Summertime Blues (for Zoe)

[rockinzoe]

She had covered her mouth, hiding a smile with regards to his dungeon, he had been so close and seemed to trigger flashbacks in her.

Still reluctant she followed him, waiting till he reached the bottom to head down behind him. There was no sex dungeon. In a way she was a little disappointed, he wouldn’t be getting her in it, but it would have been interesting to see.

She followed him to the back, aware if he got too far ahead she would lose him to the shadows. Ellie opened the machine, pulling her own detergent out the basket before tipping the contents inside, adding detergent and switching it on.

“So what’s in the boxes?” She asked turning around to him, “DIY dungeon? Massive porn collection? Ghost buster equipment.”

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy sighed at her question, shaking his head as he looked around. “No, not quite,” he said. He took a deep breath. He didn’t like being down here for very long.

He looked over at her. “It’s kind of a long story,” he said. That only seemed to pique her curiosity. “Fine. Okay. So… five years ago, I was about to start my sophomore year here. I was an only child. With school and student housing being so stupidly expensive, my parents decided they were gonna sell their house in Kansas City and buy a place here in Columbia. At the time, I wasn’t real big on the idea, but it being able to live with them would save me a ton of money in student debt.”

He sighed as he looked around again. “So, we packed up the house and got it all loaded up and had it delivered here. I drove up here, and they were supposed to come the next day, but then, uhh…”

He looked away, sniffed, wiped at his nose. “They were in a pretty bad car wreck, and they didn’t make it,” he said. “And I still don’t know what to do with all this shit.”

 

[rockinzoe]

“Tommy.” She whispered, quite unsure what to say. It all made so much sense, she had wondered how he had such an incredible house, seemed so unlikely for someone so young.
Ellie reached out, her hand touching his arm, “I am so sorry.” She spoke softly, a wave of guilt rushing over her, she Had after all joked about his parents things being a sex dungeon!

“Turns out there are ghosts down here.” She stated, turning him around but keeping a hold of his top, “You need to lead me out, or I will get lost.” She had followed closely behind him, pausing at the bottom of the stairs, “And you Don’t have to do anything with it, leave it here.” She nudged his back with her head, staying closer as he turned the light off behind her.

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy shrugged. “Thanks,” he said. He didn’t tell a lot of people all of that, and he wasn’t sure why he opened up like that to her. He shook his head. He liked the way her hand felt on him, though. He guided her back to the stairs. “Am I gonna have to come down here with you every time you switch the laundry?” he asked her with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood as they headed back up the stairs.

 

[rockinzoe]

She laughed following him up the stairs, well she had actually planned to drag him down with her, but perhaps not.
“No, I think I will be fine.” She would be terrified every time but still, she could get a torch.

When they reached the top Ellie quickly closed the door behind it, leaning back against it ensuring all the memories stayed down there.

“So we need to get some food.” She stated walking to the island and sitting down, “And The library is shut today, and I think we should just shop for the house, instead of buying separate things each. It makes more sense right?” She looked around, but could see no system or list for keeping track of the food in the house.

“Where is your list?”

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy nodded along in agreement as she laid out her agenda for the day, and shook his head. “I usually just scribble it out on a notepad if I really need to, but I usually just wing it at the store,” he said. He opened a drawer near the sink and pulled out a small notepad and pen.

“What all did you have in mind?” he asked her.

His phone buzzed in his pocket then, and his eyes went wide. “Oh shit. Oh, hell yes.” He typed furiously into the phone for a moment before sending off a message, and he looked up at Ellie. “That was my buddy Duane. He’s got two extra tickets for a concert in St Louis tonight. I love this band! You interested?”

 

[rockinzoe]

“A concert.” She felt hesitant, not sure she was ready to spend that amount of time with him, “I’m not sure I like your weird music.” Laughing slightly as she went on, “Sure I suppose, but what am I going to wear?”

Ellie reached over taking the notepad from him,
“Well some veg, and fruit. I love fruit in the morning it’s so refreshing. I might do some Macaroni this week, Mine is quite good actually.” She paused placing the pen against her lips “and ice cream! I’m a women, we must have ice cream in the house. Bread, milk.” She muttered to herself writing as she went

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy’s jaw dropped when she called his music “weird” but he quickly picked it up. “This band is so good, you’re gonna love them, it’ll be worth the drive, I promise,” he said. He was quite animated and excited about going to this show. “Wear whatever you want,” he said. “There’ll probably be a lot of tie-dye in the crowd but we’ll also probably be the youngest people there,” he said with a slight chuckle as she worked on the grocery list.

“Uhh, let’s get some ground beef, chicken breasts, sausage, eggs, cheese…”

 

[rockinzoe]

She stopped writing sitting up to look at him, “Just so we are clear, you want to take me to see a bunch of old hippies wearing tie-dye?” Ellie paused for a moment to consider this, “You are not selling this to me and I am not wearing tie-dye.”
She frowned, writing down the item as he said them, “We would to leave at like what, 6?” She asked, it would be a fair distance to listen to a band she probably won’t like.

“I’m not so sure, maybe you should take someone else.”

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy chuckled, shaking his head. “The band’s not old, and they don’t generally do the tie-dye thing, but their fans tend to be. It’s a good time. They’re really the best damn band I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“Show’s at seven, it’s like a two hour drive to St Louis, we’re gonna need to get some dinner, so we should probably leave around four,” he said. “If you don’t wanna go, that’s fine, though. You ready to go to the store? I’ll play some of their music on the way. I promise you’ll dig it,” he said.

 

[rockinzoe]

Ellie shrugged and stood up, “I will think about it.” She said picking up her phone and bag on the way out, not entirely sure whether she would have just preferred a quiet night in instead.

Climbing into the truck she sighed waiting for him, “Right play me this music, but promise you won’t be offended when i dislike it, I have quite bad taste in music.”

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy stepped into a pair of sandals and followed her out to his pick-up truck, got in, and fired it up. He jacked his phone into the truck’s stereo with the aux cable and opened his music app on his phone, and pressed play before driving off to the store.

The sound of a cheering crowd filled the cab of the pick-up, and then there was a guitar strumming chords, a little introductory groove, followed shortly by the distinctive sound of a teasing slide guitar line. The drums suddenly kicked in, and then the whole band got involved as the song took off. It was soulful but energetic, almost a happy, hopeful kind of blues. There was a horn section and backup singers taking the tune to new heights, but then the slide guitarist took over.

His playing was energetic, dizzying melodic, working the entire length of the fretboard with stunning precision, building and releasing again and again to a face-melting crescendo. All Tommy could do was shake his head in amazement as they pulled into the parking lot at the grocery store.

“Best damn band in the land,” he said, parking and shutting the car off. “And that was only the second song of the night!”

He glanced over at her, hoping like hell that something in the tune had resonated with her.

 

[rockinzoe]

Ellie had listened to the music, getting out of the cab she could see how passionate he was about it, and in a way it hurt her knowing what she was going to say. She moved quickly standing in front of him.

“Tommy, I can appreciate the skills, I get you love them, but honestly it’s not my type of music. Go without me, I would only end up spoiling your night! I just desperately want to have a bath, and watch a movie all chilled out and quiet.” She sighed moving forward to rest her forehead on his chest, “I’m sorry.” She whispered before stepping back,

She moved walking alongside him to the store, collecting a basket to push inside.

“I need some leafy greens, I’m desperate to have a salad, weirdly.” She changed the subject, hoping this wasn’t going to sour their budding friendship

 

[RawDog33]

“Hey, it’s all good, no worries,” he replied, not sure why she was leaning into him and seemed so apologetic. He kind of patted her shoulder before they headed into the store. That was awkward.

“I could definitely go for a good caesar salad, that’s good stuff,” he said as they walked inside. He grabbed a cart and they made their way through the store.

 

[rockinzoe]

“Right!” She turned grinning at him, “so maybe some lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes?” She asked holding onto the front of the cart as they walked inside.

“And fruit! I need strawberries, and some sort of melon and maybe kiwi!” She felt weirdly excited by shopping, perhaps it was because he didn’t seem too bothered by her rejection.

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy smirked as he followed her around. He liked her energy and enthusiasm. They were in the produce section, and he stopped her as she was perusing the lettuce, shaking his head. “I’ve got like two heads of romaine in the garden that are ready to harvest,” he told her, putting the lettuce back on the shelf. “Tomatoes aren’t quite ready yet, though,” he said, grabbing a few and adding them to the cart.

 

[rockinzoe]

Ellie spun on the spot to face him, “You do not!” She exclaimed, “You have a veg garden!” Her voice a little higher as her jaw dropped. “I have always wanted a veg garden, but I just figured I would never have the patience to attend to it!” She was stunned, a wide grin plastered on her face.

For a moment she stood staring at him, her eyes moved slowly down the length of his body and back up again to his face.
“You know, I am starting to see the appeal of the farmer look. So what else do you have!”

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy chuckled and shrugged. “Uhh, carrots, peppers, onions, potatoes,” he said, and listed off a handful of other items. “There is a small strawberry patch, too, but they’re not ready quite yet either.

He did really like the way she looked at him, though. “It’s really not that hard,” he said. “But yeah, patience is key and I know how you get in a hurry,” he teased her, giving her a wink as they continued on through the store.

 

[rockinzoe]

She walked beside him, looking at the various items as they passed, “It’s still impressive though, considering you have to keep bugs and weeds at bay, plus know when to plant, spacing and stuff,” She stopped talking suddenly, walking round behind him, her hand running along the base of his back, “wait a second I want to grab a watermelon.” She stated, lifting the heavy fruit against her before shoving it into the cart.

“Oh milk, we need that!” Her hand touched his, pushing with it to move the cart in the direction she wanted. For some reason she couldn’t quite stop herself from touching him.

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy definitely noticed every little touch that she gave him, and he had no idea what to make of it. After all, following the satisfaction of the terms of their little agreement, she had been very clear that she wasn’t interested in him and that nothing would ever happen again.

Was she coming on to him? He knew himself well enough to know that sometimes he was kind of oblivious to subtle signals from women.

“Oh, and eggs,” he said. “No, the brown ones. Free range. They’re worth the extra dollar, I promise,” he told her, and he found his own hand reaching out to graze along her lower back as she placed the eggs in their cart.

 

[rockinzoe]

There was something about him, something likeable that she couldn’t describe. Perhaps she had demonised him in her head because he just seemed nice.

“We missed cheese.” She stated looking down at the list, “then we need to get some meats.” She gave him a slight grin, “So farmer Tom, never thought of chickens or a bee hive for that garden of yours?”

 

[RawDog33]

“Cheese is right over here,” he said, grabbing a couple different bags of shredded cheeses, parmesan for the salad and colby jack for omelettes, and then grabbed some sliced cheddar and provolone for sandwiches and burgers.

“I have, actually,” he said. “One of my projects for this summer is building a chicken coop.” They strolled along to the meats. “So… what about you? I don’t even know what your major is.”

 

[rockinzoe]

“You do have a lot of projects for the summer huh? Makes my plan of work and relaxation seem a bit lazy in comparison.” She laughed picked up a pack of chicken and putting it in.

“Yeah mine is English Lit, but I might add education to it and become a teacher. I come from a family of teachers.” She added wandering alongside the cart, “What about you, where do your career aspirations lie?”

This was nice, just spending time with her newest roommate, even if it was only for a bit she could still keep in touch, for the fresh veg if nothing else.

 

[RawDog33]

Tommy nodded and grabbed a package of ground beef and added it the cart. “I’m doing my masters in audio engineering,” he said. “Hence the job at the Blue Note. I’d really like to get hooked up with a good band and travel around and do all their recordings and mixing, that kind of stuff,” he explained.

With everything on the list crossed off, they headed for the check-out. Tommy grabbed a case of beer along the way. They got in line, got rung up, to a grand total of one hundred thirty two dollars. Tommy pulled out his wallet and produced his debit card to pay.

 

[rockinzoe]

“Wait, why are you paying for it all? We’re supposed to split it.” She frowned a little mad he seemed to pay without talking to her first. As they headed out she stopped suddenly, spotting a cash machine. “I’ll be back in a second I’m going to grab some money.”

She practically ran to the machine to get out half of the bill total, returning to help load the last bag. “How have I ended up with the heaviest bag?” She laughed shoving it in the back.

Once inside she handed him the money, “my half. Now tell me, your truck, for some reason I would not have imagined you having a truck, how did it come to be yours?” She turned in her seat, to face towards him, keen to know more, stop him being a stranger