The Last Thing (7 page)

“My, my. If it isn’t my favorite little party favor.” He looked
me up and down before walking closer to meet me. What a party favor I was,
indeed. The cockiness in his voice was demeaning, and the sudden urge to turn
and run came over me.

“Don’t you take party favors home?”

“I couldn’t wait to try you out... You never called me back.”

I stepped a little closer to him and a magnetic energy flowed
between us.

“You don’t date,” I reminded him.

“So?”

“
So
I thought we were on the same page.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” He made it sound like I was
stalking him. Not gonna happen.

“I’m getting lunch with my cousin.”

“And you came all the way up here? Couldn’t meet at the
restaurant?”

He’d caught me. Why didn’t I insist on meeting Ginger at the
restaurant? I supposed somewhere inside I knew I might run into him.

“I didn’t—I didn’t think you would be here.”

“Sure.”

  “Listen can we—um—meet somewhere later to talk?”  I didn’t
want to play games; his flirting wouldn’t work on me today.

His smile disappeared. His head cocked to the side in
confusion by my question.

 “Talk? That sounds serious. Is everything okay? You aren’t
here to tell me you have some sort of STD or you’re pregnant or anything,
right?” He laughed, and I joined in, even though it wasn’t funny. I stopped
laughing and tried to remain serious. I didn’t want to tell him. Why couldn’t I
send him a letter?

“Wait, you look kinda serious. Are you serious? Was what I
said seriously right?  Cause I wasn’t serious,” he said.

“Wait, what was that?  I
am
serious, Chase. We need to
talk.” I said with a puzzled look.

“Well, you sure didn’t want to talk when we were leaned up
against that bench or on the gate.” His eyes were sparkling with amusement. He
loved torturing me. I could feel my face heating up in embarrassment. One-night
stands might have been the norm for him, but they weren’t for me. I didn’t want
to talk about it.

I stuttered a bit, trying to get my words out. Just thinking
about that night already had my head spinning.  Even though that night was a
huge mistake, the memory of his lips against mine was something I would never
forget.

“I—I,” I began. He eyed me curiously then backed up and pulled
his phone out of his pocket, as if he were getting a call.

“I have to take this, but we will meet up soon. I promise.
I’ll call you.” 

Without another word, he ran out of the studio, leaving me
utterly confused as to what happened. I had my answer now. According to him, what
we had was a one-time thing. He wasn’t interested in getting to know me.  I
slowly walked back over to Ginger.

“What happened?” she whispered in my ear.

“He ran away.”

My face burned with embarrassment and hurt. I just wanted to
get out of there.

“What do you mean, he ran away?”

“I mean he’s not interested.”

She put her hands on her hips and scowled.  “That doesn’t
make sense. He asked me about you last week.”

“Well apparently he changed his mind.”

Chase

Quinn showing up at the studio was quite a surprise. I really
expected never to see her again. I figured since she didn’t return my calls,
she’d avoid me like the plague. It was intriguing the way she tried to act as
if she weren’t nervous. I saw it all before, the shame and excitement. I
couldn’t even look at her. The second I did, thoughts about being inside of her
swirled through my mind and all it did was make me want her that much more.

I jumped in the back of the studio’s limo and pulled a bottled
water from the cooler. I needed to cool off. After seeing Barrett with his
disgusting hands all over her, I’d fought the urge to walk over there and knock
him out. The guy flirted with everyone, but when he kissed her cheek, red
flashed before my vision.

“Take me to the gym,” I sharply told the driver. I had a new
movie to shoot soon and needed to get back into shape. I didn’t need Quinn getting
under my skin and pissing me off. Last year, I had a small role on a few TV
shows. This year, there were so many movie offers I had to turn most of them
down.  This was what I wanted though, the fame, money, and girls. Especially
the girls. 

Blame those ragged old converse she’d had on her feet, or the
way she’d stood alone at the party. She didn’t seem to need anyone. She wasn’t mingling
or name-dropping. She was just….there.  Doesn’t matter. I don’t do dating. It’s
kind of a rule of mine.  Kept things simple. I was out of my mind when I
considered breaking that rule for Quinn. The only girl who would get a date was
Harlow, one of my oldest friends. She’s a runway model, and how I ended up with
her as a best friend is beyond me. Though there had never been anything sexual
between us, she was my right wing to all the movie premieres and parties.

According to the tabloids, we have been dating off and on for
years, and she has been pregnant with my love child at least four times. A
bunch of shit, if you ask me.  She was a good girl, a piece of modeling
perfection untainted by Hollywood. I felt the same about Quinn. Maybe that’s
why I’d run out on her and left her standing in my dust trail. She was acting
too serious, and I didn’t like serious. She’ll get over it. I told her I would
call her, but I won’t. Well, maybe I will. Just to see what she wants.  My
phone vibrated against my pants pocket. I pulled it out and smiled at the name
that lit up the caller I.D

“Well speak of the devil,” I said putting the phone to my
ear. Even though I couldn’t see her, I could imagine her amusement at my
greeting. She’d even toss her coffee-colored hair back behind her shoulder as
she spoke. Other than being dragged around the rumor mill with me, she stayed
out of the spotlight as much as possible.

“Funny. How are you?” Harlow asked.

“Better now that I get to hear your sweet voice. How’s New
York?” She was there for fashion week, an event I was terribly sorry to have
missed. Half-naked girls on the runway? “Wish I was there.”

“I bet you are. I have some bad news. I can’t make the awards
show next month. I have some scheduling conflicts with a photo shoot.”

“That’s too bad, Harlow. I was looking forward to a night
alone with you.”

Such a disappointment, but I didn’t want to make her feel bad
so instead I played it off.

 “Oh, you’ll get over it. I know your publicist can get
scores of actresses to go with you. Though… it would be more fun if you would
just settle down already and get a girlfriend.”

My face scrunched up as if I’d eaten something sour. A
girlfriend was the last thing I wanted.

“Unless you agree to be my girlfriend I am afraid that I’ll
die single,” I teased. We both knew that would never happen.

“Whatever. One day you’ll find a girl that will make you want
to settle down. We both know I’m not that girl. Listen, I gotta go toodles,
Chasey!”

Pressing the end button on my cell, I threw the phone on the
seat beside me and chuckled. Only Harlow could get away with calling me Chasey.
I didn’t mind so much that she had canceled on me because I could have another
date by that evening. Some hot actress or maybe even that intern from the
studio.

When the limo came to a stop, I jumped out and made my way in
through the backdoor of the gym. Alex, my personal trainer, was going to whip
my butt into shape for the movie. He was ruthless, but I was ecstatic with the
results. Pulling my shirt over my head, I threw it in my bag. I put my earbuds
in and cranked it up before jumping on the treadmill. Alex waved as he walked
out of his office.

“Thirty minutes, Crowley. Then we’ll work on reps.” He went
back into his office and left me alone to run out my frustrations.

“What’s up, dude?” Barrett stepped beside me and nodded
toward the weights. “Spot me?”

I pulled out my earbuds and nodded before following him. He
did a few reps in silence before talking.

“You wanna go out to the club tonight?”

“Sorry, man. I’m pretty tired.”

“What’s with you?” He lifted the weights high in the air and
set it back down on the stand. I put some more weight on the barbell. Barrett
continued with his reps.

“Nothing is wrong. I’ve been shooting all week. Maybe this
weekend.”

Barrett set the bar back down and sat up for a moment.

“Come on, I really need to go out tonight,” he pleaded.
“Ginger hasn’t let me out of her sight in days.”

“Ask Tucker.” I slapped Barrett on the back and walked back
over toward the treadmill.

“But Tucker isn’t as good of a wingman!” I heard him complain
before moving on to another weight machine.

A few minutes into my workout, my phone began to buzz.

Damn. I would never get out of here with all these
distractions. Seeing my mom’s name on the screen, I immediately picked it up.
Being a good son was important to me, I never ignored her calls. I slowed the
treadmill down to a walk and answered.

“Hey, Mami.”

“¡Hola! Just watched a preview for your new movie, and I
cannot wait until next week.”

My mom was my biggest fan, which was appropriate since she
had made so many sacrifices to get me here today.

Her voice was a soothing calm to my stormy life, and I hated
that we lived so far away. She had moved to Florida a few months back. Living closer
to her family had always been part of the plan, but my dreams of becoming an
actor called for us to be on the west coast

“Thanks. Oh hey, before I forget, I have some time off in a
few months. After I film this movie, maybe we can go on vacation or something.”

“As long as you bring that brown-haired girl with you… What
was her name?”

What? Was she talking about Quinn?

“Who?”

“Harlow. Yes, bring that sweet, young Harlow girl.” I could
just see my mother jumping up and down in excitement. Her thick-rimmed glasses
would be falling off her nose.

“I think that she’d prefer to spend time with her own
family.”

“Chase Crowley, son. You are almost twenty- three years old.
You need to find a wife and settle down.”

“We’ve been over this before, Mami. I’m not interested in settling
down. I prefer to be on my own.”

I could hear the tsk tsk in her voice. Her accent always got
stronger when she was mad.

 “Listen here son, you are living in the fast lane, trying to
experience everything and everyone. You need to slow down and enjoy the view
before you get to old. Just because things didn’t work out with your father and
me doesn’t mean you should avoid all relationships.

 “Hijo, Mas vale que no vuelva a ver tu rostro en mas
revistas!”

I winced. Spanish flew from her mouth when she got
particularly angry.
Things hadn't just
not
worked out with my
father.  He’d left us high and dry when I was ten years old. That was something
I couldn’t fathom any father doing. And something I could never do to my own
child. Since then, the two of us had a strained relationship. I groaned loudly
and stopped the treadmill so I could concentrate on the conversation.

“I’m not afraid of relationships. All the girls here are
superficial and fake. Trust me; you don’t want me to end up with any of them anyway.”

She followed with an inevitable long sigh before she said,
“Okay. I hope to see you soon, son.”

“Yes, Mami. I’m busy shooting a movie over the next month or
so, but I’ll find time to fly down there in October. I promise.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up. As much as I loved my
mother, she was right. This fast-paced lifestyle
was
getting old. I craved
something different. I turned the treadmill back on to full speed. That
something I wanted went by the name of Quinn, and if I couldn’t get her out of
my system, I would keep working out until I was too tired to think of her.

Quinn

The water is dark and muddy. Fear paralyzes my body, but it
is nothing compared to the coldness I feel from my ears down to the tips of my
toes. But nothing, not even the cold, matters; I don’t want to live alone in
this world. I stopped caring months ago, when Bash left me behind. I let my
body relax and indulge my emotional numbness. “How could you leave me?” I have
screamed those words over and over so many times, and if I could open my mouth
right now, I would scream them again. The water filled the car minutes ago, and
now my lungs are burning, aching for the air I don’t deserve. Moments pass.  A
wave of fear moves through me. What am I doing? But it’s too late. I inhale
instinctively and let the water fill my body. It fills my nose and throat
first, and then the worst pain imaginable hits me as it fills my lungs.

The pain; that is the last thing I remember.