Blonde Chicks Preferred: May 30, 2013

Liam Nordstrom:  May 30, 2013

What the hell? I was leaving the studio with Kelsey when two police detectives stopped me. They introduced themselves and showed me their credentials. They could have been actors for all I knew. My first thought was that the guys went all out with these costumes. The badges looked pretty legitimate. The crew and actors played practical jokes on each other all the time and this was probably just payback for last week’s prank.

“Could you come down to the station with us? We have some questions about Lane Pierce.”

“Who?” I asked. I had no idea who this person was, but I was willing to play along.

Kelsey squeezed past me, intentionally flipping her strawberry blonde ponytail in my face as she maneuvered by. She even smelled like strawberries and I was hungry. “I’ll meet you back at the house,” she said with a smirk and I knew the look came from the key burning a hole in her pocket. I had given it to her just that morning. She and I were getting more serious and it was a huge step for me to give her a key to the house. It implied exclusivity and complete access to me. Up until now, I had never taken that step with anyone.

The female detective’s sneer wiped the smile from my face. “Am I supposed to know who that is?” I asked. The unisex name didn’t even indicate if it was a man or a woman. Maybe this wasn’t a joke.

“We would like you to come down to the station so we can discuss this in private,” stated the male detective.

“Do I need my lawyer?”

“There are no charges it this time. We just have some questions for you,” he added.

I’d done enough television drama to know that was code for you better get your lawyer’s ass on the phone. I followed them out to their car conscious of every word that came out of my mouth.

“We’ll drop you back at your vehicle when we’re done, Mr. Nordstrom,” said the female detective as we settled in the nondescript car. I set my motorcycle helmet on the chair next to me and buckled the seatbelt.

From the backseat, I called my father and explained the situation the best I could for him. I had no idea why I was being questioned, but I knew enough to cooperate and to use my lawyer father when I needed him.

By the time my father showed up and the questioning started, I was sure that I was going to prison. I still had no idea what I had done but the police detectives mannerisms indicated they were convinced of my guilt. Besides, I had a lawyer—I must have done whatever I’m being questioned about. They almost had me persuaded until they showed me a picture of the girl, I had supposedly forced myself on. “You’ve got to be joking,” I said. “She looks like she’s thirteen and she’s not even blonde.”

“I can assure you, Mr. Nordstrom, we’re not joking. She is sixteen and a minor. That makes it rape whether it was consensual or not.”

“I need some time to confer with my client,” said my father.

“I’ve never seen that girl in my life,” I practically shouted. Though I play a character that would have no qualms forcing himself on a girl, in fact, my TV persona did just that last season, I am not that kind of guy and I have no interest in underage girls. My father looked at me questioningly as I shook my head in disgust. “This is such BS!”

“If charges are being filed against my client, you better have evidence to support such accusations or we’re leaving,” my father stated. “When did the alleged act take place? What makes you think this girl isn’t just making up the whole story?”

“We are just gathering information at this point. The assault took place on May 21st between 11:30 and 3am the following day. We need to know your client’s whereabouts. We would also like your client to submit to DNA testing. If you need a few minutes to consult with him, you may have it at this time,” stated the male detective and then he and the other detective rose, leaving the room.

“Did you sleep with this girl?” asked my lawyer in his calm voice he reserved for his real clients.

“No, Dad, I’ve never met her.” Even my own father had doubts.

“Maybe I should just do the DNA test. It would clear everything up.”

“They are implying that they have DNA evidence, but that might not be the case at all. It may just be a tactic to get you to confess. Giving in to the test will be the last resort. There are too many variables and you don’t want your DNA on file if we can help it. Where were you that night?”

I knew that I hadn’t slept with the brunette, but I wasn’t sure I could prove it. I felt a bead of sweat slide down the center of my back as I checked my phone’s calendar. The date was a week and a half ago. I thumbed through my schedule and when I got to the right page relief flooded my body. I definitely had that night covered. “On the 21st, Kelsey and I grabbed take out and hit the sheets by nine. I had a 4:00 call the next morning. We rode to the studio together. We were together the whole night.”

“Will this Kelsey collaborate your alibi?”

“She’s my girlfriend and it’s true. Why wouldn’t she?” It was weird to admit she was my girlfriend, but I guess that’s what she is. “I don’t understand how this sixteen year old can make false allegations and have the police take her seriously.”

“People can say anything they want about a public figure. Being famous actually makes it harder for you to file defamation charges against her. Judges usually assume the worst of public figures or want to make an example of them. And the police have to take the accusations seriously or they can be accused of giving preferential treatment. The girl just wants attention, her fifteen seconds of fame.”

“So I just have to accept this crap? It doesn’t seem fair.”

He placed a hand on my shoulder and, with a chuckle, said, “Life’s not fair, Son. Next time we’ll handle it differently with the police.”

“Next time?”

“You have a target on your back. The character you play is a pretty messed up guy and people want to believe you’re him. It will happen again. It just means you’re good enough to make your character believable. Congratulations, you’ve made it in Hollywood." He smiled and patted my shoulder. "The story will be out in the press for a couple of days, the girl will get her name in the news and then it will disappear. By the time the truth comes out the public will have moved on and no one will care that you didn’t do it. You’ve made it, Liam. Lies and innuendo fuel the business.”

It sucked donkey balls! But my dad was right. I should wear it as a badge of honor. I’m important enough to lie about. Free advertising for my brand, it doesn’t matter that it’s negative.

After sharing my alibi with the detectives and Kelsey collaborating it over the phone to them, my dad and I left the station. He dropped me at my bike, and I headed back to Malibu naively thinking the nightmare was over.

Copyright 2014 Susan Schussler

Jessica's Way: May 27, 2013

Jessica:  May 27, 2013

I didn’t get to talk to Jeff over the weekend about the words he spilled to his mom. I kept waiting for him to bring it up, but he never did. He told the story at the bonfire about his mom calling him out into the hall as if he was fifteen and everyone thought it was so funny. But when I announced to the group that I heard his entire hallway conversation, he didn’t even react. Then he avoided me the rest of the weekend. Now, I don’t know what to do. He knows that I know, but he still hasn’t owned up to his words. Aaaagh!

I get that Thor was there, and Jeff didn’t want to talk about love or the future in front of a guy whose life was just demolished by a woman. The big break up shocked everyone. Thor and Nora had dated forever and they were supposed to get married in a couple of weeks. We never expected her to do what she did and I think that Thor’s experience traumatized Jeff out of love. Is that possible? Maybe not out of love, but fractured him enough to not want to acknowledge the words that he’d said. I can’t unhear them.

I know relationships are fluid. They change with outside influences. I never would have thought that Sarah and Matt would break up until their relationship shattered like a light bulb on a tile floor. Now Thor and Nora have ended. I believe Jeff and I are meant to be together though. There’s always been a connection between us. Even when he treated me like his little sister’s annoying friend, I could tell that he was never quite as irritated with me as he was with Sarah. Then one day he just stopped being irritated. I could see the change in the way he looked at me, in the way he smiled when I talked to him. I didn’t take him seriously at first. I liked him but I was so young with too many obstacles ahead of me. It was years before we started dating and only officially in the last eight months.

Tonight when Jeff dropped me off at my mom’s around seven, he gave me a quick kiss and told me he would text me before bed. I look forward to his texts every night, quick little messages to let me know he’s thinking about me. Sometimes they are sweet and innocent, but usually they’re not. My friends always tease me about Jeff’s sexts whenever my phone goes off at night. Now it’s almost one in the morning and, for the first time, I haven’t gotten my text. I don’t want to call him because I know he has to work in the morning and he may have just fallen asleep. But here I am, wide awake.        
Copyright 2014 Susan Schussler

Sarah's Journal: May 27, 2013

Sarah:  May 27, 2013 

When did I step into the Twilight Zone? I’m in the back seat heading home from the weirdest weekend that I have ever had in my life. I told Jeff and Jess that I was putting my headphones on so that I could write in my journal without distractions, but really I did it so they could talk. Something is messed up between them and they really need to figure it out. Jeff has been avoiding being alone with Jessica all weekend and she’s obviously miffed at him. Anyone could see it, especially after the bonfire. They better work it out because I’m pretty sure I would pick her if their relationship ended in a divorce and that would make for some really interesting family holidays.

Whatever their problem is, started when Mom caught them in bed together on Saturday morning. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, but at least it wasn’t my dad. He knows, though. Why couldn’t Mom just keep it to herself? Dad cornered me in the kitchen on Sunday morning and asked me how serious Jeff and Jessica were. Really? 

“They’re serious enough,” I said. The scowl on my face should have told him how uncomfortable I was talking about my brother and my best friend’s sex life, but he didn’t catch on.

“Your mother and I didn’t realize that they were so committed.”

“Well. They are,” I said, not sure what else to say. 

“They’re not getting engaged, are they?” He had the strangest look on his face.

I shook my head. Why do parents assume that their children are virgins until their wedding nights? They are such hypocrites. I mean, with the stories Mom tells—I don’t get it. I’m never going to be like that. My dad seemed satisfied with my answer and didn’t ask any more questions. My parents are usually forward thinkers. Usually. They accept people for who they are, faults and all, and don’t linger on past mistakes. That’s why this threw me. I’ve seen Alli’s parents practically dictate her life to her, not allowing her to make decisions—never giving her enough room to make them. My parents aren’t like them. Weekend in the Twilight Zone—totally.

And if drama-with-Dad wasn't bad enough, Jeff’s ex-roommate Thor showed up and unloaded his sad story on me while we were putting the dock in. I'm not lying. It was the epitome of a Gerry Springer show. Then at the bonfire, he starts flirting with me, even after I told him I was seeing someone. I am. I am seeing someone. Thor just broke up with his fiancé that week and he’s flirting with me? When Alli and Megan showed up, I was just looking for an escape. I should have had Megan sit next to him. She’s much more equipped to deal with guys like that. I felt sorry for him though. I thought that he would be better off with Alli, after all that he had been through. She’s usually sweet and doesn’t get too involved with guys. But I didn’t know she was on a bender weekend. Now what? She and Thor made plans for next Friday. I don’t want her to be his rebound. Do I tell her about Thor or do I give him the benefit of the doubt? Jeff says he’s always been a decent guy. Still, breakups change people. 

Copyright 2014 Susan Schussler 

Perfect Alli: May 27, 2013

Alli:  May 27, 2013

Thor and I drove for fifteen minutes in the rain while I told him all about my future plans. I didn’t want to talk about myself. It didn’t fit into my "escape-my-life weekend." Most guys get a little intimidated by my plans, but he actually sounded interested. So I told him what he wanted to know and I tried not to think about how the conversation wanted to make me vomit.

I had no idea where we were when we ended up on another dirt road and the skies grew even darker, inundating us with a relentless waterfall across the windshield. The wipers couldn’t keep up. Thor threw the truck into park in the middle of the road, unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to me in his shirtless glory, saying, “I’d rather look at you anyway.” His eyes so dark that no pupil showed, he unfastened my seatbelt and pulled on my arm to gently draw me closer to him. “So…Alli, you’re going to be a doctor. What kind of doctor are you going to be?”

His words may have been innocent but his eyes said something completely not. Play doctor with me, they coaxed. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my eyes to the pouring rain, just to catch my thought. “My mom is a psychiatrist,” I said. I didn’t want to see his expression when he heard that. People are always unsettled by her profession. “And my dad is a neurosurgeon.”

“A brain surgeon?”

“Yes,” I said with little enthusiasm, turning my eyes back to him. He gazed at the ceiling of the truck with his head against the window as if he was contemplating something I was oblivious to. “It would be easier if I followed in one of their footsteps. They have all kinds of networks. And that’s what they want,” I continued.

“You don’t,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Was I that transparent?

“I don’t know what I want. I’ve known since I was a little girl that I’d go to medical school. It’s not really a choice I made.”

His brow furrowed and I wondered what I had said that troubled him. He reached out grasping a strand of my red hair between his fingers before tucking it tenderly behind my ear and asking, “If you could be anything you wanted, what would you be?”

“I’m going to be a doctor.”

“That’s not what I asked.” A smile etched on his face as his fingers traced my clenched jaw. “What would you be if you couldn’t be a doctor?”

This was pointless. “It doesn’t matter. That’s what I’m going to be.”

“Well…my brother is in his third year of residency out in Boston and he always says there’s not enough money in the world to make medical school worth it. The way he describes it, a person needs to be consumed with the desire to make a difference in the world or it will never happen. You sound like you’re doing it for your parents.”

“Don’t you think that you’re being a bit arrogant to assume you know me?” My words came out harsher than I intended and his hand pulled back from where it was touching my face as if I’d burned him. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Why can’t I just keep my mouth shut?

“Whoa. I guess it’s true what they say about redheads. Feisty.” His last word said slow and sexy, as he raised one eyebrow.

“Jerk,” I said, but I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face and his cocky look made me chuckle.

“I guess that’s a sore spot. We can switch it up. Are you seeing anyone right now?”

“Would I be here, if I was?” I don’t know why I was so irritated and I needed a padlock for my mouth.

“Like you said, I don’t know you. Is that a no?”

“No.”

“So you are seeing someone?”

“No. I am not…” I began, but his lips swallowed my words.

His hand wove under my hair and curled around the base of my neck, pulling me toward him to deepen the kiss. His tongue parted my lips in a slow mesmerizing push and I flattened my hand on his bare chest, not to push him away, but to suck him closer somehow. I needed this—needed to get lost, to disappear into a world not my own. As I fantasized about this kiss leading to the middle of a dark romance novel, his hands skimmed down my body to my hips and then, without warning, Thor pulled back. He blinked as if he was trying to gain control, while I looked at him in disbelief.

“You have the prettiest blue eyes,” he said.

“Thanks.” It came out as a whimper. What kind of answer was that? I’m sitting here alone with this completely hot guy who is telling me how pretty my eyes are and for the first time in my life, I forgot how to talk. My mouth is either without a filter or not working at all.

“We should get going before I throw you down on the seat and have my way with you.”

Please! I wanted to say, but my mouth still wasn’t connected to my brain. Instead I just stared at him.

His gorgeous smile twisted brazenly. “You’re going to have to wipe that expression from your beautiful face because that’s the look that makes me want to take advantage of you.”

I smiled. I could feel the heat spread across my neck and I knew I was blushing. He flung the truck into gear again and within minutes, (I don’t know how we got there) we were in the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant. One minute we’re on a deserted road and the next we’re in some dinky little town. Did I black out?

We sat in the truck eating sub sandwiches as he told me about how he had just graduated with a degree in engineering after five years at UW and was going to the U of M for his masters. He and his brother were sharing an apartment near campus.

“How many siblings do you have?” I asked. This obviously wasn’t the same brother who was in residency. Being an only child sometimes it’s hard for me to understand the sibling relationship.

“Four, all boys,” he answered. “I’m the youngest.” Holy moly five boys.

“Your poor mother,” I said.

He laughed. “I was my parent’s last try for a girl.” He waved his hands in front of body like he was presenting himself. “As you can see it didn’t work out for them.”

“Their loss, my gain.” My mouth was working again. Surprise. I sounded like Megan.

He chuckled. “I have to head back to the Cities today, but come to my place on Friday. My brother and I are having a few people over. I’d like you to come.”

His words held promise and as we headed back to join our friends at the lake, my stomach spun with excitement. I was looking forward to the following weekend for the first time in forever.
Copyright 2014 Susan Schussler