She wasn’t letting my lack of scheduling go. I should have remembered; I shouldn’t have been out partying. Except, that’s what you did here in LA. I had an itch and I had the money to scratch it, so I did.
“I was out late last night, Mikka. It just slipped my mind, okay?”
“Not really. I schedule your calendar. You get notifications on your phone.”
“Would it make you feel better if I admitted to turning them off?” She was neurotic and as my PA, I appreciated that. The company we worked with appreciated it too. “You had time scheduled in for when I could take a five-minute break some days, woman. I think I recall one of them recommending that I take a piss.”
She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to give me a patronizing look. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wrote ‘go to the bathroom if you want.’ I wouldn’t have put ‘piss.’”
“You realize—”
“I realize that I’m being anal about your schedule.” She held up both hands. “In my defense, though, you made it known you needed that. I was being a good friend and a damn good employee. If you had any other PA on your payroll…”
She stopped herself from carrying on. I would have let her, too, because Mikka on a tirade was a sight to see. She didn’t get flustered easily and she let a lot of shit roll off her back. But when something wiggled its way under her armor, she was like a bull that had seen red. She targeted and plowed through the problem effectively and efficiently.
“I’m not going to go on and on. You know I kick ass.” Her ego was justified, and she damn well knew it. “I’m irritated that you held up my evening for nothing, okay? If I was just your PA, fine, but that’s not what you do to your friend.”
I rubbed my forehead and tried to burn off some anxiety by letting my leg jump up and down under the table. Mikka didn’t usually confront me about my actions, so her doing it now meant it was serious. Either she felt—or someone had talked about—my neglect of my schedule and job.
She cleared her throat and it was like she was clearing away the fear of blurting out what she asked next. “How high are you, Jaydon?”
I reared back. Mikka was my girl, the one who stood by me, the one who would never accuse me even when the industry had. She’d worked to spin story after story. She knew better than anyone that my drug habit was recreational, a fun twist on a night. Nothing more.
“Are you serious?”
She grabbed my wrist and turned it upward where she dug a finger in to feel my pulse. “You’re sweating and it’s cold in here. Your heart’s going a mile a minute. And the dead giveaway—you have powder on your nose.”
I yanked my wrist away to wipe my hand across it. “You let me sit this whole time with powder on my nose?”
“No. There’s nothing there, but that’s a great indicator.”
If it had been anyone else, I would have got up and left. The girl was one of my only true friends in the large city though. I knew I owed her an explanation or an attempt at one.
“I’m sorry I missed our meeting, okay?” I winced when I looked at her and saw real frustration in her dark cat-like eyes. Mikka barreled through some of the most irritating situations and she didn’t complain, didn’t appear flustered, and didn’t show discomfort.
“I need you to commit, Jay. If you can’t, then let me know and let me find someone who will. I’ve made a name for myself. It means a lot to me.” Her words came out barely above a whisper. As our waitress dropped our drinks off, I suddenly felt wrong downing mine.
Commitment wasn’t something I did well. It wasn’t something I contemplated. I was committed to my lifestyle and that was to not commit, to have fun, to live fast.
I downed the drink we were both staring at and then I eyed hers. “Bottom’s up, babe. I’ll talk business with you in a day or two.”
Her fingers went to the glass. She held them there so long without moving them that little drops of condensation collected at her fingertips. “That’ll be a hell of a day, Jay.”
I leaned in close to her and smiled, “Then, let’s make tonight a hell of one too.”
She tipped the drink back and stared at me as she took the whole thing down.
I whooped at her sudden resolve to finish it. “Time to have fun.” I signaled for another round of drinks and added shots to it.
She downed those along with me too.
By that time, we’d gained a bit of a crowd with my liveliness. I stood on the table reciting some of my lines from a movie that had just been released. Mikka stared up at me, giggling along with the others. Then tension in her shoulders had subsided and I knew she’d let go of our little tiff.
Laughter was the best form of medicine and the idea was to forget the troubles throughout the day, to get lost in the fun, to move away from the problems that crept into our minds so easily. Up on that table, acting out lines, I saw bright white smiles on everyone’s faces. I saw fun rolling through everyone, and I felt alive.
Mikka rocked to the music in the bubblegum pink sweater that matched her glossy lips. Her hips rotated to the beat and her dark hair swayed in the flashing lights. As she let go of her worries, she became the most intoxicating woman in the city. I swear at least ten guys flocked to her and I had to warn off each of them by explaining over and over she had a boyfriend.
“She’s got a man at home. Back off.” I stood in the way of another’s path of pursuing her.