Come As You Are Ch. 11

"In the words of that stupid shark movie Colette made me watch, bull-fucking-shit."

"That was... OK, it was a stupid shark movie, but THAT character was awesome!"

"Ignoring Colette's wrong opinion, you should go to the reunion. If for no other reason that high school is ten years gone. You and Gio... and maybe me, I said I'm still deciding," Vienna said to cut off both Colette and Garrett, "go, hang out, and have a good time. And if the high school social bullshit is still there? Fuck it, it's just for one night."

The DJ's voice cut off Garrett's response. "Alright folks, next up is Garrett, and he's got... huh. Good pick my man!"

With a nervous look and a nervous smile, Garrett pushed up from the bench. There was some scattered applause, including a loud call-out of his name from a local who had been drinking at Pike's since before any of the trio had been born. "Nice song choice," the DJ said as Garrett got up on stage.

Colette elbowed Vienna. "I think you're going to love this." They both watched as the song title appeared on the monitor facing the entire bar. As Garrett took in the title and recognized the tune in question, his eyes flashed upwards towards Colette. She met his stare with a smile.

# I like big butts and I cannot lie #

Colette smiled as Vienna gently squeezed her thigh under the table. "Good ice breaker."

"Everyone knows 'Baby Got Back.' Figured I might as well give him a softball. And that's not half-bad singing," said Colette. Garrett's voice belonged in a choir, probably as a tenor. He was letting the words and lyrics flow into each other, letting the music do the work instead of his voice. The young man didn't shy away from the proverbial spotlight, and from his eyes seemed to be trying to get ahead of the lyrics so they sounded better coming from him. "Let's try to drag him back next week."

"Absolutely. If only because he's already pissed off our usual critic."

Colette turned, immediately knowing to look towards the far side of the bar. Nestled in a well-lit corner, Amy Yates looked as if she had just sucked on a freshly cut lemon. She shook her head with disdain when Garrett purposefully changed up one of the song's key lyrics, to a smattering of cheers from the crowd.

# Baby got back! Aspen face with an Emerald Pines booty! #

As the song slowly faded out, Garret nodded at the polite applause, its volume enhanced by the intoxication of the bar's patrons, and stepped off the stage. "Alright," the DJ said as he flipped over a slip of paper. "Next up... Colette, your turn! And once again, nice choice, whoever made this one."

"That," Colette called as she got up from the bench, "is all Vienna's fault." She heard Vienna's laughter as Colette made her way up to the stage, passing Garrett along the way. "Nice job," she said, receiving a nod of thanks from the young man. Once on stage, she took the offered microphone and waited. This was a song she had never heard before ("The Hell That Is My Life"), by a band she had never heard of (Zebrahead). Vienna had a way of doing that with her choices. But, as Sadie always declared, game on.

#I, I look but never touch, she says I drink too much #

# I only care about myself, sex, and the couch #

"Wow," Colette mumbled as she finished the first verse, holding the mic by her side so no one could pick up her words, "it's the story of my marriage." She looked up from the monitor to see Vienna leaning forward, hands folded underneath her chin, eyes sparkling, with a stupid smile on her face. She batted her eyes at Colette, turning the smile into a smirk. Garrett had taken Colette's seat so he could watch her sing without turning his head.

# I, I feel the world revolves around me, I take my one-way street #

# I only have one serious bone in my body #

The song was fun, one of those light, poppy early 00's songs from...

"Oh God, when I was in elementary school," Colette muttered again during the instrumental portion of the song. Still, her toe was tapping and she was in a groove with the song, which did a pretty damn good job of summarizing a good chunk of her adult life.

# She calls, we talk, I scream, she cries, this is the hell that is my life #

# She calls, we talk, I laugh, she tries, This is the hell that is my life #

# She's callin', we're brawlin', This is the hell that is my life #

# I'm laughing, she's crying, This is the hell that is my, hell that is my life #

"That was Colette! Thank you! And I guess that means... yep, Vienna's up next!"

As Vienna passed Colette in the crowd, she leaned in close. "That song was OK, right?"

"I had fun singing it, didn't I?" Colette smiled as she whispered, "And the lyrics were dead on balls accurate too. It's an industry term."

"Another movie quote, huh?" Vienna's fingers drifted over Colette's arm as she made her way to the stage.

Colette went the other way, coming around the long table towards Garrett. "How was I?" she asked as she sat down.

"My ears aren't bleeding and you didn't miss a single word. Seriously, that was pretty good. Sounds like you and Vienna are both regulars here."

"This has been my watering hole ever since I moved back." Garrett and Colette both took a sip of their beers as Vienna, tapping her hand against the side of her leg, waited for the opening guitar to give way to the lyrics of "All You Zombies."

# Holy Moses met the Pharaoh, yeah, he tried to set him straight #

# Looked him in the eye, "let my people go!" #

"What about Sadie? Does she take part in Karaoke Roulette?"

"No," Colette laughed. "She keeps saying she has to save her voice for her videos, even though Vienna and I both tell her, people aren't watching her videos to hear her talk."

Garrett shrugged. "Some of the stuff she says is saucy as hell. Sadie treads that line between 'no social filter' and 'asshole' better than anyone else. That girl was born demonetized. Speaking of Sadie, did she say anything when you told her I was back in town?"

"I haven't told her. As I said, she and Michelle wonder about you. I want to see the look on their faces when I tell them you popped back up."

"They still talk about me? You're not making that up?"

"Sadie keeps calling you her 'Cloud Strife,' whatever that means, and Michelle brings you up whenever she comes back to visit. If I didn't know any better I'd swear you two hooked up when you ran into each other a few years ago."

"Michelle gave me ice skating lessons and got me to ski some black diamonds with her. She probably doesn't miss me so much as she misses me listening to her." Colette nodded, conceding the point before Garrett looked towards the corner of the bar. "Apparently Pike's is someone else's watering hole."

Sitting in the same corner she always did, Amy Yates was shooting the singing Vienna the same look of annoyed disdain Colette had seen earlier. When Colette looked in her direction, Amy happened to glance towards the long table. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Colette hoisted her pint glass towards her in a magnanimous gesture, only for Amy to shake her head with obvious disgust before returning to her glass of wine.

Garrett chuckled. "Nice to see that she's been perfecting her 'bug under my shoe' look since high school. I'm guessing Amy doesn't join you guys for karaoke?"

"The only time she's talked to me since I came back was to accuse me of ripping off her store's name, 'Accoutrements By Amy.' If I did, it was by accident but she didn't buy it. If I ripped off anyone's name it was Thrifty By Design's."

"What kind of store does she run?"

"A dress shop, both off-the-rack and custom designs. Say what you will about Amy, she's always known fashion."

"Anyone else from our class pop in?"

"Ian Rocker stops in sometimes. He'll sing depending on how high he is. Oh, and Rosemary McBrenan. Her dad shattered his leg so she's helping out at Comstock's until he recovers. She drinks more than she sings, but she's not too bad." After taking a sip of beer, Colette inquired, "So why this song?"

"My girl's a raging atheist but she loves a good tune." Garrett motioned to Vienna, who was tapping her hand and nodding her chin in time with the beat. "Figured I'd mess with her and make her smile at the same time. Pretty much the story of our friendship."

"What about you? Are you a raging atheist?"

"Cautious Christian," the young man answered, "though I haven't been inside a church in years. Jesus said 'love thy neighbor,' Bill and Ted said 'be excellent to each other,' Garrett West says 'dude, don't be a dick.'"

"That's a gospel I can get behind," she laughed.

# All you zombies hide your faces, all you people in the street #

# All you sittin' in high places, the rain's gonna fall on you #

Vienna had a voice for karaoke. Just a little off note, just a little off-key, just a little off the melody. Great for drunken bar patrons to applaud her, enough for professional musicians to wince slightly at her singing. "I can appreciate the music," she said one night while Colette leisurely stroked her freshly dyed black hair, "but I sure as hell can't create or perform it."

Another round of polite and enthusiastic applause emanated from the crowd as Vienna handed the microphone to the DJ. "Nice job," Garrett offered once she made her way back to the table.

Colette finished her beer. "So," she said eagerly, "another round of drinks and another round of songs?"

"Nope, because you two need to go get some sleep." Vienna tapped an imaginary watch that sat on her wrist. "Remember? Sleep. Real sleep. Not staying up watching movies and surfing the Internet. Both of you."

"She's almost adorable when she's maternal," Garrett noted as Vienna made her way towards the bar to pay the tab.

"Alright, so if you're driving me home, where are you parked?"

"In my driveway," Garrett said with a grimace. "I walked to the Y and then to the store."

"That's not a problem. I'm parked behind the store. You OK driving my car?"

He gave her a nod. "Although that means I'll have to drive your car back to my place tonight and drive back to pick you up tomorrow morning. Which is fine, since I'm scheduled to open... right?"

"You are now."

"I need a set schedule at some point, Colette. Not tonight, but at some point."

"I promise, tomorrow. I don't mean to abuse your kindness, I really don't."

Garrett waved her sentence off. "Don't worry about it," he said. "I want you to know when I'm going to show up. I prefer to be steady and reliable Garrett West over 'SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKERS I'M ON THE CLOCK' Garrett West."

"That level of enthusiasm would deserve a higher salary than I could afford."

X X X X X

The trip up from town had gone smoothly. Garrett handled Colette's Charger without any issue, keeping it just above the speed limit and avoiding any sharp turns or swerves. Sitting in the passenger's seat Colette had watched the lights of her hometown stream past with the white halogens of the night runs at Sapphire Drop serving as a temporary starfield to her vision.

"Nice place," Garrett said as he pulled up to the roundabout in front of Colette's house. "Bet you got one hell of a view out back."

"When we get around to keeping the trees trimmed you can see most of the upper valley from my back deck." Garrett brought Colette's car to a stop near the front porch. A pair of brass lanterns framed the door, shining with a soft orange glow in contrast to the rest of the house. Colette could see through the windows that both the living room and kitchen lights were dark.

"Alright," said Garrett as Colette got out, "see you tomorrow morning."

"Actually... this is going to sound weird." Colette bent over, one hand on the roof of the Charger, chewing on her lower lip as she looked at him through the open door. "I should have asked on the way up the hill, but I need you to walk me to my bedroom."

Garrett gave her a perplexed look. "I'm guessing it's not for the normal reason a pretty woman invites someone to their bedroom."

"Pretty woman? Flattery will get you everywhere. I need sleep," she said quietly, "but most nights I watch a movie. I need you to ride herd on me and make sure I crawl into bed without putting one on." Her shoulders were drawn together and she couldn't quite make eye contact with Garrett while they made their way to her front door.

"Not a problem. I can stand outside your bedroom while you get ready for bed."

"My bedroom's down and to the right," she told him while unlocking the front door. "Go through the kitchen and just keep walking. Be careful, it's a wheelchair ramp into the kitchen and then a ramp up to my bedroom."

"Got it... is that running water?"

Colette gestured towards the back of the house. "There's a mountain spring that feeds down into Castle Creek. My Dad built a wooden bench back there for him and Mom to sit there and relax when the weather was nice. The girls and I would use it to sit and gossip during our high school sleepovers."

The front door opened without a sound, revealing a small landing illuminated by the dim backsplash from the lanterns on the front porch. One small ramp led up to the unused portion of the house once occupied by Colette's parents while a larger ramp with anti-slip strips and handrails led into the darkened kitchen. Garrett stepped inside and motioned for Colette to lead the way. The ramp shook slightly under their footsteps even as they tread softly. The moonlight spilled through the windows, giving both of them enough light to see by.

After peeking in to make sure Jaclyn was asleep, Colette led Garrett to the laundry room at the end of the kitchen. "My room's up there," Colette whispered, pointing to a door on the adjacent wall. They both tread carefully as they climbed up the ramp leading to the suite.

Garrett followed Colette into her bedroom. While he closed the door Colette crossed the darkened room towards her nightstand. The soft orange glow from her bedside lamp caused Garrett to flinch for a brief moment before getting used to the light. Once acclimated, he took a look around. "Nice place. Was it like this growing up?"

"Yep," Colette said as she flopped down onto the dark gray weighted blanket. Just the simple act of being on the bed settled any internal debate about attempting to watch a movie. "It was two bedrooms and one bathroom," she said as she began to remove her shoes, "but my dad knocked down the wall between both bedrooms and moved the bathroom door to the outer hallway. I've pretty much had my own apartment since the fourth grade."

The 'apartment' was the result of combining two medium-sized bedrooms into a larger room, with one side wall-to-ceiling glass overlooking the wooden deck. Colette's queen-sized bed stretched a quarter of the way across the room. The shade of the weighted blanket was a complementary match to the gray wall paint while the gray wall paint complemented the beige carpet under their feet. The far half of the apartment held several pieces of furniture. One corner was dedicated to a long couch, a two-person loveseat, thick pillows for sitting on the ground, and a large flat-screen television that took up almost half the wall. Nearly every other spot on the remaining walls was occupied by a movie poster or some other form of memorabilia.

"Whoa," Garrett remarked when a watercolor drawing of a young Elliott Gould pointing a gun caught his eye. "Is that a poster for The Long Goodbye?"

"You know that movie?" Colette dropped her other shoe on the ground and started to roll off her socks. "Phillip fucking Marlowe. I didn't think anyone else in the state of Colorado cared about that movie."

"Yeah... nobody cares but me."

A warm smile found its way across Colette's face at the quote. "Well, that's you, Marlowe. You'll never learn, you're a born loser."

"Yeah, I even lost my cat."

"Bang. Not bad, West. I'm impressed."

"Gould was one of my grandfather's favorite actors." He gestured towards the poster. "His favorite movie was something called California Split about poker players and gambling addiction."

"1974, Gould and George Segal, directed by Robert Altman," Colette answered by reflex. "Good movie. Innovative for its time because Altman used wireless microphones and fed the feed into a sound mixer to get his dialogue. Keep your back turned, I'm getting undressed." Now in her bare feet, Colette unbuttoned her jeans and started to shimmy out of them as she lay back on the bed. "Are you a movie guy?"

"I guess. The owner of the bar I worked at always had a random movie playing on the corner television. I've seen a thousand movies once versus seeing one movie a thousand times. I gotta say, that's one hell of a set-up for a bedroom television."

Dropping her jeans on the floor to join her shoes, Colette stood up from the bed, still clad in her black bra and practical gray underwear. "I splurged," she admitted while taking off her bra and replacing it with a black tank top from her nightstand. "Candy by Colette is the insurance settlement. The 82-inch plasma TV and the Charger? The divorce money." Colette pulled back the covers and slid underneath them into bed, fighting the urge to immediately fall asleep until she had seen her friend off. "You can turn around."

He did as requested. "So you're all good to go then?"

"Yeah, I'm good," she answered, a yawn punctuating her words. "I'll brush my teeth and take care of everything tomorrow morning. Can you be here around 7:30 or so?"

"No problem. Anything else?"

"Make sure you lock the bottom knob on the front door."

"Got it. Goodnight Colette."

"Night Garrett." Garrett stepped into the hallway, taking great pains to carefully pull the door shut behind him. Colette heard him make his way down the ramp into the kitchen. Once she shut off the bedside lamp, the moonlight shining through the glass was the only illumination in the room, outlining the furniture and several of the poster frames with threads of dull silver.

The weighted blanket pressed comfortably upon Colette. Sleep had finally won out, her eyes getting heavy as she made the final adjustment needed to help herself drift away. "Today went well, and tomorrow will go well too... huh," she murmured to herself as sleep brought about the mental clarity available only to the truly exhausted, "that's the first time I've had a man inside my bedroom since my divorce..."

X X X X X

"Well, at least he's a somewhat attractive man. Good to see you're not lowering your standards TOO much, my candy cane."

Colette groaned into her pillow at the sound of her former nickname. "Not tonight," she groused, "I'm not in the mood."

"Our nocturnal get-togethers are of your making, not mine."

The faintest of moonlight meekly pushed its way through the glass wall, giving her just enough illumination to see by. The distant furniture on the other side of her bedroom suite was barely visible as sharply contrasting lines of white and gray amongst the black void. Reaching for the lamp on her night table would be a futile gesture. It wouldn't turn on. It never turned on.

"Should I be worried that you finally found a man to replace me?" the well-cultured voice asked with a deeply resonant tone. The speaker sat in the two-person loveseat which currently faced her bed instead of the television as it normally did. Colette could barely define the form sitting in the chair. Its legs were crossed, left ankle resting gently on the right knee. A smoldering red dot sent a single plume of smoke into the air. Even from across the bedroom, Colette could detect the faint whiff of cloves. Djarum Supers. A brand all too familiar to her.

"Just let me sleep." Colette rolled over, her face back in the pillow. "I was sound asleep until you showed up."