City of Angels

L.A. boys

Sophie finds herself at ease in Naya's presence. She seems to be able to say what's on her mind rather than refining her opinions to sophisticated judgement. Naya seems far more relaxed than most of Sophie's friends and it's a nice change.

"Oh god, and then a woman came in, asking for Tommy Lee. I think he forgot that he had a date or something. He excused himself and let the other members talk for him, disappearing into the bathroom for twenty minutes with the girl."
Naya digs chopsticks into the pile of noodles the girls share.
"If you get what I'm implying."
Sophie tries not to laugh, afraid she'd choke on her mouthful.

"The girl came back out walking like she'd been on horseback for the last 12 hours. He came out with lipstick on his pants. Played it off like nothing happened, too."
Sophie swallows difficultly, finally able to laugh.
"And with you right there? Gross."
"Yeah, I know. The blonde one, Vince, tried hitting on me a couple times. The older one just stayed silent the entire time, he scares me."

Sophie hasn't seen much of him either. She can hardly remember his name. Michael, Mike?
"And Nikki?" She asks curiously.
"He's pretty well spoken for a rockstar. I thought they'd just grunt and nod but he had some pretty well put together things to say."
"A big development for their kind."

Naya shovels noodles into her mouth between laughing. 
"You were right about them. They were intense."
"They didn't discourage you from journalism?"
"Not quite. Wanna listen to the tape? Read through my notes? Tell me how I did."
"Oh you bet. Bring them out."

***

Naya leaves just after lunchtime, Sophie's home and hotel phone number stored in her notepad.
Sophie hated to see her go after getting along so well. But she smiles at the thought of a new friend.
She returns to her room, thinking of things to do for the rest of the day.

She decides to wander the streets in her best mini dress, hoping to find some boy to take her mind off the kiss that keeps running through her head.
She lands on the street in a curve flaunting dress, thankful that the rain had let up.
It isn't much of a walk before she comes across a tall, curly haired man wandering away from her.
Sophie decides to play the helpless maiden. It's always fun, testing out new methods. Seeing which work the best with different kinds of people.

"Oh, excuse me!" She taps him on the shoulder and he turns, maple coloured eyes sweeping over her indiscreetly.
"I'm looking for Vill d'Ange, could you point me in the right direction?" Her sweet smile makes it impossible to refuse.
"Oh, yeah. I'll take you there if you want?"
Sophie lets out a breath of relief.
"Thank you so much! I'm totally lost."
He'd have agreed even if he had no idea where the hotel was, but luckily he does.
"No worries. Not from around here?"
They begin walking back in the direction Sophie came.
"I'm from New York. You live here?"
"Unfortunately."
"Why unfortunately?"
The man smirks.
"The girls here aren't as pretty as the New York ones."

Sophie laughs.
"That's funny because the New York boys aren't as pretty as the L.A. ones."
The man grins, deep dimples showing.
"Well maybe the New York girls should try the L.A. boys. Wouldn't that be an ambitious crossover."
Sophie likes him, he suits her.
"On a completely unrelated topic... I wonder if you'd like a room tour of the hotel? I'm in the VIP suite."
"I think I would. I've never been in a VIP suite, should probably check it right?"
"Right. What's your name?"