The Carousel

Un

"Hey. Ames, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I will be. I just need to get all these tears out of my system."

Shey was about to turn into the freeway when Ondine's cell phone rang.

"Ondine Carter?" the caller asked.

"Yes, this is she. Who's this?"

"Jared. I believe you have my bag."

"Oh yes!" she said excitedly. "I'm actually headed back to the airport to try to track you down. And correction, I believe YOU have MY bag," she grew irritable at the tone of his voice, her earlier excitement gone.

"Relax. I'm not a thief. I have no use for all your lace panties. I just need my things as soon as possible," he replied condescendingly. "Just come by to the hotel I'm staying at and we can make the switch."

"Excuse me? Go to your hotel? Why don't you meet me at the airport?" she huffed, getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Because that's out of the way for me and I need to be somewhere in an hour. So, can you do it or not?"

"Say please."

"What?" he asked confused.

"Say please. I'm already doing you a favor here. And we're meeting in the lobby, not your room or anything. You sound like a dirty sleazebag."

Jared let out a long and loud guffaw. This woman was something else. Her voice sounded nice enough, soft and melodious, but she possessed an acidic tongue. He wondered who this woman was, and she had piqued his interest now, but he didn't have the time. He had planned to have his manager meet with this person who had his belongings since he needed to be at the sound check at the club.

"Fine. Please," he said bitingly.

"Say it like you mean it," she continued on.

"Say please."

"What?"

"Say please and I will," he threw back at her.

"Fine. Please."

"Say it like you mean it."

"Look, Jared, fine, whatever, I'll be there in half an hour with a bright yellow hard shell luggage bag, you know the kind, we have the same exact one. See you then," Ondine sputtered out, trying to keep her anger in check.

"Bye, nice talking with you, Ondine," Jared said sarcastically.

Within half an hour, Shey and Ondine pulled up to the valet of the hotel Jared instructed them to go to. Shey asked the valet if they can just park for a little while since they were literally just going to take five minutes to make the switch. The valet nodded, thinking Shey was cute, and Ondine pulled the heavy bag from the back seat. The two friends made their way to the lobby and immediately spotted the dark haired man standing near the door.

"Jared?" Ondine asked as she neared him.

"Tommy. You must be Ondine," Tommy stuck out his hand for a handshake. "Sorry, Jared couldn't personally be here and thank you."

"No problem. It's probably for the best," she added the last part under her breath. "Okay, thanks, bye."

"Hey, wait a minute. For compensation," Tommy handed them two tickets and four drink vouchers to the club where Jared's band was performing.

Shey's eyes widened as she read the ticket. "Sweet! We wanted to go there tonight, but it was already sold out."

"Just come backstage after the show and say hello, I'll make sure Jared thanks the two of you personally."