The Road to L.A. (13 page)

She had just finished cleaning her bedroom when Lydia instructed her to clean the guest bathroom as well.  She groaned aloud and then decided to retract her aggravation when her mother shot her a scolding glare.

              “I think I’ll go get the bathroom cleaner,” Carly quickly announced to appease her mother.

She ran downstairs into the kitchen and fished for the cleaner under the kitchen sink.  Once she had it, she proceeded to head upstairs again, only to be summoned back into the kitchen by the persistent ringing of the telephone.   

              “Hey,” Jake’s voice sounded on the other end.  “What are you doing?” 

Carly noted the bored tone in his voice.

              “Aren’t you supposed to be practicing for the upcoming showcase in Cleveland?” Carly softly chided. 

Jake laughed on the other end. 

              “That’s what I would be doing right now if Garrett hadn’t decided we needed a break.”

              “Oh,” Carly replied, keeping an eye and ear open for her mother, who would be reminding her of her bathroom cleaning chore at any moment.  “What are your plans for the day, then?”

Jake sighed on the other end and said, “I have no idea.  Actually, I’m here alone.”

              “Where are your parents?” Carly asked.

              “My dad’s somewhere at some meeting, and my mom’s out with her friends getting a manicure.  I don't know." 

              “Sounds exciting,” Carly said jokingly.  “Well, if you’re not doing anything tonight, why don’t you come over?  My relatives are coming in from Florida and we’re gonna barbeque.”

              “Sounds nice, but it sounds like a family thing.”

Carly answered, “Not necessarily.  Besides, you know my parents love you. You’re like family.”

A short silence ensued as Jake pondered the invitation.

              “My dad’s gonna be cooking,” Carly added, hoping to entice him.

At the mention of Juan’s well-known and revered Cuban cuisine, Jake answered immediately with, “Okay, I’ll be there.”

Just then, Lydia’s voice rang out from somewhere on the second floor about the bathroom needing a scrubbing. 

              “I gotta go. My mom is hounding me to finish my chores.”  She sighed.

              “Cool.  I’ll see you tonight, then.”

Carly couldn't help noticing the excitement at the prospect of Jake coming over.  But her mother's voice dispelled the thought.  She raced upstairs and commenced her bathroom duty before her mother could call for her a third time.

Carly had just finished cleaning when Juan pulled up in the driveway.  She briefly checked herself in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable.  She pulled her long, tangled hair into a ponytail and quickly applied some gloss to her naturally pink lips, then hurried downstairs.  Juan opened the front door and stepped into the foyer, followed by Carly’s grandmother and grandfather.  She rushed over to them and hugged both of them tightly.  She then looked around, a quizzical expression on her face.  Juan noticed his daughter's confused look and said, "Aunt Nici and Uncle Tito are outside fighting with the luggage.  Why don’t you go help.” 

Carly scrambled out the door and ran to the car, squealing with delight when she saw her cousins pulling luggage out of the trunk.  Quickly hugging her aunt and uncle, she joined her cousins and embraced them.  Not long after, the luggage was carried inside, and the family gathered in the den to talk about the flight to Ohio and recent family news.  Somewhere in the midst of the conversation, Carly and her cousins managed to slip out onto the deck in the backyard.  They made themselves comfortable on the lawn chairs.  Carly could tell that Angelica was eager to relay news about her relationship status, and so she opened up the conversation by inquiring about new developments in her cousin's life.  Angelica immediately proceeded to divulge that she was seeing someone.  She proudly described her boyfriend’s physical attributes, which seemed at times a bit exaggerated, but it all sounded fascinating nonetheless. 

              “He has the most amazing body.  His arms are all buff and his stomach is cut.  I mean, he's got a six-pack and everything.  His body is smoking hot," Angelica raved.  “I'm pretty sure he does some modeling on the side." 

              “Oh, wow,” Carly replied, genuinely impressed.  "How did you find him?"

              "I saw him on the beach.  Me and some of my friends were hanging out and saw him coming out of the water.  We just couldn't believe how hot he was."

              "Yeah, we were all drooling over him," Gloria chimed in, grinning.

              "So then he walked by us, and I swear he stared right at me.  I mean, I was probably one of the hottest girls at the beach, so I don't blame him."

Gloria shook her head to confirm Angelica's account. 

              "So later as we were leaving, he came up to me and asked for my number.  And the rest is history," Angelica finished.  She was absolutely beaming, boastfully so.

              "You got any pictures of him?" Carly asked.  She was curious to see if Angelica's description held true. 

              "Of course I do," Angelica replied.  She grabbed her phone and browsed the photos stored on it.  She finally halted on one and handed her phone to Carly. 

              "Wow, you weren't lying.  He's hot."

Carly was genuinely impressed as she beheld the tall and tanned Adonis in the photo.  Just as Angelica had said, his physique was beyond impressive.  She could see the muscles on his arms and the muscles on his chest bulging against the white t-shirt he wore.  His chiseled face wore a set of intense green eyes, and his jaw line was perfectly squared.  In short, he was extremely handsome.  She handed the phone back to her cousin.  Angelica was beaming with delight as she realized Carly was truly taken by her boyfriend's looks.

Carly then turned to her younger cousin, Gloria, and asked, "What about you?  Are you dating anyone?"     

Gloria leaned back against the chair and stared dreamily at the sky.

              “She doesn’t have anyone,” Angelica taunted her sister. 

              “I do,” Gloria shot back.  She relaxed again and continued her dreamy musings.  “It’s just that he doesn’t know it yet.” 

Carly eyed the plump girl suspiciously.

              “What does he look like?  What’s his name?” Carly prompted eagerly. 

              “Oscar,” Gloria said in a wispy tone as if she was describing the name of a decadent piece of chocolate.

              “Oscar doesn’t even know she exists,” Angelica said, laughing and tossing her long, curly hair. 

              “I don’t know why he doesn’t.  I mean, I know I have a pretty enough face, ” Gloria said, seeming distraught by her “beloved’s” lack of interest in her. 

              “I can see why,” Angelica interjected.  “I keep telling you, sis, if you would just lose a few pounds, you would definitely have a chance with him.”

It was quite obvious that Gloria was moderately overweight.  Yet her beautiful face more than made up for that in Carly’s opinion.  Angelica’s opinion was always a bit more critical.  That’s because Angelica seemed to demand aesthetic perfection.  That was quite evident by how meticulously disciplined Angelica was at maintaining a trim physique and how she managed to keep her long, curly hair so well-styled at all times.  From what Carly could remember of her cousin, Angelica never dared step outside of the house without any make-up on and her hair done up just right. 

              “We all can’t be bean poles like you and Carly,” Gloria said defensively. 

              “So, basically, to sum it up, my sis has no prospects.  Now, on to you, Carly,” Angelica rushed.  “Are you still friends with that guy?  What’s his name?  Jacob, Jeremiah…”

              “Jake,” Carly cut in, correcting her.

              “So what’s going on with you and him?” Angelica asked, her eyes seeming to grow in correlation with her eagerness to get all the juicy gossip.  

              “Nothing is going on.  We’re just best friends,” Carly answered. 

Angelica groaned, not trying to conceal her frustration. 

“You can’t honestly tell me that after all these years you don’t feel something for this guy.  Every year we talk about him, and every year I see that same spark in your eyes when you talk about him,” Angelica said.  She eyed Carly, expecting some telltale sign confirming her suspicions.   

              “Okay, fine.  We’ve kissed.”

Angelica and Gloria squealed loudly, rattling the ambience of the otherwise calm evening. 

              “How was it?” Angelica pressed her cousin for details.

Carly sighed, not wanting to open up a can of worms.  She still didn’t know what to think of the kiss either, so she really didn’t know how to describe it to someone else.

              “The kiss itself was awesome.  He’s actually a really good kisser,” Carly managed to say in response.    

Gloria asked, “Was tongue involved, or was it just a peck?”

              “Tongue,” Carly answered, to which Gloria squealed again.

              “I knew it,” Angelica said in a somewhat triumphant tone.  “It’s what I’ve been saying all along.  There’s something there.”

Carly shook her head at Angelica’s absurd assumption and said, “That doesn’t mean anything. He could have just needed some kind of physical affection that day.  He had gotten into a fight with his dad and probably needed some physical comfort.” 

              “Whatever!” Angelica spat.  “If you believe that, you’re crazy.”

              “We’re friends, Angelica.  That’s it,” Carly reiterated.  Although, deep inside, the walls of denial were beginning to rumble.

Angelica shook her head to make her disbelief obvious.

              “I’ll tell you this now, Carly.  Jake is falling for you.”

Carly tried to laugh away Angelica’s ridiculous theory.  Jake falling for her.  The thought, let alone hearing it out loud, was ludicrous…or was it?  Carly shook that last thought away and forced herself to enter back into reality.   

              “I don’t think he sees me as anything more than just a friend,” Carly said, trying to reason with Angelica.

              “I make a prediction,” Angelica said, sitting forward in her chair.  “I predict that you and Jake will become an item in less than a year.”

              “How about this,” Carly replied, sitting forward in her chair as well.  “Jake will be here tonight.  You can observe us together.  And after tonight, you’ll see that nothing exists between us and that we’re just two close friends.”

              “Alright, we’ll see,” Angelica said, grinning and clasping her hands together.  She couldn’t wait.  In fact, every fifteen minutes seemed like an hour as she waited for Jake’s arrival. 

The time for observation came around seven o’clock that evening.  The family gathering had begun.  Juan and Uncle Tito were in the backyard tending to the grill.  Two long tables had been placed out on the patio, along with a string of multi-colored party lights.  Juan had invited the neighbors to join in the festivities, and when informed that Juan would be barbequing, Mr. and Mrs. Landry and Mr. and Mrs. Billingsley did not dare decline. Carly figured her father had an ulterior motive for inviting the neighbors, mainly so that they wouldn’t complain about the loud salsa music that blared from a set of speakers inside the house.  Juan had also wanted to invite the Harmon family, but Carly had informed him that Mr. and Mrs. Harmon weren’t home.  She did let her father know that Jake would be coming over, and Juan was immensely pleased. 

Carly and her cousins were in the kitchen helping Lydia and Aunt Nici prepare the rice and beans when the doorbell rang.  Carly jumped at the sound as if half-expecting it.  Abandoning the food, she rushed out of the kitchen, ignoring her mother’s protests to watch the rice on the stove so it wouldn’t burn.

              “Carly, you can’t just leave food sitting on the stove!”

              “Sorry, mother!  The doorbell!” Carly called back. 

She opened the door, and her heart jumped unexpectedly as she saw him standing on the front porch.  He looked exceptionally handsome tonight, the bright yellow porch light highlighting the golden blonde in his hair and accentuating his healthy, youthful complexion.  His dark blue eyes only completed the picturesque portrait.

              “Hey, you?” he said, grinning at her.  “What’s up with your hair?” 

Carly turned to look at herself in the mirror and gasped aloud.  Strands of her dark hair lay wantonly about her face, and the ponytail she wore had started to come loose.

              “I’ve been slaving away in the kitchen,” she explained, feeling a little embarrassed about her appearance.  “Cut me some slack, you meanie.”

Jake chuckled. 

              “Come on,” Carly said, grabbing his arm and leading him through the foyer and into the kitchen. 

              “Jake!” Lydia exclaimed, as if she hadn’t seen him in years.  “It’s so good to see you.  Come here.” 

Lydia pulled him toward her.  She then looked up at him and said in a bewildered tone.