McKenna

I clicked on the search button and the computer screen instantly populated with pictures, hundreds of them. Her beautiful face smiled back at me from all manner of angles. I had just read up about her lately doings. She’d been busy touring, doing shows, appearing on every possible magazine you could think of. She’d moved on, but then again, wasn’t that the point of all this. I heard the front door open and hurriedly shut my computer, turning to face my visitor or should I say visitors? It was Mikey and his brother, Gerard.

“Hey, guys! What are you doing here?” I asked, not sounding guilty at all. It’s not like I had almost been caught stalking my ex-girlfriend online.

“We brought coffee,” Mikey announced, holding up a Starbucks cup. “Plus, we came to pick you up. We are going out to celebrate.”

“Celebrate? Celebrate what?” I asked curiously, getting up and taking the coffee from him.

“I just got engaged,” Gerard announced proudly, the first thing he’s said since they got there. “Well, not just, but like, last night.” He rambled on with the biggest grin I have ever seen on his face.

“Gee, that’s amazing! Congratulations!” I pulled him into a hug, being careful not to spill any coffee on him. “I take it Mrs. Way to be will be joining us for the festivities?”

“Mikey kind of sprung the idea on us so Kris is at home getting ready. That’s why we decided to come get you first, because even though I love me fiancé very much, she’s the biggest girl when it comes to getting ready, it takes forever.”

I chuckled. It dawned on me that Mikey’s been silent during our entire conversation and I turned to see what he was up to, only to find him looking at my computer suspiciously.

“What were you doing?”

“When?” I asked, playing dumb. “Not much today I guess.”

“No, right now, before we came in,” he elaborated, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

“Oh! I just updated my Facebook status.”

“Did it happen to be, ‘Frank Iero is stalking Tinsley Willis’?” Gerard asked, smirking like he was totally bad-ass. He wasn’t.

“I wasn’t stalking her,” I said defensively, not realizing that I had just given up my entire game with that one sentence.

“So you were online stalking her!” Mikey pointed an accusing finger at me.

“No! I was just catching up on what’s been going on in her life. It’s not stalking if it’s made public for everyone to know. Besides, it’s not like I do it every day.”

“Weekly,” the youngest Way brother said and I frowned deeply. They were really making me out to be a stalker. I wasn’t. I just remained interested in Tinsley’s life. I honestly only checked in on her every once in a while, but every time I did, the guys didn’t approve.

“Monthly then?” Gerard tried.

I shrugged. “Maybe sometimes. I don’t know. It’s only when I get really bored.”

“And when you really miss her,” Mikey guessed.

“Look, Frank, we get it. You loved her. But you guys are over and you’re never going to let go if you keep holding on.”

I looked at Gerard and then at his brother. “I’m over her.” I put my hands up in a defensive gesture. “Our break up was a mutual decision, remember? That doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends. It’s not like I have a connection to her via my fiancé like you do. Besides, it’s been years.”

Gerard put a hand on my shoulder. “Come on man, let’s go get drunk.”

*

“You do realize you’re getting set up tonight?”

I groaned loudly. “What? No, come on you guys! You promised.”

“Well, I lied.” Mikey caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “Don’t worry, Frank. This is not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? You’re setting me up with some random girl who’s probably not at all my type and we’ll be stuck talking to each other all night, because we’ll both feel too bad to simply ditch the other even though that’s what we both really really want. Besides, we wouldn’t want to disappoint our mutual friend who went through all the trouble of setting us up in the first place even though it was a totally dick move on his part.” I finished my sentence, glaring at him.

“Again, it’s not a big deal. McKenna is awesome okay? She’s not like other girls. Trust me.”

Gerard sniggered in his seat next to his brother. “Yeah, the only reason Mikey is setting you up with her is because he finally realized after all these years that she was never going to be into him.” I looked curiously at Gerard, waiting for him to explain.

“Mikey and McKenna have been good friends for at least three years. They met at one of Pete’s parties and had a hot make-out session. The only problem was that she’s not really into him. So they became friends, because oddly enough they have quite a few things in common and get along pretty well. Mikey’s been trying to get her to go out with him ever since, but no such luck.” He laughed again, clearly enjoying his brother’s misfortune.

“Why not? Does she think she’s better than you, because if that’s the case I’ll say you’re better off, and an even bigger jerk for setting me up with her.”

“It’s a simple case of her being way out of his league.”

“McKenna isn’t like other girls,” Mikey clarified. “And okay, maybe she is a little out of my league.”

“Then what makes you think I’ll have a chance with her?” I couldn’t help wondering. Everyone loved Mikey. They didn’t always like me all that much. People didn’t like hearing the truth sometimes. That was not my problem. “Besides, why are you setting me up with this girl if you’re clearly head over heels for her?”

“I’m not. That’s why,” Mikey said, turning into Gerard’s driveway, the latter getting out to go get his fiancé. “At some point you have to get over it and move on. I have. Anyway, I think the two of you will be perfect for each other and that’s why I thought tonight would be a good night for you to meet. She already hates me for planning the setup so you better play nice,” he warned me.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I won’t make any promises.”

“Move.” It was Gerard’s order as soon as he opened the back door and waited for me to get my ass into the front seat in order for him to share the backseat with his fiancé. I hopped out of the car and got into the front seat.

“If tonight is a complete disaster, I’m not talking to you again,” I told Mikey pointedly and he nodded. “Fair enough.”

*

We reached the club, Kings, after Mikey had to park two blocks away. Even when we reached the entrance, there was a line practically all the way down the block. Clearly the place was a hotspot of night life. However, the doorman seemed to know Mikey and we were able to skip the queue. I was definitely not complaining. Mikey clearly came here a lot, because he walked right up to the bar and greeted the barman on his name before ordering drinks for us all. I let him be, knowing that he would get me exactly what I wanted. Instead, I took in my surroundings. We were on what seemed to be the first floor of the club. It was like a lounge area with a few tables and the bar, manned by two bartenders. The space was enclosed by black rails and when I looked down I saw the dance floor, packed with people. It was an entire floor down to the dancing area and right across from the bar area there was another platform where the DJ was doing her thing. The music was loud, but good and I was slowly but surely beginning to enjoy myself.

“Compliments of Mikey,” Gerard said next to me, holding my drink out to me. I gratefully took it and drank it. “He went in search of your date for the evening.” I made a face, still not wanting to be set up. It was ridiculous. I was an adult and could find my own dates.

“So have you guys decided on a date yet?” I asked interestedly.

“We were thinking sometime in spring,” Kris informed me. “I don’t want to have to wear something with long sleeves, but I don’t want to melt away in my dress either.”

I smiled. “I’m happy for you guys.” Kris was a fifth grade teacher, not exactly someone I ever would’ve imagined Gerard falling for, but if he was happy, I didn’t care if she was jobless. Okay, maybe I’d worry a little, but the point was, it didn’t matter who she was or what she did, as long as she made my friend happy. “I’m going to join Ray on the dance floor.”

“He’s here already?” Gerard seemed surprised.

“I saw a bobbing afro in the crowd earlier and I’m guessing no one else has hair that awesome so it has to be him,” I chuckled, emptying my glass and pushing through people down to the dance area where I found Ray hopping up and down.

“Frank!” He shouted in greeting. I gave a small wave in his direction, before losing myself in the beat. The DJ was awesome. A few girls joined us, smiling and moving their hips to the sound of the music. I looked up at some point towards to “lounge”/bar area and saw Mikey motioning for me to come up.

“My mom’s calling,” I called to Ray over the loud music, pointing upwards. He looked up, saw Mikey and laughed. He nodded, turning his attention back to our dancing party. With a sigh, I made my way back upstairs. I knew Mikey meant well, but again, I could find my own dates. I didn’t need him setting me up with random girls every now and again. This was his third attempt already in the last five months. It was ridiculous to say the least. The first girl was a tattoo artist that he apparently knew through Pete, but she had been bat shit crazy. She would have sent me straight down the deep end, because she was definitely a terrible influence on anyone who came within five hundred feet of her. Needless to say, I distanced myself from her within the first five minutes, because that was really all the time you needed sometimes to know someone. She talked a lot and I instantly knew her through and through. The second girl was kind of boring. I couldn’t even remember how Mikey knew her. Even though it was good to be interested in politics and those kinds of things, that’s all she ever talked about. I would have gone out of my mind in less than two days. I was willing to bet five hundred bucks that this time wouldn’t end much different from the previous two times. The odds were not in my favor.

I reached the group of people and immediately noticed the newcomer. I only saw her from behind though. She had wild hair pulled up into two pigtails. Clearly she hadn’t been able to make up her mind on the color she’d wanted, because her hair was black and red and blonde all at the same time. Great going, Mikey, another wild child. I couldn’t fathom why he would even think that I’d be into a girl that he liked. Our interests when it came to girls were pretty different.

Instead of making my presence known right away, I turned to the bar and ordered a beer. Only then did I rejoin my friends.

“There you are!” Mikey exclaimed. “See, this is Frank.” He told his friend, McKenna, motioning towards me.

“McKenna,” she said in greeting when her eyes found mine.

“Hi.” I lifted my own hand in greeting, not knowing how else to approach the situation. Things were never easy when they were forced, like this situation was.

Mikey grinned broadly. “This is great! Who wants more drinks?”

“Frank and I will park ourselves over by the bar, I think, right, Frank?” McKenna suddenly looked at me and before registering what was going on, I heard myself agreeing. “Yeah.” I automatically followed her to where she took a seat at the side of the bar. I took the seat next to her and looked at her expectantly. She brought me here. What did she want?

She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually that controlling.”

“You’re not?” I was unconvinced.

She thought about it for a second and then chuckled. “Okay, maybe I am a little controlling, but you’ll agree that I saved us both from a very awkward situation back there. Mikey expected the fireworks between us to happen right away and, no offence, but that wasn’t going to happen. This whole set-up is ridiculous.” She shook her head in annoyance.

“Thank you!” I exclaimed in complete agreement. “Try telling him that. This is his third attempt to set me up in the last few months and it’s driving me up the walls to be honest.”

“Why? What’s so sad and miserable about your life that he needs to set you up so much? Can’t keep a girl?” She was straightforward, if not brutally honest. I liked that. I knew where I stood with her.

“I don’t even know. My last relationship ended about five months ago. I’m not the type of person who needs to jump from one girl to another. That’s why I don’t understand why he insists on fixing me up with someone. I’m perfectly happy with my life the way it is.”

“Well,” she started, flipping her hair back, or at least the one pigtail. “Apparently you and I are perfect for each other and he would be a shitty friend if he did not at least introduce us to each other. Why he would think that is beyond me.” I shrugged in response.

“I’ve met the girls Mikey knows through Pete and it never ends well.”

“Hey!” She was offended. “Drink your beer and enjoy the music.”

“They changed DJ’s?” I realized, since the mixing had changed.

“I can’t sit here talking to you and play.” McKenna said as if it should have been obvious.

“That was you playing earlier? You’re great!”

“Thanks! Can you believe the guy playing now thinks he made this club great? He wishes. He was only hired, because, okay, he is great, but he forgets that I was the one who put this place on the map. He was only hired because I couldn’t play all night.” Someone thought a lot of herself, I noted. “I have to run the place too, otherwise I would’ve loved being up there all the time.”

“This is your club?” Mikey neglected that little detail. It was a good thing I haven’t commented on the place otherwise I might have said something wrong. Then again, I did like it.

“Kings. McKenna Kingsley. You couldn’t make the connection?”

“I didn’t know your last name was Kingsley.” Yet another thing Mikey failed to tell me. I took a swig of my beer. This was going to be a long night at this rate. “Mikey fails to tell me a lot of things, like he failed to tell me this was a setup until we were practically here.”

“You’re a wiener,” McKenna said.

“What?” I gaped at her, unable to believe that she had called me a wiener.

“I mean whiner,” she corrected herself. “You complain a lot.”

“You said wiener,” I was grinning broadly now.

“It was an honest mistake.”

“Where are you from?” I wondered curiously. She definitely wasn’t American.

“What do you mean where am I from? I’m a New Yorker.”

“No, you’re not. You have a bit of an accent going on and you called me a wiener,” I laughed.

“My American accent is flawless and I told you that I meant to say whiner,” she huffed, not meeting my eyes.

“So?” I waited for her to tell me where she was from.

“So what?” She was not going to give up that easily.

“If you were really American you wouldn’t have to defend your American accent.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, clearly not happy with me. “Greenwich.”

“London?”

“If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you,” she threatened me and, judging by the size of her eyes at that moment, I believed her.

“Why? What’s so bad about where you come from?”

“Not even Mikey knows I’m British. I don’t even know how the hell you figured it out.” She was angry.

“I told you, you have a bit of an accent. It’s not clear and most people probably won’t pick up on it, but I heard it. Plus, there is no way that an American would have called me a wiener.”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” she looked at me from beneath her dark eyelashes. Maybe she was a brunette? I still couldn’t tell from her multiple hair colors. “And to answer your question, nothing. There’s nothing wrong with where I come from. I always wanted to come to New York City and make a name for myself here. Don’t even ask why. It’s one of those things. I soon enough realized, though, that you Americans are not the brightest, because no one understood a word I was saying even though it was plain English. So I adapted and now everyone believes I’m one of you. Besides, who wouldn’t want a part of the patriotism of American citizens?”

“Believe me, not everyone has that.” I shook my head in dismay. “Give me a try.”

“You want to hear British me?” I nodded eagerly. “Why are you so curious about this? It’s still English. It just sounds different.”

She had a thick English accent and I did have to listen somewhat closely to catch everything, but it wasn’t incomprehensible. I grinned broadly. “I clearly heard what you were saying. Why couldn’t everyone else?”

She shrugged. “Beats me.” She was back to the American voice.

“You can totally be yourself around me. I understand your English. It actually sounds very nice. It’s you. I wouldn’t want you to forget your roots now.”

She looked surprised by my words and then smiled bashfully. “You talk too much. How are we going to get Mikey to back off?”

“You mean, how are we going to let our friend, whom we both love, get the message that we don’t need him to find someone for us, that we are both fine?”

“Exactly that.” And then her hands were on my shoulders, pulling me forward and her lips pressed against mine, firmly. She was really going for it and I had no choice but to participate. I wasn’t complaining, she was a good, no, a great kisser. In the back of my mind I hoped that Mikey saw us, otherwise this would be kind of pointless. On the other hand, if he did notice, what would we tell him when McKenna and I never talked again? He would want to know what happened. McKenna still wasn’t letting up and I put my hands down on her knees, leaning into the kiss a little more. We must have been making out for several minutes before we parted and stared at each other, stunned. I only came to notice that the right side of her nose was pierced now that we were this close to each other. I really should learn to pay closer attention.

“Drink?”

“I’ve got you,” I told her.

“Please,” she rolled her eyes. “I get special discount.” She turned to the bar. “Can I get another beer,” she pointed to my practically empty drink. “And a Manhattan please.”

“She says please,” I noted. “And what, are you too good for beer?” I didn’t mean to sound snarky, I was only joking. Not everyone liked beer. It was actually like olives, in my opinion, you had to learn to like it.

“I’ll have you know that I may not look it, but I went to some of the best posh schools in England. I am in fact a thorough bred lady. My parents are quite wealthy. I can give you my entire pedigree.” She smiled at me and took a sip of her cocktail.

“Then I won’t question it,” I chuckled, putting my hands up in mock defense.

“I’m glad to see that you two are getting along,” Mikey said with a broad grin, a tell-tale that he had in fact seen us kissing. “You’re both so stubborn I thought for a moment there that this would be an impossible task.”

“Frank’s cool,” McKenna muttered. “Mikey, guard our drinks while we go dance. Come on, Pretty Boy.” She hopped off the barstool and grabbed my hand. I took one last swig of my beer before following her, shrugging at Mikey as we left.

“Pretty boy?” I scoffed at her once we stopped on the dance floor and she turned to face me.

“What? It was a compliment.” She seemed certain that it was, and maybe it was, but…

“No guy wants to be called pretty, rather attractive or good-looking and I’m hardly a boy.”

She chuckled, stepping closer to me. “Whiner.”

“I’m…” I shut my mouth, realizing that I was going to confirm what she was saying. “Let’s just dance.” She grinned broadly and began to sway her hips to the rhythm of the music.

*

There was nothing like slowly waking up, you know, gaining consciousness without an alarm clock screaming you to life or someone shaking you awake. There was this endless feeling of peace. My body leisurely stretched out, my eyes still closed, trying to hold onto those last few seconds of sleep. In the end they had to open and I blinked a few times, stifling a yawn. I had the urge to stay in bed all day long, but I wasn’t that type of person. Once I was awake, I had to get up. I couldn’t lie around doing nothing all day. I would go nuts. Beds really had an unfair advantage over morning alarms, because they were so damn comfortable and the added warmth of the body next to mine did not help to motivate me to get up. I turned and looked at the sleeping person next to me. She looked so peaceful. I thought back to the night before. Things definitely did not end the way I had expected them to, though Mikey ought to be happy with the night’s results. Giving into the urge, I leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her cheek and then got up and out of bed. I wasn’t even going to waste my time with anything I wore the night before, since all of it would reek. I hated the smell of clothes after a night out and it was next to impossible to get the scent out. You had to wash them almost three or four times and I did not enjoy spending an entire night at the Laundromat. I pulled a fresh pair of black jeans from the drawer and dragged them on after I found some boxers. Commando wasn’t really my style.

“Good morning.”

I turned around to see that sleeping beauty had awoken from her deep slumber, only, that wasn’t exactly the case. McKenna was propped up on one elbow, the other arm clutching the grey sheets to her chest. Her make-up was smudged, her lipstick was smeared across her cheek and her hair almost formed a halo around her head. I think some of her hair was still stuck in some sort of pigtail and the others all chose to go in their own separate directions. It was kind of endearing and I couldn’t help smiling. “Good morning to you.”

“Is something wrong?” She sounded almost worried in her thick British accent, watching me get dressed.

“No, I’m a bit of a busybody and can’t stay in bed doing nothing all day.” I pulled on a green shirt I found in the closet and turned back to her. “You, however, are more than welcome to sleep in. I’ll get started on breakfast.”

I headed out to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge, pulling out some eggs to begin with. I barely had the stove turned on and some butter melting in the pan when McKenna made an appearance. She was fully dressed and looked a lot better than she had five minutes ago. Her face had been washed and it looked like she had raked a hand through her wild hair.

“What are you making?” she asked curiously, back to her American accent, peeking over my shoulder at the still empty pan.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like. I have some eggs and I can make toast?” I looked at her, waiting for a response. She thought about it for a while and then turned to the fridge. She rummaged around for a while, pulling out tomatoes, cheese, some mushrooms and…

“Yes! Fake bacon.” She waved the package at me over her back before pulling her head out of the fridge and standing straight.

“You’re a vegetarian?”

“Hell no,” she said as if it was a ridiculous idea. “Granted, I’m not a big fan of red meat, unless we’re talking about pork, but I love fake bacon. I know it’s not meat, but I like the taste. It could be the spices or something that they use to make it.” She bundled all the items into her arms and dropped them on the counter next to me. “Let me,” she said, reaching around me for the eggs. “I make a mean breakfast omelet.”

I motioned for her to go right ahead. I loved that she was making herself right at home. Plus, it’s been a while since someone made me breakfast. “I can help,” I offered. “Tell me what to do.”

“You can show me where the spice cabinet is,” she told me with a small almost teasing smile. She was definitely teasing me, but I had no idea why.I didn’t say anything though and walked over to the spice rack. “What do you need?”

“If you have it,” she said thoughtfully as she grated the cheese. “Mixed herbs, mint, garlic, some salt and black pepper.” I picked out her selection and brought it over.

“What next?”

“We’re making croutons,” she told me.

“I’m on it.” I pulled the bread closer and started cutting it into little squares. McKenna was busy beating eggs and adding cheese and salt and pepper to the mix. I continued my own task and then set about chopping the mushrooms into smaller pieces before frying them in another pan. Finally, I watched her make the croutons, curious as to how she did it. Mine were usually store bought. She began by heating up quite a lot of olive oil in the pan before adding the bread pieces. She spiced them with the mint, garlic and mixed herbs and I might add that she seemed unafraid of adding too much.

“By the way, I love your tattoo,” I said, leaning against the counter and watching her cook.

She glanced at the rose and additional details like a crescent moon tattooed on her right forearm. “You’re only noticing it now?”

“No, but you wore that denim jacket last night and, after you took it off, I wasn’t exactly in quite the right mind to pay attention to much else. Besides, I already expressed my awe over the one on your back.” It was a masterpiece in my opinion. It was an intricate rose pattern running along the lower half of her back and then going up and turning from black to a dark blue to a deep red, ending just down the side of her left shoulder.

“Thanks. Breakfast is ready.”

“Coffee or juice?”

“Juice please.”

We finally sat down to enjoy her delicious looking cheese omelets filled with fried mushrooms, tomatoes, feta and croutons with a side of fake bacon. I cut into the omelet and took my first bite. It was really good.

“You should totally become my live in cook,” I said, through a mouthful of food.

McKenna snorted. “Sure.”

I looked up at her. “It’s a compliment. This is delicious.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.” We continued eating in silence for a while until I had a question.

“I was wondering about you and Mikey.”

McKenna stopped chewing and looked up questioningly. She finished chewing and swallowing the food in her mouth. “What about us?”

“I heard some things, like that you and Mikey hooked-up one time, but that you haven’t let him get any action since then.”

“First of all, I’m offended,” she said moodily and I knew I had pushed the wrong button by asking that question. “I get how people’s heads work nowadays, it being the twenty first century and what not,” she began to explain, having, thankfully, put down her knife and fork. “But the fact that Mikey didn’t get any action since that first night we met, has nothing to do with you. Just because we made out once does not mean that I’m under some obligation to keep making out with him. It was a party. We had quite a bit to drink and I thought Mikey was cool.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just curious. I just wanted to be sure that I hadn’t crossed some line by sleeping with you last night.”

“It’s a little late to worry about that now,” she pointed out, picking her cutlery back up and resuming eating her breakfast. “And no, you didn’t. It was a simple chemistry thing. My pheromones didn’t mix well with his. Mikey is awesome and I love him to death. I just don’t see him like that.”

I nodded, allowing a small bit of satisfaction to take place inside.

“We can’t be into every single person we meet,” she continued. “That would be problematic, I think, because no one would be faithful. No one can turn down an opportunity that presents itself every two feet, especially in this city,” she mused.

“I get it. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” We finished eating and quickly washed the dishes.

“Feel free to take a shower and do whatever you need to.”

“Thanks, but I have to get going. I have work to do.”

“Okay, Miss workaholic.” She playfully punched my shoulder due to the remark. I followed her to the front door and opened it for her. Fortunately her car was there, obviously, since I had caught a ride with the guys. It was a sleek white Porsche 911 Carrera S Convertible. I was actually pretty jealous. Granted, I wasn’t a Porsche person, but it was still a nice car.

“Mikey did good,” McKenna said with a smile before getting in the car. “I’ll call you sometime.” I waved her off and headed back inside the house, feeling good.

Notes

Soooo... What did you think?