The Story of Lansing Lotte (17 page)

“Who’s this?” Her shaky voice asked, as she turned back in the direction of Fleur and stared.

Fleur didn’t respond and I walked over to her to pick her up.

“This is my new girlfriend. Right, Ladybug?” I laughed at her as I kissed her cheek. Her little arms wrapped around my neck and she buried her head into my shoulder. I gave her a little jiggle and I could feel her smile against my skin. It was strange how quickly Fleur took to me. I assumed it was the lack of a father in her life. Lila refused to talk about him, whoever he was.

“Lansing, what’s going on?” Guinie’s voice was full of puzzlement. “Is this the girl you saved?”

“This is Fleur Tucker,” I said over Fleur’s shoulders. The newspapers were calling her “the girl I saved” as if I was a hero. To protect her minor status, her name was not released to the press and Lila begged for her own identity not to be released, either. She didn’t answer me when I questioned why they had different last names. She was keeping a secret, and she had a fear about her name being discovered, although she tried not to let it show in her voice when the press called.  Eventually, I got Kaye to work his magic and get the news-hounds off Lila’s trail.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Guinie said, as she stood and walked over to us. I saw her hand shake as she reached for Fleur and tickled her fingers down her small back. Fleur wiggled and Guinie pulled back.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly to me, but I shook my head to let her know it was no big deal.  I got Fleur her drink and carried her back to the room she was sharing with Lila. I tucked her back in the big bed and told her that Lila would be returning soon. I left the door partially open, so I could hear her as I reentered the living room.

“Is her mother the girlfriend the guys mentioned?”

“Lila is a girl. Friend. Period. Nothing more.”

“Do you want it to be more?” Her face again had that puzzled look. I really didn’t understand how any of that was her concern.

She continued, “Do you want it to be more with Layne?”

My mouth fell open at that point, but I had no words. 

“I’m not sure I understand how any of this concerns you, Guinie.” I tried to be delicate in my tone, but I didn’t wish to have that kind of conversation with Guinevere.

“It doesn’t concern me. It concerns them. These women. You’re stringing them all along.”

“I am not stringing them all along, Guinevere. You know nothing about my life, right now.”

She stood and walked toward me.

“I think I know enough about your life to know you can never commit to anything. I don’t want to see you juggling all these women in front of each other, especially if one has a child.”

“I’m not juggling any one, Guinie. Not that it’s any of your business.” I had stepped toward her.

“It isn’t my business, you’re right, but I’m concerned about you. I’m concerned about all of us. Tristan is drinking and womanizing out of control. Perk is hiding out with the girl that caused it all, and you’ve got so many women in a revolving door, it’s hard to keep track.”

“I don’t have women in a revolving door,” I replied in a mocking tone, as I took another step toward her. We were chest to chest and she was breathing heavily. The tips of her breasts brushed against me and I felt that contact in my pants again. I was stiff and there wasn’t enough space between us. I reached for her and cupped her cheeks. Her breathing accelerated and her chest moved visibly up and down. 

“There are no women in a revolving door,” I repeated in a voice I didn’t recognize. It was sultry, seductive and I added, “There’s only one woman I want.” She leaned into me and her breasts crashed against my solid chest. My hand slipped into the hair behind her ear and I tugged her, bringing her mouth to mine. The move was all too similar to the kiss I shared with her half a decade ago. 

It was slow and soft. I was an explorer and my journey involved the discovery of her mouth. I travelled her lips with mine, tugging them gently toward me, releasing them only to trap them again. My mouth formed over hers and mapped a route that included the dip over her top lip and the pout of her bottom one. When I felt I’d charted that territory enough, I licked the seam of hers with the slightest of tongue. She sighed and I took the invitation to open her farther, separating her lips to allow me entrance as our tongues hesitantly licked and rolled.  I’d rounded hers one final time before we collided further. 

I couldn’t get close enough to her as I wrapped my arms around her waist and gently pushed her into me. The bulge in my pants was undisguisable as I pressed against her waist. Her fingers had looped through my belt and she tugged me against her in response.  Her silky top left no barrier between us and the valley of her breasts was open to me. I slipped from her mouth, traveling south over her slightly warm skin to reach that valley when another buzz hit my apartment. I continued between the folds of her open shirt when the buzz struck again. Her hands gently gripped my face and pushed me back from her chest.

“You better get the door,” she said breathlessly.

“I’m not home,” I said, as I covered her mouth again and she sighed into mine. I was in uncharted territory and nothing would prevent me from continuing to kiss the woman like I had dreamed of doing for five years.

Except another buzz of the system.

Guinevere pulled back and I froze.

“Whoever it is doesn’t believe you’re not home. And I should go. Back to my own home.”  She disentangled herself from me and reached behind her for the jacket over my couch.

“I don’t want you to go,” I said, sounding like a pouting child.

“I think it’s best,” she replied quietly, as she walked past me pulling her jacket on. We reached the front door and she looked at me over her shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said and smiled slowly. It was genuine, but sad, and I suddenly realized Guinie’s only fear was to lose another member of the band. I wasn’t convinced she was worried about me specifically, despite our intimacy moments ago.

As I opened the door for Guinie to leave, Layne stood on the other side.

Layne’s face dropped the second she saw Guinevere. She looked between the two of us as if she was at a tennis match. The guilt was written all over my face. The guilt was in Guinie’s hair, which stood out rumpled and fingered. Her face was still flushed and she had tenderly scratched skin from the stubble on my chin.

“Guinie?” Layne questioned.

“Layne, honey, I just came to check on Lansing. Make sure he was okay and learn about this woman living with him,” Guinie replied, her tone a bit spiteful as if she was telling Layne something that she didn’t know.

“Lila?” Layne said the two syllable name as if it was a new word to her.

“Layne knows about Lila, Guinie. I told her all about her staying with me, for a bit, until her apartment is repaired downstairs.”

Guinie’s eyes reached mine and she searched my face for a moment. They opened wide then returned to normal. She looked at Layne.

“Well, I’m so glad you told Layne. Talked with her about it,” Guinie sounded like a protective mother addressing her child in the third person. 

“Are we still on for Elaine’s party upstate?” Guinie addressed Layne directly, who could only respond with the name of another woman “Elaine” with a confident nod of her head.

If there was ever a time I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me, that moment might have been it. I needed the awkwardness of standing between Guinie and Layne to end.  Thankfully, Guinie excused herself and exited into the hall, while I reached out for Layne and gently tugged her into my apartment. I closed the door before I had seen Guinie into the elevator.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, but I was wound up from the kiss with Guinie and the uncomfortable appearance of Layne.

“I hadn’t seen you for days. I thought I’d surprise you,” she said, her voice questioning her response.

“Well, you did surprise me,” I tried to laugh, but it was false.

“It’s not a happy surprise?” She looked at me and her eyes begged me to lie.

“Of course, I’m happy to see you. Come in.” I tried to calm my breathing. I guided her into the living room, where moments ago I stood and discovered the mouth I’d longed for, for years. My eyes wandered to the space that Guinie and I occupied only minutes ago, and Layne caught me staring.

“What happened?” she sighed. I blinked and turned to look at her.

“Nothing. What do you mean?”

“Between you and Guinie. What happened?”

I tried to sound casual and stooped to sit on the couch. 

“She stopped by to make sure I was okay.”

“Are you? Okay?”

I wiped both hands across my face and patted the space next to me on the couch.

“I’m fine,” I said. The awkward silence filled the room again and I reached for a game controller.

“Want to play?”

“Sure,” she said cautiously and reached for the remote I handed her.

We played for an hour, talking occasionally about the state of the apartments below, Layne’s potential audition that I finally arranged through Ingrid’s assistant, and the possibilities for the future of the band. That last topic wasn’t something I wanted to discuss in detail. I had one brief moment where I decided, I might need to go out on my own. I couldn’t sing like Arturo, but I had a sound and I could play a mean guitar. I’d been thinking I should start practicing on my own more and possibly try to write my own songs, but I didn’t wish to share those ideas with Layne for some reason.

After a while, I saw GalehautIII pop up on the screen.

Still got a girl?

I was surprised that he knew anyone was in my apartment. It wasn’t the first time I wondered if he had hidden cameras on me.

Suicide16 on screen
, I hinted.

Hi Layne
, he typed.

Hi Will
, she replied.

Be careful Your Grace
, he responded. I somehow knew the warning wasn’t intended for Layne.

When Lila arrived home at midnight, slightly tipsy, I was worried about another tense scene, but she immediately embraced Layne, telling her how happy she was to meet her. She held Layne’s shoulders at arm’s length and smiled her beautifully white smile at Layne, who instantly seemed at ease about the situation of a woman living with me. A sexy woman. It was written all over Lila with her hooded eyes, heavy with make-up and too much drink. Her skintight red dress hugged her body and her hair was full over her shoulders. She looked a bit rumpled, and I was instantly jealous when I had no right to be.

“Where’s your jacket?” I scolded her.

“Oopsy. I left it with Shannon,” she giggled and hiccupped.

I shook my head in mock disgust.

“I guess I better get going,” Layne said shyly.

“Oh no? Are you leaving because of me? Don’t leave. Stay. You can stay. Pretend I’m not here. I’ll go right to my room. You won’t know I’m here,” Lila rambled, as she let go of Layne and stumbled forward. She tripped and I reached for her but she brushed me off.

“No, no rock star. Take care of that girl.” She pointed at Layne and winked. Layne laughed nervously and I placed my hand on her lower back.

“Maybe you should go?” I said questioning her, but it was more of a suggestion.

Layne hesitated. I think she wanted me to kiss her, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t place my lips on Layne after they’d been on Guinevere.

I saw Layne’s disappointment immediately in those doe eyes. I decided to walk her to the elevator. 

“I’ll ride down with you and get you a cab,” I said.

“No,” she adamantly replied. “I feel like I’m doing the walk of shame, as it is. I don’t think I want you to wait while I get a cab.”

“Walk of shame? What do you know about the walk of shame?” I teased her.

She entered the open elevator and turned to face me.

“There’s plenty about me you don’t know,” she said, as the doors to the elevator closed, cutting off my sight of Layne.

After Layne left, I returned to the apartment to find Lila missing from the living room. I had to laugh out loud that Guinie’s comment, about a revolving door of women, might be what I did seem to have going on suddenly. I entered Lila’s room to find her passed out on the bed, still fully dressed in her skintight red dress. Her short legs stuck out long and lengthy as the hem of the dress rode up her thigh. She was curved in the hips with a narrow waist and her breasts were large for a small woman. As she took a deep breath in her drunken slumber, her chest heaved forward accentuating their size and the amount exposed above the dress. Her honey blonde hair cascaded over her shoulder. She made a soft purr, which I felt in a place I needed to ignore. I was too wound up from all the women in my life. I didn’t need to add another. 

Lila still had on her shoes, so I slipped them from her small feet, placing them on the floor. She had fallen on top of the covers with Fleur tucked in beside her. I didn’t want her to get cold. I went to my room and pulled a blanket off my own bed, returning to spread it over Lila. She curled into the warmth and rolled to face Fleur’s back. She absentmindedly placed a hand on little Fleur, and my heart skipped a beat at the tenderness. Even in her sleep, there was a connection to Fleur. I was a bit jealous that someone would reach out in sleep to make sure another was safe.