mochas and pictures // remy

[alejandra rios]

After Remy signed off from AIM, Alejandra signed out of iChat and quit the application and closed any open windows she had on her desktop before shutting down her MacBook. She closed her MacBook and stowed it away in her black laptop case. She gathered her things and discarded her trash and now empty coffee cup. She made her way to ordering line again to place an order for Remy's mocha.

"Can I help you?" the Starbucks server asked politely.

"Yes, just a grande mocha with non-fat milk and a little whipped cream to go please."

"Your name?" the server asked with a black sharpie.

"Ali," she said as the server scribbled it onto the white cardboard cup.

"Okay, that'll be $3.50." Ali gave the server her debit card and the server swiped it quickly. "Thank you."

Ali waited for Remy's drink to be ready, which was done in about two minutes or less. She made her way back to the festival grounds which was thankfully lit still and plenty of people were walking around either getting high or drunk. She walked past a bunch of groupies and festival patrons as she walked to the Shake It Ups caravan.

She slid the door open, only to find that Remy was not on the couch. "Okay, I've come bearing gifts..." she called out.

[remy thibodeaux]

Remy had been in the back of the caravan, by the bunks, sifting through some of the clothes that were piled on the floor. He was dragging the band boys on a photo shoot the next afternoon, and he wanted to get a feel for how they dressed before deciding on a location and a motif, and had asked the band to leave him an assortment of their favorite gear. The crew had a separate caravan from the band, but they were always welcome to come and go freely between the two.

As Remy folded a white button down shirt, he kept forgetting that these were 18 year old boys that he was dealing with, and they seemed to live in dirty jeans and band tees. Will and Dante especially seemed to share clothes and own identical items – he discovered two of the same Panic at the Disco tees, as well as matching red fingerless gloves. Dante seemed to favor a pair of pants adorned with chains and grommets, and Will had a white hoodie that read Give Love Then Take It Away. Remy had also unearthed several pairs of girls’ jeans that belonged to Sebastian and a pinstriped blazer that he was sure belonged to Jayson. What an eclectic bunch he was dealing with here. Remy himself was dressed in only a plain white undershirt and a pair of baggy green lounge pants.

“I’ve come bearing gifts…”

Remy cocked his head as he heard Ali entering the caravan. He scrambled up, knocking over a pile of t-shirts as he did so, and went to the “living room” – a generous name for such a small space.

“Hey,” he said with a small smile, greeting her. He took the coffee cup from her hand. “Thanks so much. How much do I owe you?”

[alejandra rios]

Ali set her khaki tote bag and laptop case down on the couch. "Nothing. I told you, my treat," she said with a small smile feeling her cheeks turn slightly pink. Remy had that effect on her. It was somewhat embarrassing. They seem to be able to flirt and everything when they were not face to face, but when he was near her she'd either blush like a fool or stammer over her words. She did not know if it was his adorable contagious smile, his personality, his Southern patois, or just the entire package; he had a great effect on her and she really liked it.

Ali met Remy at the start of the tour which was roughly two months ago. She was already the makeup artist for the boys and Remy was hired as the band's photographer a few weeks later. She was shy at first upon meeting him but he broke the ice with her. She was instantly attracted to him. Lately, they had a growing affection for each other but Ali was not quite sure what was going on between them. She valued their friendship and did not want to ruin that with any potential romantic entanglements but perhaps something might happen?

"So, what pictures did you want to share with me?" she asked with a small smile.

[remy thibodeaux]

"C'mon, cher, don't be like that," Remy said with a small, shy smile. "You don't need to be breaking the bank on Starbuck's for me. Not when I can make my own café right here." He took a sip from the cardboard cup. "Let me at least get the next round, oui?"

He and Ali were friends, but Remy was always so damn nervous around girls that he tended to make a fool of himself. He had been told by his family that he was a flirt from an early age, but he did it so often that he sometimes didn't even know he was doing it. This often made for uncomfortable confrontations wrought with mixed signals. He just hoped that his signals didn't get mixed with Ali.

"Oh right, right ... I wanted to show you that," Remy said, suddenly remembering. "Exuse the mess. I asked the boys to pull some clothes for me for their first photo shoot. I'm helping them get their website off the ground. You wouldn't believe how ... new these kids are." He stepped over a line of sneakers to get to his laptop. "They don't even have a website yet! Can you believe that? Just MySpaces. Good thing I've got connections at a server - cut them a deal on their URL fee."

He rambled on as he balanced his laptop in one hand and his mocha in the other. He settled on the couch where there was a little table set up, and placed the cup and the laptop on it. "Come here," he said to Ali, giving a nod towards the empty space on the couch beside him.

[alejandra rios]

As Remy smiled at Ali, it made her blush a little more and she felt a little weak at the knees. She hoped she did not make it obvious that she had a crush on him. They were friends and she was not sure if he felt the same way. She was never good at deciphering signals made by guys that she was attracted to. Growing up she was either oblivious to signals or she'd misinterpret them for sheer friendliness.

"Let me at least get the next round, oui?"

"Okay, deal," she said with a small smile.

"Come here," he said to Ali, giving a nod towards the empty space on the couch beside him.

Ali nodded and smiled again at Remy, still blushing. Ali sat down on the couch beside Remy and looked over his shoulder toward his laptop that he had settled on the little table.

Girl, stop blushing! You look like an idiot!

Ali glanced slightly down at Remy's arm and shoulder, careful to not avert her eyes away from the laptop screen, he was built nicely. She could not resist.

[remy thibodeaux]

Remy peeled the lid off his Starbucks cup and took a sip as he got his laptop online. He ran his tongue lightly over his upper lip and the cup down on the table.

"Well, I hope you're not expecting anything spectacular," Remy said, "but this made me pretty happy when I got it. I felt like sharing it with someone."

He clicked around on the laptop until he opened up a folder, and turned the laptop towards Ali to show her pictures that were sent to him only hours ago by his sister Margot. The first picture he presented to her was one that his mother had taken, a closeup of himself on a couch, cradling a tiny, dark haired baby swathed in a white and blue blanket. He smiled broadly, recalling when his entire family showed up to Margot's house the day she and her husband brought the baby home. It was a party that one would never have guessed was for an infant less than 48 hours old, since it was so boistrous, but that was the way the Thibodeaux family worked - everything was over the top.

"Meet Little Remy!" he said excitedly as he sat back on the couch.

[alejandra rios]

"Awww! Remy, that is so adorable," she said with a wide smile looking back at Remy who was now sitting back on the couch. "Wait...Little Remy?" she asked looking back at the laptop screen, her expression showing she was clearly puzzled.

Ali and Remy had not mentioned much about their personal lives to each other really, so she was curious as to who was "Little Remy". Who was the baby? She was clearly confused by the photograph. Adorable, yes. She'd admit that but for all she knew was that the guy she had a crush on was possibly a father.

Oh, damn. He's married or has a girlfriend back home. Nice, Rios always go for the taken ones! You boba!

[remy thibodeaux]

Remy just smiled happily, "Yeah, isn't that wild? It totally blows my mind that there's a little person named after me! Look at this one!" Remy quickly exited out of that picture and pulled up another one of the baby, lying in his basinette, wearing a blue plaid outfit. "My sisters love dressing him up."

He clicked over to another picture, this one of the baby on Remy's shoulder. "I think he looks like me. What do you think?" Remy glanced sideways at Ali and took another sip of his mocha.

Another picture of the baby being cuddled by a heavyset woman with cropped brown hair. "That's my maman. She loves being a grandmere. Spoils her grandkids within inches of their lives - with five kids, she's more than likely going to have enough grandkids for a baseball team! Oh, she sends my brother's daughter these incredible frilly dresses that look like...cakes!" he chuckled while he rambled.

[alejandra rios]

Ali laughed lightly but still confused as Remy showed the second picture. Little Remy?! "Yeah, that's really something and very cute," she said with a small smile.

As Remy showed her the picture with the baby on his shoulder, her smile kind of fell but she tried to hide it. "I think he looks like me. What do you think?"

Yeah, he looks like you all right. Is he yours? Oh God, he's a dad for sure!

"Okay, Remy can I ask you something?" Her tone was a bit uneasy and nervous, it was apparent that she did not want to sound like a total asshole by asking. Is he yours?

[remy thibodeaux]

"Oh, and see this one? This one was taken before the baptism," Remy rambled on, showing a picture of him with the baby and with little Remy's godmother, his brother-in-law's sister, standing outside in front of a brick church. "It was so hot that day, I swear, I thought I was going to pass out. Well, I was wearing a seersucker suit - that's what you have to wear down south, you know, it's supposed to keep you cool. It's really Southern to wear seersucker." He chuckled. "The church was so hot, they had about a dozen fans going at the same time! It was so loud, you could barely hear the priest, and I kept praying that it wouldn't make the baby cry. But he ended up crying anyway, you know, when they put the water on his head. He didn't like that none."

Then he realized that Ali had asked him a question, and felt slightly embarrassed that he was rambling. "Oh...sure. Go ahead, cher." He took another leisurely sip of his mocha and tried to ignore the feel of the blush creeping up his neck.

[alejandra rios]

Ali gave a half smile at the baptism picture. Remy looked quite handsome in the picture and he looked sweet with the baby. She wanted to laugh as he rambled on and on about the picture and Little Remy. It was cute but she was still confused. Was Remy a father or not?

Sweet? That's probably his son!

"I don't mean to pry or sound invasive by asking this...but..." she said trailed biting bottom lip. "Is he yours?"

It probably is and you should feel like an idiot for flirting for the past month with a guy that is probably not into you in the least and Remy is Little Remy's daddy! Go after a baby daddy, Ali. Niiiiiice...

[remy thibodeaux]

Remy cocked his head and paused for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. He put his coffee cup down and covered his mouth with his hands as he laughed. He looked at Ali, who's look of nervousness and concern was just so amusing to him.

Remy swiped away a tear from the corner of his eye. "No!" he exclaimed gleefully. "Well, yes and no - little Remy is my nephew! He's my sister Margot's son and my godson!" He laughed a bit more. "Oh, mon Dieu, I'm sorry - I didn't know that you didn't know. I tend to forget to...include certain bits of information. No, no, no - Little Remy is my blood, but not in that way."

[alejandra rios]

Ali furrowed her eyebrows in confusion even more as Remy burst out laughing hysterically. "I'm glad you find this so funny," she said sarcastically under her breath as he continued to laugh.

"Oh, mon Dieu, I'm sorry - I didn't know that you didn't know. I tend to forget to...include certain bits of information. No, no, no - Little Remy is my blood, but not in that way."

Ali breathed a sigh of relief "Yeah that was one minor detail you left out," she smirked. "Here I am thinking that you were a father because you did not mention anything about your sister."

Should I care that I thought he was a father? We're not a couple. We're just friends. With my luck he probably doesn't think of me in that way.