Rattlesnake Shake (Sebastian Bach)

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Theodora's POV:

I led Sebastian down back roads I was sure that he wasn't aware existed. There were twists and turns where buildings didn't line up perfectly. "Where are you taking me?" He finally asked.

"My favorite place to go. Well, one of them." It really was. A special place that I'd never shown anyone before. The people there had helped me when I first moved to Los Angeles, and I returned the favor by visiting them every so often. They'd become like a family to me. We finally reached the back door of the Italian restaurant. "This is it."

"This? This crummy restaurant?" Sebastian looked around as though I was joking. I rolled my eyes, knocking on the door. It opened.

"Theodora! Mia amica!" A tall, heavy woman opened up the door. She was only a few years older than me, but she was like an aunt to me. "Where have you been? What have you been up to?" She threw her arms around me.

"Maria, I've been having a good time...with friends." Maria had warned me about whores, so I decided not to tell that I'd become on. "This is Sebastian." I introduced the tall man. Even with Maria's stature, he was still the tallest person here by a long shot.

"I'm Theodora's boyfriend." Maria gave me a strange look, so I nodded. "She's never mentioned you, though. I wish I could tell you I know who you are."

"Ah, I see. Do come in." She waved us in, granting us entrance into the back of the restaurant. I knew the place well, sitting myself down on a counter that I'd sat on many times before immediately. "We were Theodora's family," Maria explained to Sebastian. "We taught her how to cook. She taught us how to live."

"So, you're like-" I cut him off with a swift motion against my throat. Thank goodness he got the message. "How did she teach you how to live?"

Maria opened a bottle of red wine, pouring out three glasses. "Celebration calls for alcohol!" She explained. "And tattoos are beautiful." She rolled up her sleeve, showing a small rose adorning her upper arm.

"Do you have tattoos?" Sebastain asked me. I nodded. "Where?"

Maria began to laugh, and I simply shook my head. "You'll get to see it soon." My wink to accent the sentence gave him his hint, and he immediately shut up. Maria gave Sebastian and I our wine glasses. "To old and new friends," I said.

"Salute!" Maria said, and we clinked our glasses together. "Now, tell me," she took a sip of her wine, "where you two met? How long have you been together?"

"We met at The Roxy," I explained, hoping not to reveal the intentions that I'd had at the time. "He was performing that night, and you know that I love to watch the bands perform there." Maria nodded, and I carried on. "He took me out for a drink that night, and then invited me to a party. We really hit it off, and have kind of been inseparable ever since."

"That's only because if not for me, you don't have anywhere else to go," Sebastian pointed out. "Sorry, Vette, but she's gotta know a little bit."

"I had somewhere else," I lied. "I always had here." I could feel embarrassment burning through me. Sebastian was right, though. I was blatantly lying right to Maria's face. What kind of surrogate daughter was I?

"How's Greg?" Maria asked, sensing my discomfort. She'd only met one of my brothers. "Still covered in bandages?"

I smiled weakly. I didn't know what was going on at home. "Without a doubt. It's his natural state."

"You haven't spoken to him in a while," Maria assumed. "I guess you've been pretty busy. What do you do for work?"

I looked at my hands. "Domestic studies," I finally confessed, "exotic studies."

Maria was silent, her disappointment crushing me. "You're one of those dancers?"

"No, Maria. I'm worse than a dancer."

Maria covered her mouth. "You.... You're one of those groupies!" The accusation burned. It was true, but for once I felt ashamed. The compulsion to justify kicked into overdrive, and I needed to swallow it back.

Yet I'd never been very good at self-control. "The life that you want for me is so boring!" I finally said. "At least I'm having fun with mine. What the hell have you accomplished?!" I grabbed Sebastian's had, starting to storm out. 

"Theodora! Theodora! Wait!" Maria was shouting at me. I didn't want to turn around, but Sebastian made me. He stopped walking, and grabbed my shirt. "I am sorry for you. No, this is not the life I wanted for you. But you are right. It is not my life." The seriousness of her tone was surprisingly reassuring. "I still wish good things upon you. No evils, of course." She smiled. "And I hope that you come back with more to tell me."

That's why I chose Maria as my family.

&&&&&

That night, Sebastian took me out to The Whisky a Go-Go. "You're taking me here? After everything you've told me?"

"You're not going in to fuck. You're going in these doors." He pointed to the line of people waiting to get into the four hundred capacity room. "And you're going to actually watch the bands perform."

"What's the point in that?" I laughed after I said it to prove to him that it was supposed to be a joke. He chuckled, too, apparently finding it vaguely amusing. 

"You're really something else, Vette," he said. 

"Only for you, Glitz," I blurted. Sebastian's lips fell open. "I-I-I didn't mean-"

"Oh, no. You can't take that back." He was going to use it to torment me, I could feel it. I guess that's why they tell you that you should always think before you speak. It could get you into a relationship with someone, honestly. "Then you do care for me. I knew it! You're sweet on me!" He leaned forward kissing me quickly. "And you do like my company."

"How can I not?" I wasn't twisting my way back out of this. "I just wish I was more romantic for you."

"You're plenty romantic. Remember that lovely poem you wrote for me?" I chuckled lightly at the memory. "And you're letting me take you out on dates. I'd say that's a pretty damn fine start to being romantic."