The Adventures of James Dean.

4.

The snotty, nosy, intrusive busy body got off at the next stop. But so did I. I wanted out of that metal prison, so Rusty agreed to meet me in his black SUV, the back seat filled with the kids seats. I forgot to mention the monsters, Libby and Gavin. Aged two and four, they created a chorus of mayhem to make anyone's ears bleed. I have to admit, they are pretty cute but more than ten minutes with them, and I'm out. They are however, the only two kids I abide, because they belong to Rusty, and he finds it amusing to see me squirm.


Sometimes I kid him that he had them just to annoy me.


'You look like you haven't slept a wink.' Rusty grinned his trademark face-wide smile as I got into the passenger side. I gave him a long look of resignation.


'I slept fine. Some new filly in the building, she had me sleeping like a log but then this morning the train decided to go all schizo along with the entire carriage. I felt like I was the only sane person there....'


'So no hot piece of ass to keep you company?'


'Nope.' I popped the 'P' and wiped the beads of sweat off my brow. 'Although there was an irritating bitch on board.'


I recalled the journey aloud to Rusty, who, at the end of it, couldn't hold back his laughter.


'Damn she wasn't holding back.' His floppy brown hair danced around his face as he chuckled to himself.


'Nice to see you have my back buddy.' I said, with sarcasm. 'That happens to be the most stressful journey I've ever had the displeasure of being on.'


For the remainder of the journey, we picked apart the Giants game from Sunday night. He was a Saints fan but we appreciated the performances of one another's favourite teams. I filled him in on the play by play details of last night too, and a little about the Scarlett look alike from Monday mornings escapades. He added a few witty comments in his own inimitable style. It took a quick glance at his briefcase as we pulled up to my very own glass panelled, futuristic working paradise, to realise I'd forgotten something. I could pass a little blame onto Janine because I remembered how forgetful Carmella had been during pregnancy, and he was my best friend at the end of the day. I felt like a dick, sitting here in his car while he drove me to work for a meeting I was late for, when it was his birthday. It took that birthday card stuffed in his case for me to remember.


September 16th. Same day every year. Dumb ass.


Usually I got him tickets to a game, basketball or football, or I took him and the ball and chain out for dinner. This year I had nothing planned. Checking my iPhone briefly, confirmed what I thought. Janine although a treat to the eye, was perhaps not the best choice for a secretary. As we made our way upstairs in the elevator, I had to think quick. And then it came to me.



'Dude I'm guessing you're doing something later?'


He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. 'Since I had the kids, the answer is always no. You like to pull me up on that, remember?'


'Not even for your birthday?'


'Carmella gave me tickets for that Lenny Kravitz show at the weekend, but she's been out of town since Sunday, you don't remember me saying?'


'Remind me.'


'What, that you're a self centred ass who never listens to a word I say unless it involves making money or bending some chick over a table?' He asked, arms folded, amusement twinkling in his eyes.


'I know I'm a self centred ass. But if I didn't love myself, who would?'


We walked out onto my floor, and Rusty laughed. 'Son I'm guessing half the single women in this town have loved you, and by loved, you know what I mean.'


I winked at him, tipping an imaginary hat. 'Well if Carm is out of town, what's that saying? While the cats away....'


'I step one inch out of line son, and its more than my life's worth.'


'Come on. A few clubs, a few drinks between friends to celebrate? You might be married, and a father, but you aren't ancient....yet....'


He punched my arm. 'Okay. You have a deal. I'll come out with you, if you promise not to disappear with some chick while I sit at the bar like some sad pathetic spinster wondering if I'm gonna see your ass again that night.'


He knew me too well. I shook his hand, sealing the deal. I'd go without getting laid tonight. If not for your best friend, then who?


................


He was good at his stuff, showing me ways to cut costs and save money. With the business running into substantial profits, he was happy to check the books and learn than everything was ship shape. Once he was done, it was close to lunchtime, and Gregor Vitalia darkened my doorway. He had a reputation that exceeded even mine, his title at Gucci making him one of the most desirable, eligible bachelors in town. We had a mutual respect between us, and when he came in to discuss marketing, he always saw me. If I was otherwise engaged or off the premises, I'd get here like a shot. He brought in the mega bucks. The kind of guy you bend over backwards for, to secure a deal.


'James Dean.' He greeted. At six foot four he was quite the foreboding character but if you were on the right side of him, he was a formidable ally. Not many people dared cross me, but even fewer dared cross Vitalia. 'Its been what? Eight months?'


I shrugged. 'Doesnt feel like that long my friend. I haven't seen you around in a while.'


Vitalias turn to shrug. 'No, I've been overseas and I'll be honest. I'm a little bored.'


I frowned, offering him the seat opposite mine. 'Bored? You mean you're looking for a change in direction? Creatively?'


He grinned, baring perfect straight white teeth. 'You and I....ah you and I are so alike, James. But I'm a little bored of the single life. I'm pushing on forty this year, did you know that?'


I didn't know. With his healthy tan, gym honed physique and good looks of an Italian lothario, he didn't look a day over thirty. I was surprised. And not just by his admonition of his single life being over.


'Youre kidding around with me again, Gregor!' I exclaimed, as Janine entered to hand us both a coffee. 'Youre like....the Hugh Hefner of the fashion world.'


He smiled, shaking his head.


'No, I've found a new respect for guys who can commandeer a woman's attention for more than one night. I ran into an old friend, he's mid thirties, well to do, running his own record label. He was always the perennial bachelor and then he met Gabby. He happened to walk into her bakery one day, and that was it. The guy couldn't stop thinking about her, or talking about her for that matter. And from then on, they were virtually inseperable! But I thought to myself that's great, but surely dating someone for the long term, it must affect your work output....the business you created from the ground up.'



'I agree. Women and kids distract you, no matter what anyone says, you can't have a clear head unless you remove all those emotional obligations people seem to fall into....'


'Not true.' Gregor clasped his hands together, two fingers propped under his chiseled chin. 'It's as if the guy has been born again! He's revitalised, invigorated. Like she's been a tonic for him. And what I saw in his eyes, I wanted that.'


'Greg you have all the money you could ever want! Buy another Maserati! Another yacht! Take a troop of cheerleaders to Monte Carlo.....'


Gregor chuckled, waggling his finger back and forth. 'No. I can assure you, the old Gregor has awakened. He's faced with the prospect of growing old alone, and suddenly all the pussy in the world is no consolation for being a lonely old man.'


'You're crazy.'


'Perhaps. But perhaps not. I've always been a risk taker, like you. I've gambled with money a million times over, but never with this.' He tapped his left breast suit pocket, over his heart. 'And I figured, why not? I don't want to miss out on any experience in life. I've done it all, parachuting from a plane, climbing mountains, orgies on Caribbean beaches,' he winked mischievously. 'Even if it doesn't work out, I want to know what it feels like. To lose control like my friend has. To leave myself open to somebody else. I've free fallen from the sky, dependant on a sheet of plastic to carry me to safety. And now I want to fall in love. If love exists, of course.'



Love exists. I know it does. I love my family, I love Rusty, but I can't fathom how someone could possibly ever attach themselves to a woman and resign themselves to waking up to the same face every day for the rest of their lives. To me, that would be like eating the same meal, every day, for the remainder of your days. It'd be boring, monotonous, there would be no stimulation, no spark. Over time, whatever love you had would surely turn to resentment. Knowing you would never have the high of that first encounter. The sizzling tension.

The chase.


Love exists. Falling in love however, is a fools errand. I like control over my life. I like star fishing in bed, and meeting a glittering pair of eyes over a busy club, knowing that before the night was through, that girl would be positioned on my cock, driving us both to ecstasy. Gregor Vitalia may be a rich, well connected, well respected businessman, but now, as far as I was concerned, he'd garnered himself another title.


Love struck fool.