Red Running Shoes - 8. Birthday Party and Jealous Conniption Fits

The garden behind Rick and Matteo’s house.

I sat under an olive tree with my headphones firmly in place. I wanted to shut out the world, hear nothing but the thumping beat in my head chasing away every thought.

It didn’t work.

And I couldn't even write. Again and again my thoughts went back to Rick and Matteo. Had I overreacted? I knew the talking about me behind my back with Sandro, the planning for me instead of with me, had triggered this. They meant well, still…

When movement caught my eyes and I looked up, I saw Rick balancing a tray with food over the uneven path that lead to my tree. I pulled off my headphones, ready to apologize to him, but he was faster.

"Jonah, look, I'm sorry. Sandro and I met last week and among other things I told him you were coming to visit us. He asked about you, and I may have joked around a bit about you and him - and thinking about it, it wouldn’t be all that bad for you to have a little fun while you’re here. He’s really a nice guy and a good friend. Still, I meant nothing by it. If I have offended you, I’m sorry. Okay? And Matteo already chewed my head off on your behalf for my 'insensitive and total idiotic behavior' by the way."

"I guess I overreacted. I’m a little on edge right now and…well, I’m sorry too."

Rick grinned. "Look at us, aren’t we polite?” Then he pointed at the tray. “As a peace offering I thought I’d bring you your lunch: salad with grilled goat cheese; fresh garlic bread sticks, and a glass of light red wine. Do you accept?"

"Do I accept what?"

"The peace offering. Come on, you know overstepping the line is my forte and I’m doing the eggshell dance here. Matteo is watching us from the kitchen window, so nod, smile, and give me a hug so he knows everything is fine.”

I grinned broadly before I nodded vigorously, took the tray off his hands, put it on the small table behind me, and hugged him fiercely. Then I gave him a kiss on the cheek to top it all off. “That okay?”

“Perfect.” Rick threw himself in the chair beside me. “To know that I ruined any chance of a relationship between you and Sandro--"

"Rick!"

"A friendly relationship I mean. Jeez.” He stole one of my breadsticks.

“Hey! Those are mine!”

“Yum, these are good.” He snatched another one. “I may have mentioned to Sandro that you are my most handsome cousin." Crunch. "Will you let him take the pictures?"

"I don't know. Those guys on his wall? They’re gorgeous. And they’re only wearing hats."

"Seriously? You’re sure? Only hats?"

"Idiot." I slapped him on the hand when he tried to steal another breadstick.

"They’re tasteful, artistic pictures, not porn. He got an award for them."

"I said I'll think about it. Now go away and let me eat the rest of my lunch in peace."

"All right, all right. I’ll get my own lunch," he huffed. “Besides, there are more breadsticks in the kitchen, made with rosemary. And Matteo is there too.” He stole one last breadstick, waved and went finally back to the kitchen.

I enjoyed the rest of my meal in peace and because I wasn’t used to drinking wine in the middle of the day, it made me sleepy. My nice and cool bedroom was calling to me. When I got there I noticed that somebody had closed the shutters. I really had to remember not to forget that again.

***

It’s nice to sleep for two hours in the middle of the day sometimes, Zach. Soooo, birthday party…

“Are you hungry, love?” Ren dragged me away from Anne-Catherine.

"I’m starving. I just thought about raiding my fridge when Eric called, trying to guilt me into rescuing you from the Venomous Tentacula.”

“From the what?”

With my best schoolmaster's voice, I quoted ‘Harry Potter Wiki’: "The Venomous Tentacula is a green, spiky, toothsome plant with mobile vines that try to grab living prey. Venomous Tentacula expels venom from its shoots, and its spikes and the bites are highly poisonous. Didn’t you read Harry Potter?”

“Um, no. What did Eric tell you?"

"Well, he told me you were about to ruin the family's fortune by upsetting an important business partnership between your father and Ann-Catherine’s father by choking her to death. The inevitable disinheritance would force you to face a life of poverty and misery. To prevent such a tragic outcome, I had to pretend to be your boyfriend slash lover for tonight, so that she'd believe you're mine, and therefore, stop chasing after you. That was the theory."

"Really. And why did you come?"

"Because I was pissed. I thought he was lying to me about Anne-Catherine and you, and I wanted to tell him once and for all that he should stop with this shit. To put it mildly, you’re not my type."

"Ouch.”

“Yeah, sorry to be so blunt, but I’m getting desperate here.” I shrugged.

“But then you changed your mind.”

“Yes. Seeing Anne-Catherine hanging all over you and hearing her artificial laughter, made me remember I like her even less than you. She is the reason my sister almost didn’t get her man. The stupid bitch thought it would be funny pretending Max was cheating on Stef with her. Stef was so upset, she almost had an accident with her car that night. They broke up during the fight afterwards.”

“But you said ‘almost didn’t get’.”

“It turned out Max had told Anne-Catherine off, but by then Stef had already left. Max couldn’t believe Stef didn’t trust him and thought he would cheat on her. Bam, they had their first big fight. When everything had calmed down again Max asked Stef to marry him. They’re expecting their first child in a few weeks.”

“Yeah that sounds like Anne-Catherine. Can I say I’m glad you enjoyed seeing me suffer less than seeing her face after kissing me?”

I snorted. “You may. I thought I heard you growling and I really feared for that glass in your hand.”

“What you heard was probably me gnashing my teeth.”

“Or that.”

“So you will be mine for tonight?”

“Nope, but it will look like that.”

“Good enough for now. Let’s find something to eat.” He took my hand and led me to the crowded buffet. Taking two plates, he looked critically over the assortment of food. "Eric told me you're a vegetarian?"

"Uhm…yes, and I can select my food all by myself, for several years now actually."

But of course he ignored me. "Hmm, almost everything is with meat, chicken, or fish. Do you eat tuna?”

“No, but—“

“What about the grilled vegetable salad,” he pointed at a large bowl, “and the rosemary potatoes over there are looking good also. Maybe with some of this fresh Italian bread?" He held up a basket with slices of ciabatta.

"Sounds good, but really Ren, I'm not a baby! I can--"

The bastard actually smirked at me. "Of course not, baby."

I watched him filling my plate with the salad, the potatoes, and then with some slices of bread. When he turned away from the buffet, smiling proudly for finding something for me to eat, I rolled my eyes at him and tried to grab the plate. "Do you want to hold onto that plate some more, or can I have it now?"

Without even looking at me, he went searching for a free table with my plate still in his hand, and I had to follow him like a hungry puppy who wanted his food. Just great.

“Where is your plate?”

“I have already eaten.”

When he finally found a suitable place, he set the plate in front of me. "I hope it’s as good as it looks."

"Oh, thank God at least I'm not getting spoon fed."

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to annoy you. I'm a little bit…nervous, and then I try to control everything, so…" He fidgeted with a napkin. “I’m doing this all wrong. Again.”

Without really thinking about it, I reached over the table, took his hand and squeezed it briefly, before I let go again. We looked into each other's eyes and the intensity of feelings I saw there took my breath away.

He reached for my hand again, lifted it to his lips and kissed my knuckles. "Jonah, I've waited--"

Whatever he had wanted to say was lost when suddenly someone slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Here you are. We've been looking all over the place for you two.”

Without asking, Eric, Chris, and Aurel sat down at our table, wearing smug smiles on their faces. “So, any particular reason you would know of why Anne-Catherine is so clearly pissed?" Eric grinned.

And without waiting for an answer they started to boast about their perfect little plan to rescue Ren from the clutches of Anne-Catherine. They were going on and on, and at first no one noticed Ren and I didn't join in. Then Eric saw our clasped hands. Ren had never let go of me and I hadn’t wanted to make a scene by pulling back.

Eric looked at us with raised eyebrows and I thought I saw a short flash of anger on his face, but it was over before I could be sure. "Are we interrupting something?"

"You could say that," Ren answered gruffly.

"All right guys, we're not wanted here anymore." Eric got up, almost tipping his chair over and stomped away without looking back.

Chris and Aurel looked baffled at me and I shrugged. "All Molotov cocktails are on the house."

"You're listening to too much Green Day, my friend." Chris grinned. "Well we’ll run after him before he bites someone’s head off or uses one of those Molotov cocktails. He's been off since we saw Anne-Catherine ranting at the bar." He winked before he pulled Aurel from his chair. “Come on, let’s see what his problem is this time.”

Aurel touched Ren's shoulder lightly. "At least somebody got lucky tonight." He smiled and then he trailed behind Chris.

"Do you know what that was all about?" I frowned.

Ren chuckled. "He was jealous of course."

"Jealous? Chris practically sat on his lap--"

"My God Jonah, he was jealous of me!" He shook his head at me. “Because I held YOUR hand!”

"Bullshit! He’s with Chris now and he loves him – or at least likes him or something."

"Uh-huh."

"What?"

"Nothing. How was your salad?"

“My salad?” I looked at my plate. "It was good; the potatoes…Why are we talking about food now?"

"Do you want dessert?"

"Thank you, but no, somehow I totally lost my appetite."

"Okay. Do you want to look around a bit more?"

"Yeah..."

He took my hand again and we left the dining area and took the stairs leading up to the first floor. From there we could look over the entire club. I couldn't resist waving at a very tipsy Anne-Catherine, who glared right back at me. Seeing this Ren chuckled. "Bad Jonah."

"Sorry, couldn't resist." I grinned.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and it didn’t feel half-bad. What was wrong with me?

Yeah! Whatever could be wrong with you? Shut up, Zach!

Later, some friends came over to talk and we asked them if they’d seen Eric and Chris.

They looked at each other. Then Aurel was suddenly standing beside me. "They had a huge fight and left almost an hour ago."

I looked at Ren "A fight? Do you know what it was about?"

"Yes, me and half of the club. Something about it all being Eric's idea and it was his fault alone. And he had wanted to make Jonah or Ren jealous."

I looked at Ren. "Shit."

He nodded. "Yep."

Aurel grabbed my arm. “I think I need a drink, something with lots of vodka. This is decidedly too much drama for one evening. Are you coming?”

I shook my head. “I think I’m going home.”

Aurel shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He wasn’t even near the bar yet when he yelled for a White Cosmopolitan.

“Yikes. How can he drink that?” I shuddered.

"Will you dance with me before we go?"

I wanted to say no, but then '21 Guns' started, one of my favorite songs. "I love this song!"

Someone yelled my name. I looked around and saw Aurel lifting his glass at me.

“I think he knows that and requested it.”

Placing his hands on my hips, Ren pulled me against his body, leaving no room between us, making sure to show me how much he wanted me – and I surprisingly wanted him. He smelled of cinnamon. When he slipped his hand under my shirt, lightly caressing the skin above my hipbone with his thumbs, I shivered.

What the hell was I doing, still pretending to be his lover, or was I going to be his lover?

Then his grip on my hips tightened. "When you danced with that…guy…"

"You mean Michael…"

"Yeah…When you danced with Michael that evening, all I wanted to do was rush over and rip you from his arms; Chris could barely restrain me. Did you do it on purpose?"

"What?"

"Did you just want to tease me, provoke me to come over? Make me jealous? Because it worked."

"I think I wanted to piss you off."

"Piss me off?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because YOU piss me off."

"When?"

"All the time. You’re challenging me,” I whispered.

For a moment he said nothing, then he cupped my face with his right hand. "Jonah…you're an idiot." And then he kissed me, just lips, no tongue. It felt good, as did his body pressed against mine. Very good. I opened my mouth and he deepened the kiss. It felt...too good. I pushed him back. “I think I'll head home."

He took a step back and looked at me, and then he nodded. "Wait a moment, and I'll come with you. I just have to find Aurel to tell him we’re leaving."

A few minutes later, we got our coats from the tired looking girl in the cloakroom, and then waited outside for Ren's car and my bike. We didn’t talk.

When Ren’s car arrived, he put his hands on my shoulders, and turned me around to face him. "Jonah…I don’t think I can let you go after tonight. Please. I want you to…I'll call you tomorrow. We need to talk."

He turned abruptly away from me, stormed to his car, slammed the door shut, and drove off with screeching tires.

***

I’d been at home for fifteen minutes, when my phone started playing Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’. I swallowed hard. More drama. Fuck!

"Hey, Chris."

"J-Jonah, where are you?”

“At home.”

He was crying. “Can I come over?"

"Uhm…sure. Where are you? I could come and get you?"

"No, I'll call a cab."

" 'kay."

Half an hour later I heard Chris knocking. After opening the door, he fell sobbing into my arms. I slowly led him to the couch, where he sank down, grabbed one of the pillows and pressed his face in it. Not knowing what else to do, I wrapped my arms around him until he laid his head in my lap. Petting his hair I probed. “You had a huge fight with Eric."

"Who told you?"

"Aurel. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Okay.” He took in a deep, shuddering breath. "After he stormed off from your table, I found Eric at the bar, he was drinking Jack right from the bottle. He ranted how desperate you must have been to hook up with a guy like Ren.” Chris punched the pillow. “I’m such an idiot!”

“What? Why?”

“We knew Ren was interested in you. Eric said we should try to help him along, tell him what you like and what you hate, you know food, music, books, movies, things like that. So why did he flip when he saw you two holding hands and Ren sent him away? Everything worked out fine. Right?” He grabbed a tissue and blew his nose. “Wrong. At first I didn't understand either, but then everything suddenly made sense. His weird behavior after he had visited you and seen you and Michael together, and how happy he was, when we heard that you broke up.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It was so obvious you hated Ren that Eric was sure Ren would never have any chance with you. Eric pretended to help Ren when he really wanted to see him fail. That evening at the bar, where Eric and Ren went after you and Michael into the bathroom? Eric had poured shots of rum in Ren’s cola when Ren wasn’t looking and then he riled him up, told him you and Michael would probably fuck until Ren lost it.” Chris scoffed. “That sure as hell backfired on him."

"Chris, Eric and I broke up a long time ago…"

"Yes, and as long as you weren't in any relationship, everything was fine and dandy. He could fuck around and screw every guy or girl that couldn't get away fast enough. But when you started to date again, he became nervous. He didn't want to see you with another guy; he still considered you his. I’m so stupid.”

"I don't know…"

"I do, because he told me himself. After he was done yelling he broke down crying and told me."

"Oh my God, Chris…I'm so sorry! I don't know what to say…" I had never felt so helpless before.

"It's not your fault, Jonah. You're a nice guy, crazy perhaps, but nice. You're still my friend. Right?" he asked meekly.

"Of course idiot, that is if you want me to, I mean after what you've just told me, I would understand…"

"As I said - it's not your fault."

"Do you want to stay the night?"

"Really?” Chris rubbed his swollen eyes.

“Sure.” I clapped his shoulder. “Come on, take a hot shower; that will help you relax. There should be a new toothbrush in the cupboard under the sink. Then come in my bedroom. I’ll get you something to sleep in."

“I really don't want to be alone tonight."

"That’s okay.”

When he was in the bathroom, I took fresh boxers and one of my sleep shirts out of the dresser and put it on the bed. He came to my bedroom with a towel wrapped around his hips.

"Go to bed. I'll take a quick shower too."

When I came back, he was already in bed, pretending to be asleep. I slipped under the covers beside him. As soon as I had made myself comfortable, he snuggled against me and I wrapped an arm around his slim waist, pulling him closer and grinned. Ah, what the heck! Finally, the first guy who slept in my virginal bed and it stayed virginal because it was a chaste sleepover between friends.

Night, Zach.

Grilled vegetable salad

Rosemary roasted potatoes

Ciabatta

White Cosmopolitan

21 Guns, Green Day

 So, what do you think? I'm curious. For whatever reason I have the feeling I missed something.
Thanks Irri!