With the help of the band, we packed my things and put them in the trunk of Saul's Corvette.
"Please be careful..." I said worryingly to Duff and Izzy who were carrying the box of porcelain plates. "How about you put them in the passenger seat, I'd rather hold onto them on the way."
"It's just a bunch of old dishes, Em," Duff said.
"Just do what my girl says, man," Saul intervened.
"Got it dude."
"Are you ready to go?" Saul asked.
"Yes sir, I am." I said and kissed his cheek. "Just give me a moment to say goodbye to our former landlady."
I'd be a hypocrite if I did say that I wasn't expecting to be asked to move in with him. Both of us knew it would happen eventually. Indeed I was used to living alone most of the time, used to seeing friends come and go--hell at the back of my mind I knew it would be a gamble to take the step but I took it because there was nothing more I could ask for. I felt happy with the man who never ceased to make me mad and cry.
When everything was all set, we drove to Saul's place or should I say my place as well.
Holding the box of plates, I looked over to the backseat to find Izzy and Duff playing with Lennon. "Thanks for helping me with my things, boys." I told them.
"Anytime," Izzy smiled.
"So...you're finally together...officially. About time if you ask me." Duff teased. "I didn't know Slash had the balls to confess!"
Saul was quiet, pretending that he was focused on driving but inside, the water was slowly being put to boil. For many years of knowing him, he never liked when he's being made fun because of what he feels, so most of the time he puts a straight face to conceal it.
"He didn't have to say it, he just showed me and then I knew," I explained.
The sudden stillness took over, so I attempted to alter the mood and invited the two to stay for lunch as I was planning to cook something when we got home. "You name it, I'll do my best. Saul requests a different one everyday, isn't that right?" I placed a hand on Saul's thigh which I later realized was a wrong move, because it wasn't just his thigh that I felt.
"Em.... Take the hand off..please,"Saul mumbled, he briefly looked at me and went back to the road.
"Oh my...I'm sorry," I slowly removed my hand and sank in my seat. The two at the back were holding their laughter and Saul just cleared his throat. Thank goodness we reached the house and that gave me a good reason to hide in the kitchen while hoping that the boys would forget it.
After lunch, they stayed for a while and suggested they help with the unpacking but I happily declined since there wasn't much to unpack. I was still bit flustered with the touching incident so I spent the afternoon organizing my clothes and personal stuff.
Saul came in with a cigarette. The grin he was sporting widened when we made eye contact. I bit my lip, still flustered about the incident.
"You need help with this?" He grabbed my bag of underwear and pulled out my laced purple panties. He "oohed" remarking, "I thought you only wear tighty-whities?"
"You thought wrong," I took the underwear from him. "By the way, I didn't mean to touch your--"
"Aww, you didn't mean to? You made it excited."
"Shut up."
He hugged me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder blade. "Your mom called. She wanted us to come over for dinner some time."
"Are you ready to meet my parents?"
"Already met your mom and she seemed to like me." Saul spoke cockily. "Your dad won't be a problem."
I giggled. "Whatever you say."
He thought I was being sarcastic because Saul then became serious. "Come on, Emilia. Your folks and mine are pretty close. I know your dad doesn't approve of men my type, especially if someone like me's dating his only daughter but he's gotta suck it up! You're freaking twenty-five years old, you're old enough to make your own choice!"
I took a step back and said, "I know that. And I know that Papa will like you. If Mama and my brothers can see how a nice and sweet man you are, so can my father."
"I didn't mean to yell." Saul caught my arm. "I'm sorry."
I nodded. How I hated it when we argue especially over petty things. "Apology accepted. Now let me finish with what I was doing and I'm yours for the rest of day."
Snack before supper sounded great and Saul and I followed no strict diet, so we were like two kids feasting on milk and assorted cookies.
I reached out below the coffee table and fed Lennon a few crumbs. "Here you go, baby. You want some more?"
"You're not supposed to feed them sweets," Saul sent me a funny look as he rubbed the back of his Rotweiller's head who was just sleepily listening to us.
"You can seldomly. Why don't you give one to Fang?"
"Nah. He likes his liver-flavored treats more."
Though Lennon and Fang were getting to used with each other's presence, I wasn't still comfortable letting my little Pug play with a Clifford the big, black dog, not without me watching over at least. In fact, I wasn't comfortable letting Lennon get near any of Saul's pets.
I swallowed the last of the cookies and drank my milk in one swig. "Yum," I put my hands on my tummy. "I feel so stuffed and pregnant."
"Babygirl," Saul wrapped an arm around me and held my hand.
"Hmmm?" I blushed. I had to get used to the pet names coming from him.
"Can you do something for me?"
"Heck yes." I moved on to his lap, facing him.
He leaned forward and kissed me. "I didn't mean this, hun. But if you want it right now, I can..." He wiggled his eyebrows.
I got off him and stood up, folding my arms. "What is it you wanted?"
"Erm, I want you to deliver the..." He got up and took a folder from the bookshelf. "This one. The recipient and address is indicated in the folder, I would've done it myself but Axl wants us early in the studio tomorrow."
"What time do you need me to go?"
"Around six-thirty in the morning?"
"Well that's pretty early." I said. "Okay I'll do it... I don't need to go to work until the day after tomorrow."
Saul smiled a big smile. "You're an angel babe. Come by the studio when you're done, alright?"
Being a messenger girl for a day appeared to be a hard job as I lost my way twice. One good fellow said I had the address wrong, that I was going to the old or wrong building of this and that. I nearly cursed Saul, luckily I left way earlier, like I'd allotted an hour to find the right place.
It was an office, and a busy one with all the people walking to and fro and chattering about deadlines. I approached the receptionist who was elated in her own world, chewing and blowing a bubblegum which color matched the glossy lipstick she wore.
"Excuse me," I flopped the folder on her desk. "Where can I find a Jack Dempsey?"
"Mr. Dempsey is unavailable at this moment," the receptionist replied insipidly. "What is it you need from him?"
"Saul Hudson sent me to give this to your boss," I said.
"I'm sorry?"
"Slash sent me to give this to your boss."
"Slash? Right!" The receptionist jumped in her seat. "Uh... The third door to the left."
I gave thanks with a hissing sound at the end and proceeded to the door she told me. As I was about to turn its knob, the door flung open and out came two girls walking furiously.
"I ought to shove the bloody script in his ass!" The blonde-barbie growled, the beauty and grace completely left her face the minute she said those words.
"He thinks he's so good but he's terrible. I bet it's gonna stink when it hits the theaters," her friend added.
What was that? It was too late to back off though. Somebody in the room saw me and hollered for me to enter. I timidly moved and shyly said hello to the broody-looking men and women.
"I got something for Mr. Jack Dempsey from Sau-Slash?" I held out the folder.
"That's me, dear!" The short, thin guy in a funny wig said. He hastily took the folder from me and opened it. He read it and looked backed to me. "Are you ready?"
My mouth hung open, unsure if I should smile or frown. "Ready?"
"Vivian! Give her a script and orient her on what's she's gonna do! Two minutes only!"
I lost my voice to protest. A girl with thick glasses, who I assumed was Vivian shoved a stack of paper in my hands and pushed me to the center where the white lights were focused. She began to blabber the instructions all at once and I didn't able to catch everything she said.
"Time's up!" he declared.
Vivian got back to her seat and all the eyes were on me. "Now, you read Lollita's lines while Mr. Carlson over here will read Henry's." Jack instructed, his colleague joining me in the front.
All I could do was nod.
From where I was, I went to the studio on foot. The distance and the sizzling sun were the least of my worries. I was too preoccupied with the inflation tugging within my guts. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I squinted upon seeing the arch of the building just a few yards. As I reached it at last and leaned on the bricked pillar for support, that was when I realized I should had taken a taxi. The air pollution radiated from my skin and sweat-drenched dress. I had the feeling that my hair was a mess as well. I just cried over my stupidity.
"Emilia? What's wrong?" Lucy came to me with a concerned look. She was the secretary of Henson, the boss. She and I became acquainted because I often tagged along whenever the band came over to record.
I tried giggling but the tears went on. "Nothing's wrong. Can I go inside?"
"Uhm, yeah," she said. "It's noon break I suppose. If you can't find them there, they might be in the canteen."
I opened the door and was greeted by Matt and Duff jamming. Like Lucy they asked me what was the matter but I wasn't planning to tell them.
"There she is!" My head turned to Saul who stood across me with open arms, seeing my face, his smile vanished. "What happened?"
I jumped in his arms and he stumbled back. "Oh Saul! Why?" I released the muffled cries as I hid between his shoulder and jungle of hair.
"Don't freak us out, Em!" I heard Duff say. "They didn't strip you and made you do things you don't wanna do, did they?"
"Just shut it, Duff!" Saul told him and he made us sit on the couch. I withdrew my upper body from but my legs remained wrapped around him. He wiped my face with the front of his shirt. "Please tell me what happened."
I took a deep breath and said, "I guess I'll be busy as bee a month from now. I've no choice but to file a leave from the Hospicio.."
"No shit! Congrats!" Duff's loud voice boomed all over the room. He ruffled my hair and sat on the couch with us.
"That's great news!" It seemed like Saul was slowly absorbing it like I did. "Why the tears then?"
I shrugged, cried again and kissed him. "Thank you..." I said to him.
"I know it's not a big role, I wanted to talk Jack out of it but--"
"It's more than I could ever wish for."
It was true. I had given up with my childhood dream years ago. Frustration and fear of moving forward got the best of me hence, I decided to go to community college to pursue a career far from my interests. My passion was put to caregiving and my dream remained a dream. I regret nothing from my choices but it was like a new dawn of the day when I found out that someone still believed I could do it even when I called it quits.
"I knew you could do it," Saul said. "How about we celebrate after this session?"
His suggestion earned approval from everyone.
"Thanks again," I kissed Saul all over his face until he was squirming away. I must be hurting his lower half with my weight on him. "Thank you for believing in me."
"Hey it's no big deal," he said, chuckling. "Why don't you show me how thankful you are tonight?"
Night fell and we all went to the Rainbow for a drink. It had been a productive day for the band and for me, a new road opened and I was beyond ecstatic to take it.
What made it more better was that Saul sat closely, making sure that I still could see things as one, not that I was going to drink more than I could bear. My college instructor used to say, "Mistakes we don't learn are mistakes we're bound to repeat."
I slurped the last drop of my gin and orange juice as my head leaned against Saul's chest. I decided it was best not to take anything straight so I settled with the ladies' drinks instead.
"Don't hang your head down if you're dizzy, you'll only make it worse," he chided.
"I'm not dizzy," I said. "Where are the rest of the guys?"
"Back at the arcade."
"Mhmm. Then why aren't you joining them?"
Saul scoffed. "I couldn't just leave you alone, could I?"
"I'm so deeply touched."
A bottle of Cola was set on our table. "I figured you could use some caffeine and sugar," the smiling barista said to me.
"Thanks Jen!" I said to her.
"You drink that up and I'll make you something special. Need to celebrate with you landing on a new job and having a blossoming love life," Jen winked, gesturing towards Saul. "You hit the jackpot."
I thanked her again and she made a comment which made me laugh but made me want to cry inside. "You better treat her right, Slash," Jen said, turning to Saul. "Last time, she was moping 'cause some rock star broke her heart. You don't wanna see her getting comforted by another blond heartthrob for another time, right?"
I only laughed it out and Saul jokingly waved her off. "Just go back behind the bar."
Jen left to continue her work and I drank Cola to erase the taste of alcohol in my tongue. "Why don't you join the guys? I think I'll be fine on my own."
Saul gave me a quizzical look.
"I'll behave I promise."
"I won't be long," he gave me a kiss before leaving to play with the boys. God knows he has always a love for pinball games.
"Can I join you?" I was somewhat surprised that Axl was about to sit with me.
"Certainly. Saul and the others are at the arcade, if you want to join."
"I'm fine sitting here. Besides, I want to talk."
"Alright."
I finished drinking and was fiddling with my straw when Axl spoke, "I heard you just got signed to a movie. How's that?"
"It's just a small role but it felt like I've already won an award." Just thinking about it sent shivers to my spine. "Never was I expecting any of this at all as I don't have plans to pursue acting. I guess, it's just beginning to change for me."
"Thanks to Slash, you've nailed it. Otherwise you'd be showing something else for you to make it, if you know what I mean." Axl brought his beer bottle up for a toast before muttering, "Cheers to you."