STAND 37

Sam smiles at her brother, I can tell she doesn’t feel comfortable in her new outfit but judging from James’ face someone is really really happy about it.
“Hello guys, nice to see you. Sorry to interrupt your hourly snogging” she jokes.
“Ciao Sam, so glad you could make it” I answer.
“You look almost like a woman” Howard adds, I bury my fingers on his thigh. “You look great sis” he corrects himself. I release my grip and smile at him “good boy” I whisper.
His grin is still there, I notice it and Sam notices it. James, tonight’s sacrificial lamb, does not, hence he holds his hand out to him and says “nice to meet you again…” he seems unsure on how to call him “…Howard”
“Howard?” he repeats raising his eyebrow.
“Sir” James whispers. I look at Sam *he’s doomed*
Howard smirks “please, have a sit, so we can start ordering some food. I’m starving” and he looks like a shark smelling blood “and you can call me Mr. Donald”
I lightly pinch his arm; he turns to me and kisses my cheek feigning indifference.
The waiter takes our order. “So Jack…” and the three of us freeze I can hear ‘Apocalypse Now’ soundtrack playing in the background “what are you going to do with your life?”
“Howard, leave him alone” Sam protests.
He plays innocent “what did I do? Aren’t we here to chat and get to know each other?”
Sam looks at him and starts saying with a scary voice “From the eternal sea he rises, creating armies on either shore, turning man against his brother, until man exists no more.”
I giggle but her brother ignores her “Jack, do you mind if I start? Because if you do, you can go ahead and ask me any question you want”
*bad, bad man*.
James shakes his head.
“Just what I thought. So I was wondering, what are you? 28?”
“…26…”
“And you don’t have a real job yet. You’re working for Titti, who’s only 25”
“It’s not the way it works How” I try to say
“Surprise me” he challenges him
“I took 3 years off after I finished my studies” James start explaining “my parents needed some help. So I found myself a job. Now things are back on track and I decided to get my PhD.”
Howard feels the blow, you cannot butcher a man who sacrifices three years of his life for his family wellbeing. James is determined not to lose his momentum so he starts praising me “She’s holding her position because there aren’t many 25 years old who found the clue to decode the Lindisfarne contraction system”
Howard looks at him like his talking the lost words of Atlantis.
“He doesn’t know?” James asks me
“It’s not important” I answer
“What is he talking about?” Howard is becoming irritated
“Nothing, really” I say
James is determined to take advantage of his new position, *men*. “Nothing? I beg to differ!” and looks at Howard as singing ‘I know and you don’t na-na-na-na’
I roll my eyes “I was writing my PhD dissertation and my three years detention at the nunnery paid off. My former confessor – I had one don’t laugh – became the librarian of an important collection. He let me study documents not everyone can access and I noticed some signs on the side of the pages. Had an epiphany and found out I had the perfect system to read a series of manuscripts we could not translate before. But if was just out of sheer luck”
“She’s a genius” James adds, but whatever he thinks he’s doing, it’s not happening.
“This dinner is not about me”
“Is he right? I mean. Why didn’t you tell me?” Howard asks me, he’s pissed because there’s something about my life James is part of and he’s not.
“Because it’s not a life changing discovery and it was just a way to find myself a nice job. James, why don’t you tell him about your work?”
Howard is just staring at me when our attention is caught my James who’s trying to serve the wine. Moves his arm and knocks down my glass spilling wine on my new dress.
“I’m so sorry… oh god…I cannot believe it”
“Me neither” Howard says turning to me and trying to clean it using his napkin.
“That’s fine” I tell him “it’s good luck” *my bloody new dress. It cost and arm and a leg and now it’s ruined. Fuck*
Howard sees him cornered and goes for the finishing stroke “a man should know what's truly important in life. What is important to you Jack?”
He swallows hard, looks at me and at Sam “I'm truly not comfortable having this conversation with you”
“Fair enough. Let’s eat and talk about something we all love, like the weather” says Howard sarcastically.
While I see him grinding poor James’ manhood I take a mental note *if we ever have kids let them be boys, I could not survive another dinner like this one*
“My family is” James whispers
“So, Jack just to have a general idea. In your personal priority chart, where is my sister? Before or after a book written hundreds of years ago?”
“His name’s James” Sam tells him annoyed.
“He could be Indiana Bloody Jones. I don’t think his fit to handle an adult relationship”
“HOWARD!” Sam is loosing control now.
“Don’t Howard me. He can’t even handle a dinner. He has no job, no perspective for the future and no money”. At this point it’s the usual Donald brothers banter.
“What do you know about him? I like him, I like to spend time with him. I like having…” I know what comes next and I kick her under the table.
“Fuck” she hisses. I mouth a ‘sorry’. She breathes deep. “Howard?” Sam is calling him with a softer voice now but I can tell from the light in her eyes she’s about to drop a bomb *run for your life* but since I’ve nowhere to go I take his hand.
“Yes Sam?” he answers her trying to clean my dress someway.
“I just want to tell you I might have found an apartment. If it all works out as planned I’ll move out next week”
He opens his eyes wide letting his hands fall on my legs “what for…you’ll be gone in less than two months…it doesn’t make any sense…”
She smiles satisfied “I’m not going to Nevada anymore”
He’s now gripping the knife by his plate, I try to caress his hand but he hisses “what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
She looks surprised by his reaction “I’m taking some time off”
“You cannot afford it”
“That was uncalled for. I’ll find something to do here”
“Since when don’t you care about your work?”
“Since when do you care about it so much?”
“And your brilliant plan includes a way to some earn money or you think Abramovich-lost-long-brother here can support you? I know what Titti makes and if he’s getting the same – which is not - he can probably take you out for dinner at Pret-a-manger once a week. If you bring your own beverages. You’re a good photographer. And what you’ll do here? Wedding receptions?” and bangs his hand on the table.
Sam’s trying to fight the tears but he’s not done yet.
“Is his idea? Few days and you’re throwing all you have away? Maybe you’re planning on becoming a paparazzi! I could introduce you in the right places you know?”
I open my mouth and before I can check if my brain is plugged in I tell him “Paparazzo hun, paparazzi is plural… basic Italian grammar. I don’t understand why for you Britons is so hard to get the concept of names’ genders and numbers”
He shuts me up with a murderous look. “It’s all your fault!” and points his finger at James.
Sam throws her napkin on the table “thanks for the lovely dinner! I thought we could have an adult conversation for a change! I was wrong! We’re out of here!”
James looks at us embarrassed but she’s already halfway down the restaurant. She turns to him, snaps her finger and James excuses himself and follows her.

We look at them leaving the restaurant, he sighs and I start clapping my hand, in a very slow motion. “Good job, Howard. I am really impressed”.
He pours some more wine “it’s nothing, she’ll forget about it. Would you like some dessert?”
I place my napkin on the table “I want to go home”
“There’s no need to”
I look at him in the eyes “if you don’t apologize to her now, and you need to make sure she’ll buy whatever you’re telling her, it might be too late”
He looks surprised and smirks “Nah, you don’t know her”
“You don’t know her. If someone had just treated you the way you treated James… I don’t know what I’ll do…Howard you went too far”
I can tell from his look he’s taking what I’ve just said into consideration.
“Let’s go” I insist
“Alright then” pays the bill and we leave.

I’m tapping my fingers on the car window so Howard says “don’t be so nervous. I know you’re not used to it, but Sam and I argue all the time. She told you already about her boyfriend when she was 15. He’s gone and I’m still here”
“She’s not 15 anymore” I sigh “do you mind pulling over? I need to tell you something. It’s important and I need to have your full attention”
He does it immediately and looks at me with so much love while caressing my hair. “What is it?”
“Howard, I decided to take a leave of absence from work. I want to follow you on tour. My boss was not happy. He said I’m gonna miss the chance to get a promotion if I do. I don’t care, I don’t think I can be away from you for so long”
I can see he’s struggling not to smile, so he kisses me, “I didn’t dare asking you. This is the greatest news I could hear. I’m so glad you’re coming. So glad”
I softly kiss the tip of his nose and sigh “really?”
“Of course”
“Hum!” and I sit up straight “So, and I’m quoting you, I can ‘throw all I have away’ and Sam can’t?”
He freezes, places his hands back on his laps “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Few things, first, I don’t give a shit about my job. I used to but you shuffled all my priorities. Two, Sam might still care about her job, but maybe she doesn’t want to leave James so soon. She can do something here and you’ll help her find a decent job. Third, you need to stop being so possessive with her because I’m starting to take the piss and I might decide to dump you here, on the middle of the road. Fourth, is about time she moves out. Five, and I might repeating myself here, if you don’t apologize to her you’ll lose her.”
He laughs his loud belly laughter “Fuck, I thought you were winding me up again”
“Apologize”. And kisses me again. I hold my hand out “Present” I say.
“At home…maybe” and gives me a sneaky look
I start nibbling his earlobe “pleaseeeee”
“I said no” and we’re back on the road “and besides, I cannot believe the bookworm knows more about you than I do”
“He doesn’t”
“He knew about the…” I know he cannot remember the name, so I cross my arms and wait “….code thing”
“Well you know how…” and I whisper it into his ear
“Fuck, I’m driving!” and chuckles
“So I get you don’t want to switch place with James”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s nothing, I mean, in the real world it’s nothing. And when I published my thesis I could hear everyone saying the same thing over and over ‘she’s her parents’ daughter’.”
“You never talk about them neither”
“Because I don’t talk to them. Don’t get me wrong. We’re in very good terms. I’m here, my mother somewhere in Central America to study endangered species of plants and my father is working for the Chinese government. No clue what is doing in his lab. And I don’t think I want to know. I haven’t seen them in almost a year now, but I have Mr. American Express to keep me company.”
He looks at me puzzled.
“You didn’t really think I could afford my lifestyle with my pay right? Daddy’s paying for all my expenses. He loves to see me happy.”
“That’s not fair. They should be part of your life”
“I have a plastic surrogate and it’s fine by me”
He parks in front of the house “No it’s not. It’s a good thing I’m here now” and he leans closer, his eyes closed, and his mouth meshes with mine. His hands slip around my waist pulling me closer. He uses his tongue to lick lightly over my lips causing me to moan. I have to break our kiss. “Sam, you need to talk to Sam”
“Maybe she isn’t home” he start caressing my breasts sending shivers down my body
I struggle to keep control “…I bet she is” and I manage to get the door open and get out of the car.
He looks at me disappointed, I smile “you’ll feel better afterwards”
“I was fine already, believe me” he answers me.

We walk into the house and we hear voices coming from the kitchen. I lean my head on his shoulder “what did I tell you? Now you walk in there and you apologize. FYI his name’s James and not Jack or Indiana Jones. I’ll wait for you upstairs.”
“Right” he sighs and opens the door to the kitchen.
Sam and James are sitting by the table, talking.
“Hi sis”
She stands up “James tell my brother I’m not talking to him”
“Yes you are” Howard tells her like she’s 5
“Tell him I’m not” she pouts
“I’m sorry” he whispers
“What? What was that?” she pretends to be about to faint “I think I’m experiencing a mystical experience…”
“Cut the crap Sam, I said I’m sorry”
“For…” and looks at him waiting for something more
“For being a moron. I shouldn’t have said the things I said, and if you want to stay in London I’ll be more than happy to help you out finding a proper job” he keeps his eyes low and he’s making an effort not to leave the room. He hates looking so vulnerable in front of James.
“What about James?” she says, arms crossed.
“Sam is fine, he doesn’t need to…”
“Shut up James! He has to apologize to you too, don’t you agree Howard?”
He puts his hands in his pockets, thinking about it “I guess…”
“Guess what?” she insists but James walks toward Howard and pats his shoulder “thanks, I appreciate it” he tells him.
“Sure” Howard mumbles
Sam looks at her boyfriend “is that it? You appreciate it? This was a one in a lifetime occasion to have him face the music and you pat his shoulder? I cannot believe it! You are a wimp James. My brother and I ended up with the two biggest wimps of Europe!” she throws her arms in the air. “Enough! I’m going to bed!” and walks out.
Howard and James look at each other when door opens again and Sam walks back to them. She kisses her brother first and snog her boyfriend afterwards. Howard closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to see them. “Goodnight” she says and leaves again.
Howard stares at James “Jack, I was wondering, if a man says something and there’s no woman there. Is he still automatically wrong?”