Page 46 of Up All Night
I grab a banana from the top and peel the sides before speaking."She's a realtor, and I'm a client of one of her colleagues.It's a colleague that she feels is responsible for her being hired."
"Ah, so she figures if you two are having a thing, that this other person is going to get their panties in a wad."
"Exactly."I take a bite of the banana, chew and swallow before speaking again."Anyway, I've cleared that up with my realtor now, but, as luck would have it, Lark has sort of flown the coop, so I have to get in touch with her sister to find her, so that I can at least tell her this."
"She flew the coop?"
"Yeah.I bought a house, one of her listings, and she got all weird, and now nobody can find her.This just happened today.I'm going to go find her sister later and see if she's heard from her.I'm sure she's okay and all, but it's just strange behavior, and I don't know if it's because I freaked her out by buying that house from her as a surprise."
"You bought it as a surprise?"
"Yeah.The previous owner was being an asshole.He put this place up for sale and it's fucking lopsided, man.He refused to fix it before putting it on the market.It looked bad on Lark, and I personally love the place save for the flaw, so I bought it."
"You were planning on hanging your hat here though, anyway, right?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."He changes the subject."Hey, did you hear from Jagger about this lunatic that's fucking around, cancelling meetings, sending weird letters, and calling and hanging up?"
My face turns serious as I finish eating the last of the banana, and I rise to throw the peel into the trash bin by the wet bar."No.I hadn't heard.I'm staying with Rush, though, starting tomorrow, so maybe those boys will bring me up to speed."
"You're not staying in this swanky hotel for longer?"
"Nah, I've already been here for long enough.They can't hold it for me forever.There's some celebrity coming for a concert, and they need it.Rush offered for me to stay with him, though, so I'm heading there tonight."I pause."Did they find out who it is?"
"They've got Wesley working on it.That's the last I heard."
Axl's phone rings.His face changes."Shit.It's my brother.He never fucking calls me.All of them hate me with a passion."
"Pick it up, man."
He picks it up and I walk away, giving him privacy.I walk onto the balcony and close the door, so I can't eavesdrop.The pool is so still it looks like glass.I stand at the edge of the platform, looking out, not down.Heights are not my favorite thing, but I can tolerate them.There are no messages on my phone, but I do look up the health and beauty store downtown, and I save the address to my maps app, planning to go there next.Popping my head back inside the suite, I see that Axl is off the phone.He looks forlorn.Lost."Dude, what's wrong?"
"That was my brother."
"Yeah, you mentioned that.What did he want?"
"It's my mom.She's in a bad way.Apparently, she's been in a bad way for a while, yet nobody fucking told me."
"What, is she in the hospital or something?"
"He wouldn't tell me more over the phone, the asshole.He wants to meet with me."
"Did he say that she's dying or something?I mean, how close are you to your mom, anyway?Weren't they all assholes to you?"
He gives me a look like I just said something stupid."Do you fucking blame them, man?My mom, all of them, were assholes to me, but I'm no saint, either."
"That's not the point, Axl.It's your fucking mother, for crissake."
He frowns and shrugs."It doesn't matter, Stone.They all hate me."
I start to understand why Axl behaves as he does."So, what are you going to do?"
"I've got to go see him.He wants to meet at some coffee house up the street from his house.He doesn't fucking trust me to go to his own goddamn house."
"Well, go then.Find out what the fuck's going on.I'll walk you down."
I grab my duffel bag, and we head down the elevator together.We're just about to the door, when I stop."Shit, man.I forgot my laptop."
