Spark in the Dark

Chapter 8

The next few weeks flew by for Shawn. Brent tried calling a few times and Shawn tried to let him down easy. She hadn't heard from him in now in over a week, so it seemed like he was getting the hint. Filming for the most recent Cara Cara film wrapped, but there was a small fiasco with the editing Shawn was going to have to fix. She sat on her couch with her laptop in her lap late one night, when the screen of the computer she was on suddenly turned blue.

"What the f-..." Shawn said as she stared at the screen in disbelief. She tried a few different things she knew how to do, but nothing was working. The blue screen of death still shined bright in her face. "Ok... What the fuck? Shit. Shit. Shit!"

She stood up from the couch and began to pace. She took deep breaths and tried to think of what to do. If she couldn't fix this, everything she had been working on for the last couple of months would be lost. Luanne would probably fire her, too.

She still had her laptop's instruction manual somewhere. Shawn ran up the steps to her bedroom and to look for it. Pulling open a drawer she used as a junk drawer. Right on top was the note Juice had left for her at Cara Cara with his number. Checking the time on her phone, she realized it might be too late to call him. She bit her lip and considered her options.

Option One. Call Juice. Possibly wake him up or maybe pull him away from a party happening at the clubhouse. This did pose the risk of one of the guys getting the wrong idea and thinking she was making a bootycall. Even worse, Juice could think this was a bootycall. Best case scenario, he wasn't sleeping or drunk, no one's head was in the gutter, and he came over and fixed her laptop.

Option Two. Don't call Juice. Don't get the laptop fixed. Definitely get fired.

Shawn sighed and pulled up his number in her contacts before hitting send. It rang once and then Shawn felt a wave on panic. What if he was getting laid? Before she could overreact and hang up, Juice answered.

"Yea?" Juice answered casually.

"Hey, uh, Juice?" Shawn sounded nervous, even to herself.

"Yea?" Juice repeated, but now sounded confused. Shawn mentally slapped herself and forced herself not to sound like such a spaz.

"Hi. It's Shawn Trager."

"Oh, hey. What's up? Everything ok?"

"I could use some help, actually. I was working on some Cara Cara stuff on my laptop and the screen turned blue. I don't know what the hell happened. I know it's late, but could you...?"

"Sure, it's not a problem. You at the studio?"

"No, I'm at my place."

"Ok. Give me, like, 15 minutes?"

"Don't you need my address?"

"No, I have it," Juice said and the cursed to himself.

"You do?"

"Yea, uh, Tig wanted me to know, ya know, just in case you were ever in trouble," Juice lied.

"Oh. Alright. Well, I'll see you in 15 then."

They hung up. Juice had been sitting outside with Chibs, drinking. He finished the last of his beer and told Chibs were he was going.

"She needs computer help this late?" Chibs asked.

"She probably needs it for work tomorrow." Juice reasoned.

"Sure, she does. Or she misses you. Aw, young love," Chibs said with a wishful tone to his voice. Juice couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. "Relax, I'm just screwing with you. Go. Help the lady. It'll earn you points with Tig so long as you don't mess up."

Juice made his way to his Dyna. He put on his helmet and then his leather gloves he wore when he rode. It was then he noticed that his palms were sweaty. He rolled his eyes. He was really turning into a teenage boy with a crush. He pulled out of the lot at TM and headed to Shawn's place.

He pulled up in front of the house and took it in. It was nice, with well maintained landscaping and a big front porch. He noticed movement on the porch and saw Shawn stand up from the swing she had hanging from the roof. Juice pulled off his gloves and helmet before getting off his bike. He walked to the front steps and climbed up.

"Hey," he greeted Shawn.

"Hi. Thanks for coming. I know it's really late, but if I tell Luanne I lost our entire movie, she may murder me," Shawn explained as she led their way into the house.

"It's fine. Happy to help," Juice answered as he shut her front door behind him.