"Do it with a rock star."
Ramona sat at The Farmstead sipping hot peppermint tea. It was all her stomach could seem to handle lately. This was her and Liz’s favourite lunch spot. Ramona couldn’t wait to see her since she had decided to keep her pregnancy from Liz as not to take away the spotlight from her at her wedding and honeymoon. Liz and Johnny had gotten back from the Caribbean the night before though, and Liz’s first order of business was to meet Ramona for a girls’ luncheon.
As soon as Ramona saw Liz walk through the front entrance, she was out of her seat waving her to their table. They hugged.
“Oh, my, gosh, hi!” said Liz loudly, embracing Ramona for as long as she could. “I’m so excited to see you!”
The two women sat down. “How are you and Johnny? How was the honeymoon? Tell me absolutely everything.”
“It was fantastic,” gushed Liz. “It was so romantic. We had the honeymoon suite. Johnny and I walked along the beach every day at sunset and sipped Mai Tai’s on the sand. I couldn’t have asked for a lovelier trip. It was heaven, I wish I was still there, waaah.” They both laughed.
“I saw all the pictures you posted on FaceSpace. Gorgeous, Liz!”
A waitress came and set two waters in front of them. “Are you ladies ready to order?” she asked.
“You start, honey,” said Liz.
Ramona looked up, knowing this was not going to sit well with Liz. “I’m just going to stick with the tea,” said Ramona, “and could I maybe get some soda crackers if you have them?”
The waitress nodded. “Yes, and for you?”
Liz looked confused at how little Ramona had ordered. “I guess I’ll just have the Caesar Salad and an iced tea?”
The waitress nodded and took their menus.
“Are you feeling all right?” Liz asked after the waitress had left them. “Did you eat before you came? You seem nervous.”
“No, I didn’t eat before I came, but I’m all right,” replied Ramona, suddenly not knowing how to tell Liz what she needed to tell her. It sounded so absurd in her mind.
“You don’t seem all right and you look a little pale. You know you can tell me anything, honey.”
Ramona took a deep breath. “Okay, I wanted to wait until after your wedding and when you were back from your trip to tell you.”
“Tell me what, Ramona? You’re freaking me out. Is something wrong? Are you sick?”
Ramona shook her head. “No, not exactly,” she answered. “I’m…pregnant, Liz. Liz, I’m pregnant.”
“Aaaahhh!!” Liz shrieked. All eyes and heads turned toward them. “What?! When?! How?!” she shouted.
“Well, I---.”
“No!!” Liz interrupted before Ramona could answer any of her questions. “Who, Ramona?!! Who??”
“Excuse me,” said an older gentleman seated at a table with his wife close to them. “Would you two mind keeping your voices down? People are trying to enjoy a nice, quiet lunch.”
Ramona normally would have apologized for being rude, but with all the emotions and hormones running through her body at that moment, she could not be subdued. “We will not ‘keep it down’,” she replied.
“But every time you two raise your voices, it causes us to have to raise our voices,” argued the man’s wife.
“Oh, so sorry to make your raise your voices in public. If you wanted peace and quiet you should have stayed at home.”
“Some people just don’t have any class I suppose. It’s sad, really.”
“No, it’s not sad and we do have class…lots of it!” shouted Liz. “This is my best girlfriend whom I have not seen in over a month and I just found out she’s pregnant! So, we are going to sit here and be as loud as we want and if you don’t like it, you can get the fuck out of here.”
The couple looked at them, defeated before going back to pushing their food around on their plates, muttering to themselves.
Liz reached across the table and took Ramona’s hand into hers. “Okay, honey. Please tell me. Who’s baby is it?” she asked.
Ramona’s eyes met hers as she answered, “Anderson’s.”
“Andy Anderson?!” Liz shouted. That was the final straw. The older couple walked out in a huff. “Aaron’s friend Anderson? THAT Anderson?”
Ramona nodded. “The very one.”
“When did---? Are you two like…dating?”
“Not really. We just hang out and---.”
“Have unprotected sex?”
“We used protection! The first few times.” Ramona closed her eyes, her nose wrinkling up into a hushed sob. “Oh, my, God, Liz. I am so fucking stupid. How could I have let this happen?”
Liz wasn’t used to seeing Ramona vulnerable and emotional since she was usually the one who needed cajoling. She reached for Ramona’s hand again. “You are not stupid, Ramona. Everything happens for a reason and we are going to figure this out together.”
Just then the waitress came with Liz’s food and drink. “May I get you two ladies anything else?” Liz shook her head as Ramona wiped her eyes with her cloth napkin.
As soon as the waitress was gone, Liz said, “You are not alone in this, okay?”
Ramona nodded. “Thank you so much, Liz. I just don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Liz spread her napkin across her lap. “Well, I know what you’re going to do,” said Liz with a raised eyebrow and her lips turned up into a smirk.
“What’s that?” Ramona asked, forcing herself to smile again.
“You are going to sit there and tell me absolutely EVERYTHING.”
* * *
Ramona stood in a large, dingy and dimly-lit cement room that was the Bootlegged Theatre in Echo Park. There was a three-foot-high stage on one side of the room where a young punk band was playing loudly. There was a smattering of people of all ages standing around, holding beer bottles, and drinking from red solo cups.
“Remind me why we’re here again?” Ramona asked Amy, the cute, bubbly co-worker from the agency she had come with.
Amy smiled, wrapping her arm around Ramona’s shoulders. “Because you’re the bestest girlfriend anyone could ask for,” she replied. “And because you didn’t want me to get murdered on the first online date I’ve ever been on, the one that YOU talked me into going on, by the way.”
Ramona winced. “Oh, that’s right. I really need to learn to shut my mouth sometimes.” They both laughed. “So, what’s this guy’s band called again?” she shouted over the clanging drums and screams of the current band’s last number.
“Turn Up.”
“Like the vegetable?”
Amy shook her head. “No, like ‘Turn Up’…the music, I guess?” Amy shrugged. “You know everyone has to be clever these days.”
“Clever indeed,” replied Ramona.
“That’s him!” shouted Amy as the next band came up to start setting up their gear. “That’s Dylan.”
“Ooh, Mama like,” replied Ramona looking at the tall, dark, curly long-haired gentleman Amy was pointing to.
“Back off. He’s mine,” Amy teased. “You can have the hot drummer.”
Ramona’s eyes fell on the drummer who had even longer, perfectly blonde locks. “Hey, I know that guy!” Ramona exclaimed.
“You do? How?”
“His name’s Anderson. He’s a friend of a friend…sort of.”
The band started to play as the lead singer came to the center microphone.
“Well, he rocks,” Amy said.
“Yeah,” replied Ramona, “he does, doesn’t he?”
The crowd gathered in front of the stage and everyone could feel the energy of the room change from the last band as Turn Up played. Ramona found it impossible to keep her eyes off of Anderson. She had only met him once or twice before and never gave him a second thought. She definitely thought he was cute, but he had always just seemed to be this flighty Venice Beach hippie type of guy, totally not her type. But seeing him up on stage in his element with his band, she was starting to feel he was the complete opposite. He was focused and sexy as fuck. Ramona bit her bottom lip. This night might not end up being a total loss for her after all.
After the show, Ramona and Amy waited outside the venue while the band loaded out their gear. Ramona was still feeling tingly from seeing Anderson up on stage exuding such raw talent. She could not even deny she was feeling nervous.
“Dylan!” Amy shouted as she spotted him coming back from putting an amp in his car.
“Hey! You came!” he greeted. “I thought I saw you in the front row.” They embraced for a long moment.
“I told you I’d be here.”
“Yeah, but L.A. is full of flakes.”
“Well, not this girl,” laughed Amy. “You guys were amazing! The stuff you have up on your Sound Cloud does not do you justice.”
“And neither do your pics on Cinder, girl. You are smokin’!”
Amy blushed furiously. “Oh, my, God. Thank you. Um…this is my good friend Ramona. She said she knows your drummer.”
“Who? Andy?” he asked and Ramona nodded. “Shit, L.A. is small. That’s awesome.” Amy and Dylan were already having a hard time keeping their hands off of each other. “Listen, we’re all headed back to my folks’ place in Los Feliz. They’re out of town. You babes have to come.”
“We’re there!” said Amy without hesitation. “Text me your addy.”
A few hours (and a lot of beers) later, Ramona found herself in the backyard of a beautiful Spanish-style home tucked on a hill up against Griffith Park. Ramona and Anderson were getting cozy in a hammock in a small gazebo behind the pool. Amy and Dylan had disappeared back into the house, but they were both too buzzed to notice or care.
“It’s so rad that you are here right now, Miss Mona,” said Anderson after taking another swig from the bottle of Corona he held in his hands. “I just can’t get over it.”
“And why not?” Ramona asked with a laugh.
“I don’t know. It’s just that every time I saw you out with Aaron and that chick Liz, I just always thought you were such a fox and way outta my league.”
“Is that why you never asked me out then?”
Anderson shrugged, flashing his adorably boyish grin. “Hey,” he said, “I’m shy.”
Ramona almost choked on her beer. “Bull. Shit!” she exclaimed. “You are not shy. Did you see yourself on stage tonight? You are a rock star!”
Anderson suddenly kissed her hard on the lips. “Say that again, Mona.”
“What?” she replied, having already forgotten what she’d said. “That you’re a rock star?”
He pushed his thigh and hip into her, bringing her instant pleasure. “Say it again.”
“You are a rock star, Anderson.”
“Again.”
“You are a rock star! You’re a rock star! You’re a rock star!” she shouted breathlessly, losing herself in complete ecstasy.
She’d never done it in a hammock before.
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