Little Doves & Bonafide Heroes ~ Archie Cruz

Quasar Queen

It had been about a week since I had gotten sick and the nightmare about Bret; I was better after a few days, and now Taime was home, which somehow seemed to center me. He had done me the favor of getting Archie and I tickets for a rock festival in Las Vegas. We had planned on staying for a few nights, so I was packing as I talked to Taime.

"So it was just that one dream?" he asked.

"Yeah; it was the same one it used to be, remember? I think it was because of seeing him again... that and I was really sick."

"What did Archie say?"

"What do you mean? What would he say?"

"Like, did he ask about it or anything?"

"Not exactly; he said we didn't have to talk about it if I didn't want to."

"So you decided not to?"

"Yeah. It just felt too real. I wanted to relax."

"Understandable."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better... no smoking for a week now."

"Good. That's the best thing for you."

"I know. It's hard to break that habit after thirty years or so," he said with a chuckle. "Anything else I missed?" he asked as I wandered into the bathroom to get my makeup.

"Oh, I almost forgot- Riki stopped by."

"Oh?"

"Yeah... why do you sound so irked?"

"He and I aren't getting along very well these days. Not since that tour a couple years ago. Y'know, the one where you and Bret were still dating."

"Yeah, what happened with that?"

"Nothin'," he lied.

"Taime," I whined, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I said it was nothing."

"You can't start a story and stop like that; it makes me insane."

"He was just saying some things that didn't sit well with me."

"Like what?"

"Just stuff about you. He dropped a few comments that I didn't think were... appropriate. I was ready to drop kick his ass."

"He's always rubbed me a weird way. He's a creep."

"Yeah... did he say what he wanted?"

"No, I don't think so," I said, trying to think back to when Riki was on our doorstep. "I was more or less freaked out by him being there anyway... and Archie was in the kitchen," I mumbled with a giggle.

"Ah, lover boy was here?"

"Yeah," I replied, zipping my suitcase, trying to ignore the burning in my cheeks.

"Hm... When's he coming to get you?" he asked.

"At about," I glanced at the time on my phone, "eleven."

"You've got a little time. Wanna play?" he offered, referring to our music room jam sessions.

"Sure," I mumbled with a smile. "Let me just call and make sure Mister Cruz is on track."

"You got it."

As Taime left my room, I dialed Archie's number, telling him that I just wanted to make sure he wasn't running late. We had a short conversation, and then I grabbed one of my favorite guitars- my black Gretsch G5435.