I don’t know what the hell possessed me to go shopping with Howie but I agreed and now here I am sitting in a chair in some fancy store waiting on him like I was waiting on my girlfriend or something. I don’t know what is wrong with the mall it works for me. If we were at the mall at least I could go to another store and we could meet up somewhere or there was always the food court. On second thought, I would pig out at the food court and I can’t have any of that stuff. What I wouldn’t do for one of those gyros right about now. Why does the food that taste good have to be the food you give up? This diet thing was a pain in the ass. Well, actually it wasn’t a diet; it was a lifestyle change, that’s what my nutritionist calls it. That’s laughable, I have a nutritionist but it’s what I needed, I couldn’t handle the yo-yo thing anymore, my weight fluctuates and after all this time I decided to do something about it for good. Howie came out of the dressing and thank God because I’m so ready to go but no, it couldn’t be that easy. The overbearing salesperson with way too much perfume on came over and handed him a pair of black pants,
“Now, you should try these. They are great, we just got them in yesterday.” Wait, Howie just tried on three pair of black pants,
“What’s the difference between those and the other black pants?” It just came out before I could think about it but I really was curious. She smiled at me but it wasn’t genuine but I returned it nonetheless,
“The first pair had double stitch, the second pair was pleated and the other pair had cuffs.” None of that shit made any sense to me but for general purpose I needed to know what was so special about this last pair,
“And these?” She tossed her hair and smiled at Howie as she held them up to him,
“These have a low waist.” I pretended to be just as excited as she was,
“Oh, cool.” Like that was really supposed to mean something. Howie looked over at me,
“We’ll be done soon Nicky.” I nodded and sighed as I looked around the store, we better be. A petite dirty blonde walked through the door with a pair of hip hugger black pants on. Who knew they made those things in pants and not just jeans? She walked towards me and smiled,
“Hi, how are you?” I nodded,
“Hi.” That was brilliant Nick. I’m such the conversationalist. I didn’t know what else to say. She walked into the back room of the store and was followed by Howie’s personal shopping assistant. Sitting in the hotel room really wasn’t all that boring now that I think about it. The salesgirls came back out and the hip huggers girl stood before me,
“Would you like a cappuccino?” I shook my head,
“No thanks.” She smiled and nodded,
“If there is anything I can do for you let me know, I’m Colleen.” I nodded,
“Thank you.” I watched her walk away she had a nice walk. I notice things like that; the way girls walk the way they stand in place. I don’t need someone to have the grace of a supermodel or be so stuck on their looks so much that a mirror is constantly in their hands but I don’t want a linebacker either. Regular girls are good for me but she still needs to care about her appearance a little, make a little effort. I stood up and walked to the front of the store where Colleen was,
“So, how long have you been working here?” She smiled at me and it was much more believable than Howie’s girl,
“Two years.” I nodded,
“So, you like it?” She shrugged,
“It pays the bills for college.” College girl huh? I love them,
“What are you studying?” She was probably studying to do something that dealt with clothes,
“Psychology, I want to be a social worker and work with kids.” Wow, I was wrong,
“That’s great.” She nodded and held up a finger for me to hold on when the phone rang. I leaned on the counter and looked down through the glass at the jewelry that was in the case. She answered the caller’s question and hung up, her smile returning as she looked at me,
“Can I show you something?” I nodded,
“Yeah, which one do you think I should get? Which do you like?” She shook her head,
“What do you want? Earrings, necklace, bracelet, ring?” I shook my head,
“I don’t know. Anything, pick one for me.” She nodded and leaned down and picked up a bracelet immediately,
“You like that one huh?” She smiled and nodded,
“Yeah, it’s gorgeous.” I pulled out my wallet,
“Let me get that one.” She nodded and placed it in a little gray box then put it in a small bag,
“That will be-” I shook my head and handed her a credit card,
“So what are you doing later tonight?” She looked up at me,
“Oh uh nothing.” Perfect,
“Why don’t you come to our concert?” She looked at me wide-eyed,
“I don’t know.” I smiled,
“Why not?” I didn’t give her time to answer,
“It’ll be fun. Give me your name and number and I’ll put you on the guest list.” She conceded, and just in time, as Howie and his helper made their way up front. I sat back and waited on him as he paid for his new black pants and a whole bunch of other stuff that looked like things that were already in his wardrobe. I looked over at Colleen and I’m not sure why I got her number. Hooking up was the last thing on my mind that day but when I saw her it was like something took over my brain. It was just in me to try, it’s like I just had to. I smiled at Colleen once more before walking out with Howie and Carl, who was standing near the door. How such a big man could seemingly disappear into thin air is beyond me.
Back at the hotel I got away from Howie as quick as possible, no need to have to watch him try on his new outfits in "a different light." Carl walked me to my room,
"If you need anything I'm in my room." I nodded,
"Ok." You know sometimes I feel bad having someone at my beck and call, and I try not to abuse it but other times it just blows my mind and I have to test the fact that people do what I say because I can sing and dance at the same time. I turned on my cell phone to call one of my friends, who I was going to call I'm not sure I just wanted to talk to someone and I noticed all the messages waiting for me. The first was from my sister and I dialed her back immediately, I never did tell her about the surprise that she would be getting in the mail,
"Yes." Yes, my sister thinks she's twenty-seven years old sometimes, I swear. I shake my head,
"It's your big brother. What's up?" She sighed,
"What's up Nick?" If there is any doubt, my sister Angel is the diva of the family. She even outdoes my mother,
"There's something coming for you in the mail?" I know she is going to perk up at the sound of that news,
"Really? What is it? Where did you get it from?" Knocked back down to the age of a giddy child jsut that fast with the information that she was getting a gift,
"I'm not going to tell you. You'll see when you get them." She bugged me and I bugged her even more by not telling her. I'm good at that. Aaron is annoying as shit but he learned from me and everyone thinks he's the most annoying only because I have the ability to act like an adult every now and then, go figure.
Chapter 38
Stranger Than Fiction
Stories
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