The Eternity that Follows (3 page)

Joey drove onto his destination as Josh was unaware where
they were going. He caught himself thinking about someone else’s
care other than his own. He already cared for this girl he had seen
for a brief moment, that was clear to him. He didn’t wait around to
be introduced or for a conversation to flare up though, one night
was probably all he could offer her. Though Joey recognized he
used to hang out with one of her friends, and he knew there were
mutual people in the bar they both must of know, the truth was, he
he wasn’t ready for anything serious. His years of settling were
down the road, miles into the future. For now, all he had time for
was his business that he started up less than two years ago.

Joey drove on remembering his goals and dreams in life,
and tonight what he had seen certainly fit into his dreams. He
wanted a wife and kids, and what he wanted was his wife to cook,
clean, and care for his babies. He needed to get his money
together, and his job called for long hours he couldn’t devote to
nights with the same girl, even if she was the right woman. If they
were to have met tonight it would have meant love wasn’t in the
cards for them, and he would have brought her home, slept with
her, and left her for dead for all he cared. He did care, he was
realizing more, and more as he drove on.

He planned inside the bar that he would give her a wild ride
instead, a chase. He knew that women liked mysterious men. That
always got him to hit his mark, often setting up challenges for
himself to bring a lady home. Giving them glimpses of himself,
flashing his irresistible smile, and when the time was right, bring
them home, bang them, and leave it at just that. His ways of
course set him up for the guilt of countless heartaches and he had
stalkers to high end. He felt differently about this girl though, the
girl he had just courted with one glimpse of the eye. Something
was different about this girl to him, she looked almost untouchable.
So for the time being, he’d get himself on her mind, and the eye he
caught tonight would be waiting on him forever. He’d make her
want him more and more everytime their eyes met. In his dream
world, his interest would draw close, and he too would want a
lifetime of forever, with his dream girl.

Joey felt he had work to do. He had to find out who she
was, find out all he could, find out if there was a man in her life
that stood in his way.
“Oh here again man? I thought we wanted a night out?”
Josh
said, when he realized where Joey had driven them to.
“Yeah, we did but I want to relax and kick back a few. I worked
today, I’m tired. What did you do?”
“Wash” Josh said, plainly.

Joey laughed to himself as he clicked the remote to his
silver Saleen Mustang. He was thinking about his friend who did
nothing for work, and still lived at home with his mama Joey
thought to himself, ‘damn I got to get this business going and give
this dweeb a job.”

Joey and Josh walked into their friend Gavin’s house. Joey
grabbed a beer from the kitchen, and then sat down on the couch.
Gavin was a popular man. He was a few years older then Joey,
thick with muscle. He spent most of his weekday night’s at the
gym, lifting weights and working out his abs. He had dirty blonde
hair, brown eyes, and he was a good-looking man. He and Joey
had encountered great times at the bar picking up woman and
partying with them, but those days were long gone. Gavin lived
with his wife Sadie, in their small home just the town over from
Mandala. It was Gavin’s hometown and Joey’s as well.

Candlewood was a historical town back from the time of
the French and Indian war. Joey often realized, if it wasn’t for the
slaughtering of Native Americans, he wouldn’t even exist and
certainly not in America. He was mainly of Italian decent but he
had a little Norwegian, Native American, and African decent in his
blood line. He often thought, if America had not been shaped
historically the way it had been, people in his blood line would
never have existed. If America was left for the Native Americans
and immigrants never migrated to it, the ancestors in Joey’s
bloodline may never have met and reproduced. He also sometimes
thought that if slavery didn’t exist there wouldn’t be Africans in
America either. That didn’t fit into his theory for not existing
himself, his African blood had come from, a great, great, great
match of grandparents that were from Sicily and Northern Africa.
Two of Joey’s great grandparents had lived in Italy before meeting
in the United States, one being of Sicilian blood and the other
being from Naples. He often questioned if they even would have
met over in Italy rather than in America. When Joey added his
Norwegian decent, and his Native American descent into the
picture, he was sure he would never have been born if the promise
land was never founded.

That type of thinking always boggled Joey’s mind and
made his existence feel warranted, like he had a purpose. Of
course living in a population such as America, with such a cultural
mix of genes, the philosophy of his didn’t always make him feel of
importance.

Lost in his thoughts, Joey was interrupted by Josh,
“oh my God Gavin, you should have seen her. She was the cutest,
sexiest thing in the world.”
“I’m sure she was just that.” Gavin replied.
“Really though this girl is a reason to get you out to the bar again,
trust me.”
“You know that Sadie and I are very happy together, and no girl is
bringing me to the bar.”
“No man I just meant to see her, that’s all. She’s worth the look.”
“Well find her on Facebook and let me see”

Joey’s heart was pounding. He hadn’t let on to Josh he was
interested in this girl at all. As she was brought up in conversation,
Joey was reminded of his soon to be prized, possession. He didn’t
want to be rude in her honor, and joined into the conversation with
a tee bit of excitement, still not letting on how eager the idea of
looking her up on Facebook made him.
“Yeah look her up. She was a hottie.” Joey said.
“I thought she was all right.” Josh teased.
“Yeah well, all girls are all right. You know me, I’d give any girl
the chance for a night with me.” Joey said, half joking.
“All girls?” Josh started with Joey, “you think that girl is easy to
get? We must not have been seeing the same girl, and I know
plenty of girls that have shot you down before.”
“Yeah one’s that have boyfriends or those that have heard of my
reputation, maybe, but me getting shot down? When?”
“Well for starters that one girl last fall that.” Josh said, and then he
was interrupted by Gavin.
“Ok who cares what girl’s Joey can and cannot get. I don’t want to
sit here and listen to the endless amount of girls that have shot him
down. I’ve witnessed that experience with him as well.”
“Whatever, fine. Maybe I haven’t always been able to get the girl
to come home with me, but whatever man, just look the girl up.”
Joey’s said, as his ego had been hit hard. He was now wondering
if he had any chance with this girl at all.
“Yo we don’t even know her name, how am I suppose to look her
up?” Josh asked.
“Are you friends with Jemma on Facebook?” Joey asked, feeling
hopeful.
“Jemma? Really Jemma, that slut from the party two winters ago?
The one that slept with three guys in one night? That Jemma?”
Josh questioned.

It was a thought that Joey couldn’t shake from his head
from the moment after he first saw the girl of his dreams, when he
noticed that she was a friend of Jemma’s. Jemma had a wellknown reputation of being, well being a slut. Seeing that his
dream girl was a friend of hers, Joey feared, she too had the same
reputation. He may have had his fair share of women, but he was
selective in the women he took home. His time with them may
have been brief, but he mostly made love to women, sometimes
sleeping with them for his own pleasure. Love making though was
his forte, only doing so for the practice of the woman he wanted to
spend his life with. His sexual number wasn’t as bad as his
reputation preceded. He got the reputation from the bad mouthing
of the girls in Mandala he brought home the year he turned twentyone. He also had a bad reputation from the girls in his hometown
who grew jealous when he shot them down. Joey always heard
made up rumor about himself from friends of the girls who he
turned down afterwards. He could though be a kept man though,
having serious relationships starting in high school, though, he
hadn’t held a steady girlfriend in over a year and a half. The truth
was, he didn’t want one. He wasn’t out to use the girls’ he slept
with it. It was just that when he saw something he liked, he
wanted it.
“Yes that Jemma” Joey finally said.
“Why Jemma?” Josh asked, stumped.
“Are you an idiot? Maybe because Jemma was standing right next
to the girl.”.
“Oh man. We got trouble on our hands if Jemma’s friends with
this girl.” Gavin said, decididing to join the conversation. “I’ve
had my fair time with Jemma, we went out for about a month,
great sex but the arrogant woman is a slut, she cheated on me with
three other guys.” Gavin said, while his face was growing red.
“Yeah bro, I know how hard you fell for Jemma. She’s beautiful
all over on the outside but her insides are creepy.” Joey spoke up,
putting an end to a horrible scenario that Gavin had experienced.
“Josh just go to Jemma’s page and look through her friends.” Joey
ordered.
“Yes boss sir” Josh said, half serious.

After Cascades, the girls decided to go to Starfall. Starfall
was their home bar, it was home base for them. Any of the girls
could walk in there any night of the week by themselves, and know
at least three locals. It was the sort of place you didn’t need a
posse to feel in place. Gabriella was excited for the bar hop that
was Jemma’s idea. Jemma didn’t want Joey walking back into
Cascades, and whisking Gabriella away. She swore in her heart,
she was only protecting her. The truth was, Joey had turned
Jemma down for sex one night last summer, at a party they both
attended. Jemma was sure Joey was going to be there, and
purposely didn’t invite Gabriella along. Jemma had her eye on
Joey herself, and knew he would prefer Gabriella. Gabriella
hadn’t even known that Joey existed. At this point, Gabriella
didn’t even know his name. She was sort of, somewhat in her
heart hoping, he would be at Starfall.

Starfall was more of a place where people from town went
to kick back, and relax with their friends. Gabriella made sure to
make a grand entrance just in case her Mr. Mysterious were there.
She glanced around the room not wanting anyone to notice she was
checking out the entire bar. She sighed in disappointment, when
she realized he wasn’t there. In honesty, in her heart, she knew she
wouldn’t see him at Starfall. Starfall was more or less a place an
outsider rarely ventured into, but when they did, they never wanted
to leave.

Gabriella and her friends stayed at Starfall till it closed.
Gabriella couldn’t wait to get home. When Gabriella got home that
night, she couldn’t shake the image of Joey out of her mind. He
was everything she had been looking for, and she hoped to see him
again. She already had is set in her mind, he was surely the one for
her.

Back at Gavin’s house, Joey grabbed another beer and sat
back down on the couch as Josh hurried to the computer while
computing his own fantasies of the girl he’d seen just a few hours
ago at the bar.
Joey became lost in thought as he usually did,
uninterested in conversing, and not being interested in watching
the movie Gavin was into when they entered his home. Joey on
the inside was mad Josh had gotten such a gorgeous smile from his
dream girl. Josh was a good-looking man himself. He was six feet
with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bit more muscular then
Joey himself. The girls called him nothing less then gorgeous.
Joey on the other hand, was surrendered hot and handsome rather
then gorgeous. Joey knew he was the better-looking man, but on
account of their nights out at the bars, in various towns both north
and south of Candlewood, Josh had beat him to a few girls. That
was of course when Josh wasn’t with his on and off again
girlfriend, Anna.

Joey was growing anger inside of him, and found hostility
lingering in his mind when Josh finally found her page.
“Wow, wow, wow your just gorgeous Gabriella.” Josh said,
clicking onto her page and finding it to be private.

The profile picture left for any stalker to see was one to top
the charts. Gabriella was sitting on top of a male’s lap as they
were both facing the camera. The picture was taking from the right
side view. The man in the picture was sitting back in a chair,
relaxed with a beer in his hand. Gabriella was on top of him,
sitting poised, looking innocently beautiful, and voluptuously
gorgeous.

Gabriella, Joey liked that name.
“Let me see” Joey said, springing up.
When Joey first saw the picture, his heart was smacked.
Gabriella looked so beautiful, his mind couldn’t find the words.
She looked lovely and well tamed, as her hand lay on the man’s
chest as to say, ‘I’m faithful.’ Joey wasn’t going to let off his
excitement over the girl for a second time.
“Who is that? Do you think that’s her boyfriend?” He asked.
The man in the picture was good looking, unknown to them
just a friend of Gabriella’s. Gabriella used him to prop herself in a
picture to make herself look like the girl of any mans dreams. She
had been going for, beautiful, poised, faithful, and good in bed, and
she delivered. She was quite excited by the picture herself,
noticing the first time she saw it, her bubbly butt showed off quite
nicely, without her even trying.
“I don’t know he looks like her boyfriend but who knows the page
is private. I can’t find anything out about her.”
“Well friend request her”
“No. Just no. you put yourself out there and friend request her.”
“I don’t have a page”
“Well then get one.”
“Fine, maybe I will.” Joey said, laying firmly down he was indeed
interested in this girl.
Pleased with himself for being able to admit his feelings, he
took one last look at his dream girl in the picture, mentally saved
it, and went back to the couch. He nodded off to sleep on Gavin’s
couch moments later.