Even Angels Fall

“She’s a grown woman,” Sarah sighed with exasperation into her cell phone, pulling her scarf tighter around her. No one had told her that New York autumns could get so cold. “Besides, Joseph gets home in, like, a week. I’m sure Lianna can spend one night alone.”

“Sare,” Eddie’s voice had that ‘big brother’ tinge that always annoyed Sarah – at least since she had moved to New York three months earlier. Before then, she guessed she was too young to notice the underlying condescension in his tone, since he had left for college when she was only fourteen and still considered him a sort of Superman. “Sarah, I need you to do this. Sin’s shoot is running late, and I have a paper due at eight tomorrow morning. Please, as a favor to your brother… who doesn’t like to often mention how he saved your ass when Mom and Dad nearly lost it when you moved here without a minute’s warning, and who gave you his apartment so you wouldn’t have to deal with the evils of Manhattan real estate, and whose girlfriend got you a job at a major fashion magazine-”

“I think I liked you better before you got together with Sin,” Sin grumbled as she reached the front door to her apartment building. “You were this easy-going loser with no self-esteem back then. Suddenly, you get this hot, cool, hip girlfriend, and you are all demanding of my time.”

“I’m demanding of your time?” Eddie asked incredulously. “Yeah, because I didn’t go completely out of my way when you decided to move here out of the blue-”

“Fine, fine,” Sarah cut off her brother as she put her key in the door and opened the hallway entrance. “Tell Lianna I’ll be at her place by seven.”

“Thanks, Sarah. This really means-”

Without waiting to hear the rest of Eddie’s gratitude, Sarah hung up her cell phone and walked up the steps towards her apartment. As she entered, she was hit with the same feeling she had experienced each time she had walked up to that door since she had moved in. Sliding the key in the lock and opening the door, Sarah looked around the studio apartment. “I am living in my brother’s life,” she said to herself with annoyance.

Not that Sarah didn’t appreciate having an affordable apartment in Manhattan. And she knew that, when she arrived for what was supposed to be a ‘visit’ to her brother three months earlier and announced that she was instead moving to New York, she had taken everyone by surprise.

‘That was the original idea,’ Sarah grumbled silently to herself, kicking the door shut closed behind her and dropping her keys on the coffee table.

Sarah’s whole life had always been predictable. She came from a great family – parents who were stern but loving, and an older brother who was protective but fun. Actually, it was only after Eddie had moved away from their small town in Iowa to go to college in New York during Sarah’s freshman year of high school that she really began to question her surroundings.

And it was certainly after meeting Eddie’s awesome girlfriend Sin that Sarah had decided to take a chance with life. During a visit in Ohio with Eddie, Sin and Sarah had gotten some time to get to know each other. It was then that Sarah realized that, while Sin was only five years older than her, she had a lifetime’s more experience in the world. That was when Sarah had decided that her next visit to New York would be her last ‘visit’ – the next time she saw Manhattan, it would be as the city’s newest resident.

As she should have expected, the transition had been less than perfect. Sarah and Eddie’s parents freaked out when they heard the news that she had no plans to return to Iowa. In fact, Eddie and Sin seemed less than thrilled, as well. “We’re just worried,” Eddie had insisted.

‘Of course,’ Sarah thought angrily. ‘Everyone sees me as Innocent Little Sarah, unable to care for herself without her parents or big brother around.’ The thought infuriated Sarah. ‘The only reason people think that is because I’ve never been given the opportunity to prove that I am more than that.’

Taking a seat on her couch – Eddie’s couch, if you were actually keeping score – Sarah slid off her jacket. One glance at the digital clock on the cable box told her that it was after six already. “One hour,” she reminded herself out loud. “One hour, and then I get to spend the night babysitting the Baby-Maker.”

It wasn’t that Sarah didn’t like Lianna; in fact, the opposite was true. Of all of Eddie’s friends, Lianna seemed to get her the best. After all, before she had begun dating the guitarist for Broken Dynamite, one of the biggest bands around right now, Lianna had just been an ordinary, average, everyday girl. Like Sarah.

The difference was that Sarah never knew Lianna then. To Sarah, Lianna was amazing. After all, she had only been working in her marketing job for a year, and had already been promoted twice. Beyond that – while Sarah only knew bits of the story that she had pieced together from what she read in the tabloids and what she had FORCED Eddie to tell her – Lianna was on the winning end of a loving relationship with an honest-to-god ROCK STAR, and was about two months from delivering their first child.

“What I wouldn’t give…” Sarah mumbled to herself in annoyance. When she had first moved to New York, Sarah had assumed fame and excitement would be right around the corner. After all, her brother – as wonderful as he was, he could be incredibly hermit-like – had somehow managed fairly quickly to not only become friendly with a major rock band, but also to land the lead singer of said rock band’s former girlfriend.

‘And I’m WAY cooler than Eddie,’ Sarah thought jealously to herself. Immediately, though – as always – she felt guilt for such thoughts. After all, when she had shocked her whole family with her announcement that she was moving, Eddie had stood by her side. She had been there when he had heated debates with his parents on the telephone, telling them that Sarah was nearly an adult at twenty, and that living in New York would be a good experience for her. She had also thanked him when he offered his apartment to her, agreeing to move in with his girlfriend – which, secretly, Sarah was sure wasn’t much of a sacrifice for him. And she had also told him over and over how much it meant to her that Sin had gotten her a job at the fashion magazine where she had a contract. Thanks to Eddie, three months ago, Sarah had assumed her life was about to become incredibly exciting.

“Just remember,” Sarah chided herself softly. “When you assume, you make an ass of you and me.”

-----

“You didn’t have to come here tonight,” Lianna told Sarah as she handed over her coat later that evening. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but our friends tend to be a little… overprotective.”

“Tell me about it,” Sarah slid her coat on, grabbing her scarf from the arm of the couch. Suddenly, looking over at Lianna, she was overwhelmed with guilt. “I’m sorry, Lee. Please don’t think I don’t consider hanging out with you a good time. I think you’re great. It’s just…”

“It’s just that you are twenty,” Lianna finished with her usual sense of understanding, despite the fact that she had to lean against the couch to balance the weight of her huge pregnant belly. “You’re twenty, and you are new to the city, and you just want to have some fun. And between Eddie and Sin and caring for a gigantic pregnant whale, you’re feeling a little shafted.”

“I’m sorry,” Sarah was immediately overtaken by how understanding Lianna was – and not feeling less than a little guilty. “Lianna, I love hanging out with you-”

“But not when you are forced to,” Lianna finished Sarah’s though kindly. Reaching over, she touched the younger girl’s arm. “Sarah, you are so ready for a good time. But don’t overlook how awesome it is that you walked into a situation where you have a group of friends that automatically love you. We’re more like a family.”

“I moved to get AWAY from my family,” Sarah mumbled, and was surprised that Lianna heard her words until the other girl laughed. Blushing, she looked down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“Why not?” Lianna said with fire, leaning back slightly against the couch and putting her hand on her stomach. “You are young and beautiful and fun, and you deserve to go out and experience the world! But at the same time, don’t dismiss how great it is to have friends that are only a few years older but have been through a lot more.” Smirking, Lianna looked down at her stomach and then back up at Sarah. “I promise you, when I was only two plus years older than you and realized that I was on a plane kissing a rock star, I had no idea that just over a year later, he would not only be my life, but I’d be carrying his child. Things happen – and sometimes they’re great, like they were for Joseph and me – but sometimes… sometimes it’s not so bad to take advice from people who have been there already.”

“You’re my favorite,” Sarah immediately blurted out, her softly freckled face quickly turning pink. “I mean, I feel like you get me…”

Reaching over and squeezing Sarah’s arm, Lianna gave her a kind smile. “That means so much to me,” she said with all sincerity. “And as much as I love your brother, my relationship with you is something I consider completely separate. Just remember that, if you ever need someone to talk about things with…”

With a feeling of overwhelming appreciation, Sarah felt tears forming in her eyes. “Thanks, Lianna,” she told the woman before her. Quickly pushing her emotions away, Sarah stood tall. “But from the looks of things, I’m going to have to talk to a nun about joining a convent before I need any advice on anything else in this city.”

Laughing with Sarah for a few more minutes, Lianna then walked her to the door of the condo she shared with Joseph and gave the girl a hug before saying goodbye. ‘I’m just glad she’s not my sister,’ Lianna thought thankfully as she waddled back to the living room before seating herself on the couch. ‘Because that girl is a firecracker,’ Lianna chuckled once more before she got lost in the feeling of concentrating on little Aiden kicking in her stomach.

-----

“Janice, is it okay if I leave now?” Sarah stuck her head in the door of her boss’s office on Friday evening. Even though she was only supposed to work until six, it was now nearly eight. However, Sarah had offered to stay to help Janice finish a proposal.

“Please, babe,” Janice said with a heavy New Jersey accent. “You’ve done more than enough. You are a god-send, I tell you. A god-send. Go out, find a nice boy to fuck, rest for the remainder of the weekend, and come back on Monday healthy and reenergized. You’re the best.”

Smiling at Janice, Sarah shook her head. “I’ll rest, but that’s all I can promise.” Since the day Sin had introduced Sarah to Janice for her first interview, Sarah liked the older woman. She was unlike anyone Sarah had ever known – loud, brash, offensive (even more so than Sin) - she was a demanding but appreciative boss. “I’ll see you Monday.”

Walking down the busy city streets, Sarah looked around her. All around, people were rushing – rushing from work, rushing back home, rushing to dates, rushing to meet friends. ‘I have no where to rush to,’ Sarah thought sadly to herself.

Sighing audibly, Sarah realized she had caught the eye of a handsome man sitting at a nearby café. Giving him a small smile, she looked down and kept moving. It wasn’t that this was the first time a good-looking man in Manhattan had looked at her since she first arrived; it was just that Sarah had quickly learned that, in the city, looks were JUST looks.

Even though it was cool and windy out, Sarah walked the entire twenty blocks back from work to her apartment. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

Letting herself into her apartment, Sarah let out a little grumble. This wasn’t what she had expected when she moved to New York. She had just assumed that every Friday night at nine o’clock, she would be getting ready for a date or to go to some big party or club with a huge group of exciting friends. ‘So much for that,’ she thought as she flopped on the couch, inching out of her jacket and hitting the ‘On’ button on the remote.

Immediately, an episode of CSI that Sarah had already seen came one. Flip – some new Jennifer Love Hewitt show that looked terrible. Flip – Supernanny. ‘No thanks, I could have taken that job in Iowa.’ Flip – Cops. Flip – repeats. With a sigh of resignment, Sarah turned off the TV and looked around the living room. Immediately, she noticed the light on her answering machine flickering.

“Probably Eddie, making sure I showed up for Lianna yesterday,” Sarah hit the button.

Friday, Six-Fifty-Five PM: “Sare, it’s Eddie. Just wanted to see how things went at Lianna’s last night. Call me.” Duh.

Friday, Seven-Thirty-Three PM: “Sweety, it’s Mom. We just wanted to see how you were doing. You can’t possibly still be at work; no one in town works past seven, and we KNOW you wouldn’t want to live somewhere that would expect you to work this late. So call us when you get the chance. We love you.” And you are STIFLING me.

Friday, Eight-Oh-One: “Sarah, it’s Dave. Hey. How are you doing? It’s been a while, huh? I, um, I just wanted to call to, you know, see what you think of New York. You know, everyone misses you back home. Especially me. I know that the last time we talked, I was pretty angry, and I’m sorry. But you have to understand. I mean, I thought that you and I were in it forever. And then you just took off. After my accident, I think I told you, I had a lot of time to think – a lot of time to talk to God – and I really believe you and I belong together-“ BEEP.

Sin held the ‘Delete’ button on the phone until the screeching sound stopped, telling her that Dave’s message was definitely erased. It wasn’t that Dave wasn’t a good guy. When she had met him, she had thought he was different and exciting and fun. But then he got into a motorcycle accident, and after that… after that, he was sure God had intervened to save his life, and now it was his turn to return the favor.

“I JUST WANT TO HAVE A LITTLE FUN!” Sarah yelled at her living room ceiling as she laid back on the couch and pulled a cushion to her chest. “IS THAT SO WRONG? I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO SHOW ME WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LIVE LIFE JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG.”

It’s not like Sarah wanted to knock over a convenience store; she just wanted to let loose a little. “After twenty years of being exactly who people expect me to be,” Sarah thought to herself, sinking further into the couch. “Don’t I deserve to find someone who just knows how to have FUN?!?”

-----

“Did you tell Lianna we’re back early?” Veronica asked Joseph as the band stepped into the waiting area of the airport. Veronica was Broken Dynamite’s new manager, and everyone loved her. She had worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones to Metallica to U2 over the last forty years, and was close to retirement, as she was in her sixties. But the band had adored her as soon as they met her (not surprising considering how evil their last manager had been) and she loved them back, in a motherly way. It was a great relationship so far.

“No,” Joseph admitted, throwing his carry-on bag over his shoulder. “I wanted to surprise her.”

“You’re going to surprise a seven-month-pregnant woman?” Veronica admonished. “I won’t allow it. Call her right now!”

Chuckling to himself, Joseph couldn’t argue. He didn’t want to put any undue strain on Lianna, although he was thrilled that the tour had actually ended two days early because of an electrical fire at their last venue, allowing everyone to return home a bit before expected. Pulling out his cell phone, he noticed Zip across from him, looking glum.

“You okay, dude?” Joseph asked gently. Although he and Zip had actually been the founding members of the band, their relationship had been strained during the tour. That was due mostly to the fact that Zip had professed his love to Joseph’s best friend, Sin, before the tour started, and in return, she had professed her love for another of Joseph’s friends, Eddie. “You look… like you may have had one too many free martinis in first class,” Joseph finished lamely with a joke.

Looking up at Joseph, Zip paused. Suddenly, a stir behind him caught his attention, and he looked over his shoulder. What he found was a group of fans that had apparently been tipped off that Broken Dynamite was on this flight. “There are several very pretty ladies in that group over yonder,” Zip looked over and tried to give Joseph a cocky grin, unsure whether he succeeded. “Pretty ladies ready to show the UNATTACHED members of this band how much they appreciate our talent. I think I’ll be fine.”

Returning an unsure smile to Zip, Joseph just nodded as he lifted his phone to his ear. “Have a party,” he encouraged his friend. Normally, this sort of scenario was just up Zip’s alley. Right now, though, Joseph was pretty sure Zip was just faking for his reputation’s sake. He knew Zip had brought at least a couple girls back to his hotel room during the three month tour, but for Zip… well, that was like being celibate. Normally, he had AT LEAST one girl a night in his room. Obviously, he wasn’t quite over Sin…

“Hey, baby,” Lianna’s voice came lovingly over the phone line, pulling Joseph out of his thoughts about Zip. “Where are you? Wait, let me try to remember…. St. Louis?”

“I’m at JFK,” Joseph spoke frankly, not wanting to give Lianna any undue stress at this late stage of her pregnancy. “The last two shows got postponed, so with any luck, I’ll be home in about an hour.”

“Oh my God!” Lianna sounded overcome with excitement. “That’s so great! I can’t wait to see you, Joseph. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Lee,” Joseph whispered into the phone, overcome with homesickness as soon as he had heard Lianna’s voice. “I’ve missed you, and I’ve missed Aiden.”

“Well,” Lianna’s blush could almost be heard over the line. “We’ll both be here waiting for you. We love you.”

“And I love you,” Joseph replied softly, his voice filled with emotion. “I love you both more than anything.”

Hanging up the phone, Joseph smiled to himself. ‘I couldn’t be more lucky,’ he thought to himself. Just coming off tour from an extremely successful album, making tons of money doing what he loved, with his beautiful girlfriend waiting at home for him, their first child just months from being born… “I’m so lucky,” Joseph murmured.

“You are,” Veronica said kindly from behind Joseph, startling him. “God, kid,” she said when he turned to her with a blush. “You’ve got it all. The looks, the talent, the fame, the money… But most importantly, you’ve got the love. That’s going to last longer than the rest, I tell you from experience. Your friend though,” Veronica put her hand on Joseph’s shoulder and motioned to where Zip was standing near the crowd, giving out autographs and talking up cute girls. “He’s got the rest… But he’s missing the important part.”

Nodding, Joseph looked over his shoulder at Veronica. “The girl he wanted turned him down just before tour,” he explained gently. “She’s already in love with someone else – someone good for her.”

“Then Zip need to find someone else,” Veronica said matter-of-factly. “Believe me. I’ve been in this business a LONG time, and I can see when someone is growing tired of the lifestyle. You, I have no worries. Your lady friend, she glows in your eyes all the time. And the other guys, they like the free life. But Zip… he’s ready. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“I don’t know who could handle him,” Joseph admitted, loving that he could speak so openly with Veronica. “He’s… quite honestly, I love the guy, but he’s a diva.”

“He is,” Veronica admitted, nodding her head as she looked at the young man across the room from her. He was very handsome, confident and cocky, so much like so many of the stars she had managed in her day. But unlike a lot of them, his heart was already tarnished – he already knew what love was. Now, he just needed to find a girl that would be the right match for him. “He is. But there\'s someone out there who can handle him. And who will love him, the way Lianna loves you.”

Nodding with humility, Joseph couldn’t argue. “I can’t wait,” he told Veronica honestly. “I love the guy like a brother. I just can’t wait until Zip finds a girl that he loves, that loves him back, without wanting anything else.”

-----

NEW STORY! YEAH! YES, I KNOW THAT I AM BEING OBVIOUS FROM THE GET-GO THAT ZIP AND SARAH COULD BE GOOD TOGETHER, BUT I PROMISE NOTHING! FOR ONE THING, I DO NOT PLAN FOR THIS STORY TO BE NEARLY AS FLUFFY AS ‘ORIGINAL SIN’. ADDITIONALLY, I’M TRYING TO BECOME LESS OF A PREDICTABLE AUTHOR. SO JUST BE WARNED!

OH, YES, AND I STILL LOVE GETTING REVIEWS! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, PLEASE! I’VE OFTEN TAKEN CUES FROM REVIEWS IN THE PAST, AND I’M NOT ADVERSE FROM CONTINUING THIS TREND. JUST A REMINDER! THANKS.