Original Sin

“Sin, your cell phone is ringing,” Ava called out in an Australian accent across the studio. “Do you want me to answer it?”

Looking up from her camera, Sin crinkled her forehead. “Who is it?” she asked with annoyance. She hated being interrupted in the middle of a shoot, and all her friends knew that she was working that day. That meant it could probably just be one person…

Picking up the phone and flipping it open, Ava began laughing loudly. “Apparently, it’s someone called ‘Asshole’.”

Letting out an annoyed groan, Sin tried to keep her anger in check. “Ignore it,” she told the blond girl who was her assistant. “It’s just Zip again.”

No matter how many times Sin told Zip to stop calling her, he refused. Broken Dynamite was leaving for tour in two weeks, and Sin was fairly sure Zip just wanted to sleep with her once before they left, to prove to himself that he was still irresistible to all women. “I’m not falling for that one again,” Sin grumbled to herself as she turned her focus back to the model in front of her. “Okay, Jenna, give me some sort of expression. You look like you just overdosed on fucking Valium.”

The toothpick in front of Sin pouted at the insult, giving Sin the look she was aiming for. Snapping a few more photos as Jenna crossed her arms and gave the expression of a petulant toddler, Sin raised her head up with a smile. “Perfect,” she told the still-annoyed model. “Now go reward yourself with a lunch of diet coke and a cigarette.”

Before Jenna could say anything in return, Sin turned and walked away. “God, you’re so lucky that you’re an amazing photographer,” Ava mused as Sin approached her across the room. “You are so nasty to those models, it’s shocking you get so much work thrown at you.”

“Whatever,” Sin rolled her eyes and took the clipboard that Ava was holding from her hands. She flipped through a few sheets and signed one. “Bring the film to my apartment tomorrow, okay?” she said as she handed the clipboard back to her assistant. “I have to get proofs to the magazine by early next week.”

“Yes, master,” Ava drawled dryly, eliciting a small smile from Sin. “Anyway, why are you ignoring Zip’s calls? And why do you have him listed as ‘Asshole’ in your cell phone directory?”

“Because ‘Cocky Dickhead Man-Whore’ had too many letters.”

Shaking her head, Ava laughed. “To think I moved to the other side of the planet to keep working with you,” she told her boss. “I just hope I never get on your bad side.”

“You hope right,” Sin gave Ava a little grin. “Listen, you’ve been doing a great job since you’ve gotten here,” she added suddenly. “After you’ve loaded the equipment, why don’t you take the afternoon off? I’m just going down to the office to approve next month’s cover shot.”

“Thanks,” Ava grinned. “I’ll see you at your apartment with the film tomorrow morning. And do me a favor?” she added. “If you’re not going to call back that beautiful singer, go to that show tonight and find some guy to take home with you. I mean, come on. Have you even slept with anyone since you and Brian broke up? The sexual frustration is not doing much for your complexion.”

“Fuck you,” Sin grinned a little. “I’ll get laid when I want to, not to adjust my attitude to your liking or so I’m nice to some stupid sickeningly-skinny models.”

“Fine,” Ava threw her hands in the air. “I’m going before you take away my afternoon off. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Smart move,” Sin mumbled, going to gather her belongings. As she picked up her cell phone, she noted that Zip had left a voicemail for her. “Fuck,” she said to herself. “Why can’t he get the message already?”

-----

“Three days into the New Year,” Eddie mused to himself. “And I haven’t kept one of my resolutions.” Of course, Eddie’s resolutions this year weren’t as easy to gauge as, say, exercising daily or quitting smoking. No, resolving to change your whole personality was a little harder to measure.

On New Year’s Eve, just before midnight, Eddie had made a drunken promise to himself. “I am not going to spend another year being Mr.-Nice-Guy-Best-Friend-I-Just-Don’t-See-You-That-Way,” he had thought to himself as he stood on the balcony of his friend Lianna’s boyfriend’s condo, watching Lianna and Joseph kissing across the room. “This year, I’m going to start putting myself first, and I’m going to find a girl who wants to be with me.”

Taking a swallow of his lukewarm coffee, Eddie looked out the window of his dingy studio apartment onto the gray-white streets of Manhattan in winter. “Yeah, right,” he thought to himself ruefully. “I was destined to be the gay best friend, only I’m not gay.”

Of course, wallowing in self-pity isn’t really that attractive a trait either, Eddie realized. “Okay, I can’t make girls fall all over me,” he became determined. “But I can start putting myself first, taking better care of me.” With purpose, he slid on his coat and a scarf. He had to pick up some schoolbooks that day, but afterward, he was going to treat himself to a decent dinner and maybe a few drinks.

“Even if I never find a woman to fall in love with,” Eddie told himself as he locked his apartment door behind him. “I have to learn to like myself.”

-----

“Well, that was depressing,” Eddie muttered to himself as he walked out of the restaurant he had just eaten dinner at. Instead of feeling liberated and like he was treating himself, Eddie instead felt… alone. He watched the tables around him, people meeting up with spouses, lovers, family, friends. And he realized just how pathetic he looked sitting in the middle of the restaurant by himself. “I need a drink.”

Glancing up and down the street, Eddie could see only one bar in walking distance. Music, hard and pounding, was coming from the doors. “As long as they have alcohol,” he thought to himself. “I don’t really care what kind of bar it is, or what kind of music they are playing.

The bouncer, a huge guy with a shave head, checked Eddie’s ID and gave him a perplexed look as he let him in. Inside, Eddie realized why the doorman had looked at him strangely. He had walked into the middle of a circus sideshow, as far as he could tell. All around him, people with hair of every color – blue, red, green, orange – as well as an array of tattoos, piercings, and odd clothing were dancing to a loud, unintelligible band on stage.

Making his way to the bar, Eddie told himself that this was the perfect time to start keeping his resolution. The old Eddie would have felt uncomfortable and out of place in this bar, but the new Eddie was going to stay and have a drink, and maybe even talk to people. Or maybe just have a drink, Eddie reconsidered as he looked over at the huge scary-looking female bartender.

It would be an understatement to say Eddie was surprised when he heard his name being called from behind him. Turning around with a puzzled expression, Eddie came face to face with Sin. “Eddie, it is you,” Sin looked as surprised to see him in the bar as he felt being there. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I was just having dinner down the block,” Eddie explained. “And I thought I’d get a drink. This was the first bar I saw. How about you?”

“I’m friends with someone from the first band that played,” Sin explained. “I was actually going to get out of here when I spotted you. I had to stop and make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.”

“Sin!” a male voice called out from behind Eddie, and from Sin’s expression, she was not too pleased to see who was calling her.

“Zip, what the fuck are you doing here?” Sin asked as the dark-haired boy approached.

“And hello to you, too, Sunshine,” Zip flashed a sexy grin. “Oh, hey,” he looked at Eddie with surprise. “You’re Lianna’s friend, right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, unsure what else to add. He felt very out of place right then, standing in the middle of a punk rock bar with a rock star on one side of him and this firecracker of a woman that he had met only twice on the other side. “Um, I should probably get going…” he said as he watched Sin glaring at Zip.

“I’m going, too,” Sin told him immediately. “Have fun, Zip. And listen, if you don’t have time to call me five times a day until you go on tour, please don’t feel bad about that. In fact, please feel very, very good about it.”

“I know one way you could make me feel very, very good,” Zip said with a suggestive smile. “And it has nothing to do with calling you.”

“Yes, well, I don’t have eight minutes to waste with you in the bathroom,” Sin shot back.

“Ouch, your words sting,” Zip was smiling widely still. “Are you sure you don’t want to hang around a little longer, Sin? We could hang out after the show. I mean, we haven’t spent any real time together alone since you got back to town.”

“Because I don’t want to have anything to do with you, Zip,” Sin said through gritted teeth. “Shit, half the girls in this club will go home with you right now. Why can’t you just fuck one of them instead of bothering me?”

Taking a step forward, Zip took Sin by surprise as he put his mouth to her ear. “Because I don’t want to fuck anyone else,” he whispered, his hot breath tickling her neck. “I want to fuck you, Sin.” Letting his lips dance for just a second over the sensitive skin just under her earlobe, Zip smiled as he stepped back and looked at Sin’s expression.

As hard as she tried, Sin couldn’t form any words of retaliation for a moment. The feel of Zip’s lips on her neck and his scent as he stood close to her had sent a jolt through Sin’s body, which told her one thing: she could NOT be alone around Zip, or she would do something she would regret. “Come on, Champ,” she turned to Eddie. “Let’s go.”

Eddie saw Zip smirk knowingly as Sin turned to leave the club. “Catch you later,” Zip waved at Eddie. “Sorry for putting you in the middle of that. There’s a little bit of history - and a whole lot of chemistry - between me and Sin. I’m sorry if it was uncomfortable for you.”

“It was fine,” Eddie lied. “See you.” Turning around, he tried to spot Sin in the crowd, but she must have made a beeline immediately for the door. Walking out of the club into the cold winter night air, Eddie looked to the side where he saw the bouncer lighting a cigarette for Sin.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Eddie told Sin as he approached her.

“I don’t usually,” Sin took a long drag and let out the smoke slowly. “I quit last year. This is my first cigarette since then. I should have known that that asshole would be the cause of me fucking this up.” Looking at Eddie’s confused expression, Sin shrugged. “Sorry about all that. It’s just that something about that guy makes me…”

“Angry?”

“Horny.”

“Oh,” Eddie could feel his cold cheeks fill with color. “Well, um… Did you want to get a drink somewhere else, or a cup of coffee, or something? Standing out in the cold kind of sucks, and I’m having a sort of bad night already, so I’m not really ready to go home.”

“Yeah, let’s get another drink,” Sin smirked. “I know this little place not far from here that seems like it would be more your speed.”

“My speed?” Eddie was insulted by the comment. “I’m sorry, but you barely know me.”

“Let me guess, Slugger,” Sin smiled and looked Eddie up and down. “You’re from the mid-west. Your parents are happily married. You came to New York to go to college and see what big city life was like for yourself. You had a girlfriend throughout high school that was your first love and your first fuck, but she broke your heart. Since then, you’ve pined for a couple girls that were unattainable, and have had two one-night stands in the last four years. Am I close?”

“No,” Eddie shot back.

“One one-night stand?”

Grinning a little, Eddie shrugged. “Yeah.”

Letting out a laugh, Sin smiled widely at Eddie, and he was surprised to see how beautiful she was when she did. “Okay,” Sin said. “So since I was basically completely right about you, will you trust the bar that I picked that I think you will like?”

“Fine,” Eddie replied, feeling stupid for being such an open book to this wild, crazy, intense girl who was like no one he had ever met. It just made him feel more boring, more generic, more… vanilla. “Take me anywhere with liquor,” he added grimly.

“You’ve got it, Skippy,” Sin told him.

“Could you stop calling me those nicknames?” Eddie asked as they started walking. “Sport, Skippy, Champ? It’s sort of… condescending.”

“Not a chance, Junior,” Sin beamed.

-----

Eddie had to begrudgingly admit that the bar Sin took him to was much more his style. It was small and uncrowded, the only music coming from a jukebox in the corner. Sin also knew the bartender, a heavyset middle-aged Irishman that kept calling her darlin’ in a fatherly manner and giving them free drinks. Within a couple hours, they were both pretty drunk.

“Can I ask you a question?” Eddie looked at Sin, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Ask away,” Sin took a sip from her beer. “I’m not saying I’ll answer, but you can ask.”

“Well, this is going to sound stupid,” a slight blush filled Eddie’s cheeks. “And it’s one of those questions guys always ask, but… what is it about nice guys that’s such a turn-off? Why do girls only fall for dicks and guys that treat them like crap?”

“If I knew the answer to that,” Sin gave Eddie a rueful smile. “I would be in a healthy relationship, rather than running out of bars, trying to avoid sleeping with guys that treat me like dirt.” She paused for a moment and gave Eddie an uncharacteristically sympathetic look. “But it’s not true for all girls. Look at Tavian and Madison. He’s got to be one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, and she’s head-over-heels for him.”

“Yeah, one guy,” Eddie rolled his eyes. “The exception to the rule. I mean, look at you. You’re smart and funny and beautiful… if a little strange,” he chuckled as she hit him. “But you obviously have some feelings for Zip, who you admit yourself treats you like crap. And don’t just say it’s sexual attraction; people don’t get that passionately angered with people they don’t have feelings for.”

“Maybe girls think you’re gay,” Sin interjected.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Eddie smirked. “Trying to deflect, to rile me up so I’ll stop talking about you. Obviously, talking about Zip is touching a sensitive spot on you.”

“Possibly,” Sin looked annoyed at being forced to share her feelings. “But it doesn’t matter one way or the other. As long as I can avoid him until he goes on tour, than I won’t have to think about him for three months.”

“You won’t HAVE to,” Eddie replied. “But you still will, won’t you?”

“Look who’s talking over here,” Sin quickly grew bothered. “Aren’t you still mooning over Lianna? You’re the one that said you’ve been in love with her for years. Don’t you think it’s time you moved on?”

Biting his lip to stop himself from shouting an angry response, Eddie forced himself to breathe for a moment before saying anything. “I never said I was in love with Lianna,” Eddie finally spoke, his voice eerily calm. “I said I had feelings for her – feelings I’m trying to work through. I know she’s with Joseph, although I kind of feel like that fits in with the whole bad-boy thing I was asking earlier…”

Suddenly, Sin’s expression softened a little. “I’m sorry if I snapped,” she told Eddie. “I’m just not one of those ‘talk about your feelings’ people. I’m more of an action person. But as for Lianna and Joseph… I don’t really think they fit into the mold you were talking about. Yes, Joseph fucked up in their relationship, but deep down, he’s not a dick. He really loves her, and he beat himself up so much over his fuck-up. Overall, he actually fits more into the nice guy persona.”

“So both Tavian and Joseph are nice guys,” Eddie swirled his drink around in his glass, watching the ice cubes. “Is that why you never ended up dating either of them?”

Nearly spitting out her beer, Sin started cracking up at this comment. “I don’t think it had anything to do with them being nice,” she said. “I think it was more like I looked at them as brothers. It would have been… incestuous. Ew. No, I could not do that. Just thinking about it makes me want to clean my brain with bleach.”

Letting out a little laugh, Eddie studied Sin’s face for a moment as she stared at her beer bottle, lost in thought. She really was a very pretty girl, with those charcoal-gray eyes, tiny upturned nose, and small mouth with its full lips. Why she insisted on putting that strange purple rinse in her long, dark hair was a mystery to Eddie, almost as much of a mystery as why someone would want to cover their body with tattoos, which would be on them forever. Now, one little heart on a girl’s hip, he could understand… but it was obvious Sin had a lot more than that.

“Stop staring at me,” Sin said suddenly. “You’re giving me the creeps.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Eddie stuttered, blush filling his cheeks. “I… I was just wondering… about your tattoos.”

“What about them?” Sin looked down at her arm and back up at Eddie.

“I was just wondering why…?” Eddie was afraid that he was treading on thin ice with this topic, but to his relief, Sin just shrugged.

“I like the way they look,” Sin replied. “I think they’re beautiful, and they can make any body beautiful.”

“But I’m sure your body was beautiful before…” Eddie’s stopped speaking, feeling incredibly embarrassed for how that last statement had come out. He was afraid that Sin was either going to think that he was insulting her, or that he was a pervert.

Smirking, Sin knew that Eddie hadn’t meant anything insulting or sexual. “It’s okay, Chief,” she told Eddie with a grin. “I think I know what you meant. But tattoos are personal – at least, they should be – and everyone’s reason for getting one is their own.”

Nodding, Eddie still didn’t quite understand. Here was a beautiful girl with, from what he could tell in her loose jeans and t-shirt, had a very nice body. Why would she want to mark herself like that? Why would she want to put herself out there for scrutiny by the public when she didn’t have to?

“I never felt like I fit in,” Sin surprised Eddie by answering his unspoken question. “Growing up… my dad had split, my mom had drug issues… I was poor; kids teased me constantly in junior high. So by the time I got to high school, I was relieved to find people who accepted me as different. And then I started reveling in being different – it was a kind of therapy. So I changed the music I listened to, the way I dressed, my hair, and when I was old enough, I started getting tattoos. I felt like if people were going to judge me for being different, it would be for being different by my own standards.”

“My girlfriend pierced my ear when I was fifteen,” Eddie said in response. “But my dad saw it and made me take it out the next day.”

For some reason, this statement made Sin burst out in laughter. Her laugh was deep and warm, and after a moment, Eddie couldn’t help but join in. It was like it was contagious. “Oh, I’m-I’m sorry,” Sin tried to catch her breath after a minute. “But that was… fucking funny. Seriously funny.”

“I’m glad my lameness amuses you so much,” Eddie replied dryly, but he was smiling still. “I may never get laid again, but at least I can make you laugh.”

Tilting her head, Sin gave Eddie a grin. “You’re going to find someone,” she said. “Someone who feels so incredibly lucky to be with a guy that’s going to treat her like gold; someone who is going to wake up every morning barely believing that she gets to be with you for the rest of her life.”

Eddie’s eyes grew wide listening to Sin’s completely out-of-character compliment. “Thanks,” he said, feeling his cheeks fill with heat again. “And you are going to find a guy, too – one who doesn’t treat you like crap. One who spends his days thinking about ways to make you smile.”

“That’ll be the day,” Sin replied sarcastically. “Well, I think I’ve had enough pathetic talk about our love lives for tonight, don’t you?”

“I agree,” Eddie stood up from the stool. Without thinking, he reached for Sin’s coat and held it up to help her put it on.

Putting her arm into the sleeve of her jacket, Sin tried to remember the last time a guy helped her with her coat. As she slid on the garment, she turned around to see Eddie putting on his own jacket and scarf. “Ready?” she asked, cursing herself for drinking so much. That was the only explanation she could figure for how such a goody-two-shoes-Abercrombie-and-Fitch-wearing-clean-cut-preppy guy could look so attractive to her at the moment. “There are usually cabs going by at the corner.”

Eddie watched as Sin reached across the bar and gave the bartender a hug goodbye. Opening the door to the bar, he moved aside to let Sin though, and thought he saw her look at him curiously as she walked by. Once outside, they walked silently to the corner to wait for a couple taxis. “Well, thanks for keeping me company tonight,” Eddie said to Sin. “I’m sorry I was such a loser all evening.”

“You weren’t the worst,” Sin elbowed him lightly in the ribs in a friendly way. “Besides, I think I’m going to have a lot fewer regrets tomorrow about having spent the night drinking and talking with you than if I had gone home with Zip and fucked him.”

“You’ve got a mouth like a sailor; did you know that?” Eddie’s eyebrows were raised in amusement.

“The fuck I do,” Sin joked. “Oh, here’s a cab. You take it.”

“Of course not,” Eddie looked at her like this wasn’t even an option. Sin watched in shock as he reached to open the car door for her and motioned for her to get in. “You go first. I’ll get the next cab.”

Nodding dumbly, Sin wasn’t sure what to say. “Okay, well, I’ll see you around, I guess.”

“Oh, definitely,” Eddie told her. “You’ll be at the band’s going-away party, right?”

“Yeah,” Sin replied as she climbed into the cab. “Unfortunately, so will Zip.”

“Well, he IS in the band,” Eddie grinned. “And anyway, you can hide out with me all night, if you need someone to avoid him with.”

“Thanks,” Sin said sincerely. “And don’t worry, Eddie. I meant what I said; some girl is going to fall so completely in love with you, she’s not going to be able to breathe. I promise.”

One final time that evening, a blush spread over Eddie’s cheeks. “Thanks for saying that,” he said. “Goodnight.” With that, he shut the door and watched as Sin’s cab began driving down the dark, wet city street. He then began waiting for his own cab, feeling just a bit happier and more at ease, thanks to what Sin had said.

In the backseat of her cab, Sin pulled out her cell phone, which had been set to vibrate, and noted that she had a message. “Sin, it’s Zip,” she rolled her eyes as she listened to the message. “Listen, I just got home from the rest of that show – which sucked, by the way – and it’s a little after midnight. I was just wondering if you wanted to come by tonight. I know you think this is just about sex – well, it is about sex, no question, but it’s also… Sin, just give me a call, okay? I really do want to spend some time with you before we go on tour. Come on, babe. Don’t keep ignoring my calls. I’ve missed you.”

Biting her lip, Sin held her finger over the ‘erase’ button on her phone, but at the last second hit ‘save’ instead. “Fuck!” she thought to herself. “All that big talk, and I can’t even erase that asshole’s message.” Zip represented every mistake Sin had ever made in her life; she knew that. But he also stood for the wildest, most outrageous, most fun-filled times in her life. “I won’t call him tonight,” she promised herself. That was the best she could do right now; promising anything past tonight would just be setting herself up to fail.

No, tonight she would think about what Eddie had said to her: that one day, she would find a nice guy that treated her well. Even if it was a pipe dream, it was still a pleasant thought.

-----

WELL, THAT’S THE FIRST CHAPTER. PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU GET THE CHANCE, AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK – AND WHO YOU THINK BELONGS TOGETHER. THANKS FOR READING!