Destination Unknown (sequel to Worlds Apart), chapter 4
I woke up early the next morning, wide-awake and excited when I remembered where I was. The sun streamed through the blinds, creating bright stripes on the walls. I couldn’t wait to get out into that California sunshine. I still couldn’t believe how sweet Billie Joe had been the night before, and felt bad I’d just passed out on him. I hadn’t been the best company. I watched him sleep for a few minutes, but I couldn’t keep still, I just wanted him to be awake so I could talk to him again. I’d missed him so much, being here with him was like a dream. I couldn’t help myself gently shaking him awake.
“Hey Billie…� I smiled,
He made an incomprehensible sound that was somewhere between a groan and a growl. I pushed a piece of hair out of his eyes and rested my chin on his shoulder.
“Hey…wake up� I coaxed, “Its morning�
“I knew you’d do this� he mumbled, without opening his eyes.
“Do what?�
“Wake me up early�
“Its not that early.�
“What time is it?�
He still hadn’t opened his eyes. I looked at the clock, then decided it would be a good idea to lie.
“Nine� I said, innocently.
He opened his eyes.
“Oh…well that’s not so bad I guess,� he said sleepily.
“Let’s get up, I want to go outside!�
“You are worse than my five year old…do you know that?� he smiled
I grinned and kissed him on the lips. He smiled.
“What are we going to do today?� he asked me, rubbing his eyes.
I felt even more excited at the suggestion he was going to spend the day with me. We had never spent a day together before.
“I don’t know� I said, “I need to find my apartment and move my stuff in. And I want to see San Francisco�
“I thought you’d been before�
“Yeah…but not for like three years� I said, “I want to do the tourist stuff and go to Alcatraz and see the bridge�
He laughed,
“You want to go to Alcatraz?�
“Yeah…I didn’t get to go last time cause Tom got sun stroke and was throwing up and stuff. He was actually sick into the bay�
“I can’t believe that. That’s pollution. I’d have kicked his ass if I’d seen him�
“It was pretty gross. But I felt bad for him. He was really ill�
“Well…anyway. If you want to be a tourist, I’ll be a tourist with you. I’m probably the best tour guide ever since I’ve lived here most my life. And I’ll take you to Alcatraz. I’ll even take you to Fisherman’s Wharf and buy tacky souvenirs with you.�
“Like snow globes with the Golden Gate bridge inside?�
“Sure, that kinda thing� he smiled. “But first…I’d better call the guys in New York, see how Tre’s doing�
“Umm…I wouldn’t do that yet�
“What, why not?�
“Cause…I sort of rounded up…when I said it was nine o clock�
He raised his eyebrows.
“Its actually…six thirty�
“Oh my God, you fucking liar!� he exclaimed, grabbing me round the waist and pulling me towards him. I laughed,
“I’m sorry, I’m just really wide awake and I was lonely and wanted you to be awake too�
“I’ll have to get you back for this later� he said, “I hope you realize that…that was so fucking mean�
“I’m sorry� I giggled.
“Well…you should be. But now I’m wide awake too and we have a few hours to kill before we have to get up. So you’d better start making it up to me right now�
“Oh…ok.� I smiled, “I guess that’s fair�
Then he grinned as I kissed him and thought this might already be one of the happiest days of my life.
It was kind of weird being in San Francisco with Billie Joe, after being there with Tom before, but it didn’t stop me having the best day. The people I organized my internship with found me an apartment in South San Francisco which is kind of out of the way but cheaper to live in than the city, and Billie Joe came with me to check it out. It was pretty cool, but the apartment building was kind of deserted. I only saw one person, a young black guy with really cool dreadlocks, who came out of the apartment next to mine and looked at Billie and I kind of funny as we went in. I was hoping I would have friendly neighbours, cause I was going to be really lonely and homesick if I didn’t make friends. I couldn’t be bothered to sort out my stuff right then, so we got back in the car and went into the city. I was kind of surprised people didn’t seem to recognize Billie as we walked around. He got a few funny looks but that was it.
“I really love it here,� I said to him as we walked along Fisherman’s Wharf in the sunshine.
“You do? It’s like tourist central here� he said,
“But it’s really nice. Look how gorgeous the bay looks�
“Yeah…I guess it is pretty nice.� He said, looking out at it, “I never really stop to look at it any more.�
“I think I’m going to like living here� I said,
“I think I’m gonna like you living here too� he said, putting his arm round me. I smiled and put my arm round his waist
“You know, I’m going to have to go and get postcards to send home� I said, dragging him reluctantly into the nearest souvenir shop. After all, one of the best things about going abroad is sending back postcards and making everyone at home jealous. After I’d paid for my postcards, I looked for Billie and saw him standing outside the shop, lighting up.
“Hey Smoky Joe� I said, “Was it that bad?�
He smiled,
“It was pretty bad� he said, “Want a smoke?�
“Nope…I’m limiting myself so I’m saving up till I really, really want one�
“Oh, stop being so good. It makes me feel worse about it. Just have one�
“You are like one of those bad kids on the anti smoking videos we got shown at school� I told him. “But I was listening to those so…I’ll just say no�
He grinned,
“Sorry� he said, “I got you a present though�
“Really?�
He held out a paper bag and I took it and peered inside. I laughed as I pulled out a plastic snow globe with the Golden Gate Bridge inside.
“It was screaming your name at me so I bought it� he explained.
I kissed him.
“Thanks Billie� I grinned, “I love it�
That afternoon Billie Joe did take me to Alcatraz as promised, and it was really cool. It felt so good hanging out with him all day, and even though he joked about me being a tourist, we had loads of fun together taking pictures of each other inside the prison cells and stuff. Then when we got back over to Fisherman’s Wharf we took the cable car back into the city. The day was drawing to a close and the sun was starting to go down, giving everything this golden glow, but the city’s atmosphere was picking up as the evening drew in.
“Thanks for being my tour guide today� I said to Billie Joe, as I sat next to him on the cable car, watching the city go by.
“No problem� he said, slipping his arm around me, “It’s been a good day�
“It’s been a great day� I smiled,
“And I kind of liked being a tourist, you know�
“I knew it� I giggled, and he smiled and kissed me.
“You wanna go get some food?� he asked me,
“Yeah…I’m starving,� I said,
“I know a place. Let’s jump off here�
He took me into this Thai place on Mission, and the food was awesome. We sat in the back corner and I was kind of pleased about that 'cause even though no one had said anything to him all day, I noticed people kept staring at him like they were trying to work out how they knew him, or they were trying to work up the guts to come over to him. Right then, I just wanted him to myself. We sat in the restaurant talking for ages, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He looked so amazing, I couldn’t believe he was really with me. It was just a total dream come true. I felt like after that one day of being with him, just being together, I was suddenly so much closer to him. It just felt so right. During a pause in conversation, he leaned back in his seat and just looked at me, his head slightly on one side and a slight smile playing on his lips, like he was trying to work something out. Then he leaned forward again and said,
“You know I’m going back to New York City tomorrow�
I nodded. I really didn’t want him to go, but I knew I was lucky just to have had him here for this long.
“Well…tomorrow I’m going to go and see Joey and Jakob before I go…spend the morning with them�
“Ok� I said.
I hadn’t been expecting him to spend all his time with me. I knew how important his kids were to him, after all. He continued,
“But also…I want to see Adrienne. I’ve decided…I’m going to tell her about us�
I stared at him. I was pretty shocked. I hadn’t expected that at all. I mean, I’d only been here one day and he was already going to tell Adrienne. He’d said himself he wanted to wait to see how things worked out.
“But…why?� I said, eventually, “I mean…you said you wanted to wait first…that’s what you said�
“I know I did� he said, nodding, “But, I just feel like…its time now. I mean, I know we’ve only just started out but…I feel like its going pretty good…don’t you?�
“Yeah� I smiled, “I do�
“Well, it seems like now if I didn’t tell her, I’d be hiding it. Cause she’s going to want to know why I came all the way out here. I don’t want to lie to her. This is going to hurt her enough as it is without having lies on top of it making it worse�
“You think its really going to hurt her?� I asked, nervously,
“Well…I don’t know. I think it might. I don’t know how she feels about me any more. We haven’t talked about it in a while.
I nodded. It was a lot to take in. I didn’t really know whether to feel happy he was thinking of us as having a future or sad because I was about to be a final nail in the coffin for Adrienne. I didn’t want to be this Other Woman. He must have noticed cause he took my hand and squeezed it gently,
“Hey, don’t look like that� he said, “Its no big deal…I just want to be upfront about things with Adrienne, that’s all. Its really important we get on. For Joey and Jakob�
“I know� I said, “You’re right. I hope it goes ok�
“Me too� he said, biting his lip.
When we got out of the restaurant we started walking back to where we parked the car, hand in hand.
We didn’t say much, but it didn’t feel awkward, it just felt nice. When we got to the car he turned me round to face him, then suddenly kissed me with a passion that caught me off guard. It felt so good I got tingles everywhere, and when we broke off and I looked into those eyes of his I thought I was going to fall over. And I got this intense feeling in the pit of my stomach, that was kind of part way between nervousness and excitement so that I couldn’t work out which. And I knew what it was. I knew I was falling in love.
“Hey Billie…� I smiled,
He made an incomprehensible sound that was somewhere between a groan and a growl. I pushed a piece of hair out of his eyes and rested my chin on his shoulder.
“Hey…wake up� I coaxed, “Its morning�
“I knew you’d do this� he mumbled, without opening his eyes.
“Do what?�
“Wake me up early�
“Its not that early.�
“What time is it?�
He still hadn’t opened his eyes. I looked at the clock, then decided it would be a good idea to lie.
“Nine� I said, innocently.
He opened his eyes.
“Oh…well that’s not so bad I guess,� he said sleepily.
“Let’s get up, I want to go outside!�
“You are worse than my five year old…do you know that?� he smiled
I grinned and kissed him on the lips. He smiled.
“What are we going to do today?� he asked me, rubbing his eyes.
I felt even more excited at the suggestion he was going to spend the day with me. We had never spent a day together before.
“I don’t know� I said, “I need to find my apartment and move my stuff in. And I want to see San Francisco�
“I thought you’d been before�
“Yeah…but not for like three years� I said, “I want to do the tourist stuff and go to Alcatraz and see the bridge�
He laughed,
“You want to go to Alcatraz?�
“Yeah…I didn’t get to go last time cause Tom got sun stroke and was throwing up and stuff. He was actually sick into the bay�
“I can’t believe that. That’s pollution. I’d have kicked his ass if I’d seen him�
“It was pretty gross. But I felt bad for him. He was really ill�
“Well…anyway. If you want to be a tourist, I’ll be a tourist with you. I’m probably the best tour guide ever since I’ve lived here most my life. And I’ll take you to Alcatraz. I’ll even take you to Fisherman’s Wharf and buy tacky souvenirs with you.�
“Like snow globes with the Golden Gate bridge inside?�
“Sure, that kinda thing� he smiled. “But first…I’d better call the guys in New York, see how Tre’s doing�
“Umm…I wouldn’t do that yet�
“What, why not?�
“Cause…I sort of rounded up…when I said it was nine o clock�
He raised his eyebrows.
“Its actually…six thirty�
“Oh my God, you fucking liar!� he exclaimed, grabbing me round the waist and pulling me towards him. I laughed,
“I’m sorry, I’m just really wide awake and I was lonely and wanted you to be awake too�
“I’ll have to get you back for this later� he said, “I hope you realize that…that was so fucking mean�
“I’m sorry� I giggled.
“Well…you should be. But now I’m wide awake too and we have a few hours to kill before we have to get up. So you’d better start making it up to me right now�
“Oh…ok.� I smiled, “I guess that’s fair�
Then he grinned as I kissed him and thought this might already be one of the happiest days of my life.
It was kind of weird being in San Francisco with Billie Joe, after being there with Tom before, but it didn’t stop me having the best day. The people I organized my internship with found me an apartment in South San Francisco which is kind of out of the way but cheaper to live in than the city, and Billie Joe came with me to check it out. It was pretty cool, but the apartment building was kind of deserted. I only saw one person, a young black guy with really cool dreadlocks, who came out of the apartment next to mine and looked at Billie and I kind of funny as we went in. I was hoping I would have friendly neighbours, cause I was going to be really lonely and homesick if I didn’t make friends. I couldn’t be bothered to sort out my stuff right then, so we got back in the car and went into the city. I was kind of surprised people didn’t seem to recognize Billie as we walked around. He got a few funny looks but that was it.
“I really love it here,� I said to him as we walked along Fisherman’s Wharf in the sunshine.
“You do? It’s like tourist central here� he said,
“But it’s really nice. Look how gorgeous the bay looks�
“Yeah…I guess it is pretty nice.� He said, looking out at it, “I never really stop to look at it any more.�
“I think I’m going to like living here� I said,
“I think I’m gonna like you living here too� he said, putting his arm round me. I smiled and put my arm round his waist
“You know, I’m going to have to go and get postcards to send home� I said, dragging him reluctantly into the nearest souvenir shop. After all, one of the best things about going abroad is sending back postcards and making everyone at home jealous. After I’d paid for my postcards, I looked for Billie and saw him standing outside the shop, lighting up.
“Hey Smoky Joe� I said, “Was it that bad?�
He smiled,
“It was pretty bad� he said, “Want a smoke?�
“Nope…I’m limiting myself so I’m saving up till I really, really want one�
“Oh, stop being so good. It makes me feel worse about it. Just have one�
“You are like one of those bad kids on the anti smoking videos we got shown at school� I told him. “But I was listening to those so…I’ll just say no�
He grinned,
“Sorry� he said, “I got you a present though�
“Really?�
He held out a paper bag and I took it and peered inside. I laughed as I pulled out a plastic snow globe with the Golden Gate Bridge inside.
“It was screaming your name at me so I bought it� he explained.
I kissed him.
“Thanks Billie� I grinned, “I love it�
That afternoon Billie Joe did take me to Alcatraz as promised, and it was really cool. It felt so good hanging out with him all day, and even though he joked about me being a tourist, we had loads of fun together taking pictures of each other inside the prison cells and stuff. Then when we got back over to Fisherman’s Wharf we took the cable car back into the city. The day was drawing to a close and the sun was starting to go down, giving everything this golden glow, but the city’s atmosphere was picking up as the evening drew in.
“Thanks for being my tour guide today� I said to Billie Joe, as I sat next to him on the cable car, watching the city go by.
“No problem� he said, slipping his arm around me, “It’s been a good day�
“It’s been a great day� I smiled,
“And I kind of liked being a tourist, you know�
“I knew it� I giggled, and he smiled and kissed me.
“You wanna go get some food?� he asked me,
“Yeah…I’m starving,� I said,
“I know a place. Let’s jump off here�
He took me into this Thai place on Mission, and the food was awesome. We sat in the back corner and I was kind of pleased about that 'cause even though no one had said anything to him all day, I noticed people kept staring at him like they were trying to work out how they knew him, or they were trying to work up the guts to come over to him. Right then, I just wanted him to myself. We sat in the restaurant talking for ages, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He looked so amazing, I couldn’t believe he was really with me. It was just a total dream come true. I felt like after that one day of being with him, just being together, I was suddenly so much closer to him. It just felt so right. During a pause in conversation, he leaned back in his seat and just looked at me, his head slightly on one side and a slight smile playing on his lips, like he was trying to work something out. Then he leaned forward again and said,
“You know I’m going back to New York City tomorrow�
I nodded. I really didn’t want him to go, but I knew I was lucky just to have had him here for this long.
“Well…tomorrow I’m going to go and see Joey and Jakob before I go…spend the morning with them�
“Ok� I said.
I hadn’t been expecting him to spend all his time with me. I knew how important his kids were to him, after all. He continued,
“But also…I want to see Adrienne. I’ve decided…I’m going to tell her about us�
I stared at him. I was pretty shocked. I hadn’t expected that at all. I mean, I’d only been here one day and he was already going to tell Adrienne. He’d said himself he wanted to wait to see how things worked out.
“But…why?� I said, eventually, “I mean…you said you wanted to wait first…that’s what you said�
“I know I did� he said, nodding, “But, I just feel like…its time now. I mean, I know we’ve only just started out but…I feel like its going pretty good…don’t you?�
“Yeah� I smiled, “I do�
“Well, it seems like now if I didn’t tell her, I’d be hiding it. Cause she’s going to want to know why I came all the way out here. I don’t want to lie to her. This is going to hurt her enough as it is without having lies on top of it making it worse�
“You think its really going to hurt her?� I asked, nervously,
“Well…I don’t know. I think it might. I don’t know how she feels about me any more. We haven’t talked about it in a while.
I nodded. It was a lot to take in. I didn’t really know whether to feel happy he was thinking of us as having a future or sad because I was about to be a final nail in the coffin for Adrienne. I didn’t want to be this Other Woman. He must have noticed cause he took my hand and squeezed it gently,
“Hey, don’t look like that� he said, “Its no big deal…I just want to be upfront about things with Adrienne, that’s all. Its really important we get on. For Joey and Jakob�
“I know� I said, “You’re right. I hope it goes ok�
“Me too� he said, biting his lip.
When we got out of the restaurant we started walking back to where we parked the car, hand in hand.
We didn’t say much, but it didn’t feel awkward, it just felt nice. When we got to the car he turned me round to face him, then suddenly kissed me with a passion that caught me off guard. It felt so good I got tingles everywhere, and when we broke off and I looked into those eyes of his I thought I was going to fall over. And I got this intense feeling in the pit of my stomach, that was kind of part way between nervousness and excitement so that I couldn’t work out which. And I knew what it was. I knew I was falling in love.
