The Good Stuff

VIII

Darlene's coat was riddled with all sorts of rips and stains, making it only that much less effective in the peak of winter. The navy blue of the coat contrasted so drastically against her pale face, framed with brown locks. Though her palms were slicked with sweat, it was almost 30° out. Much too cold for her California-norm.

She had somehow managed to make it as far as the strip of bars on the bustling Sunset Boulevard before she had stopped in her tracks, realizing that  she was beyond lost of where to go next. No, she couldn't ask a stranger where another stranger lived, that was just idiotic. No, she wouldn't go back to his old apartment and ask, they'd said they didn't know. Darlene huffed with frustration at how stupidly thought-out her plan was. The masts that were the city skyscrapers towered above her tauntingly.

Where do we go now?

Darlene sighed and tucked her trembling hands just below her sweating underarms, hoping for some kind of warmth while looking around at the concrete jungle surrounding her. Buildings stacked beside each other, giving no hint of what direction she could continue in. She decided to stop at a bar and hope for the best, maybe grabbing a drink while she pondered her thoughts. Perhaps even get lucky and find his roommate like last time.

Only this time around, she didn't plan on sleeping with him.

Sitting on the squeaky stool of yet another neon sign-labeled bar, she sipped on another cup of soda. The vanilla essence swirled within the bubbling drink made chills scatter down her spine. Her hand absentmindedly traced patterns on the sticky bar top as she watched her ice cubes sink to the bottom of her glass. "Gin and tonic." Darlene managed to make out the worn-out voice sitting far down the counter, the same mass of hair as the first time she'd seen him. Darlene's heart stuttered.

It looked like after so many months of bad luck, things may start beginning to go her way.

She swallowed the rest of the soda and shook off her nerves, soon tilting up her chin in hopes that it'd give her some sort of absent confidence. "Hey, uh-" The man's head lazily turned to her direction as his cloudy eyes drooped low with exhaustion. "I don't need another night with you." he mumbled, soon bringing his eyes back to stare at the ice cubes slowly melting in his grasp.

Darlene's lip twitched with offense. Though she'd seen his point of view- her approaching him the same way just yesterday and evidently getting a one night stand- she couldn't believe he actually said that out loud. "Uh, I don't need another night with you either, trust me." her voice scoffed with sarcasm. She couldn't see under his dark, curled mane, but his eyebrows furrowed along with a small frown. Slash had rarely, if ever, had a girl- much less a hooker- be unsatisfied with himself.

"You live with Izzy, right?" she continued, wiping the sweat off of her palms. That had seemed to be reoccurring- subtly dragging her hands against the fabric of her jacket to rid it of the anxious perspiration. She wondered how she was still sweating in a bar as cold as that one. "Yup." Darlene noted that he seemed bored with her approach, but continued her interrogation nonetheless.

"Can you.. can you tell me where that is? I- uh, I need to talk to him." she soon added, seeing how his back tensed at the request. Slash's eyebrows dug into a deep frown, now. Not only had a prostitute asked him to come over to 'talk to him', but she'd asked for Izzy. Fucking Izzy!

"Dunno if he's home." he grumbled, wiping a few droplets of condensation crowding the outside of the cup and letting it drip down his calloused finger. "Please? It's important." Darlene could feel her feet growing restless as she silently begged for him to say yes. He seemed to enjoy taking his time, knowing she was eager to see his band mate.

Without another word, Slash got up and flicked a few bills to the tender, not bothering to cover her tab this time, and walked out. She was quick to follow his lead, also not caring to pay for her drink, even as the meek calls of the employee followed behind them. As he led the way, they were engulfed into a more-than-awkward silence. Darlene would risk a few glances to him every once in a while, but he'd just blankly stare ahead and occasionally puff away a curl from his uninterested eyes.

For some unbeknownst reason, the girl felt guilty. Like she owed something to Slash because he helped her get to Izzy, even if it was against his better intentions. She naturally was a very caring person, a very forgiving one as well. Darlene let a small frown paint across her lips, thinking of a way she could at the very least, say thank you to him and have him accept it.

That'd be a challenge, and she knew it.

Getting pulled from her small spiral of seemingly never ending thoughts, Slash shoved open the door and slumped straight into the room that she'd had sex with him in the night before. She held back a gag as uncomfortable shivers prickled into her skin. Her deep brown eyes uneasily bounced around the room before quickly taking in the sight of Izzy, who was slumped onto the couch smoking an old cigarette. He had run out of packs yesterday. He didn't care to buy more.

Within a moment, his hazel eyes connect with her own.

"Uh.. hi." Darlene mumbled, awkwardly biting at her flaking bottom lip. A steady stream of smoke led lazily away from his lips, the orange embers of the burning end illuminating the butt of the Marlboro. "I- I wanted to talk to you?" She briefly shut her eyes as she internally scolded how it had come out. She was asking if she wanted to talk to him?

"Is that a question?"

She tried to subtly wipe her palms against her jeans yet again and reconnected their gaze, "No?" He quirked a dark eyebrow and stubbed out the cigarette on the coffee table. Darlene found it a bit amusing that she did that same thing at her own apartment. The black burn marks branded into her broken table flashed across her mind before regaining her wild thoughts. Though she really was desperate for a shower, she actually did want to talk to Izzy. She wasn't sure what about, but she was positive that she'd start spewing some nonsense as soon as she opened her mouth.

"You wanted to talk to me." Izzy stated, tucking his arms into one another. Darlene straightened up her posture as best she could and raised her chin a bit, "Yes." He observed her figure submerged within the oversized and dirty coat, studying her. It was so big it looked as if she was drowning in the fabric. It was actually quite the opposite- it couldn't seem to ward off her shivers.

As he observed, Izzy found himself quite infatuated with surveilling the brunette girl in front of him. She was fragile, he'd concluded. Though he was sure she was tough, he had to be careful around her. Izzy liked to study people, and something about this girl peaked his interest. He was intrigued with her tapping fingers and the clenching of her jaw. How she grew antsy under his heavy stare.

Like a clock, his brain was ticking. He was trying to solve the puzzle that was in front of him. She was hard to figure out, although he was typically good at this sort of thing. In a sense, he tested her. He'd take a deep breath in and watch as her eyes sparkled with anticipation at what he'd do next. His eyes would blink and her own would flinch, as she too was carefully watching his every move. He quirked his eyebrow again.

"Then talk."