Rock and Roll Angel Pt. 03

"Can we switch rooms Ethan asked, as he invaded the fridge for a beer. The room was extended stay with a tiny living room, a full kitchen and two big separate bedrooms.

"What's wrong with your room?" Sarah asked.

"The air conditioner makes a high pitch sound. I can't sleep." Ethan had super sensitive hearing and certain sounds caused him discomfort.

"How you survived playing in a rock-n-roll band is beyond me," Sarah complained as she moved all her and Ashley's stuff to the other room. Ethan did the same with his stuff.

"What's for dinner?" Sarah asked as she threw open the fridge. They had stocked the little kitchen with all kinds of good stuff to eat.

"I'm too bushed to cook," Ashley said as she whipped out her Kendal Fire. "I'm getting takeout."

"You two go out and have a real sit down dinner," Ethan said.

"We're not going to leave you alone," Ashley said as she fiddling with her Kendal. "Indian or Tex-Mex?"

"I'd kind of like to go out?" Sarah said.

"Go!" Ethan said. "Then find a theater and go see the new Star Wars movie. Forget about me for a little while."

"We've seen the Star Wars movie twice each," Sarah said.

"So you don't wanna see it a third time?" Ethan asked. Sarah and Ashley looked at each other. Ethan knew that they were total geeks when it came to the new Star Wars movie. Both had unhealthy crushes on the main female lead. "Please go," Ethan pleaded. "I need private time to Skype sex with Joy."

"Eeehue! Didn't need to hear THAT," Ashley said. She grabbed her purse. "There's plenty of food in the fridge." She kissed his cheek.

"Use PLENTY of wet wipes and hand sanitizer when you're done with Joy," Sarah said kissing his cheek too.

"Get the fuck out," Ethan said affectionately.

It was nice to be alone. He loved his cousin and his best friend but they fussed over him too much lately. A guy goes into a couple of near death comas and everybody is suddenly up in arms.

At the fridge, he contemplated making a ham sandwich or nuking a couple of frozen burritos. A second beer sounded easier, he had a whole twelve pack to work on. He wasn't a big drinker but knowing that he didn't have a brain tumor was something worth celebrating. Ashley had sent the word out to the family and the band. He'd been bombarded with calls and texts for the last three hours. The only one who hadn't made contact yet was Jenna.

He called her but no go. Joy was next but she wasn't picking up either. Knowing it was hopeless, he tried Kat. No response. She was on the road with Lady Gaga so he expected no less. He opened his laptop and checked his special email account. There were seven emails but none were from the other winged one. It had been over five years so he wasn't surprised or disappointed anymore. But he still check everyday. He shut the laptop, popped his third beer, flopped on his back on the bed and stared at the textured ceiling.

He was horny as all get out.

"Reduced to soft core porn on the hotel cable channel," he said as he fumbled for the remote, brought up the guide and scrolled down to the bright pink titles labeled adult entertainment. The main feature was a Misty Mundae film festival. Play-mates of the Apes sounded intriguing. Needless to say the movie was awful. The people who made it should be deported to Canada. But Misty Mundae was naked most of the movie and VERY easy to look at so he forgave the shlock and kept watching.

Halfway through his second Misty Mundae movie, 'Satan's School for Lust,' a knock came at the door. Couldn't be Ashley and Sarah for neither would have hesitated barging in on him in the middle of a wank fest. He peered through the peep hole. A woman stood in the hall. She didn't appear to be from room service. The hotel manager maybe? His neighbor perhaps? The TV volume was low so it couldn't be a complaint. He opened the door just wide enough for his head to poke through, no sense flashing his wings to some unsuspecting stranger.

The woman was small and Asian and he recognized her immediately. "Dr. Tobita?" Ethan's heart rate tripled. There was something seriously wrong with him after all. He opened the door wider.

Tobita stared at Ethan's bare chest and the wings spread behind him, he wore jeans and nothing else. "I have the wrong room." she said, bowed her head and turned to walk away.

Ethan frowned. Clearly she had come to see Ashley and Sarah. "You got the right room," Ethan said to her retreating back. "Our room is like an apartment with two bedrooms. Ashley and Sarah are off to diner and a movie. I'm a grown boy, you can tell me what's wrong."

Tobita stopped and looked at Ethan. Her expression confused. Then it turned to shock.

"That bad huh?" Ethan said with a lump in his throat.

Her face turned bright red. "I am so sorry, Ethan. This visit has NOTHING to do with my diagnosis of you." She rolled her eyes. The woman's face went bright red. "I'm answering to Sarah's invitation."

Ethan had no idea what she was talking about but was greatly relived that her visit had nothing to do with him. "I can reach then on the phone?" He said.

"No!" Tobita said a bit too loud. "I'm being stupid and rude. Sarah was clearly making a joke that I didn't get." She laughed. "All my life I've been missing the joke." She gave him a weak smile.

"Sorry," he said.

Her eyes kept flickering to his wings. "Since I'm here, can I ask you some questions ... you know ... about your wings?"

"Okay. Come in."

"I don't want to impose. I can ask at the door then go."

"No worries," he said and stepped aside to let her in. As she slipped passed he got a whiff of her perfume. She smelled great. She wore a simple burgundy dress that worked well with her slim figure. Clearly she was dressed for a night out which made him curious as to what Sarah might have said to the confused doctor to get her all decked out.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

She looked at him shyly. Her odd behavior made her look younger then her forty plus years. Her eyes kept going to his wings so he gave her the full spread.

"Amazing," she whispered. "You have full motor control?"

"Just like flexing my arms and legs."

"You seemed reluctant to let me or the nurses touch your wings back at the clinic," Tobita said. "Are they that sensitive? Do they hurt when touched?"

"It's not that," he said.

"My I touch?"

"Sure."

She slipped behind him and ran her hands over the back of his wings covered with short pale white hair like on a shot haired mammal. She followed a sinewy strut from his spine to the edge of his left wing. The edges of both wings went pink before her eyes.

"Am I hurting you?" she asked.

"Um ... no," he said.

The edges of his wings went a deeper pink.

"Blood is infusing the wings," she said as she stroked the darkening edge. "I can feel the warmth, they're getting ridged on the edges too."

"Yeah, ridged," Ethan said.

She stepped around to face his front and her eyes dropped to the obvious bulge in his jeans. Tobita put it all together. "Is it stimulating when I touch your wings?"

"Totally."

Her face went red again. "I am so sorry!"

"That's not all," he said.

A wave of sexual intensity washed over Tobita like a blast of heat from an open furnace. "Goodness!" she said. "This is even more intense then back at the hospital."

"I wasn't quite in the mood then. Hospitals aren't the sexiest places around."

"Your cousin's theory about pheromones is wrong," Tobita said. "You're broadcasting ... sending out a signal directly to my neural system."

"Never thought of these as antennas," Ethan said as he spread his wings wide and looked up at them. "Seems kind of alien."

"Not so alien," she said. "Some insects, fish and birds emit electrical impulses to communicate. Your wavelength is specific, obviously sexual."

"Obviously," Ethan said with a weary smile. He gave her a curious look. "Not for me though I suspect?"

"Your wings are triggering in me a latent desire to sleep with women," said flatly doing her best to make it sound clinical.

"Bet it's been there the whole time," Ethan said.

It was her turn to smile wearily. She stood. "I've taken up enough of your time."

"What's your first name, doctor?" he asked.

"Sibyl."

"Please stay a little longer, Sibyl. I've learned more about my wings in the last few minutes then in all six years that I've had them."

"To be honest," Sibyl said, "It's impossible to think near you."

"Not impossible," he said. "My friends have learned to cope."

"Long exposure subdues the effects?"

"With some people but not all," he said . "Most the members of my old band learn that deep focus, namely playing music helps cope with the effect. Keeps it down to a dull roar."

Sibyl eyed the two guitar cases in one corner. "May I?" she asked.

Ethan fetched her his acoustic. "You play?" he asked as he opened the case and handed her the love worn instrument.

"Not since college," she said. "I took lessons in Spanish style." She sat up straight on the edge of the sofa and held the guitar like a pro. She strummed the strings, nodded her approval at the tuning. Ethan had tuned it before going to his appointment at the hospital. For a few seconds, she played something Spanish, complex and rich. From there she drifted into a song that made Ethan smile.

He reached for Ashley's guitar and fell in with her. The song was Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Hear.' She was good and attacked the old rock song with a classical ear. Everything was perfect exactly where it needed to be. For Ethan it was like listening to the original album. He kept up with her and did his best not to impose improvisations.

To his amazement, she started to sing. She was no Katrina House but she could hold a tune well enough. Ethan sang along with her at key points. She stopped playing and looked at him. "That helped a little." She gave a rueful laughed. "But there's a line in the song that makes me think of sleeping with girls just as much as your wings."

"What part is that?"

"The line ... a smile from a veil," she said. "There's this club named Smile From a Veil, probably after the song. It's a strip joint for lesbians here in the city. I went to Stanford for my undergrad. The club was a hip place, everybody went there. At the club, I met my one and only lesbian encounter. She was an art teacher at San Jose Community College. She was so cool, so much older, so much wiser." Sybil laughed. "She was ten years younger then I am now and I barely know anything. Anyway, she was Japanese like me, beautiful and exotic, born in Hawaii, her name was Maggie Edo She talked me into posing for a nude paining. It was so daring and delicious to my young college self. I was so scared that she was going to jump my bones though. Of course I absolutely wanted her to. She never did, though, she was too nice. I think I fell in love but didn't have the courage to do anything about it. One night as I posed, a silk cloth that covered my shoulders fell off of me. We both reached for the cloth and next we knew we were kissing. After the kiss we looked around for the cloth but couldn't find it for some stupid reason. The cloth was red with a Chinese dragon on it, Maggie said it had been in her family for years. Anyway, my nerve had broken and I ran out of there. I stayed away, never went back. She never finished the painting."

After a long pause Ethan asked, "What happened next?"

"Life" she said. "I graduated, met a nice guy, got married, got my residency, moved to San Francisco, got divorced, built my practice, made lots of money, rescued a black and tan coon hound dog named Dean and here I am."

"You never explored your interest in women in all those years?" Ethan asked gently.

"The year before my divorce ... when things were the worst, I joined this expensive club for people to hook up. I went every weekend for a couple of months. Nothing came of it ... just like Maggie."

"What was the name of the club?" Ethan asked.

"Avatar."

"Here in San Francisco?"

Sibyl nodded. Ethan reached for his smart phone and went to Goggle. "Where is is this?" he asked showing her the address for Avatar.

"Not far from here," she said.

"Let's go," he said.

"I'm done with that place," Sibyl said.

"You didn't even start," Ethan scolded.

********

An Uber cab deposited them in front of a plain brick building. "How much does it cost to get in?" Ethan asked as they walked up a flight of stairs. Club Avatar's entrance was on the second floor of the building.

"Three years ago it was a hundred fifty dollars," Sibyl said. "I'm surprised that the place still exists."

They stood in line at the entrance with several other people. Needless to say, Ethan got stared at but not too much. Club Avatar drew the cosplay crowd so he kind of blended in. Just ahead of them was Black Widow from the Avengers, Disney's Pocahontas and Wonder Woman.

Pocahontas gave Ethan a long appraisal. "Cool wings," she said. "Angel from the X-men?"

"Just a random angel," Ethan said.

Pocahontas reached out to touch a wing.

He gently stopped her hand. "Their kind of delicate," he said. She drew her hand back.

Sibyl leaned in and said, "Being out in public must be a serious problem for you."

Ethan shrugged. Pocahontas didn't try and touch again but she didn't stop looking. Wonder Woman and Black Widow were looking too.

"Broadcasting loud and clear," Sibyl mumbled.

"Ethan Grant you can go in," a female voice came from the front of the line.

"Really?" Ethan said. He took Sibyl's hand and pushed his way to the front of the line. "How do you know who I am?" he asked the girl at the door. He reached into his pocket for his wallet to pay.

"No cover for celebrities and their entourage," the woman said.

"You're a bigger star then I thought," Sibyl said sounding impressed.

"I've only done a few concerts in the mid west. No big deal."

"The owner saw you in Cleveland," the woman at the door said. "She was impressed and put you on the celeb list."

"How do you know that I'm not some cosplay nut?" Ethan asked.

The woman held up her smart phone, it had Ethan's photo on the screen. "Facial recognition app." She motioned for him to enter.

"Let me get my entourage," Ethan said. "Pocahontas, Wonder Woman, Widow come on in."

The three women happily slipped pass the rope and into the club without paying the cover. The woman at the door handed Ethan a red card. "The first couple of rounds are on the house."

"Thank the owner for me," Ethan said.

As they stepped into the club, Sibyl said, "You big time rock star huh?"

"Somebody seems to think so."

"Your entourage awaits," Sibyl said indicating the three costumed women.

"We Googled you," Pocahontas said. "You wrote 'Famine of the Heart."

"And you played with Katrina House," Widow said.

"You passed out on stage in Chicago," Wonder Woman said.

Ethan gave Pocahontas the red drink card. "Have fun," he said and left the three to their own devices.

"Were is the best place to pick up chicks?" Ethan asked.

"Anywhere near you, apparently," Sibyl said.

"I'm gonna get you laid tonight, doctor."

"I'm really not ready for this, Ethan."

"You've been ready for too long. Is the bar the best?"

Sibyl rolled her eyes. "We go to the real club," she said and took his hand.

"Then what the hell is all this?" he asked of the bustling night life going on around him.

"This part is just for taking money away from the likes of Pocahontas," she said. She led him to a strangely Gothic door that looked out of place in a San Francisco brown stone. A large man all in black stood guard.

"So 'Game of Thrones," Ethan said.

"Lester," Sibyl greeted the guard.

"Doctor," Lester the guard said with a big smile. "My sister sends her love." His eyes flickered over Ethan.

"He's my guest," Sibyl said.

"Impressive wings," Lester said. "We don't get too many cosplay types in the inner house."

Lester held out a small velvety sack. "All devices please." Sibyl and Ethan dropped their phones in the sack then they were allowed to pass beyond the Gothic door. "Nice to see you back," Lester said to Sibyl.

"Thought you haven't visited for years?" Ethan asked her.

"Got a lifetime pass," Sibyl said with a shrug.

"You bought an expensive life time pass yet you never made out one time?"

"I got the pass for free. I overheard a conversation about Lester's sister having a heath issue. I made a recommendation. It kind of saved her life so hear I am." They stopped at a desk and Sibyl requested two luminous blue wrist bands. "Put this on. It says you're off limits and no one will hit on you."

"Don't you think this is counter productive to why you're hear?" he said holding the bracelet up to his eye and peered through it.

"I'm allowed to hit on anyone with a gold or red bracelet," she said.

"Apparently, you're wearing the wrong color," Ethan said. "What do you get with gold?"

"Gay, lesbian."

"Red must be straight."

She nodded. "This way." She lead him down a wide plush carpeted hall with the walls on both sides lined with beautifully framed Renoir nudes. The paintings didn't look like prints. They HAD to be hand painted copies.

"Welcome to the pool were the rich and beautiful meet," Sybil said.

The space was big as an Olympic swimming pool. Countless round tables lined the walls surrounding a wooden dance floor. Islands of love seat sofas and lounge chairs were peppered among the tables. The lighting was low but not oppressively dark. Rock music filled the space but not so loud that you had to scream to be heard. A full service bar made of dark almost black wood was tucked under an elaborate staircase that lead up to a balcony that wound around the whole room.

"Cool space," Ethan said.

"Cool wings," a singsong voice came at them. A very tiny but very pretty dark skinned girl suddenly stood before them. "Where would you like to sit?"

"We're blues," Sibyl said.

"Mezzanine?" the girl asked. Sibyl nodded. They followed the girl up the staircase. She sat them on a love seat near the railing overlooking the lower floor. "What would you like to drink Mr. Grant, Dr. Tobita?"

"You know our names?" Ethan asked.

"Here at Avatar, we pride ourselves in our creepy ability to invade your privacy."

Ethan laughed. "What's your name you little creep?"

"Shinah," she said with a wide bright smile.

"I'll have a Heineken, Shinah."

"Martini, three olives," Sibyl ordered.

Shinah went on her way. Ethan spied her cute little butt in her black tights as she walked away.

"She's cute," he said.

"Staff is off limits," Sibyl said.

"So now what?" Ethan asked.

"I check out the women with gold bracelets as they come in."

"How do you know you're checking out a woman? Gold stands for gay and lesbian right."

"I never got far enough to explore that possibility."

"How long did you do this?"

"Two years off and on."

"And you never piked up one chick?"

"Never ... pathetic I know."

Ethan gave her a long look. She was beautiful in a way only a woman in her forties can be. "Why didn't you put on a gold bracelet and let some lesbian pick YOU up?"

She blushed and dropped her eyes. "I was sure no one would."

"Bakatade!" Ethan said using one of Ashley and Joy's favorite insults.

Sibyl eyes shot up and she gave him a shocked look. Then she smiled, then laughed.

Ethan said, "If you were half as pretty then as you are now, you'd be on another woman's arm in ten minutes."

"I DID say I was pathetic. Where did you learn to curse in Japanese?"

"Cousin Ashley and a friend named Joy."

"Your Cousin ... and the tall blond?"

"Sarah," Ethan said.

"They happy?"

The drinks arrived. Ethan waited to give his answer after Shinah left.

"They are the happiest couple I know."