The Boys in the Band (Reverse Harem)

Chapter 23: A Few Days at the Beach

"Hurry the fuck up!"

Dane looked at Momoko in fond exasperation. "You've got quite the mouth on you, considering you look like such an angel."

"Whatever. We only have this place for two days, and those days have already started, and WE'RE NOT THERE!" Momoko shouted these last words in Dane's face, bellowing with all her might. "The house is all the way over there in the in the Hamptons, we're still all the way over here in fucking Manhattan!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he assured her, dragging his duffel behind him and pulling the door closed. "Look, Tommy's not even back with the car yet," he pointed out, gesturing down to the street where Sullivan and Jude waited with the rest of their stuff.

"But we didn't know that, did we?" Momoko responded, running dangerously down the stairs, her pull case clattering noisily behind her. Her Hello Kitty back pack bounced between her shoulder blades. "For all we knew, they could've been waiting for us. For all we knew, they could've left without us!"

"There they are," Sully called as they shut the bottom gate behind them with a clang. "All ready for two days of rest and relaxation before the big push to the battle of the bands?"

"So ready," Momoko assured him with a brisk nod. "Have I told you how much I love the beach?"

"Only once or twice," Jude answered with a grin.

"In the last hour," Sully added.

"Sorry," Momoko replied. "But I love the ocean, and it's not something I got to see a lot of in Japan, or even here after I came to NYU, so this is a real treat. We really need to thank your friend, Sullivan."

"Well, it's the middle of the week, and it's late August, and someone canceled on her, so it was just dumb luck, that's what she said," Sully told them. "For us, I mean."

"And we've been working our bollocks off, we really could use the break," Jude said. "I'm knackered."

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I can't even find my bollocks," Momoko said, looking all around herself. She tapped Sullivan on his well toned bicep. "Sully, you seen my bollocks anywhere? I seem to have worked them clean off."

She looked at Jude with a barely repressed smile, but Tommy pulled up in the SUV they'd rented before he could respond, so they piled their stuff in the back and climbed in.

They listened to their music on the way out to the Hamptons, discussing ways to improve it, talking about Momoko's vocals, singing along, and tweaking things.

"So this is the last work related stuff we're going to do until we get back to the city, right?" Sullivan said when they got off the 495 and on to the surface street that would take them to the cottage where they'd be staying.

"Says the dude who brought his guitar," Tommy responded with a chuckle.

"What do you have in your lap right now?" Sully retorted. "I mean, you're fucking driving and you still have your drumsticks right there in your lap, so don't talk to me about my guitar, okay? Besides, it's just my acoustic, I thought it would be nice to have some music if we had a fire at the beach or whatever."

Ten minutes later they were pulling into the driveway of the "cottage."

"Whoa," Momoko said under her breath. "This is no cottage, Sullivan, this is a fucking mansion."

"All houses are called cottages out here," Sully explained.

As they were walking up the driveway Momoko began to jump up and down. "Look, look," she cried. "The ocean!" She dropped her bags and ran around to the back of the house, straight down the path and out of sight.