The Pretenders

The Power of Presence

'There has to be something wrong with him' -  Mandy said rolled up on a towel with her hair dripping wet.

'I don't know but the guy is very persistent, and he talks like he is in love with life'

'Maybe he is. Or maybe he is a murderer'

I froze and cracked up. ‘Are you fucking nuts? He is not’

We were getting ready to go to the party, i was doing my make up, red lips lots of eyeliner, a little black skirt and a crop top.

And Mandy as always, late.

'Well good thing is, you wont appear to be easy, you refused his invitation right?'

'Yeah, but not because i wanted to, because i planned to go out with you first'

'You are a newbie. Same' she rolled her eyes.

When we were finally done getting ready and our taxi arrived we hopped on and drove to Burbank.

There was a lot of people.

Junkies, rookies, punk heads, metal heads, plastics, not so plastic, beer drinkers, wine drinkers. And us.

I followed Mandy through the ocean of people into the huge penthouse.

'Whose house is this?' i was literally screaming because i couldn't even hear myself

'I don't really know, some guy named Evan' she hissed and pulled me under.

As we walked and Mandy finally found his not-so-boyfriend we sat in a huge leather sofa.

'Hello my sweetie' she said in the most annoying voice i have ever heard.

'Hi babe, this is Evan, the owner of this apartment and host'

He was tall, blonde, and he looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks. He certainly was stoned. Pupils so big one couldn’t notice the color of his eyes.

'HI, you must be…?' he smiled

'Jessica a pleasure'

'Jessica. Can i get you something?'

'Water is fine. I'm trying to quit. Some very bad experiences…'

He smiled while handing me a bottle from across the bar.

'So, bad experiences, are you an alcoholic like myself?' he pointed at himself amused and proud.

'No, i believe i am the queen of LA when i'm drunk. And i do stupid stuff'

When Evan was about to answer we were interrupted by a lot of people cheering at someone’s arrival. Everyone was so excited and so happy to see these people that they made a a circle around them blocking the view.

'Jesus, every. fucking. time' Evan said 'Give me a moment would ya?'

He ran over the people and started to calm them down so the guys that were under the ocean of people could walk without tripping on someone.

And then i saw him.

I literally froze.

I couldn’t remember how to talk. How to walk. How to breathe.

My first instinct was to turn around, but Mandy notice that i was acting awkward so i mouthed ‘There’s the guy' and she moved her hands indicating she didn't understood what i said, and i kept on it until she almost popped her eyes out of her skull when she finally got it.

'I hate when they come to my parties' Evan came saying laughing 'I mean don't get me wrong i love those assholes but, its a pain in the ass'

'Why is everyone so excited about them?'

'They just got signed on a record label or something, so their friends are really…Supportive' he eyed the groupies that were trying to get to the balcony but unsuccessfully got stopped by the guys friends.

He didn’t notice me. 

Why didn’t he notice me?

'I'm sorry, where is the bathroom?'

He pointed to the door next to the terrace.

'I hope it's presentable. The only drunk person i trust in going to a bathroom without doing some sort of mess it's me' he smiled

I nodded and smile back.

I walked straight to the balcony door with all my nerves eating me up alive. Like when you have to speak in front of a classroom and you didn’t read the paper for homework. For a moment i thought i was going to throw up. But then the guy that was taking care of them grabbed me by my arm slenderly.

'Miss. Are you with the guys?'

'No, but i know Alex? I just wanted to say hi'

'I'm sorry miss. But you'll have to wait for them to join the party if you wan't to say hi' he said annoyingly 

Shit. I thought. 

He was so handsome. Everything around him looked like a postcard. The trees in the balcony, the dim lights coming from the buildings, the way he grabbed his cigarette, how he crossed his legs, so relaxed and natural. 

The way he spoke, so sure and neat.

The way he grabbed his hands when he was listening and thinking the answer.

Jesus he was really attractive.

 'What you wanna go in?' Evan smiled handing me a light beer. 'Thought you were going to the bathroom'

'Yes i already did, but i want to go outside so i can grab a smoke' i lied.

'You're talking to the right guy, ladies first' he opened balcony door and let me in first.