"Yeah, so Ames liked the chicken cordon bleu she had for dinner so much, we went grocery shopping to buy the ingredients she needed. You should've seen how adorable she was. She was excited to use her mallet for the first time; stress reliever she had said, so she went to town pounding down the chicken breasts," Ben said with a chortle. The gang was over at his sister Lizzie's house for dinner. "Anyway, she wanted to make her chicken fancier so she used prosciutto instead of ham and gruyere cheese instead of Swiss. Aiden, you're sister is quite the cook!" he recounted happily.
"That bad, huh?" Jared interrupted with a sarcastic remark.
"No, dude, that good!"
"Yeah, she'd always been comfortable in the kitchen," Aiden confirmed. "She always like to recreate things she liked eating at a restaurant at home."
"Anyway, she's an incredible pianist. She really plays from the heart, you can feel her pour her soul into whatever piece she played. I was so glad I had the opportunity to see her in action," Ben continued.
"How many cups of coffee did you drink beforehand so you didn't fall asleep?" Jared asked flatly. He didn't like all of Ben's stories, it sounded like he had gotten way too close to Ondine already.
"I didn't need it, dude. She was mesmerizing. You'd have to be dumb as rocks to fall asleep on her."
Jared continued to poke at his food, the steak he was eating no longer appetizing. He wanted chicken cordon bleu all of a sudden. How ironic that Clarisse thought it was his favorite and tried to make it for him when it was Ondine who ended up making the dish, someone who was indifferent to him. He was sure he was scowling because he saw his sister throw him warning glances all throughout dinner.
"Jare, dude, I let her listen to the song I'm writing for the band. She was quick, she already finished composing it with me. I want to have her play the piano on this track. We spent a good half a day writing, rehearsing, and recording this song. I have a very low quality recording on my phone if you want to listen to it. I've been stuck on this for months and she took one listen and got the job done," Ben announced proudly to Jared.
"Wait a sec. Hold up. You want the woman who called our band's music 'noise' to play on a track for our upcoming album? You have got to be kidding me! Was she high when she agreed to it?" Jared raised his voice. "No offense, Aiden."
Aiden just raised his hands up in an 'I'm not getting in the middle of this' manner.
"She wasn't high," Ben said in a controlled voice. "In fact, she seemed so excited about the prospect. But if you don't want her to play piano, we can get someone else, but I just think the track works with the piano."
"It's not up to me. Talk to the rest of the guys about it. Also send me the file of your recording; I'd like to hear this song of yours."
"Sure, dude."
Jared tried to keep his smile to himself. If Ondine recorded the song with them, it meant that she would be in town. He hadn't heard from her for six weeks, much less seen her, aside from the other photos Ben shared on his photo sharing account. He listened to the demo that Ben sent him, and he had to admit, it was already very good, even with just the the piano and Ben's guitar as accompaniment. Their voices also meshed well together, another point for Ben, Jared thought sadly; he couldn't sing to save his life!
Luckily for him, Tommy, Jackson, and Lucas all approved of the collaboration, and now here she was, Ondine, in the flesh, in the studio, rehearsing the song. She sat on the piano bench reading the sheet music, with Ben sitting next to her, his bass in hand. They were whispering to each other and laughing, and Jared couldn't help but think the two were already more than just friends, a thought that made him angry and green with envy. They ran through the song twice, Jared purposely speeding up the rate of which he beat the drum whenever he saw Ben and Ondine getting too close as they remained sitting on the bench.
"Stop, stop, stop! Jare, dude! What is up with you?" Tommy asked curiously.
"Sorry, my timing is just way off...new song and all," Jared made up an excuse.
"You know what, let's take five before we start recording and waste precious dollar bills down the drain with Jared messing up the tempo," Tommy instructed.
Ondine excused herself to go to the ladies' room. Jared followed her with his eyes first and then got up, stating he needed to use the men's room. He trailed after Ondine and when she went inside the ladies room, he followed her in there and locked the door. She looked back at him in surprise and before she can utter a word, his lips were on hers, prying them open, her lips giving in to his request. He easily lifted her up and sat her on the sink counter, grasping her hips close to him, his hands roaming underneath her blouse, up and down her back.
"Stop! Jared, you can't keep doing this! You can't just kiss me like this anytime you feel like it!" she hissed out of breath.
"Babe, I missed you," he said without a hint of sarcasm.
"What?!" She pulled away from him, hopping off the counter.
"I missed you."
"You mean you missed having sex with me."
"No," Jared shook his head. "I missed you."
"You have a girlfriend."
"Why do you keep saying that?! I don't have a girlfriend!"
"Oh that's rich. Of course you don't. Men like you always lie about that," she rolled her eyes.
"What makes you think I have a girlfriend anyway?"
"Your phone woke me up the first night we slept together. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snoop, but the message from Clarisse was very clear. I had to get outta there as fast as I could. I messed around with someone's else boyfriend. And it happened twice!" she said with much frustration.
Jared groaned. So that's why Ondine hightailed it out of his life not only once, but twice.
"Babe, Clarisse is not my girlfriend," he said gently, taking her face in both of his hands.
"She said she loved you."
"She thinks she loves me. She's my go to girl, so to speak."
"Gah, you are so crass!" she angrily said and swatted his hands away from her face.
"What do you want me to say? It's the truth," he rubbed his chin with his hands.
"That poor girl is in love with you. If only she can hear how low you speak of her right now," she said, still in disbelief.
"Ames, it's not my fault if she's in love with me or whatever. I never gave her false hope. She was into this casual sex set up, too!"
"Newsflash, Jay," he smiled at the nickname that spilled out of her mouth. "Even if girls get into this whole casual sex thing, we all secretly wish it wasn't so, we just think we can handle it, to not be confused as clingy and too dependent, like that's such a bad thing. Women who sleep around are labeled sluts whereas men who do the same are simply called players. The double standard is ridiculous."
"Is that what you want?" he asked, trapping her against the door, his palms flat on the door on either side of her head. "Is that why you're with Ben?"
"I beg your pardon?" she questioned indignantly.
"Is that what you want? Because babe, I guarantee, you walk away from me because you want something more and you're gonna miss me in bed, you're gonna miss the unrestrained abandon I coax out of you, you're gonna miss the feel of my c..." he stopped because she slapped him hard on the cheek.
"Get out."
He looked at her, her beautiful brown eyes pooling with unshed tears. "Ames..."
"I said get out. I don't want to hear another sexist, classless, inappropriately rude thing out of your mouth. So what if I like Ben? Huh? What's it to you? Get out!!!" she screamed at him.
Ondine ran into one of the stalls, waited for Jared to leave. It was when she heard the turn of the lock and the door click shut that she let out the breath she was holding. She fanned her face with her hands, blinking back the tears that threatened to slip down to her cheeks.
She washed her hands and splashed her face with water before getting out of the restroom. She needed to compose herself after what had just transpired between them. Yes, she had been spending a lot of time with Ben lately, but that was because he was a nice guy. He had really grown into a friend for her, and while it wouldn't be hard to get into something more romantic with him, he hadn't explicitly stated he was interested in her in that way. And in all honesty, she wasn't ready to get into a new relationship with a man. She hadn't completely healed yet from her break up; she only said that to Jared because he was his usual pompous ass self. Who did he think he was? Yes, he was great in bed, but she had no one else to compare him to. To Drake? Drake was bad and it was over as soon as he reached his climax, didn't care about her at all, didn't wait for her or make sure she was even ready. It was a painful first experience. She couldn't count that! But being great in bed was not all it took for her to like a man; and why was he acting more jerk-like anyway? She was so confused by him. At first the kissing was okay, she missed his kisses, then Clarisse popped into her head and that's why she stopped. Jared was bad news all around, and she didn't want to associate herself with him any further. She took one last calming breath before exiting.
"Do you really like him?" a deep voice came from behind her, causing her to jump as soon as she walked through the door.
"Gah, Jay! You gave me a fright!" she held a hand over her heart, her heart beating a million times, a minute it seemed.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, placing his hands on her shoulders and trailed them down her arms to her hands, his fingers intertwining with hers when his hands reach their destinations. "Ames, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. No one had ever refused me before, and I hadn't cared if they had before. I just don't know how to act around you; it's like I lose all common sense and just drive you crazy every chance I get. I did miss you. That much is true."
"Jay, what do you want me to do about it?"
"Please don't like Ben."
"He's my friend. I like him."
"Just don't fall in l..." he rested his forehead on her forehead, his eyes closed. "I can't lose you to my friend."
She backed away from him. "Stop joking around. What is this? A pissing contest and I'm the prize? Come on, they must be looking for us by now," she pulled her hands away from his and walked ahead of him.
"There you are! What took you so long? I was starting to get worried you flushed yourself down the toilet," Ben laughed at his corny joke.
"Just got lost momentarily," Ondine said, taking one last pointed look at Jared before sitting down on the piano bench.
***
Tommy treated the guys to dinner at one of their usual hang out spots in LA, Oishi, for some sushi and sake. Ondine was worried her distressed denim skinny jeans and black tunic would be too casual for the hip eatery, but the guys were also in their rehearsal garb, so she relaxed a little. At least she had thought of doing her hair and make up even if she was stuck at the recording studio all day. Ben had his hand on the small of her back and guided her passed the paparazzi that always camped out outside of the famous restaurant, tried to shield her away from their cameras. Jared walked on her other side, doing the same as Ben, shielding her away, but less obvious about it. They were seated immediately, Tommy had some pull, and Ben pulled out Ondine's chair for her, Ben sitting next to her, Jared across from her.
They hadn't even served their appetizers yet when a sassy brunette with a fake tan and big boobs sauntered over to Jared and sat on his lap, dropping a lingering kiss on his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jared's back stiffened at the kiss, worried about Ondine's reaction again, and tried to push the aggressive woman away from him. The woman backed away from the kiss, but did not get up from where she sat.
"Jared, baby, it's so good to see you here."
"Um, yeah, um..."
"Callie."
"Callie, yeah, um. I'm kinda in the middle of dinner here."
"Oh well, I just wanted to say hello. I'm sure I'm not bothering them, am I?" Callie said with a smile, glancing around the table.
"No, no," the table chorused.
"By all means," Ondine said before taking a shot of sake. "Another one, please," she said softly to Ben.
"Jare, when are we hanging out again? It's been too long, much too long," she wiggled a little, trying to get a reaction out of Jared.
"I've been busy...band stuff," Jared replied shortly.
"Well, all work and no play makes Jared a dull boy. Come on, I know you have some down time, right? Like tonight, after dinner? We can go to my place, hang out," she said seductively.
"I'm really, really kinda tired. Just wanna make an early evening out of it," he took a sideways glance at Ondine who took yet another shot of sake.
"You know what?!" Ondine said a little too loudly, feeling the buzz already. "We should have a round of sake bombs! Ben, let's have some sake bombs! Tommy! Can we get a round of sake bombs?!"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Tommy ordered a round from their server.