TOUCH
(Seducer Part 15- Chapter 46 of Senses)
"It was a good show, wasn't it?" Angie asked.
Angie and Paul were alone in Paul's hotel room at two in the morning, local time, sipping diet sodas and trying not to spill any on the bedsheets. And failing.
The concert had ended at nearly midnight, with Blue Shift backing up Jim and A.J. as they had performed their only official single from The R & R Project, "Oh Michelle", using the horn section from Lee's song "Secrets" to do the fills that Jim and A.J. had expanded into the song when they had played together. Jim and Karen had gone to their room afterwards while A.J. and Carrie went to theirs. After some debate Angie and Paul had decided to go to Paul's room.
They had ordered room service, sampled the famed Russian caviar, laughed and cried themselves silly over the events of the past two days, and had sex. Now they were taking stock of themselves, and working themselves up to talking about what had happened.
"Yes, it was a good show," Paul replied, "even if there wasn't a Velvet Underground reunion during Lou Reed's set."
"Blue Shift smoked."
Paul laughed. "I've always enjoyed Blue Shift's work, but adding in A.J. was almost magic, just like the show Jim and A.J. did together in Los Angeles."
"I'm sorry I missed it," Angie said, "but I didn't even live in California when they were to tour together. Seems like a lifetime ago."
Paul took a sip of his drink. "In a way it was," he said. "You weren't in the tabloids yet, and Jim had just met Karen, and A.J. and Carrie had only just started dating."
"Point taken."
"Point given."
"I kind of thought so. Question. How did you get involved with these guys?"
"It's almost as crazy as how you met them. I met Jim first when he was sixteen and I was fifteen, and I was coming to kick his ass. He had made a move on my sister, who at the time had just turned twelve. Jim, you see, likes short redheads, and my sister is also a short redhead."
Angie laughed. "That figures," she said.
"Anyway," Paul continued, "I found out where he lived and paid him a visit. I said 'I understand that you're making a move on a certain young redhead' and he said 'and you were thinking of going after her yourself? Those lips are mine' and I said 'wrong, those lips belong to my little sister. Enough said.' and he said 'too much said'."
"Sounds like a fight about to happen."
Paul smiled at the memory. "I thought so too, but then Jim smiled that smile of his, and invited me into his garage. He asked me how young my sister was, and when I told him he said that he had had no idea she was so young. He had a stash of whisky in the garage and we shared some. We became friends."
Angie got out of the bed and stretched. "Is anyone in this group normal?"
Paul laughed. "You want a lecture on what 'normal' is from Karen?" he asked. "We're about as close as it gets, under the circumstances."
"Yeah, but very few people get circumstances like this. Like us." She sat in a chair in the room facing the bed. "Fuck me, what's next?"
"I did fuck you, as Jim would say."
Angie raised an eyebrow. "Vulgarity?" she asked. "From you? What will the world think?"
"There are very few tabloids in Russia, fortunately. My tryst with vulgarity and with you will get little publicity."
"So you and I are already a non-item?"
Paul shook his head. "You're not attracted to me," he said.
"No, I'm not," Angie admitted. "You're nice, and have been very helpful and supportive to me, but..."
"Don't worry," Paul said. "I'm not really attracted to you either. You have a nice body, I must admit."
"Thank you."
"And you're pretty good in bed."
"Only pretty good? I'm insulted."
Paul laughed. "Okay then, you were great."
"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself. Those are some well developed muscles you've got. I'm a doctor, I should know."
"Calling yourself a doctor again? The court case isn't for another month, but thanks for the compliment. Both of them. Thing is, you and I aren't terribly compatible. I'm a rather gruff person."
"Oh really?"
"Careful dear, sarcasm suits you. And you still have a strong but nice streak that needs some work. Get your life together, and maybe I'd be interested."
Angie sighed. "Fair enough," she said. "Besides, I'm still interested in Larry."
Paul sighed. "I'll let you in on a secret," he said.
"What?"
"You don't stand a chance with Larry. He's waiting for something specific to come along."
"So you think I'm wasting my time?"
"No, he will probably do something like what we just did, albeit more so because he's much more friendly a human being. Don't look for a relationship though."
Angie laughed. "I didn't say I was. I like a good fuck, and he's available. So were you."
Paul shook his head. "I'm going to have to stop underestimating you," he said.
"Oh no, don't you dare stop," Angie chided. "I want to continue to take advantage of this." She jumped onto the bed. "And maybe fuck a bit more."
Paul wrapped his left arm around Angie's nude waist. "Maybe," he said.
Angie kissed Paul, then looked into his eyes. "I have another question," she stated.
"Ask away."
"How did you sabotage your plane?"
Paul laughed. "You've never seen the plane I fly in, have you? What I flew in here in is not my regular plane. Scott rigged everything so that it would like a mortar shell had hit it."
Angie roared with laughter. "He did? How the hell did you fly it?"
"I've been flying planes since I was 14 years old. This one used to belong to my father. He said it was a great test of a pilot to fly a beat up wreck of a plane, and aside from the hole and the melted engine, it already was a great wreck of a plane. He taught me to fly it well, and fast."
Angie was amazed. "You mean there's nothing wrong with your plane?"
Paul nodded. "At least the plan worked."
"It did. A.J. is all gung-ho, but Jim is far too sedate for a man with his reputation."
"Cautious, you mean."
"Isn't that what I said?"
Paul smiled. "A woman with your background, your reputation, would think that a man like Jim is cautious."
"I just felt he needed a bit of a push. Fortunately, my co-conspirator was cynical enough to be willing to take such a risk."
"Bullshit. You seduced me just like you seduced everyone else. You wanted them to be able to fly. You wanted a success of your own for a change."
Angie hugged Paul. "That I did. I used you, you know."
Paul smiled. "Can't rape the willing," he said.
"You really are a cynic, aren't you?"
"Ready, willing and able with little to no notice."
Angie raised an eyebrow. "Ready and willing huh?" she asked. "Another round?"
Paul kissed Angie. "Why not? We're not going to be lovers after this night, but this night isn't over yet."
Angie laughed. "We've got a long night ahead of us then, don't we?"
Paul pulled her close. "That we do, my dear, that we do."
"That bastard," A.J. said.
Jim and A.J. were flying outside the window of Paul's 35th floor hotel room, spying on their friend to see if he was getting lucky that night. They had overheard most of the previous conversation. While A.J. was steamed, Jim simply shook his head and laughed.
"They got us fair and square," Jim said. "I didn't bitch about you trying to beat me at that darts match, so you don't get to start here."
"We thought he was going to die," A.J. pointed out. "You don't do that kind of practical joke, no matter how practical the outcome, to your friends."
Jim continued laughing and floated away from the window. After a moment A.J. also started to laugh. "That bastard," he said, smiling.
"So we owe him one. Sooner or later, we'll pay them both back."
"Jim!"
Jim looked up to see Karen leaning out of her window on the 40th floor. "Yes love," he called.
"Get your cute little ass back into bed or never have sex again!"
A.J. nudged his brother. "An ultimatum!" he said.
"Yeah," Jim noted, "but she's worth it. Go to your woman, and I'll go to mine. Like the man said, the night isn't over yet."
A.J. laughed. "Right. Go get yourself fucked silly. When you get back from touring, we have a lot of work ahead of us."
Jim smiled his ironic smile. "And for once, I'm
looking forward to it."