Post by Danielle Basch on May 28, 2017 3:54:46 GMT -5
Promenade on the Peninsula Shopping Center – Ruby’s Diner
Palos Verdes, CA
Saturday, May 27, 2017
As the scene fades in, we find Danni LeBlanc and Donovan Basch sitting in the open area outside the restaurant, looking out over the Promenade Ice Chalet. As they watch the skaters move along the ice, Danni smiles, taking a sip from her strawberry banana milkshake. Across the table, Donovan is about halfway into a dark chocolate peanut butter shake.
Donovan: You know, for the record, I usually don’t frequent this kind of place. Never was much for the 50’s theme. But the food here’s pretty good, so I guess I can work the one back in Oceanside into the rotation.
Danni: Just like I’m still getting used to eating at restaurants that require reservations.
She flashes a sheepish smile, the faintest tint of pink brightening up her cheeks. Donovan chuckles before pulling the straw out of his milkshake and taking a massive, healthy chug of its contents. As he puts his cup down, Danni can’t help but giggle at the dark brown blobs of melted shake slowly making their way to the edge of his pointed goatee.
Donovan: What’s so funny?
Danni reaches into her purse and pulls out a mirror. As Donovan sees the source of his lady’s laughter, he immediately pulls a napkin from the dispenser on the table, hurriedly wiping his face.
Donovan: I guess that’s why they give you straws...
Danni giggles again, but tops it off with a sly wink of her eye.
Danni: You didn’t have to go that route... I would’ve been more than happy to lick it off.
Donovan chuckles as Danni winks at him playfully.
Donovan: We can save that idea for later. But anyway, you were telling me about that one flight you took with some of your former co-workers....
Danni: Oh, right. So anyway, this guy Tristan... he falls asleep on the plane, and let me tell you, I’ve never heard anyone snore so loud in my LIFE!
Donovan: Sounded like someone fired up a chainsaw?
Danni: And shoved it up a bear’s asshole!
Donovan: So let me guess... you shoved straws up his nose?
Danni: Nope...
Donovan: You pulled out your makeup bag and gave him a makeover?
Danni waves a finger back and forth as she shakes her head no.
Danni: Close... I pulled out a Sharpie and wrote all over his face! I wrote the words “Place balls here” with an arrow pointing at his mouth, and I even wrote “Dicklips” across his forehead... backward, so that when he looked at himself in the mirror....
Donovan: It read correctly?
Danni nods her head and takes another sip of her shake.
Donovan: Remind me to never fall asleep if we’re flying....
Danni: Nah... from what his friends told me, Tristan had it coming. He had quite the reputation as a prankster, so this was the perfect opportunity for a little payback.
Donovan: Still, I bet he was pissed when he woke up and saw what you did.
Danni: Oh he was LIVID! Totally worth it though. I wonder whatever happened to that guy....
Or for that matter, that other guy that was flying with us...
Her words trail off as something in the distance catches her eye. Danni slowly starts to rise from her seat, squinting as her upper lip curls in a scrutinizing sneer.
Danni: Wait a second....
Donovan: Something wrong?
She shakes her head and sits back down. Whatever it is that caught her attention doesn’t seem to be there anymore, as if it disappeared as soon as it appeared.
Danni: It’s just that I swore I’ve seen that guy before...
Donovan’s eyes flash, and for a moment, Danni can see those beautiful silvery-blue pools fill with a mixture of panic and anger. She reaches across the table, reassuring him by rubbing his clenched fist.
Danni: Calm down, Spidey... it’s not like that. It’s just that there’s a guy out there on the ice right now that looks awfully familiar.
She stands up again, this time with more urgency, pointing toward the ice skating rink.
Danni: Right... THERE! SHIT! He just stepped off the ice and toward the lockers... he looked like...
Donovan: Like what?
Danni: Like this...
She pulls out a small piece of paper from her purse. On the paper is the image of a man with a thick mane of long brown hair and dark, brooding eyes. She shows it to Donovan, who looks at it, then looks back out over the crowd on the ice. As he turns back to look at Danni, he can see the anger growing with each passing second. He reaches out to try and calm her down, only to feel her entire body quivering.
Donovan: Danni, what is it? Who do you think that guy is?
Donovan takes hold of her face, cupping it in his massive hands and tilting it upward so that their eyes meet. Gradually, her breath slows down and the quivering ceases as she locks onto the eyes of her beloved.
Donovan: Talk to me, Nixy...
She lets out a deep sigh, shutting her eyes slowly. His nickname for her is a play on “Nixe,” a German word for “mermaid”.
Danni: He looked just like... my deadbeat father.
Her head falls against Donovan’s chest as a heavy, shaky sigh hisses through her teeth. All Donovan can do is hold her there as he looks out across the ice, hoping to catch any sign of the man she had spotted earlier.
Not a trace.
Fucking coward... more afraid of seeing the inside of a jail cell than he was of stepping up and taking care of his business...
Danni: It took a while, but my mom finally told me the real reason he left her as soon as she told him she was pregnant. She was only 17... he was 22. He knew that my grandparents would press charges if they ever found him, so he took off, acting like he and my mother had never even met. Meanwhile, my poor mother, who had worked so hard all her life, even managing to skip a grade... had her entire future taken away from her on the one time she allowed herself to have a little fun. If that is him, after all these years...
Danni growls, her fist balled up into a tight bundle of rage as she glares off into the distance. As Donovan reaches out for her, he can feel her shaking within his grasp. He grabs her shoulders, staring deep into her eyes in an effort to calm her down.
Donovan: To hell with him. He was never there for you when you needed him; the last thing he deserves is to see his own eyes staring back at him, only with more courage and fire than he could ever hope to have. Let him wallow in the darkness of oblivion, because he doesn’t deserve your light.
Danni: Look at you getting all poetic on me, Spidey...
Donovan raises his eyebrows, a cheesy (or about as cheesy as he can get) smile plastered on his face.
Donovan: It got you to smile, didn’t it?
Danni smiles so hard that her nose wrinkles. The pair sit back down, with Danni once again placing the straw of her milkshake between her pink-tinted lips. She pauses, as if about to take a drink, but pulls the straw away and starts to laugh.
Danni: Damn you to Hell for being so perfect....
Donovan: Nah... I’m on a permanent ban. Satan can’t handle the competition.
Danni pauses, shutting her eyes as she sits there, straw lodged between her puckered lips. Suddenly, a light snort forces its way through her nose, which leads to a full-on burst of laughter as she finally lets go of the straw.
Danni: Good thing I didn’t actually have anything in my mouth... you’d probably be wiping my milkshake off of your face!
Donovan: I guess I dodged a bullet, then. Come on; let’s finish these up. There’s something I want to show you....
Danni: Hold it, mister! Need I remind you that you’re in MY territory? I’m curious as to what you can show me on my own home turf...
Donovan: It’s a surprise... trust me; you’ll like it...
Intrigued, Danni arches her eyebrows as the pair finish off their milkshakes.
Meanwhile...
The mysterious man from before sits at the bar inside the Luna Rossa Restaurant on the far end of the mall. His hair is cut at about chin length, slicked back against his head, but evidence of thick waves can still be made out amongst the silver-streaked strands of dark brown. He looks up from his beer at a television screen mounted from the ceiling, just in time to find a commercial advertising the next episode of Hype. The images of various West Coast Genesis stars flash across the screen, but as soon as he sees the face of Danni LeBlanc, his eyes lock on to the screen and he freezes. [/i][/color]
Man: LeBlanc...
The one word that leaves his lips is spoken so softly, it’s almost inaudible. To the barely observant passer-by, it would seem as if he’s talking to himself.
Barkeep: Hey... something wrong there, friend?
The man stares at the screen, unblinking, even as the commercial ends, as if Danni’s face has been burned into his mind. The barkeep, a stout, older gentleman, looks on with concern, finally waving a hand in front of the stranger’s eyes.
Barkeep: Hey, chief! Earth to... whoever the hell you are!
The man finally shakes himself out of his daze, staring confusedly at the barkeep as he goes back to staring at his beer.
Man: Sorry... I just... thought I saw someone is all.
Barkeep: Son, you look like you just saw a ghost! You sure you’re alright?
Man: A ghost... huh. In a way, you could be right....
He takes another drink from his beer, and as fast as the dazed look on his face had appeared, it is just as quickly replaced by a dismissive smirk.
Man: BAH! It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Listen, I need to go... something came up. This should cover everything, plus the tip.
Before the barkeep can say another word, the stranger slaps down a wad of cash onto the counter and moves away from the bar, vanishing into the crowd.
*FIN*