Table 15

Chapter 3

"So! Your place or mine," Mark said, rubbing his hands together. He looked over his glasses and put on his best evil grin.

"Well it depends," I said with a grin to match his own. I nudged him with my elbow playfully. We exchanged glances and laughed. Man, it felt so good to laugh with him again. It's been ages since we last saw each other. Well, not really, since he's seen me at the Café every Sunday. Which reminds me-

"In all seriousness," Mark said. He had composed himself, however he was still smiling. Damnit Mark, you interrupted my thought.

I shook my head to clear up the effects of laughter. "How about your's?" I replied.

Mark nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me!" He pulled out his car keys, tworled them around his finger, then hit the unlock button. A a short "beep" could be heard not to far from us. He pointed at a shiny, blue, two-door car and walkes over to it. It looked brand new, like he had just bought it yesterday.

He opened the door on the left side and climbed in. Sure, I've been here for about 2 or 3 months now, but I was still having a hard time adjusting to the whole "driving on the right side of the road" thing. I walked around Mark's blue car and opened the door.

Though the outside looked new, the inside revealed the truth. This car must be 3 to 4 years old. There were old candy wrappers scattered across the floor in the backseat and the green tree air freshener hardly help keep the smell of McDonald's burgers tame. The headrest for Mark's seat was torn on the side, with a thumb-sized hole, and you could see a bit of the yellow stuffing peeking out.

Mark leaned over and picked up a hefty stack of mail from my seat. "Sorry, I just went to tbe Post Office today," he said. He carefully placed the stack of fanmail in the backseat.

After I had buckled in, Mark started the engine. He started to back up. So how are you liking L.A ?" He asked nonchalantly.

"It's fuckin' hot here! It's like summer all the time! And I haven't seen rain since I moved!" I said, opening the air vent in the dashboard so it blew on me. The cool air felt nice on my neck. Mark laughed.

"If you wanted rain, should try Oregon or Washington!" Mark said. I shook my head vigorously. "Trust me. I am relieved to be out of that mess," I said bluntly. Sure, I miss it a bit, but not to much. Growing up with rain practically everyday made you despise it. "At least in Ireland we got four seasons," I said flatly.

"Hey! 'Summer all the time' isn't that bad!" Mark said defensively. He stared straight at me with a frown. He couldn't help himself, and eventually we started laughing again.

He stopped at a red light and he turned to me. "I just remembered, what about your car? How will you get home?" He said, briefly looking back up at the stoplight.

"I don't have one," I replied. "I can't afford it yet. And this whole," I motioned to the road and Mark in the left front seat, "idea is little tough to grasp. As for the getting home question," I held up my wallet and shook it slightly. "Bus fare," I've been taking the bus to work a lot lately. Almost every single day. Sometimes I'll ride my bike to work; thankfully my apartment isn't to far from here.

Mark looked at me over his glasses yet again. "I can drive you home," he said, pulling forward as the light turned green.

"Really dude, its no trouble!" I said, sitting up straight in my seat. "You don't have to," I adjusted my hat awkwardly. We turned a corner onto another street, passing a lamppost with at least 50 different signs on it. Actually it looked awfully familiar...

"Hey! There's my apartment building!" I said, pointing out a dark grey, concrete building with five floors. Mark looked up at it.

"Really? You live in that shabby old place?" He asked. He sounded genuinely surprised.