolled his eyes at the attention he was going to have to give this stranger now. His mind flicking through all the intoxicated ladies he'd ever met, wondering what this one was going to be like
"Who the hell are you?" her head suddenly sprung up asking, making him smile at her trying to rest her chin in her hand, and failing miserably as her eyes clumsily searched the room, trying to get her bearings or see a familiar face, before looking back at him "How did I get here?" she wiped her dribbling mouth
"Your friend dropped you off, said she had to go sing of something, you're a friend of Jake's, right?"
"Not really a friend, his brother, or half-brother should I say, goes out with my friend" she looked over at the dancefloor "Well she was a fucking friend, until she left me with a damn stranger"
"I'm not a stranger" he laughed "I'm a friend of a friend of Jake's"
"Shit" her head shot up "I'm supposed to stop her from singing"
"Why?" he turned to see the woman grabbing the mic on stage
"She's one of those that only hear angels when she opens her mouth" she rested her chin on her hands finally
"Oh" Sam raised an eyebrow peaked
"Don't be impressed" she frowned "She reminds me of when one of Daenerys's children open their mouth"
"Dragons?" he asked puzzled, smiling at the familiar tune of 'I Love You' by Earl playing through the machine, that was until the girl started singing, he looked in horror at the woman sitting across the table from him
"I told you" she smiled before putting her head down and closing her eyes again "I am so fucking dead"
I love you; I love you; I love you, yes, I do, I want to, I want to, I want to, yes, it's true
But all the boys who came, ahead of you were mean, and now it's hard to give myself away
You must be too good to be true, or are you, or are you?
"Daenerys dragons" Sam laughed, the crowd had stopped dancing they were standing watching her, rolling their eyes, shaking their head "Does she do this all the time?"
"All the time, two drinks and she becomes Marolyn Monroe in her head" she chuckled "Shit" she turned to hide her face, Sam watched as Jake stood looking at the woman from across the dancefloor, smiling at him rolling his eyes before he started making his way over
You kiss me, you kiss me, you say baby it's alright, I see you, I see you so clearly, when I close my eyes
So why am I so scared, to let you comb my hair, all sweet and golden on with good intent
You must be too good to be true, you must be too good to be true, or are you, or are you?
"Get her off" Jake shouted, the music stopped, people stopped muttering, and the woman threw the mic down at the thunder in his voice "What the fuck dude" he shouted at the deejay.
"I know you've tried telling her no before" the deejay laughed "How far did you get?"
"Where's your bodyguard?" Jake snapped at her impatiently looking around the room
"Is he looking over here?" the woman laying across the table asked Sam without moving a muscle
"Yeah" Sam looked at her puzzled "What's going on?"
"I'm drunk, laying here passed out, and that's all you know"
"That is all I know" he confirmed looking back at Jake coming towards them with the woman off stage in hand
"Mercy" Jake snapped when he got to their table "Mercy" he snapped again when she didn't move
"She's passed out" Sam told him
"Do me a favour" Jake turned to Sam "Keep her sat in that seat for the rest of the night, will you?" he pointed at the spare on the bench for her to sit at "Lauren" he pointed at the woman "Is my brother's misses, but as you just heard, she needs to sit her damn self at the furthest point away from a freaking mic"
"I'll try" Sam looked at the woman, he knew now to be Mercy, still faking sleep
"Has he gone" Mercy asked still with her face on the table
"Yeah" Lauren nudged her "It's clear" Sam couldn't help laughing at Mercy's head popping up to show she wasn't under the influence at all
"What's the game?" he asked
"He won't let my friend here near the mic, but his show off wife gets to stop the show any time she wants, we just do that to piss him off" Lauren told him smiling "It's fun"
"Living our best life" Lauren laughed
"Well, you had me fooled" Sam looked at Mercy
"And the thing is she really can sing" Sam smiled at that, they knew who he was, that was their way of getting past all the red tape
"I'm good, but to be honest I'm not that good" Mercy surprised him with, it wasn't often someone was looking to be signed and put themselves down at the first hurdle
"She's being modest" Lauren butted in
"Laur"
"What? you are" Lauren told her "Granted she's no Whitney, Aretha, or even J Hud, but she's a very close second to all of them"
"You should record something and let the professionals be the judge" Sam told her
"Oh, she has, she's waiting for a call, just one call"
"Nobody tells you how tough it really is breaking into the business" Mercy told him "I'm what they call a triple threat, so lots of eggs in lots of baskets, and everything crossed"
"Sorry, I didn't get your name" Lauren butted in
"Sam" he smiled
"Friend of a friend of Jakes's" Mercy added
"Yeah" he smiled "You were listening?"
"Rude not to when someone's talking" she frowned "My mama grew me right"
"Can I get you ladies a drink?"
"I don't drink, I act" Mercy told him laughing "But don't tell Jake that, ever"
"I drink" Lauren smiled "One shot a night, and I've already had it, so we're good thanks"
"I'll order some beers for the look" Sam started playing the game with them
"I thought you said you wouldn't" Zee turned back up at the table "Pray tell, how do you manage to sit here all night and get more action than me?" he sat next to his friend "Ladies"
"This is Jake's brother's wife Lauren and her friend Mercy" he looked at Zee "Ladies this is Zee, Jake's friend"
"This place really is family run" he held his hand out "Nice to meet you" he nodded
"Likewise, I think" Lauren half smiled, Mercy said nothing "Anyway I told hubby I'd be back before midnight, it's nearly three, I think I've earned my beating"
"You two are so freaking kinky" Mercy laughed "Come on" she got up waiting for Lauren to do the same "Nice meeting you" she looked into Sam's eyes openly flirting "Bye" she faked a smile for Zee
"Bye" Sam smiled
"Bye" Zee replied sarcastically
"Thanks for earlier" Lauren looked at Sam "Appreciate it"
"Yeah thanks" Mercy echoed and then they were gone
"That was that mad woman on the mic earlier, wasn't it?" Zee asked
"Pranking" Sam laughed as the beers arrived
Their night finished closer to five than the expected two in the morning, but they'd had fun, loosened up, fell asleep as soon as their heads touched their perspective pillows and were up early afternoon to make the journey home, Monday coming all too soon.
Monday
"Your coffee Mr Evens" Rachel his PA placed it in the usual spot on his desk
"Thank you" he looked up for a second "Could you, give this pile the good news, call this pile and offer the usual slots, do away with this pile, and let me have the schedule for studio three for today, please?"
"Sir" she smiled picking up the piles of folders before leaving his office, coming back minutes later with the schedule
"Oh" he looked at the familiar face jumping at him "Mercy"
"What was that Sir?" Rachel asked
"Nothing" he got up to get to the studio, she was second up on the list, and if everything was going to plan, she'd be auditioning any second now, he opened the door to hear her already doing her thing, she really was an angel
My time, too expensive to buy it, my type, so I might let you slide, yeah
You get it, understood the assignment, I spend it, every minute is priceless
I don't want to waste a minute, but if you need two, I'm with it
I spend it all on you, you, you, you, yeah, I spend it on, you, you, you
Time ain't free, but I spend that too, don't have much, but I spend it on you
I spend it all on you, you, you, yeah, you, you, you, doo-doo, only thing I want to do, want to spend it all on you
Only thing I want to do, trying to spend it all on you, oh, you, you, you... 'Spend It' by Coco Jones
"Hey" She looked directly at Sam smiling when Artie; the guy working the system, told her to stop, the guy looked behind him to see who she was talking to and nodded at Sam
"Thank you" he nodded looking at the guy standing at the booth door waiting to let her out
"What did you think?" Sam asked Artie
"Good" Artie nodded "I mean really good" Sam smiled walking off to meet her
"You could have said last night you were the Sam Evans" Mercy grinned at him
"You could have said you were the one with the angelic voice".