To whoever asked if this was going to be a novel, in a way, it is. I just didn't have the patience to make it longer than what I am going to post here. The summary parts are my lack of patience.
I cared for Ashley with all my heart. I still kept my job at Quack! Media. Joy quit hers so she could be there more to take care of her son, Ricky.
My mom planned Aimee’s funeral so I would have one less thing to worry about. So many people came because she made friends easily. I made a speech and cried. But I remembered what she said in the letter: she didn’t want me to mourn her.
On Ashley’s first birthday, we had a picnic at the park near my house. Ashley was so bubbly and happy. She had already gone from the military crawl as I called it, to the baby crawl, to pulling herself up to her feet. As I prepared the cake for her party, she walked towards me, earning her much praise and making me a little late.
On her second birthday, we went to Zingerman’s Deli. She had already learned to talk, but it was limited to ‘Mommy’, ‘No’, and ‘Yes’, no being used most often.
On her third birthday, we went to Cracker Barrel, my favorite restaurant. It was there that she learned how to say ‘Uncle Billy’. Billy promised her free clothes if she did. The result was ‘Gunka Bill’. We all laughed at Billy’s expense.
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“You might want to check your mail,” Joy said while handing it to me. Joy was visiting me along with Ricky, who was playing with Ashley.
“Why?” I asked while grabbing the mail from her French-manicured fingers. On top was an invitation from Laurel and Ross. “Bachelorette party? Laurel wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Well it’s a joint one with Ross. Mom and Dad are taking care of Ricky for me and Billy and I are going. You should come.”
“At the Blind Pig? It’s doable. Who’s going?”
“Pretty much everyone we know. Rob, Mary Rose, Andrew, Katie, Rachel, and others.”
“Are Andrew and Rachel still dating?”
“No, they broke up in college.”
“Why?”
“He cheated on her with Katie.”
“Na-ah.”
“Yeah. And Rachel really liked him. I guess Andrew liked Katie more.”
“I guess so.”
“So you’ll be there, right? Mom can watch Ashley.”
“Sure.”
“Sweet!”
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The Blind Pig was a popular music venue in downtown Ann Arbor. It was well known, hence why it was packed.
Luckily, we found Laurel on the balcony over the stage.
“Hey,” Laurel said once she saw us.
“Hey you, congratulations,” I said as we hugged.
“Thanks.”
“A venue? This isn’t what you would do.”
“I know, but Ross has a show, so we decided to have it be a part of the party.”
“Why didn’t I hear about this? I’ve never seen Ross perform live.”
“Because you’re pigheaded and refused to listen to the band’s music. Anyways, when Joe quit, this guy named Casey took his place. Unfortunately, Casey is married.”
“Are any of the others cute?” Joy asked.
“The bassist is kind of cute,” Laurel answered while looking at me and raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, very funny guys. Thanks a lot.”
“When do they go on?” Joy asked, brushing off my sarcastic jab.
“That’s them,” Laurel said while pointing to the stage. Five guys entered the stage, one of them being Ross, causing the already rowdy crowd to get even more excited. They wore black vests, dress pants, formal shoes, white button down shirts, and ties. I checked out the bassist. He was not cute; he was drop dead gorgeous. His tie was a deep blue, which was my favorite color.
“Is he single?” Joy asked.
“Yes. They perform here a lot because they’re from Michigan, well, except for the keyboardist.”
They started off the set with a sweet slow song that Laurel later told me was called (I Know) It’s Just the Same.
“What do you think of the bassist?” Joy asked me, halfway through the song.
“He’s gorgeous.”
“Then go talk to him after the set.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I’m out of his league.”
“You’re not.”
“Just drop it, Joy.” It was halfway through the set that I took note of a girl in front row with tan skin and long brown hair. I had no chance.
For two songs, the bassist sang. His voice was simply amazing.
“Why do you think you’re out of his league? For all you know, you could be just his type,” Joy said after the set was done.
“You see that brunette waiting for him?” I asked while pointing to the girl I’d seen earlier. She stood by the edge of the stage, waiting for the bassist.
“Yeah. So?”
“That’s probably his type: tan, beautiful, and with no strings attached.”
“You don’t know that.” Just as the bassist got off the stage, the girl grabbed him by the arm, smiling, and tried to kiss him.
“See,” I told her.
“But look,” she said, nodding in their direction. He pulled away and walked off. Joy raised an eyebrow.
“So what? I’m going to get a drink. Do you want something?”
“Na-ah. I’ll meet you down there. I’m going to say hi to Ross.”
“Okay.” I walked downstairs to the bar and ordered a pina colada.
“Did it hurt?” A man’s voice behind me said. I turned around; a brunette, Robert Pattinson look-alike stood behind me. He wore geeky glasses, but I could easily tell he was a little bit tipsy.
“What?”
“Did it hurt?”
“Did what hurt?”
“When you fell from heaven, because you’re an angel.” I held back my laughter as best as I could.
“Umm, thanks. What’s your name?”
“Ryan.”
“Nice to meet you, Ryan. That was very nice of you to say, but I’m not available.” His face fell and I immediately felt remorse. I wanted to make him feel better. “But let me direct you towards someone who isn’t. You see that girl near the stage?” I said while pointing at Rachel, who was shooting daggers at the back of Andrew’s head. Ryan nodded in understanding. “Her name is Rachel. I think she’ll like your company. Maybe your flattery will work on her.”
I watched as he walked over to her and delivered one of his idiotic pick up lines to Rachel. Her face lit up and I felt better.
“What was that all about?” Joy asked, surprising the hell out of me.
“He used the angel falling from heaven line on me.”
“What did you do?”
“One word: Rejected!” She giggled before grabbing the apple martini she ordered.
“Are you going to talk to the bassist or not?”
“No.”
“Come on, you’re single, you’re good looking. Scratch that, you’re hot! I’m sure he’ll be interested. Why don’t you open up?”
“I don’t open up because I don’t want to get hurt. And besides, you’re just trying to live vicariously through me, right?”
“Guilty,” she said while raising her right hand.
“Knew it.” We giggled as if we were still in high school.
“I got these for you, already signed by four of the five members of Tally Hall,” she said while handing me two CD’s. One read Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, which was a popular museum nearby, and the other read Good & Evil.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Well, I was in the middle of talking to Rob before I decided to come over, so I’m going to go back. I’ll see you later!”
“See you.” I ordered another pina colada after she left, having already finished the first one. I then decided to text my mom asking about Ashley.
She’s fine. Have fun. This isn’t my first time taking care of kids. –Mom.
I smiled and put my phone back in my pocket. I grabbed my drink, the CD’s, and turned around, running into the person behind me. My drink spilled all over their shirt.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” I said while instinctively put the glass and CD’s down and grabbing some napkins. I started wiping the person’s shirt.
“Hey, it’s okay. I have another shirt,” the person said. I looked into his warm brown eyes and I felt like I was going to melt. It was the bassist, but he had changed clothes. My mind refused to process anything to say. My stomach was instantly barraged with butterflies and a blush crept up my neck into my cheeks. He chuckled. “Hi, I’m Zubin.”
“Hi, I’m, um, Annabelle.”
“Nice to meet you, Annabelle. Can we walk and talk?”
“Sure.” We walked out of the venue to a white van with a uHaul attached to it.
“Have you heard of Tally Hall before?” He asked as he opened the trunk.
“Once or twice because I work at Quack! Media and I’m friends with Ross.” He grabbed a shirt and faced me again, just staring at me. I started to feel a bit nervous. “I loved the set. It was amazing. You have a really good voice.”
“Thank you. Do you sing?”
“A little bit. At home.”
“Well, I would like to here you sometime.”
“I actually get nervous in front of people sometimes.”
“It’s okay. Everybody does. Excuse me for just one second.” He hopped in the van to change his shirt. In one of the bags in the trunk, I saw a loose piece of paper. I started to become curious. I grabbed the paper and unfolded it; it was a song, or at least the basis for one.
Looking for a cavern
[i]A place where she can stay
Waiting for the darkness
When she leaves obsessed to make her way to me
Because it’s getting to the time when she will need
To feed and I am
It stopped there. It was awesome. I folded it back up and hid it underneath the CD’s.
“Do you want me to sign those for you?” Zubin asked. I looked for his name on both CD’s, but couldn’t find it.
“Sure.” I hand him the CD’s. “Do you live here?”
“Yeah. I just moved back from Brooklyn with the rest of the band.”
"Brooklyn? What's it like there?"
"Mainly just busy streets and the occasional Hasidic-Hipster face off." I smiled at that. I had heard of the whole war in Brooklyn between the Hasidics and the Hipsters from Billy.
"Do you do anything besides perform?"
"I really don't have time. And even if I did, I would end up going back to U of M. I only finished three years."
"Did the band stop you from finishing?"
"Yeah. Enough about me, what about you?"
"What do you mean what about me?" I asked with questioning eyes.
"Like where did you go to college, what'd you major in, where do you work? That kind of stuff." He asked as we walked back into the venue.
“Well, I was born and raised here and I majored in English and Professional Music at the U of M as well. I work at Quack! Media and…” I trailed off. This was the usual deal-breaker.
“And?”
“And I’m a single mom of a three year-old girl.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” I said while looking down, expecting him to leave.
“Oh, is this the part where I run like hell is calling for me. I’m not shallow or selfish. Besides, I’m way too interested to walk away. Is that who you were texting earlier?”
“What, did you think I had a boyfriend?” I asked as we sat down at the bar.
“With a girl as stunning as you, yes. I guess I just got lucky.”
“I did, too.” I accidentally dropped the piece of paper with the lyrics on it. I mentally slapped myself as Zubin picked it up and unfolded it. “I’m so sorry. I saw it and read the lyrics. They were simply amazing.”
“It’s okay. I’ve actually wanted somebody to read them. I just haven’t found the right person.” It was then that my bladder decided to go proactive.
“Can you excuse me for just a minute?”
“Go ahead. I’ll be right here.” I ran to the bathroom, and fortunately, there was no line. I got in and out in under a minute. I walked over to the bar where Zubin was and on his lap was the brunette I had seen earlier.
“Zubin, please. You know you don’t mean it. Come on, let’s ditch this place.”
“Molly!” He looked up and his eyes met mine. I quickly turned and ran to find Joy. The butterflies had died the second I saw the girl on his lap and tears burned at the back of my eyes. It didn’t make sense to me why I was so overprotective and jealous when I had just met him. I felt someone tug at my wrist. I abruptly turned around and came face to face with Joy.
“Annabelle? What the hell are you doing?” She asked concerned.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m running,” I said before waltzing away.
Joy’s Point of View
“Why are you running? He’s hot.”
“True, but I also knew he was too good for me.”
“What the hell are you talking about? He was totally into you and you two looked so cute together.”
“Yeah, but that pretty brunette was all over him. It made me want to vomit and punch her at the same time.”
“I saw him try to get her to leave. Did you get scared?”
“Yes, because I’m insanely attracted to him and I freaked myself out.”
“Alright. Do you want to go?”
“Very much. I’ll go say bye to Laurel and Ross and meet you at the car.”
“Okay. I’ll go get Billy.” We went our separate ways and I went to find my goofball of a husband. I found him talking to none other than the hot bassist. I walked up behind Billy and put my arm around his neck.
“Hey sweetie, who’s this?”
“Joy, this is Zubin, a friend from U of M. He apparently started talking to some girl and they hit it off. She ran away when she saw his ex all over him.”
“Oh, seeing that probably hurt her and freaked her the hell out.” They both gave me weird and confused looks. “So, how exactly did you guys meet each other?”
“Through Joe’s film group, Anonymous. He came to the wedding. By the way, dude,” he said while facing Zubin, “where did you disappear to?”
“I met a girl,” Zubin smirked.
“Nice, my man,” he said while giving Zubin a couple of pats on the back. I rolled my eyes and slapped him on the back of the head. “Ow, Joy, that really hurt.”
I already had a plan forming in my head to get Zubin and Annabelle together. I had to or all would be lost forever. I could tell that Annabelle really liked him.
“Hey, I’m sorry to end this little tea party of yours, but we have to go. Why don’t you catch up tomorrow? You know where Zingerman’s Deli is, right?” I asked Zubin.
“Yeah. The band goes there every time we’re in Ann Arbor. Why?”
“No reason. Can you meet us there tomorrow at six p.m.?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, see you then,” I said while pulling Billy with me towards the door.
“Joy, what’s going on?” He asked.
“Annabelle really wants to go. She met a guy that was really attracted to, but his ex-girlfriend was all over him when she came back from the bathroom and it freaked her the hell out. Sound familiar?”
“Wait, you’re saying that the girl that Zubin met was my little sister, Annabelle?”
“Exactly.”
“So, basically, she’s coming with us tomorrow?”
“Even if I have to drag her by her hands and feet, kicking and screaming.”
