The Hook-up

Chapter 6

Lauren sat at the library sifting through mounds of research on written communication for one of her many classes feeling her phone vibrate. She looked down at it seeing it was Bruno. She picked it up whispering. "Hello?"

"Why are you whispering?" he asked her in a loud voice. "Are you in the library?"

"Umm..yeah..I actually am." she answered.

"Oh...oh...oh...hahaahahaha. Sorry. I was just calling to ask you if you and your roommate.....the one..." he stopped himself from revealing that he had been watching them do yoga in the morning."wanted to go to my show tonight."

"Oh!" she exclaimed forgetting where she was bringing her voice back down to a reasonable level getting dirty looks. "Text me the address. We'll be there." she told him.

"Okay. And find your real voice. The library voice kind of freaks me out." he said hanging up the phone.

"What?" she looked at her phone weird throwing it to the side continuing to do her homework.

**

Lauren stepped out the car looking in the mirror fixing her hair before Yana pulled her arm dragging her inside. "Wait..wait..wait...my ID..." she said pulling it out.

"Ladies...it's really crowded in there. Just a heads up." the door man told them.

"Oh...like...will we be able to see the stage?" Caitlin asked.

"Umm...if you know the right people...because those girls over there..." he pointed to a group of college girls huddled near the door. "Have been here for two hours and aren't going to be able to see him."

"Woah..." Lauren responded in a whisper. "We'll figure it out..." she said dragging her friends in the bar. She found a spot near the bar ordering a round of drinks for her friends hearing the drums on the stage start Smells Like Teen Spirit. "Oh my god! I love this song!" she exclaimed turning around to see Bruno on the stage just about to introduce himself.

"Hey. I'm Bruno Mars and we're gonna show y'all a good show tonight!" he exclaimed looking in the crowd for her. She had texted him saying she was there but hadn't heard from her since. Somehow he heard her laugh over all the noise directing his glance to the bar where she was talking to her friends. Yana cleared her throat pointing to the stage.

"He's totally checking you out from up there...." Caitlin nudged Lauren.

"Oh shit....he is. I think he thinks we're married or something." she smiled back at him. Well...I mean..I wouldn't mind it...she thought to herself.

He continued singing covers stopping a few times for a drink of water. Everytime he bent down he smiled at them making her melt. "Shit. He is cute..and I had no idea he was that good.." Caitlin said. "You might have to fight me for him." she laughed.

"Oh...umm...yeah...no...I'd lose. I'd just let you have him. You know that." Lauren answered.

"Yeah...Cait would totally win." Yana told them.

"But I think...I think I'm too tall for him." Caitlin answered standing up even taller than her 5'8 height.

"Shush.: Lauren said hearing him end the set. He wiped his forehead smiling again at the girls stepping off the stage walking over to another group of girls first.

"Oh..whatever .He probably invites all his girlfriends." Lauren said finishing her drink turning to her friends getting another one. "It's only my third one tonight." she said.

"Okay..if we're gonna play that game..." Yana said ordering another drink for herself. They stood in their same place catching up with each other like any other night. "So..this place isn't half bad. It's kind of a cool place. Even without Bruno I'd totally come here again..."

"Yeah..it's got a good vibe." Lauren said to her friends moving to the beat of the current song.

"Laddieeesss...." Bruno came up behind them wrapping his arms around Lauren.

She turned around facing him. "You are really good. I might even forgive all your noise." she smiled.

"Oh...yeah...yeah..well...it's not as bad now that we have the studio." Bruno told her.

"So this is what you do? You aren't like a waiter or a bartender or whatever who sings?" Caitlin asked.

"No way. This is it. Me and the boys are working on an album. We got signed to Elektra a while back." he said triumphantly.

"Woah..you didn't tell me that last night, Bruno! You're so amazing." Lauren said to him with a surprised tone Shit. That makes him a million times hotter.

He shrugged his shoulders not sure how to answer her statement. "Well...yeah. So. That's what I do." he told them.Why does she make me so nervous? He kept thinking looking into Lauren's green eyes. Why is she the most beautiful girl I have ever seen? He started wondering.

"Bruno?" she asked him catching him staring at her.

"Yeah? Oh..yeah..." he responded.

"Let's dance...." she pulled him away from her friends toward the dance floor this time dancing as fast as he did.

"Woah....when did you start dancing like that?" he asked her.

"Umm..I always danced this way." she told him.

"No, no. I'm not drunk now. The last time we were dancing you tripped all over yourself." he told her.

"Well, now I'm sober and I'm a fucking ballerina." she said smiling at him.

"Okay, ballerina....let's go home..." he said pulling her hand off the dance floor.

"Wait...Bruno...." she said watching him walk toward the back of the bar toward his things.

"What?" he wondered still holding onto her hand.

"I'm not sleeping with you tonight." she told him.

"Oh..that's too bad because my bed is actually very comfortable." he winked at her. "But it's cool." he shrugged his shoulders a little defeated. She walked over to him taking his other hand trying to decide how serious of a conversation she was going to have with him.

"Umm...that wasn't me that last time, Bruno. I broke up with my only real boyfriend...ever...a few months ago. I'm over him now...but then I wasn't. So I thought that if I did that it would help..." she admitted.

"Well..did it?" he asked. "I've been told...."

She shook her head looking down trying not to laugh. "I.....well..I felt kind of dirty after." she told him.

"Oh...I'm sorry." he said still holding onto her hand. "I didn't mean it to be like that. Just running into you while shopping. It was like...I didn't get to talk to you and really get to know you and all. I thought you were a cool chick." She kept her eyes down still slightly embarrassed by their initial meeting. "Hey...." he lifted her head up looking into her broken eyes. "I knew who you were, Laur. You have the cute dog and you do yoga in the morning with Caitlin....and you drive a bright blue Galant...."

"Woah...." she looked at him a little shocked.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Lauren...you're my neighbor. I see you." he told her.

"All I know is that there are always cars at your apartment and that you play drums. And you thought Gigi was cute." she told him.

"Well, Gigi is cute!" he commented on her dog.

"She is. She's probably also peed all over the carpet since it's 2 in the morning..." she said pulling her hand away from him.

"Oh god! Lauren...you're using your dog as an excuse to get away from me?" he laughed.

"You wanna come over and clean it up?" she asked him.

"Well..if you asked nicely." he said taking her hand leading her toward his guitar and bags.

"Well..will you clean it up?" she asked. "Please?"

"I don't know....I don't know you...." he winked walking with her back to her friends. He leaned in whispering in her ear, "I'll call you. Have a good night."