LA as a city, really, changed since last I remembered it, like really lived in it. It was still the same LA, the same one since childhood three years ago. Before university, before Europe. The waxy poetic type would be all like, "or maybe it's me that's changed through these years, maybe my eyes and my mind betray me."
Pero no. I mean, maybe sure, maybe I changed, that's possible. Probable? Definitely. But I'm telling you man, that city changed too. Just like we all did, some more than others. For me, it was moving away from being the city of my youth (mind you, that will always be in sight, in the street signs and the lights), and slowly becoming the city of my life. It was still my youth, I told myself, but my definition of youth had changed, from something in high school, to a part of adulthood. We were adults now.
At least some of us were. I went back to living at home, sleeping under my parents' roof and working at the surf shop. I didn't know what the hell I wanted from life, but it was summer in Los Angeles, summer by the beach in Santa Monica, which doesn't leave one wanting much. Especially with two ounces of weed from Josh - one of Sour Diesel, one of Blue Dream - sitting shotgun in the old weathered wicker basket.
Yes, those were good days. After-work specials with Savanna, a delight. So were the nurse and the ad agency girl, but for much different reasons. I loved Savanna. It just so happened to be that timing was never our thing though, so instead we have this beautiful friendship instead. Come to think of it, that's happened with a lot of girls and me. Maybe timing was never MY thing. I'm sure Savanna's is just fine. She knows a thing or two about rhythm.
But here's the thing. I know a thing or two about rhyme. It's a comfortable mix. Things came easy between us. It was a good thing we had when I came back to the shop. She had an on-again/off-again boyfriend, and I had recently discovered my charm in Santa Cruz. Or something like that. Whatever it was that had come to me, women weren't a problem like they had been. Neither were girls for that matter, but I was always curious. We went to lunch sometimes. I had questions about girls. She had stories about guys. And her eyes always flirted with mine.
