PART 4: California
***
I looked out the window, observing white wispy clouds glide past my view of the brilliantly blue ocean beneath. And then the coastline came back into sight. We were almost there.
Months after graduation. Months of enduring the mental torture inside my own conscience. Months of dreaming about Courtney's face. And now we were almost there.
I glanced to the side to see Anna's face light up happily as she also saw the California coast, more clearly than I from her window seat. She turned and flashed me with a pearly white smile. "We're almost there." The tone in her voice was quite different from the tone in my head. I could feel her giddy anticipation.
"Almost..." I couldn't quite muster up the same enthusiasm. Sure I wanted to see my old friends. We had one weekend. Just three days and two nights to visit and catch up. I only had to keep my composure for that long, IF I could keep my composure for that long.
I felt the cloud of doom hanging over my head. What had happened graduation night was still fresh in my mind and stubbornly refusing to be forgotten.
**It's simple, just look at Courtney like you have any other day since you broke up. You can do it...** At least I told myself I could do it. **Forget what she looked like when you were making love. Forget that face and remember Anna's...** Easier said than done.
**Aww fuck... I'm going to fuck this up...**
Courtney had left right after the graduation ceremony itself. She'd never actually come to my room. It had all been in my head. I'd woken up the next morning to realize I still had several boxes to pack. The entire thing had been a dream (nightmare?) mingled with the reality of having sex. And that woman I had been REALLY making love to was sitting right next to me, content in the belief that all the passion I'd let out was meant for her and her alone. How could I have done that to Anna? And what was going to happen when I actually saw Courtney for the first time since that day?
A short half an hour later, we were in baggage claim waiting for our luggage when a familiar giggle lit off behind me. "You're here!!!"
I turned and there she was, more radiant than ever. Her eyes danced, her skin glowed, her hair was perfectly coiffed, and she was just as sexy as ever. It was HER. Just a slightly different HER than I remembered.
Gone were the casual jeans and no-nonsense baseball cap. In disguising herself from the general public, Courtney had dressed down for her visit back to school, showing us the old girlfriend we knew and loved. But now, now we were in LA. Now we were in Courtney's element. And she was glammed up to the max.
The outfit was rather risqué, a little Playboy bunny logo in the corner of her hoodie. She would never have gotten away with the microshorts that now almost exposed her asscheeks to the world. Her makeup was heavier than she ever used to wear to an Economics class. All this made her seem perfectly at home as a Playmate; a goddess stepped down to mingle with us mortals.
Of course, in my glancing around, I found that a dozen other hot women were similarly dressed. They weren't playmates. They were just ordinary Southern California girls. I was going to have to watch my own eyeballs to keep from ogling too much. Ah, California.
Anna stepped forward and the two ladies hugged warmly, the way old roommates do. And then Courtney turned to me, hesitating before taking a step in my direction. There was a desperate longing in her eyes as she stared me down, or at least I wanted to believe there was. A gleam of hope mirrored by a sense of loss. Without words, her eyes communicated so much to me.
We both stopped ourselves and I even glanced at Anna first before finally stepping in and giving each other a chaste hug. Awkward, but I detected no suspicion from my girlfriend.
"It's too bad Christine couldn't come," Courtney stated glumly. For a brief second I appreciated the change in subject. But at the same time, I wasn't sure how to respond. Christine and I still had a weird bit of unfinished business as well. On two more occasions since graduation, Christine and I had given into our lust and fucked each other senseless. It was an unfinished affair and yet one more thing in my head I had to hide from my girlfriend.
Fortunately, just then I saw Anna's bag come trundling off the conveyor and used it as my excuse to look away and lean over to grab at the suitcase.
I heard Anna sigh, "Yeah, well. You know how things are between her and Brian. Not all relationships can end as amicably as you two."
Courtney seemed suitably sad. Not all relationships end up with the parties wanting to get back together, either; but I wasn't about to say that out loud.
The moment passed and then Courtney was perky once again. "Well, I'll have to go to visit her. In the meantime, you're not here to get depressed. You're here to have fun! I hope you packed enough bikinis!"
***
Courtney drove us in a cute little Mercedes. Nothing too fancy, it wasn't like she was loaded or anything. But she was able to buy our plane tickets for us and she apparently wasn't in any debt, which was more than I could say for us poor recent college grads (well for Anna, a current grad student).
After a half-hour, we were winding through the posh hills above Hollywood. It was a strange dichotomy of ancient streets, hard cement cracked from years of abuse and built in the 1920's before anyone anticipated how many cars would be traveling over them. But just above the street level, gorgeous homes and lush greenery were all that the eye could see.
The car pulled into a little garage, sliding into the one spot next to a shiny red BMW convertible. Going in I could see a quaint house, bigger than anything I could dream of owning and yet not as grand as the mansions nearby.
We unloaded and then headed inside. "Hailey?" Courtney called out. "Brian?"
"We're in here," a female voice answered.
I followed the two girls into the house, carrying most of the luggage of course. The interior decorating was modern and elegant, but not overly garish or anything. Still, it was definitely a few steps up from IKEA.
I gaped at the granite countertops and maple cabinetry as we passed through the kitchen from the garage and into the living room. My old buddy was on the couch, a beer in one hand while he chatted up a gorgeous redhead who was clad only in a silk bathrobe. I didn't recognize her, but I knew I'd seen her somewhere before.
Brian came up and we exchanged our usual manly greetings. Courtney and the redhead embraced each other and then everyone rotated.
"Brian, you know. He practically lives here now." Brian shrugged at the comment and Courtney flashed another impish smile. "Now Hailey here you should remember, she was the magazine's Playmate of the Month in January."
I looked, then looked a little closer and suddenly her Centerfold spread popped into my mind. Pretty face, fake tits that were nevertheless absolutely fabulous, and a bubble-bath theme that had set my heartbeat racing.
