Adrienne (Wherever You Will Go)

II

After that night when he and Adrienne semi-shared a cigarette break outside the club, Alex tried to talk to her or at least let her know he existed but he couldn’t. She was never alone when she was in the club, always surrounded by guys who were so much bigger and older than he was—not that he was a wimp but he’d rather not get into fights. And sometimes, she’d leave right after their set before he could even make his move.

So when, two weeks later, he went out to smoke again, and found her leaning against the same spot and smoking-!- he knew it was fate.

“Hey—“ he started, walking towards her.

She took out the cigarette and stepped on it. “I wasn’t smoking—“ she said turning around to meet him. “Oh. It’s you.”

He shrugged. “Who’d you think it was?”

She shrugged as well. “Nobody.”

He pointed his head toward the crushed cigarette, which was half-smoked. “I thought you quit.”

“I thought so, too.” She smiled and leaned back on the wall.

Alex lit a cigarette and offered it to her. She shook her head no and he slipped it between his lips and took a long drag.

“Great set, as usual,” she told him as he exhaled through his nose.

“Thanks. You, too.”

A small laugh escaped her lips. “Here we go again. Like we can’t find anything to talk about.”

“We we’re supposed to talk to each other?” he asked.

“I wanted us to.”

He nodded, inhaled and exhaled again, his lungs weakening every time. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“I don’t know…” she paused to think. “I know! Great set, as usual.”

He smiled. “Thanks, you, too.”

She smiled back. She straightened from her stance. “Well, I enjoyed yet another installment to this wonderful saga entitled smoking in the dark. I’ll see you next time, I hope.”

She turned to leave. Alex threw his cigarette down and stepped on it to put it out. “Wait!”

“What?”

“Are you going home?”

She looked around and shoved her hands into the pockets of her denim skirt. “Yeah. Why?”

“Want me to walk with you?”

She grinned. “Yeah, I do. But you shouldn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked, already walking towards her.

“Because you should listen to your friends, Alex.”

He was mildly surprised and overjoyed that she actually knew his name. “You know my name.”

“And you know mine.”

“How can you be so sure?”

She shrugged. “Our friends know each other and they talk a lot.”

“You’re right.”

She smiled. “So, are we gonna stand here all night?”

“Am I gonna walk you home?”

She bit her lip. “Your call.”

He looked behind him and found it devoid of any people he knew. “I’ll walk you home,” he declared.

She smiled again, turned and started to walk, not even waiting for him. But since he was considerably taller, it took him barely five long strides to wall alongside her.

“Where exactly do you live?” he asked when they made a turn.

“Three blocks away.”

“So that’s why you don’t have your car now?”

“I don’t own one.”

“Okay,” he said, stopping himself from asking why. “So, Adrienne,” he started, loving the way her name sounded on his lips. “Tell me about yourself.”

“What is this another damn job interview?”

“Nope. Just wanna get to know you. I mean, we’d be bumping into each other a lot in that club and we should get to know each other—“

“I won’t be in that club long enough for you to bump into me enough times to know me.”

He stopped dead in his tracks. “What?!?”

She giggled, since her answer confused her as well. “I don’t like talking about me.”

“Okay…”

They walked in silence for another block.

“I work better in q & a,” she offered.

“Good, me too. So I’ll ask you one then you’ll ask me.”

“I go first.”

“Shoot.”

She nibbled on her lower lip for a second or two. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Nope. You?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, Alex.”

He chuckled. “No, I meant—“

“No boyfriend, either. My turn, if you could choose the way you die, what would it be?”

“That’s morbid,” he answered. “A painless death, I guess.”

“Coward,” she muttered under her breath. “Your turn.”

“What’s your number?” he asked.

“Ha-ha,” she replied sarcastically. “No, you don’t, buddy.” She stopped in front of a modest house. “This is me.”

“Why won’t you give me your number?” he asked standing in front of her.

“Ask me another question. I’m skipping that one.”

“Would you go out with me?”

She smiled. “Alex, I have only two rules in dating. Wanna know them?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Never date a musician—“

“Why not—“ he interrupted.

But she continued. “And never date someone younger than me.”

He looked at her and he could tell she was bemused. “That’s the exact opposite of my two rules: Always date a musician and always date someone older than me.”

“I can’t go out with you.”

“Because of your rules?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. It’s not as if he’s giving up. He liked her a lot. “Fine. Can we be friends?”

“I thought we already were.” She smiled at him. “Good night, Alex.”

“’Night, Adrienne.”

He watched her get into the house before he walked back to the club.


*dynlubio 6/9/2002 10:21 PM

Adrienne (Wherever You Will Go)

Summary
Alex meets the girl that will make him know the meaning of love and hate and will also make him feel both at the same time. *This is just my take on how the songs ‘Adrienne’ and ‘Wherever You Will Go’ were made. None of this is real—at least I hope not. Just read and enjoy this piece of fiction, aight?

I

The final bridge of the song faded and as the last echoing sound of Sean’s guitar die away, Alex opened his eyes and stared right into the poorly constructed spotlight fixed on him until he could swear he was blinded by the yellow light—no matter how dim it was.

The crowd—a mere twenty people, most of them too drunk to even care—clapped somewhat eagerly as their set was finished.

“Thanks,” he hoarsely whispered to the microphone and half-bowed, before walking off the stage. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay, man?” Aaron asked, coming up behind him.

When he looked at Aaron, all he could make out was his curly black hair. “Yeah.”

“You gotta stop doing that, Alex.”

“Doin’ what?”

“Staring into the light. You can get temporary blindness from that.”

“Whatever,” he answered and walked to their ‘reserved’ table, which is a far cry from the VIP rooms he had in mind.

Another band was introduced. He was only half-listening but he could swear the name of the band was ‘something’s Charisma’. He smirked. What kind of a stupid fucked up name is that?

Billy came back with drinks for everyone except him and Sean since they weren’t legal yet. And it sucks not to get a bottle of beer when you live in La-La Land.

Alex opened one eye and he could still see bright yellow circles in front of them so he shut them again. “Hey, Billy, just a sip.”

“Okay,” Billy answered, handing him the cold bottle.

Alex took a sip and welcomed the cold liquid down his throat. “So, are they gonna frikkin play or what?” he complained as he gave Billy the beer back.

As if on cue, the band started playing and the moment he heard the singer’s first words, he was up on his seat.

“Whoa, that girl’s hot,” Sean commented beside him.

Alex opened his eyes. “Where?” But all he could see were yellow spots. “Damn! I can’t see a frikkin thing.”

He heard Aaron laugh. “She sounds good, too, doesn’t she, Alex?”

“Shit,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes but when he opened them again, he could only make out odd shaped things. He stared hard at the stage’s direction until his vision improved from blurry to crystal clear.

A girl wearing a little black dress and knee high boots with long black curly hair was holding onto the microphone, her eyes closed and her mouth seductively opening as she sang the words to the song. And he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Who’s that?” he asked Sean, whose eyes were fixed on the girl, as well.

“That’s Adrienne,” Sean replied as if it was explanation enough.

And oddly, for Alex, it was enough—for now. “Does anyone know her?”

“I know the band’s drummer, if that helps,” Nate said. He was obviously bored and wasn’t even paying attention to the band onstage.

For twenty minutes or so, Alex watched the band, whose name Adrienne’s Charisma, he no longer found ridiculous. he was up in his seat the second the band’s set was over. But Aaron stopped him and pushed him back down. He landed with a flop.

“Whoa, cowboy!”

“Aaron,” Alex started.

“She’s waaay beyond your league.”

“What are you talking about? I was just gonna go pee,” he lied.

Aaron raised his eyebrow. “No you weren’t.”

“Yes, I was,” he said forcefully.

His friend looked at him hard enough and shrugged. “Whatever, kid.”

Alex stood up again and went to the direction of the restroom—which was the exact opposite direction of where the girl was. He got in, waited three minutes before walking out, determined to look for her in the crowd and approach her. When he did, however, he couldn’t find her anywhere. Cursing Aaron and his meddling ways, he went out of the club to smoke.

He lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply. The wonderful feeling of burning lungs engulfed him and he swore, for the tenth time that week that he will quit tomorrow.

“Got another one?”

He snapped his head to his right and saw Adrienne leaning against the wall, with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was twisted and its length rested on her right breast.

“Uh, yeah…” he stammered. His hands trembling, he patted his jeans’ pockets until he found another stick of Marlboro Lights and handed it to her. “Here…”

She smiled—it was dark but he could tell. “Thanks.” She placed it between her lips and he watched it dangle in front of her mouth.

“Right! You need a light—“ His hands went looking for his lighter.

“It’s okay. I quit a month ago. I just like the feel of a cigarette in my mouth, that’s all.”

“Okay,” he said, uncomfortable about the fact that he was smoking in front of her.

She leaned against the wall, copying his position. “Saw your set. It was great.”

“Thanks. You were amazing.”

She sighed. “So this is the part when we become hypocrites and pretend we actually like each other’s music?”

“I wasn’t pretending,” he said in defiance.

She looked at him, smiling. “Neither was I.” She took out the cigarette, holding it between two fingers. “I gotta run. Thanks for the stick.”

“You’re welcome.”

With that, she was gone.

Alex bent down to pick up the cigarette she threw at his feet. He blew on it and gently flicked some dirt off. There’s no sense in wasting a stick.


*dynlubio 6/9/2002 9:26 PM This is my first The Calling Fic and I hope you guys will like it. The band is still new to me, and I don’t really know much about them. I don’t even have the album—yet. So, this is just something I thought up and decided to go ahead with. Enjoy and please review by emailing me at dynlubio@hotmail.com