Between The Walls Ch. 03

Johnny could sense his best friends' presence next to him but refused to look at him. He kept his gaze trained on the wall in front of him, examining the shelves lined with an array of different liquors. Pink cleared his throat, but Johnny held out. The bartender set another double in front of him and he immediately downed it before acknowledging Pink with a hard glare.

"What man?"

Pink took a moment to choose his words carefully, "Not to sound like a douche, but why are you over here sulking like a bitch, dude?"

"Fuck off," Johnny quipped before signaling the bartender again.

Pink waved him off and turned to Johnny, "Listen man, you are letting this shit get to you before it has even become something. This J.D character is just some fucking dude, Why are you acting like you are about to hand Louise off in marriage. Seriously man, you are the one who chose to have things the way are. I'm not trying to be a fucking ass but you need to get a grip. YOU are the one who said you didn't want to complicate things. Are you gonna act like a lil' butt hurt ass nigga everytime some dude looks at Lou? Get the fuck off your high horse and either step up or—"

"I don't need to hear this shit man," Johnny answered loudly before getting up, "Fuck you, fuck them, and fuck that J.D mother fucker. I thought we were friends' man how can you just sit there throwing this shit at me!" Johnny knew he sounded ridiculous, "I'm not fucking jealous dude, I'm just sick of those mother fuckers actin' like they know anything about the friendship that Louise and I have. Emphasis on the friendship man!"

Pink downed his double before turning to his friend, "call it what you want dude, but you are the one who needs to saddle up or shut the fuck up. If you really believe what you are saying then you need to calm the fuck down and let the girl be. If you really care about her you'll let her live her fuckin' life."

Johnny wiped his face and exhaled loudly, "this shit has gotten way to heavy dude, fuck it. I'm over it. You guys are making a big ordeal over some shit," he stumbled slightly. "I'm gonna go take a leak, I'll meet you are the table man."

Pink stood and threw some bills on the counter top, "alright man, whatever you say."

Johnny was already on his way to the men's room when Pinky added his last comment. He rushed through the door and relieved himself of his past few shots. After washing up he looked at himself in the mirror. His blue eye blazing as he watched the man before him. After splashing some cold water on his face he turned away from his reflection and put his hands behind his head.

"Fuck."

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Louse was applying a thin layer of eyeliner, trying to perfect the cat like shape that was in style when she heard a knock at her front door.

"Johnny," she huffed.

She half jogged and half tripped her way to the threshold of her apartment.

She almost melted when she swung the door open, taking in Johnny always impeccably handsome face, "hey babe," she cooed, "what brings you here."

Johnny threw her one of his signature smiles and held up a bag of what could only be Thai food, "thought you'd be hungry."

Louise's smile faded into a grimace, "oh Johnny, that's sweet but I was just headed out in a bit for dinner." She tried to play it cool but she knew Johnny would eventually catch on to her.

"Dinner?"

"Yeah, I've got a dinner date you know? Nothing special just food and conversation."

"Oh yeah? With who?"

Louise was a little irritated, because she knew that Johnny would interrogate her until he had all the answers. He always had to know everything about every dude that entered her life. When she was younger she thought that it was really sweet, but as the years passed she just found it annoying. She couldn't comprehend why who she decided to spend her time with affected him so much, but after a while she just allowed him to poke his nose where it didn't belong.

"That guy J.D."

Johnny visibly stiffened before clearing his throat," oh right. Well I guess this was a bit of a waste," he said holding the bag up slightly.

Louise could tell he was annoyed but tried to act as if she didn't notice, "I'm sorry John, if you would have called then I would have tried to reschedule." She was lying through her teeth and she knew that he knew it.

"It's cool Lou, don't even worry about it, just , well never mind."

"What? Just," she stopped midsentence when she noticed the hardening of his gaze, "look thank you, but we can always eat tomorrow, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

Johnny just shrugged, "seriously it's cool, just look-- have fun alright."

"Johnny."

"Lou, c'mon it's not that big of a deal, it's just Thai food, we can eat later. Have fun on your date."

"Well what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, maybe hit up Jennifer," he said with a cheeky grin. Lou didn't notice how he tried to hide his emotions, or maybe she had just learned how to ignore them.

Either way she couldn't hide the harshness in her reply, "So you are just going to give away my meal then?"

"Looks like it."

"Fine, whatever," Lou was more irritated than she normally would have been.

"Is there a problem or something, I mean you just said you had plans."

"Yeah I do John," she crossed her arms and gave him a stern gaze," look I really need to finish getting ready."

"Okay, cool. I'll call you tomorrow then."

"Okay do what you want, obviously that is what you always intend to do."

Johnny just stared at her, he almost wanted to laugh. If he really did what he wanted she'd be naked writhing beneath him while calling his name. "Yeah I guess so, I'll call you later okay?"

"Fine Johnny."

He looked at her again trying to lighten the tension," don't be so hard Lou," he kissed her quickly on the cheek," have fun alright and I'll uh call you tomorrow."

Lou gave him a half-hearted smile before placing her hand on the door, "whatever you say Johnny-boy." They held each other's gaze momentarily, each not knowing what to say,

"Night Lou."

"G'night Johnny," he turned to leave and Lou had an urge to stop him. To say she was sorry, even though she didn't know why. She watched his retreating figure before stepping back into heR apartment and closing the door. 'What the fuck,' she thought. How did Johnny ruin her night before it had even started?

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J.D was all nerves as he walked towards Louise's shop, which he learned was also her living space. He held the flowers he had bought earlier in his hand feeling like a complete idiot.

What was he thinking he questioned himself, he was starting up a relationship with a girl that he knew was out of his league. What would she do when she caught wind of what he was really up too. He was into some shady maneuvers with dangerous people. It didn't really matter that she seemed involved somehow with Johnny, the kid seemed like a straight shooter, if you could have such a thing in his line of work.

He tried to get a hold of himself as he walked the few blocks that separated him from his ebony goddess, 'get a hold of yourself man, you've been with plenty of women. Stop acting like a fuckin' teenager.'

He was about a block from her place and was dangerously close to calling her up and cancelling plans. 'Fuck,' he thought about is history with women and how things always seemed to come crashing down in a blaze of dramatic glory. 'maybe things will be different, maybe I can be different,' he highly doubted it, but with Louise he was willing to try.

As he reached the sweet shop, he did as instructed and walked around the outer edge to the side door and rang the doorbell. He heard a crackle and Louise's familiar voice poured through the intercom.

"Who is it?" she chimed.

"J.D."

"Oh. I'll buzz you up," he heard the twang of the buzzer alerting him that he was permitted inside. With slight hesitation he pulled the door and stepped into a dark corridor that ascended into stairs. "Here we go," he said out loud to no one in particular. He wondered when he had turned into such a pansy.

He reached the top of the stairs and found the only other door that was not a custodial closet. Rapping on it lightly, he waited for it to open.

He wasn't kept waiting long, Louise opened the door and was sight of heaven in all of its glory.

She was wearing a red mini dress with quarter length sleeves and nude heels. The dress had synched at the waist accentuating her sexy curves. Her short hair seemed a little fuller, and he noticed the dark make-up on her top eyelids. The dress was about mid-thigh, but still left much to the imagination. Her breasts looked delicious, they spilled out slightly from the heart shaped neck line and the long silver chain that donned a silver stone completed everything. Her eyes shined like black onyx as she greeted him.

Her voice was throaty with excitement when she slightly cooed in greeting, "Hey."

"Hey yourself, wow, you look incredible."

She looked down, and he noticed her long eyelashes grazed her high cheekbones; she was so damn adorable while being so fucking sexy all at once. He wasn't sure if he would make it through dinner.

"Thank you." She whispered, "do you want to come in, I'm almost ready."

He laughed at that, "you aren't ready? What else could you possibly do to make yourself look any more spectacular?"

She laughed at that, the sound was whimsical and J.D thought he might fall through the doorway rather than walking in.

"Well I need to grab my purse and jacket, so make yourself comfortable."

"Will do," he answered before remembering the flowers. "These are for you by the way."

"Oh," she laughed out, "I was wondering who they were for. You were holding onto them so tightly I thought they might belong to some other girl."

"No sweetie," he offered in his southern twang, "they're all for you", he extended his hand out giving her the bouquet.

"Thank you," she answered sweetly.

She held onto the flowers taking in a deep breath, before taking them to the kitchen to be placed into a vase, "I'll be right back."

J.D took this opportunity to take in his surroundings. He could tell that Louise had all kinds of interests. She was defiantly a new breed of woman. Her place was decorated in with a minimalist style that had been engulfed with slight clutter. He could tell that she was not one for extravagant throw pillows and name brands. Her living room held artwork, books and a collection of comic books and sci-fi memorabilia. But it reflected this haphazard line between art student and geek. He admired the way the neutral tones of her apartment played alongside one another. As he was examining things he noticed a picture of what had to be a young Louise standing next to her father, they were in a boxing ring and she was wearing gloves and sporting cornrows at a young age. He had to laugh at her toothy grin and the attractive older black man beside her.

There was no woman in the picture, in fact the only photograph of a woman resembling Louise was a single frame at the edge of a coffee table. It had to be her mother, they sported the same grin. The older woman was sitting in a bench with a sunhat on and laughing at the camera, she looked thin, much too thin to be healthy. The dark circles under her eye could have meant anything, but through the tiredness she seemed to be glowing for the camera, he wondered what had happened to her.

Next J.D found another framed photo of what could only be a teenage Louise standing next a dashing Jonathan Gallow. She was in a royal blue prom dress and Johnny in a tuxedo. She was bent over laughing at the camera and Johnny held her around the waist trying to keep his composure. J.D couldn't help the jealousy that rose throughout his chest. 'so they had been friends for a long time.'

Johnny seemed to play the part of the suave older young man, Louise looked very innocent and gripped his hand around her waist in the picture; something had obviously set off her laughter. He wondered what had brought them together in the first place. They stood together beneath a tree and the longer J.D looked at the picture the more his anger grew. He was still staring at the picture when Louise came into the living room.

"Ready?" Louise asked stepping in the common area, J.D turned around and is expression took her breath away. His eyes were dark with desire, which sent a fiery trail to the core of her stomach. Keeping her composure she waited for his answer.

"Yes ma'am," he answered after exaiming her again.

"Alright cowboy," Louise laughed out, "am I an old woman suddenly?"

"Defiantly not, you're still a sexy little thang."

"Whatever cowboy, let's go."

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They arrived at the upscale sushi restaurant about a quarter to 9, J.D jumped out of the car to open Louise's door.

"Thank you," she said cheerfully.

The two walked into the restaurant together, it was dimly lit with high top tables in the middle and booths situated around the edges. A DJ was playing some of the newest mixes with old school beats added in. Louise smiled, she liked the place from the get go.

"I hope you like sushi?"

"Ofcourse, I would think with you being from the south and all you'd prefer your fish fried," she offered jokingly.

"Despite common misconceptions us Southerners are dignified and such, and I've been all around the world missy, I've got some refined tastes."

"My apologies," she laughed again.

One of the few attractive hostesses showed them to their seats, she was wearing all black with bright red lipstick, she had a large bow tied in her hair with a scarf and was a few inches taller than Louise. Lou sized her up but looking over at J.D and noticing that his eyes were trained only on her put her at ease.

J.D ordered them a round of hot sake and Louise studied the menu, she placed it down and looked up to find J.D staring at her from the top of his menu.

"Why do you stare at me like that, I feel like you are going to bore a hole right through me,"

J.D laughed, " I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare its just that I'm happy you decided to come out with me is all. You know with, well I won't mix business with pleasure."

Louise was a little taken aback by how upfront J.D was with his line of work, usually Johnny kept it on a need to know basis. She found it to be a little exciting; she tried to delve a little deeper, "So what is it exactly that you do."

J.D quipped an eyebrow and immediately caught wind that Jonathan didn't keep Louise completely in the loop, he figured it wasn't his place to bring her into it. "Some things here and there, but like I said I'm not one to mix business with pleasure."

He noticed that her eyes turn quizzically and her face fell slightly, he wanted to laugh slightly at how cute she looked, but he didn't want to scare her off going into how he lives a life with guns blazing and lots of people ended up hurt, if not dead.

"Well that doesn't seem fair," she tried a new angle, " you know all about the shop I run. Everything is out in the open."

J.D laughed at that, " oh really? For all I know you could be running pastries across the border, better yet I'm sure you have a little sweatshop going in your basement."

Louise almost spit out her sake at that, " you need to quit it." Taking a sip of water she calmed her laughter and realized how hungry she was. Just then the server came and they placed their orders.

The evening moved a long quickly after that. Mostly it was Louise laughing at things that J.D would say. He had a serious air about him but she figured that when he was in a comfortable setting he was able to open up more. He did stay away from real personal talk, and quickly changed the subject when she asked about his childhood and family. A lot of the time he was asking her questions, it seemed he would be able to write a book about all the things she spilled.

They were in the middle of talking about her father when the check came.

"It was just me and my dad growing up. My mom died of Kidney complications when I was 7. I don't have any brothers or sisters, so it was just us two."

J.D listened intently as he slipped his card into the check book, "so he was the one that would take you to the boxing ring?"

"Yeah, he owned it, its where me and Johnny spent a lot of our time as kids. Mostly it was me kicking his ass, but my dad taught me everything he knew. He had a few champion fighters train there. He was great, I really loved him," she trailed off sadly at the last part and J.D didn't feel comfortable with pushing the issue.

Louise pick up her small sake shot glass and raised it in toast, "Here is to an amazing night."

J.D looked her deep in the eye, "and many more to come." Louise noticed his eyes darken again and she felt that same shiver go through her spine, she downed the shot and laughed, "One sake bomb before we go!"

"Fine," J.D gave in

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When the two finally arrived at Louise's place it was 20 past midnight and Louise was a happy drunk.

"What is it with you Southerners, feeding girls drinks all night," she hiccupped and playfully added, "you asked for this."

J.D just smiled amused as she attempted to navigated her steps, "I'm starting to think you may have a drinking problem Lou."

Louise turned and feigned shock, "I'll have you know I only drank because you made me nervous," she stopped to open her door, "you just appear and my words just start to falter, so I had to build a little liquid courage in order to-"

J.D was right behind her when se turned around, he placed one hand above her head on the door and with the other he slowly slipped the keys from her hands. Louise breathed in sallow breaths becoming intoxicated even more by his earthy smell. He was all man, he didn't even need cologne. Louise gulped audibly and looked up into his smoldering eyes

"I make you nervous?" He asked playfully, as he unlocked the door and opened it slowly behind her.

"yes I mean-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before his lips were on hers. She didn't even try to resist. She pulled him toward her through the door way and he shut it behind them.

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