Turn Me Bad

 Violet couldn’t resist a sideways glance to take in the girl’s envious features, having deliberately kept the part about him being a model secret, knowing it to also be the best part. Up until then it had been enough to brag that she was going out with a cool biker boy.

”I’m sure Jeremy’s probably seen your face staring back at him in the clothes store when he’s buying his jeans,“ Abby cut in. ”Only from now on he’ll be able to recognize you.”

”Maybe,“ Benjamin replied, laughing. ”If so, I hope it doesn’t put him off the purchase.”

The dinner was largely pleasant. Inviting Abby was a master stroke in that she hit it off with everyone and always had fresh conversation whenever there was a lull, while Benjamin was his usual charming self. Even Jeremy spoke more than Violet was used to hearing and she thought he was getting to like the wild child she had brought home, even though they were quite different. Her brother was not very outgoing and didn’t have a massive social circle, which she supposed was part of the appeal to Caitlin. (The girl could have him all to herself.) Indeed, only the peroxide know-it-all, usually so quick to judge and cast aspersions, remained quiet through what would have usually been an excruciatingly civilized experience. She only chirped up when having the opportunity to talk about their upcoming trip to New York and everything they were going to do there. Everything was point scoring with her, but, despite how much she had wound her boyfriend’s sister up over the last few months, Violet found herself pitying the girl. Even to the extent of complimenting her in front of everybody in a likely doomed attempt at securing some kind of truce.

”Caitlin wants to do a parachute jump someday,“ Violet told Benjamin and Abby in front of her. ”She’s a braver girl than I.”

”Not on the way to New York, I hope?“ Benjamin joked.

”No,“ Jeremy replied. ”She’d end up in hill-billy country and guess who’d have to rescue her.”

”You’re good for that.”

”If you say so.”

”You get to be tied to a handsome man on the way down, I hear,“ Abby added. “But I don’t think it’s for me.”

”I know a guy who did one last year,“ Benjamin told them. ”It was all going well until he decided to take a selfie of himself on the way down. Of course the phone blew out of his hand.”

”Oh no!“ said Abby. ”Did he try to find it?”

”He did and I’m glad we’ve finished eating, because he found it in a steaming pile of horse manure.”

”Nooo!”

”True story. It still worked, but he can only bring himself to use speaker phone ever since.”

”I’ll try not to make that mistake,“ said Caitlin, even managing a smile. Violet thought it was the first one she had seen from the girl that was not motivated by smugness.

So Benjamin had been able to get an impression of how sedate her own lifestyle had been up until she met him and how, in comparison to him, her family and friends were completely dull and square. She was not ashamed of that; the Hollywood lifestyle he was used to was completely over the top, but she did then wonder if his ardor towards her might start to cool. Bringing home the fact that they were very different and their relationship just couldn’t last.

After they had said goodbye to him, Violet took the opportunity to pick Abby’s brain before her friend too hit the road. Though she was expecting some kind of clarity thanks to her friend’s super powers, she was astonished to find that Benjamin’s bad boy influence had extended and dulled Abby’s wits too.

”So, what do you think?“ Violet asked.

”I think you’re worrying too much, Vio.”

”What do you mean?”

”I mean, I think he’s OK.”

”I know he’s OK,“ Violet replied. ”He’s Steve McQueen reborn; that’s quite an OK. I mean what do you think about me and him?”

”That’s what I was referring to, silly. I think he’s committed to you.”

”How on earth did you draw that conclusion?”

”It’s obvious he likes you and somehow… I don’t know – in a weird way you two just seem to fit together.”

”Fit together?”

”Yeah, you complement each other well. He probably needs someone as straight thinking as you and you can certainly use someone who can help you to step out like he can. You meet in the middle. It just looks like it works to me.”

”You can’t be serious? I was waiting for you to advise me to call it off – now that I’ve rubbed Caitlin’s face in it.”

”Why would you do that? You two seem suited to each other.”

”Well, my lifestyle isn’t suited to it. If he’s still here tomorrow evening then he’ll be whisking me off to bars and bike rides, and I’ll be so carried away with his attention that I’ll give in. It’s not me, Abby.”

”You’ll adjust. Both of you I mean,“ her friend insisted. ”Find a middle ground. These are still early days.”

”And I came to you for sound advice?”

”Vio, haven’t you considered this might be something more?”

”Like what?”

”Well, I know he’s dreamy and everything. Who wouldn’t want to be his girl? But I don’t think you’d be hanging around with him this long if you weren’t attached to him deep down too. You’re not that kind of girl.”

”I didn’t think I was.”

”You’re not. If you weren’t really into him that one night would probably have been enough. Maybe you…”

”What?”

”Maybe you love him.”

”Love?“ queried Violet, but too vaguely to really get anywhere.

It was a factor she had not attempted to think about. Benjamin was a man to desire and dream about, could have easily been a poster on someone’s wall that girls would lust over but in reality think of as unobtainable.

Could Abby have been right though? Her inability to let go and return to the sensible day-to-day grind that so wound Caitlin up was completely unforeseen. Could any handsome model have caused her to act this way, or was Benjamin the only one?