The Hook-up

Chapter 37

"We're going to go shopping, Brunz. Do you want to come?" Presley asked Bruno who was still sitting on the couch, unshaved, in his pajamas, with a bowl of Lucky Charms in his lap.

"No. I don't want to go, but take my card. You can buy whatever you want." He said not turning around clicking through the TV landing on Anchorman.

"Is Ryan coming over later?" Tahiti asked.

"I don't know. I don't care." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Take a shower, Peter." He heard his mother come in the house. "You need to get over it."

"Whatever." He didn't turn around even for his mother.

"Let's go girls. He'll get over it soon." Bernie told them shooing them out of the house. "We'll be back, Bruno. Don't do anything stupid." She told him kissing the top of his head not expecting a reaction.

"I won't." he said flatly as the door closed. He waited a few minutes before standing up walking to the glass cabinet in the kitchen. He looked up at the cabinet realizing someone much taller than him had put everything away. "Fuck!" he said under his breath going to get a chair to step up to get the bottle. He grabbed the vodka, went to the fridge to get some Red Bull and poured it all in a glass shaking it up with a spoon he found lying on the counter to get the two mixed perfectly. He leaned down taking a sip nodding his head. "Not bad." He said to himself going to the TV to finish the movie.

**

"What are we doing?" Lauren asked grabbing a jacket Justin's friend, Trace, had brought to her from their store downtown. "I was packed for Vegas, not New York." She said to them walking toward the tall building with them.

"It's cool, Laur. You're fine." Justin reassured her signing them all in on a sheet of paper by the security guard. "I'm going to introduce you and then we'll start from there. I think you'll know exactly what to do." He told her smiling at some of the girls in the hallway that were still starstruck by his appearance.

"I asked Bruno if he gets sick of that. He said he doesn't even notice it." Lauren told him.

"I only notice it every once in a while." He admitted.

"It happens all the time, dude." Trace told him.

"I know it does. I couldn't stand it." Lauren concurred with Trace.

"Okay, okay. I'm a stud. Can we please go into the meeting?" he asked them.

"Yeah. Let's go." Lauren said looking down at her phone in her cross body bag ringing. "Shit." She moaned knowing it was Bruno.

"Go talk to him. We'll get everything started." Justin told her as she stepped away sitting on a cushy couch. "Bruno?" she asked.

"Laur...did you get my message?" he asked her.

"I got it." She told him with no other explanation.

"Oh." He answered.

"Why did you call me?" she asked.

"When are you coming home?" he asked her.

"I don't know. I have things to do here." She replied.

"What?" he asked angrly.

"Yeah. I'm going to help Justin and Estee with some new things." She explained.

"Who the hell is Estee?" Bruno asked her.

"She's his business partner. You know...he has businesses. Like clothes and stuff." Lauren answered in a sarcastic tone.

"Were you saying that I don't do anything but music?" he responded defensively.