Chapter 5 An Almost Perfect Day

• Date = 26 March
• Place = San Francisco (Pier 39)
• POV - Aria
• Soon we are laughing so much, tears stream down our cheeks and my tummy actually starts to ache. These girls know just how to cheer a person up, and I’m so glad they entered my life. I hate lying to them and I hope, one day, after the contract expires, we can still be friends.
• POP! BANG!
• The car swirls across the road and seems to decelerate quickly making a strange flop-flop-flop sound.
• “Ship!” Kiara screams and pulls on the steering wheel to counteract the sudden pull to the right. She concentrates to keep the white BMW going in a straight line, her tongue sticking out of her mouth slightly, and eventually, she manages to park safely next to the road. The smell of burnt rubber and dust mixes in a cloud over us.
• “What the hell happened?” Haley asks looking at each of us as if she’s mentally making sure we’re okay. Mel is pale and she looks around frantically as if she’s expecting somebody to come and snatch her away. I grab her hand, hoping it will reassure her a bit.
• “It’s okay, I think a tire popped.” Kiara also turned a few shades lighter and it hits me that their abduction probably still haunts them. Mel told me the whole story in detail and even though I can’t even imagine what they must have gone through, I know it’s something that will linger with them forever. This family sure went through some sad shit. But so did we. Maybe that’s why we get along so well, we understand each other’s pain.
• Well, except for Enrique that is, he outwardly has mixed robotic emotions … Jackson doesn’t seem to have emotions … and Logan has too many emotions … So let me rephrase that … we girls understand each other’s pain.
• Mel unbuckles herself direfully with her uncast arm and opens her door. We get out with her and yep, the right front tire is a mess. For a while, we can only stand there staring at the busted wheel as if it’s going to magically repair itself. A tangy, acidic smell with a dash of carbon and sulfur drifts through the dust particles in the air and Mel sniffs unladylike before she runs to barf into the scrubs next to the road. Haley rushes to hold her hair out of the way.
• “Eh, I guess we need to change it.” Kiara is the first one to come up with that brilliant plan … that is if we can figure out how to do this.
• “We can always call the boys,” Haley suggests handing Mel a bottle of water she digs from her purse.
• “No way!” The rest of us shout out simultaneously. Then we all burst out laughing again. Probably nerves, if you ask me.
• Mel walks with a motivated face towards the back of the car.
• “Mel, you know what the doctor said … better let us handle the heavy lifting,” Kiara says and Mel steps back holding her hands up. I look at Kiara with determination and we both nod with bold bravery – it’s up to us. We take off our jackets and hand them to our support team.
• My hands barely go halfway around the tire, but with Kiara’s help, we manage to take the spare out, without breaking a nail might I add, and drop it unceremoniously on the ground, jumping away so it doesn’t land on any toes. Damn is that thing heavy.
• Kiara looks at me and we burst out laughing, hanging onto each other not to fall over. I haven’t had this much fun in a really long time. I won’t admit it, but my sister’s sickness has taken a toll, leaving me scared for her life most of the time. And being all alone since the boys left didn’t make it any easier. At least now I have some people to share things with, and it feels as if I can breathe unrestricted for the first time in months.
• Mel hands me the wheel spanner and I manage with some force to loosen the first nut. However, the next one is so tight it takes a team effort (Kiara and me) just to turn it slightly. This is gonna take a while. Mel and Haley cheer us on from the sideline. Sweat already runs down my face and between my boobs.
• “Do you girls need some help?” The deep voice startles me and I let go of the spanner post-haste and fall backward on my butt – again. Kiara lets out a squeal and covers her mouth with her hand. None of us noticed the car pulling up, or the man now standing behind us.
• I stare up and some familiar chocolate eyes look back. Holy father Christmas, it’s the same man that bumped into me earlier. Annoyed, I blow some loose strands of hair from my face. He holds out his hand and for the second time today, I refuse his help to pull me from the ground. Some men never learn.
• “Are you following us?” Mel asks, a question mark between her perfect brows.
• “Pure coincidence, I promise.” He puts his hand on his heart and gives us a big smile. “I am on my way to meet a friend,” he continues.
• “We could sure use some help,” Haley blurts out and takes the spanner from my clenched hand, probably scared I’m going to hit the man over the head or something. Well, truthfully, I was thinking about it. Something about him stirs my gut and it’s not butterflies. Some unpair eyes flash into my mind. Yep, I know by now pretty well what butterflies feel like.
• He shrugs off his jacket and gets to work while we stand in a row watching how his well-toned biceps flex each time he turns the spanner with ease. Maybe I should gym more.
• “Showoff,” Kiara whispers in my ear and I wiggle my eyebrows at her in agreement. Within a few minutes, the spare tire is fixed and the busted one is now in the trunk.
• “Thanks … eh …” Haley seems to be our unofficial spokesperson. She holds out her hand waiting for him to respond.
• “Brian.”
• “I’m Haley, these are Mel, Kiara, and Aria.” She points at each of us as she says our names.
• “Pleased to meet you,” he smiles showing some teeth, his eyes on me. Great! Why am I always the one that attracts all the narcissistic perverts?
• “Thanks again, Brian,” we say together like a choir. He nods his head.
• “How can I not help 4 beautiful women in distress?” His gaze is still fixed on me and all of a sudden I don’t feel so well. Something about him upsets me, and I quickly jump in the car, slamming the door a little too hard, to get away from the uncomfortable feeling.
• “Well, it’s time for us to go.” I may be wrong, but I’m sure Mel accentuated the word ‘go’ before she pushed Kiara with force into the driver’s seat.
• “Drive save, ladies.” He waves while walking to his own luxury vehicle.
• Mel shoves a fist in the air as if she wants to late-punch him from a distance. Brian sure pissed in her popcorn for some reason.
• “How dare he hit on my brother’s girlfriend?” And now we know why. “He doesn’t know Enrique. He’ll bury him in the ground without a compass.” I open my mouth to tell her it makes no sense, but Kiara puts her finger on her lips, gesturing for me to keep it shut. She mouths ‘hormones’ while looking at us through the rearview mirror and I turn my head and literally wipe the smile from my face with my hand. Never a dull moment around the Blackburns.
• “What’s he thinking? He better watch where he puts his eyes …” Mel complains non-stop, with Haley giving the occasional “Mm” and “Yep” nodding her head in agreement just to keep the peace I suppose. Kiara rolls her eyes every now and then with a soft sigh.
• “And don’t you roll your eyes at me, bitch! You know I’m right.” That’s it, I can’t keep it in and I let a soft snicker fall over my lips drawing my hormonal contracted sister-in-law’s attention to me.
• “And you better not flirt back, other bitch!” I swallow my laugh, biting my lip.
• “Uh-uh.” It’s the only response I can manage without breaking into a hyena-giggle and Kiara’s amused face is not helping my situation.
• Then, as if on cue, my phone rings, and I’m ear-to-ear with another ticked-off Blackburn. But his annoyance is linked to me and not hormones.
• “Aria, where the hell are you?” I look through the window, seeing that we’re close to the ocean, but I don’t have a clue as to where I am right now, I don’t know bloody San Francisco at all.
• “Eh … in the car,” I say as it seems like the most logical answer.
• “Fuck, girl, are you deliberately trying to drive me insane … WHERE ARE YOU?” What the fiddlesticks is wrong with HIM? Maybe they have this sibling-bond thing where they feel each other’s anger or something.
• “Near the ocean,” I try again.
• “Fuck!”
• I pull the phone a little bit away from my ear, and put it on speaker, “Girls, the robot wants to know where we are?” Kiara sniggers and Mel is still ranting on about Brian and how she’s going to peel out his eyes if he ever looks at me again.
• “We’re on our way to Chart House,” Haley says calmly.
• “Did you get that?” I ask into the phone again, hoping this would be the end of our conversation.
• “Yes, why is my sister so angry?” Flip those robot ears! Now is not the time to tell him about the press, the tire, or the over-friendly stranger.
• I look at Kiara for some sisterly support, but she puts her hand around her throat in a strangling motion, suggesting that I’m dead – and she might just be right.
• “Eh … hormones,” I say quickly and hang up before he can ask more stupid questions. I’m aware that this action probably provoked him to a near seizure, but I’ll deal with that when I get back home. I’m not going to let him ruin our outing or my mood.
• Almost immediately the phone rings again but I switch it off, not ready to face the obviously coiled-up tense buffalo. What’s he gonna do? Race over here to kill me? No, he would probably lay in wait like a predator and strike when I least expect it.
• Mel stopped her ranting and she now has a huge smile on her face. Kiara strangles herself, even more, pulling her face most funnily, and we burst into hooting fits of laughter - again.
• “What did you do?” Mel asks, but it’s obviously a rhetorical question.
• Her eyes grow into little saucers and then she starts laughing so loud I’m scared the baby might pop out.
• “It was nice knowing you Aria,” Haley roars holding onto the dashboard, “remember when you ran away from Damion that one time?” she then asks, looking back at Mel.
• “Yep, he was so angry I nearly peed in my pants. But at least the make-up sessions are always great,” she tells me and then burst out laughing again. I swallow hard.
• “Oh boy, I think I’m going to burst.” Mel falls with her head on my shoulder just when Kiara parks the car in a parking lot.
• “Gmf, I’m not scared of that robot!” I say and Mel gives me a thumbs-up.
• “Never let them smell fear,” she says in a deep voice and we’re doubling up again. I swear I haven’t laughed this much in my life.
• I hook into Kiara and Mel takes Haley’s arm as we walk on the pedestrian bridge to level 2 of ‘Pier 39’. I’m almost hopping with anticipation as the smell of the ocean drifts on the wind fills me with excitement. We keep going and my mouth literally hangs open at all the sights impossible to take in in one go.
• I spot a man selling coffee cups from a wheelbarrow hosting a cardboard sign saying ‘Mood cups’. And as soon as he explains how they work, I immediately buy one for my robot.
• Maybe this will teach him some emotions. Mel buys two.
• Then I almost faint, from both the viewpoint and smell. A dozen or so floating wooden docks are crammed with hundreds of sea lions, lazily squished against and even on top of each other. Most of them are sound asleep, but a few malcontents in the group bellow and groan, arguing over a favorite spot on the planks.
• I let go of Kiara and run to the fence, hanging over to get a better view. They are so freaking cute. I have to bring Leyla here, she would go absolutely nuts.
• “Hey, Aria, the food is this way!” Kiara shouts and when I don’t move she comes to pull me forcefully away into the restaurant and yet again, I’m left breathless with the perspective before my eyes. We get seated at a table in a corner next to floor-to-ceiling windows with a spectacular picture-perfect view looking over San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge on one side and Alcatraz on the right.
• A waiter comes to take our order, but I’m still speechless staring bug-eyed through the glass. Mel gets up to take an incoming call from Damion, while sprinting to the bathroom, leaving us to quietly enjoy the view.
• “This view never gets old,” Haley sighs and we watch the maritime activity in silence, with sailboats and ferries coming and going, and huge container ships lumbering into the harbor and it’s as if time is standing still for just a single moment.
• “No way! This must be fate.” An overconfident voice pulls me from my perfectly content happy place and my eyes land on none other than Brian. At least this time I’m already sitting down. With a sigh, I pick up the salt pot and turn it around and around in my hand, avoiding eye contact, cursing the fate he mentioned for bringing him back AGAIN. The hunky man next to him seems as uncomfortable as I am. Brian introduces him as PJ, a work colleague.
• “Would you mind if I take a selfie with you? I mean when do you run into the same people 3 times in one day?” I open my mouth to decline, but he’s already slumped into Mel’s chair next to me, dismissively putting his arm around my shoulder while holding the other one with his phone straight for the best photo opp.
• Mel comes back with a large smile on her face, one that only Damion can put there, but it diminishes as soon as she sees Brian in her chair.
• “Seriously!” She sounds murderous, which is exactly how I feel. If Brian hadn’t wrecked my mood, the way he jumped up so abruptly may have been amusing. PJ turns bleach white as soon as he sees Mel.
• “See you soon, Aria,” Brain winks playfully, and I bite my lower lip, relieved that it’s over.
• “Oh, I hope not!”
• “You know, it’s because of people like him that we need directions on shampoo bottles,” I hiss.
• “I swear I’ve seen that man somewhere before,” Kiara says softly.
• “Me too, and I wonder what exactly is Mr. Brian’s story,” Mel seems discomposed while I wonder how they know the guys … and why they haven’t mentioned knowing them.
• “Ug, let’s forget about the ass and order some FOOD … cause this kid has an appetite,” Mel pats her tummy and I smile, thinking that if you take away Brian and the press, this was a pretty perfect day.