Even Angels Fall

“The reason they call it ‘happy hour’,” Ava turned to Sarah on Friday evening in the crowded bar, and smirked at her. “Is because you’re not supposed to look like you’re completely miserable. Come on, what’s going on with you? You’ve looked like someone ran over your puppy or something all day.”

Looking up from her drink, Sarah saw Ava’s concerned eyes watching her for some sign of what was wrong. Luckily, Chris and her other two co-workers that had joined them for drinks were caught up in their own conversation, and didn’t seem to notice the way Ava was looking at Sarah.

Shrugging, Sarah knew she couldn’t tell Ava why she had been unhappy since she had gotten to work that morning. In fact, she couldn’t tell anyone why she had been on the verge of tears for nearly the entirety of the last twenty-four hours. That was probably the worst part of it all. ‘No,’ Sarah corrected herself silently. ‘Zip kissing you and then throwing you out of his place was the worst part. Not having anyone to talk about it with is the distant second-worst part.’

“I’m sorry,” Sarah finally told Ava, not quite meeting her eyes. “I guess I’m just not feeling so hot right now. Maybe I’m coming down with something.” Pushing away the beer that Ava had gotten her earlier – as Sarah might have been carded at the bar, although no one was going to check her ID once they were at the table – she sighed.

Frowning, Ava could tell that Sarah was lying, but wasn’t sure what she could say to coerce the girl to talk. “Is this about a guy?” Ava finally got frustrated with the idea of trying to figure out what to say to Sarah and went straight to the heart of the situation. “I don’t care what you say, I know you’ve been walking around all dopey-lovey these past few weeks. Wait,” Ava’s eyes widened and the volume of her voice dropped. “You didn’t sleep with anyone, did you?”

Blushing, Sarah rolled her eyes before finally meeting Ava’s and shaking her head. “Nothing that exciting,” she told the Australian woman seated next to her. “No, I was just… hanging out with someone for a while, and it turns out he wasn’t into me… or something. I don’t know.”

“But what was with all the secrecy?” Ava looked confused. “I mean, if you were hanging out with a guy, why didn’t you just tell me when I asked you?”

Biting her lip, Sarah suddenly wished she had gone with her initial instincts and not said anything at all about it to Ava. “I guess I just wanted to find out if anything was actually there, between us, before I jinxed it by telling anyone.” She gave Ava a small smile. “Now I see how well that worked out.”

Raising her eyebrows, Ava didn’t look very convinced, but she chose not to push Sarah for more information while she still looked that dejected. “Well, I’m sorry it didn’t work out how you were hoping,” she told Sarah. “But right now, the best thing is to try to have some fun and forget this loser.” Standing up, she gave Sarah a big grin. “I’m getting us strawberry daiquiris. And no arguments from you!”

Sarah couldn’t help but release a little giggle as Ava turned with a flourish towards the bar. Chris quickly slipped over one seat, into Ava’s now empty chair, and gave Sarah a smile. “He’s nuts, you know,” he told Sarah in a whisper, crossing his arms in front of his chest and resting his elbows on the table.

“Who?” Sarah asked.

“Whatever guy was lucky enough to have you interested in him, but too dumb to realize how lucky he was,” Chris gave Sarah a shy grin. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear some of the conversation.”

Blushing, Sarah looked down at the table, and then back up at Chris. “Thanks,” she told him sincerely. “That was really sweet to say.” Smirking, she tilted her head. “How come all the good ones are always gay?” she teased Chris.

“Funny,” Chris tried to look annoyed by Sarah’s joke, but couldn’t keep a straight face for long. Laughing, he shook his head. “Fine, I’m moving back over here, where my sexuality is not made fun of. Everyone still thinks I’m gay, but at least they don’t tease me for it,” he told Sarah, sliding back into his seat just as Ava returned from the bar.

“Here we are,” Ava placed the drinks on the table in front of herself and Sarah. “There’s no better way to deal with stupid boys making stupid decisions than to drown your sorrows in a 36-ounce frozen alcoholic beverage.”

“You’re right,” Sarah smirked, taking the drink from Ava with a nod of thanks. “I’m likely to not remember MY name, let alone his, after I finish this.”

“Speaking of which,” Ava took a big sip of her bright red beverage and looked over at Sarah. “What IS his name, anyway?”

Bringing the straw to her lips, Sarah shook her head as she swallowed the sweet drink. “It doesn’t matter,” she told Ava after a moment. “I don’t think he and I will be spending time together anymore anyway.”

-----

By eight o’clock on Friday night, Zip knew he had to get out of his condo. He had been pacing around his place restlessly since had had woken up that morning – after a very unrestful night in bed. He could not stand the idea of spending one more minute micro-analyzing why he kissed Sarah the night before, or what he should do now, or – most disturbingly – why the memory of his lips on hers made his body temperature rise suddenly.

Grabbing his wallet and keys, Zip hurried out the door. The last few weeks – spending time with Sarah – had been a mistake, and last night had been the realization of that mistake. ‘I just can’t see her anymore,’ he told himself as he rode the elevator down to the lobby, trying to ignore the way his stomach tightened at the thought. ‘I’m just glad I figured that out before I REALLY did something fucked up – something Sarah wouldn’t have been able to forget.’

Zip took a cab to a club – the club where he had first actually met Sarah – and was greeted at the door with enthusiasm. “We haven’t seen you here in a while,” the doorman told him as Zip smiled towards the crowd outside. “I was starting to wonder if you had someone you were seeing.”

Turning towards the bouncer, Zip forced himself to smile. “Who? Me?” he smirked at the man. “Please, the last thing in the world you need to worry about is me settling down with some girl. How could I?” he raised his eyebrows mischievously as he glanced at a barely-dressed girl in the crowd who was smiling flirtatiously at him. “When there are just SO MANY woman I haven’t gotten to meet yet?”

Laughing, the bouncer patted Zip on the back. “What I wouldn’t give to be you,” he said.

‘And right now,’ Zip thought silently as he mad his way into the club. ‘I wish I was just about anyone in the world BESIDES me.’

Making his way through the crowd as people approached him, Zip went upstairs to the VIP lounge and quickly found Adam, Broken Dynamite’s drummer, at a table with several other people sitting around him.

“The elusive Zip Kopti,” Adam looked up as Zip approached the table, a small grin on Adam’s face and his eyes slightly droopy, showing that he had recently been smoking pot. “Where the fuck have you been lately? You’ve been MIA since we got back from tour. If I hadn’t talked to Joey the other day, I would have thought some crazed fan had kidnapped you and tied you up in her basement.”

“Oh, Zip doesn’t like to be tied up,” a very attractive blond who looked vaguely familiar leaned towards Zip. “He likes to be the one to do the tying. Isn’t that right, love?”

Obviously, Zip had slept with this girl. Suddenly, he remembered that she was the girl whose name he hadn’t been able to remember the morning he snuck out of her apartment. ‘Was that only a month ago?’ he thought to himself with surprise, forcing himself to give the blond a cocky grin. “And you would know, wouldn’t you?” he told her.

“Mm hm,” the woman bit her bottom lip and slid closer to Zip, obviously pleased that he remembered her and their night together. Putting her hand on Zip’s chest, she gave him a small pout. “You know,” her voice had gotten lower as she looked up into Zip’s face. “You hurt my feelings that morning. You didn’t even wait until I woke up to leave.”

‘This is me,’ Zip told himself, looking into the wide blue eyes of the girl beside him, letting his eyes rake down over her curvy body, and dragging them back up. ‘This is where I belong, and who I belong with.’

Leaning over, Zip put his mouth to the girl’s ear. “I’m sorry,” he whispered breathily, reaching his tongue out to trace the curve of her ear and feeling her tremble slightly at the touch. Having not had sex for the past month, her reaction turned him on. “Maybe I can make it up to you later,” he whispered before pulling his mouth back and smirking at her.

A sexy smile curved over the woman’s full lips. “Sounds good,” she told Zip, picking up her drink. “I think I’d like that.”

Nodding, Zip waved over a waitress and ordered a shot and a beer. He needed something to calm down the feelings that seemed to be coursing through him. What he was experiencing right then was something he couldn’t quite place, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with Sarah and the woman beside him, whose hand had unceremoniously dropped from Zip’s chest to his thigh, where she was gently massaging.

“By the way,” the woman leaned close to Zip, kissing his neck softly. “I just wanted to remind you that my name is Carmen.”

“I know,” Zip replied to her, glad that his drinks were being delivered at that moment. “Of course I remember your name. How could I forget?” Picking up the shot glass, he quickly downed the dark liquid, feeling it burn his throat. He immediately followed with a sip of beer, and then put his arm around Carmen’s shoulders. “I couldn’t forget you.”

-----

Several hours later, Zip was lying in Carmen’s bed feeling a bit nervous. His body was covered in sweat and he was panting. Beside him, Carmen could also be heard trying to catch her breath. “Damn,” she finally said, rolling over onto her side and running her hand over the tattoos on Zip’s bare chest. “I didn’t think it would be possible, but that was even better than last time. You are one hell of a fuck.”

Looking over at Carmen, Zip realized that either she hadn’t heard him a few minutes ago, or she was just choosing to ignore the fact that he had called her by another girl’s name while they were having sex. “You’re not too bad yourself,” Zip smirked at her. “Where did you learn to do that thing with the headboard?”

Giggling, Carmen moved closer to Zip. “I was a gymnast until I was sixteen,” she told him, sliding her body on top of his and dropping her mouth for a wet kiss. “If you’re not ready to sneak out just yet, I could show you a couple other things I can do. I am still VERY limber.”

The truth was, as soon as Zip had climaxed, he had been overcome with the desire to leave. But realizing that he had called out Sarah’s name at one point was too much for him. “I may have to test that later,” he slid his hands across Carmen’s back and grinned at her. “But for now, why don’t you get those scarves we used last time to tie you up…”

-----

Sarah woke up on Saturday with a splitting headache. She remembered having the enormous daiquiri that Ava had gotten her, and then getting an equally-as-large Pina Colada. It was then that things started to get fuzzy.

Trudging into the bathroom, Sarah looked in the mirror and sighed. Her hair was matted to her head on one side, there were big black circles under her eyes, and her tongue felt like it was covered in felt. Grabbing her toothbrush, Sarah brushed her teeth, and then ran a comb through her hair and splashed her face with water before walking back into the main area of the apartment for aspirin and Gatorade. When she did, she let out a little surprised shriek.

In her haze of waking up hungover, Sarah had somehow managed to miss the fact that Chris was asleep on her couch. Well, he had been asleep, but her surprised yell had woken him up immediately. “What’s the matter?” he asked as he sat up, rubbing his eyes before grabbing his glasses from the coffee table and putting them on. “Are you okay?”

Suddenly, Sarah remembered not feeling well at the bar, and Chris offering to escort her home in a taxi. He had helped her inside, getting her water and some leftover pizza from her fridge. He had then stayed while she changed into pajamas in the bathroom and sat with her on the couch as she babbled incoherently about not understanding men. Then…

“Oh God,” Sarah covered her face with her hands, unable to look at Chris as she felt her cheeks heating with shame. “I am so sorry about last night,” she told him, peeking from behind her fingers.

Rolling his eyes, Chris smirked at Sarah as he rose from the couch. “I don’t think having a beautiful – if drunk and overemotional – girl try to kiss me is the worst thing in the world,” he teased kindly, walking up to Sarah. Taking her wrists in his hands, Chris forced her to stop hiding behind her hands and look up at him. “Don’t worry about it. We’re still friends.”

“Thanks,” Sarah told Chris, knowing her cheeks were still flaming red. “I just feel so stupid. Thank you so much for not…”

“Not taking advantage of you?” Chris raised his eyebrows and released her wrists from his grasp. “That would have been so wrong. You obviously were upset over this guy you’ve been hanging out with, and just had a little too much to drink. It was no big deal.”

Suddenly, Sarah felt her stomach tumble. “I didn’t by any chance say anything to you or Ava about WHO I had been hanging out with, did I?” she asked nervously, feeling incredibly relieved when she saw Chris shake his head.

“No, Ava left shortly after she finished the daiquiri,” Chris tried to help Sarah remember. “That guy she’s seeing, Joel, came and met her. And you didn’t actually seem to get too wasted until about halfway through the Pina Colada.”

“But… I didn’t say anything to you about who he was?” Sarah asked.

Wrinkling his eyebrows, Chris obviously had no idea why Sarah would be so worried about revealing the identity of the guy she had been spending time with. “No… Wait, is this guy married or something, Sarah?”

Bursting out laughing, Sarah shook her head. “No, he’s not married,” she told Chris with a smirk. Suddenly, she lowered her voice and covered her mouth like she was about to tell a big secret. “No, he’s in the Russian Mafia,” she whispered. “Very hush-hush.”

“Wow, you’re just a riot,” Chris rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“Yes, I know,” Sarah suddenly felt much better, glad at least that she hadn’t said anything to Chris or Ava about Zip. “Anyway, all joking aside, thanks for being so great last night – for making sure I got back here safe, and listening to me blubbering, and… the really embarrassing kiss thing.” Her cheeks suddenly tinged pink again.

“That’s what friends do,” Chris told Sarah, his voice genuine. “Anyway, why don’t you make it up to me by taking me to breakfast? My favorite little diner is only about five blocks away, and I’m starving – you ate all the pizza last night without even offering me a bite!”

“I’m sorry,” Sarah laughed. “And breakfast sounds great. Just let me take a five-minute shower, and I’ll be ready.”

“Sounds good,” Chris took a seat back on the couch. “And remember to bring your wallet. I may look skinny, but I can eat A LOT.”

Giggling, Sarah didn’t reply but instead walked towards the bathroom. She was really glad that Chris was there that morning – despite her embarrassment over her behavior the night before – because she already was less depressed about what had happened with Zip two nights earlier. ‘This is what I have to do,’ she told herself as she turned on the water in the shower. ‘I have to make friends that aren’t cocky-arrogant-self-important-crossed-signal-giving-kiss-you-and-throw-you-out-rock-stars. Nice people. Normal people. People that aren’t Zip.’

-----

Zip slowly woke up as he felt moist kisses being left over his chest and stomach. Opening his eyes, he looked down and saw Carmen smiling up at him. “Good morning,” she whispered against his skin. “See, isn’t waking up like this better than sneaking out before I’m awake?”

“Come here,” Zip reached for Carmen’s shoulders and pulled her up until she was lying above him. “While I appreciate the thought, I don’t think I would even be able to get it up right now, after last night. You exhausted me, woman. Wore me out. Used and abused me.”

Smirking, Carmen kissed Zip’s lips lightly. “You’re complaining?” she asked. “I’m the one who’s going to walk funny for a week.”

“Hey, that part wasn’t my idea,” Zip chuckled. “Don’t blame me for following through on something you requested.”

“I’m not blaming,” Carmen put her head on Zip’s chest. “Everything last night was incredible. I wouldn’t change a single thing.”

Suddenly, Zip began to feel uncomfortable. The way Carmen was talking, and the way she had curled up on top of Zip, made it clear that she was trying to add another dimension to their relationship – something more than just sex. And that idea had to be nipped in the bud.

“Well, I hate to say this,” Zip said. “But I have to get going.”

“Now?” Carmen leaned up, looking down into Zip’s face with a pout. “I thought we could at least have breakfast. I think you owe me that, don’t you?”

Wanting to groan with annoyance, Zip forced himself to not just shove Carmen off him and leave. Giving her a fake smile, he nodded. “I think I can make time for breakfast,” he told her. “But something quick – like a diner. I really do have to be somewhere soon. You know, band stuff.” All a lie.

“I know just the place,” Carmen’s blue eyes lit up and she rose from bed. Even annoyed that he had to go to breakfast with her, Zip couldn’t help but admire her perfect body, marred only by a few light bruises her had accidentally given her on the hips and wrists the night before. Watching her dress, Zip also began to get up. ‘Might as well get this over with,’ he told himself.

-----

Sarah and Chris were seated in a corner booth of the fifties-style diner, waiting for their food to arrive. “Well, since you’re hanging out with your brother tonight,” Chris was saying. “Maybe we couldn’t catch a movie or something tomorrow night.”

“That sounds like fun,” Sarah told Chris, taking a sip of her coffee. ‘Anything sounds fun compared to sitting at home alone in my apartment thinking about-’

“Zip,” Sarah said out loud, looking over her shoulder.

“What?” Chris looked confused, following Sarah’s stare to the doorway. ‘Damn, she right,’ he thought to himself as he looked at the lead singer of Broken Dynamite entering with a busty blond by his side. “Sin used to date him, right? Do you know him?”

Sarah didn’t need to answer, though. At that moment, Zip looked over and saw Sarah. Her cheeks immediately flushed, while his eyes moved over towards Chris, his expression hard at the sight of Sarah sitting with a man this early in the morning. “That’s the guy, isn’t it?” Chris whispered, causing Sarah to look back at him. “That’s who you have been hanging out with.”

“Please don’t say anything,” Sarah’s heart was pumping in her chest. “Nothing happened between us, and I don’t want Sin to find out.”

“Of course I won’t,” Chris said, raising his chin towards the entrance. “But he is headed over here.”

Freezing, Sarah waited until Zip walked over to the table. Only then did she really take in the girl by his side. She was wearing a tight, low-cut tank top with tight, low-rider jeans, and she was holding onto Zip’s arm. Some makeup hadn’t entirely been fixed under her eyes, and it was clear she and Zip had spent the night together. The realization made Sarah’s throat constrict.

“Hey Sarah,” Zip said in as unemotional a voice as he could. Initially, he was shocked to see Sarah there at all – after all, there were hundreds, even thousands, of restaurants in the city – but then the shock wore off quickly. He noted that Sarah’s hair was wet from the shower, and that the guy across from her was wearing one of her t-shirts. Like he had needed to borrow it, after spending the night…

“Hi Zip,” Sarah said softly, immediately figuring out what Zip was thinking and growing annoyed at him. ‘Fuck that,’ she said. ‘HE kisses me, HE kicks me out, HE has some slutty groupie on his arm, and I’M supposed to feel bad about having breakfast with Chris? I don’t think so.’

“This is my friend, Chris,” Sarah gave Zip a fake sweet smile. “I know I’ve mentioned him to you before. Chris, this is Zip, the lead singer of Broken Dynamite. And… his friend.”

“I’m Carmen,” the blond chirped, the only one of the four oblivious to the fact that the tension at the table could be cut with a knife.

“Carmen, how nice to meet you,” Sarah said, flashing another fake smile. “Well, you guys better go grab a seat. This place fills up pretty quickly this early in the morning.”

Looking over at Chris once more, Zip slit his eyes and looked at Sarah. “Yeah, we better,” he said, taking hold of Carmen’s hand. “Besides, I’m really hungry. We didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Not expecting Zip to say something so blatant, Sarah felt like the wind had gotten knocked out of her. As she looked up at him one last time, unable to hide the flicker of pain in her eyes, she saw Zip flinch – if just for a second – as if regretting the way he had just acted. Without another word, he turned and walked away with Carmen.

“I really thought that when I finally got to meet a rock star,” Chris met Sarah’s eyes as she turned back to him. “He wouldn’t be looking at me like he wanted to rip me limb from limb.”

“Sorry if that was uncomfortable for you,” Sarah told Chris softly.

“Not a big deal,” Chris said, reaching over to pat Sarah’s hand. “And don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, I promise. I’m your friend.”

“Thanks,” Sarah willed her eyes not to fill with tears as she glanced over towards Zip’s table. At that same moment, he had glanced over towards her table again. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and Sarah could read confusion and hurt in his expression before he finally looked away again. ‘As if he has the right…’

“Thanks, Chris,” Sarah turned all her attention back to the boy across from her. “I could really use all the friends I could get right now.”

-----

I’VE BEEN GETTING SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THIS STORY NOT FLOWING THE WAY MY OTHERS HAVE, AND IF YOU HAVE FOUND THIS DISTRACTING, I APOLOGIZE. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, THOUGH, AS IT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN IMPROVE. THANKS!

CECILLE – I GET WHAT YOU SAID IN YOUR REVIEW, AND I APPRECIATE THE HONESTY. I HOPE THIS CHAPTER WAS A LITTLE LESS CHOPPY TO YOU. I TRIED TO MAKE IT FLOW A LITTLE MORE. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

ADAEE – ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK IT SEEMS!

SHANNA – YOUR GUESS WASN’T EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE PLANNED, BUT FAIRLY CLOSE, FYI.

ROSIE – I’M SORRY YOU HATE SARAH SO MUCH! I HONESTLY DIDN’T MEAN FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.

AFICI0NADA – I’M SURE SARAH WOULD APPRECIATE THE HUG.

KELLY – I’VE ALWAYS LIKE HAVING ZIP FIGHT WITH HIMSELF AND INSULT HIMSELF. MY WHOLE LIFE, I’VE KNOWN GUYS THAT HAD A TENDANCY TO DO THIS, AND IT’S ALWAYS AMUSED ME TO NO END.

THANKS ALSO TO IOTC247, LKN, TEMPLETON21, SAMMO_00, SOUTHERN, ROSEMARY, MIZTIKAL_DRAGON, GIRLFIXER, FOAMYFAN15010, WOLF, ARAINAINA, REDSNAKE, KIRSCHE, FISHY, ANGEL, AND CIEL FOR REVIEWING.