"Any reason why you're handing me my bikini?" I asked, holding it up. 

"Ya' never know, love, they could have an indoor pool at the hotel," he said with a wink. "I'm bringin' this too, so we're even." He held up the tiniest napkin I'd ever seen in my life and tossed it in his bag. Folding my things up I stuffed them in my bag, grabbing my bright green thongs and throwing them in. After washing his jumpers he took on their tour he tossed them back in his bag. I grabbed all of mine as well and shoved them in. "Still a bit cold up there," he said. "Might stay that way for a while."

"Good, I need a long break from the heat," I said sitting on my suitcase so it would zip. 

"An' the flies?"

"Yes. I've been using my knickers as weapons." Angus laughed then zipped up his bag before setting it down by the bedroom door. I lugged mine over and set it next to his. Both of us collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling. 

"We're stayin' a week, did I tell you?" he asked. I shook my head. "We'll be back in April an' then you an' I can relax here at home." I turned to snuggle into him.

"Does the hotel have tea?" I asked. "Or should we bring some?" Angus looked lost for an answer. 

"Uh...sure, yeah, bring some..." he said curtly. He coughed into his elbow. "So....Linda told you about our work schedule this year?"

"Kind of," I said. "She said Malcolm wasn't too happy with their choice of music videos." Angus groaned a bit and laid his arm over his eyes. I smiled. "Something wrong?"

"Mal's not the only one," he said. "Higher ups are sayin' if we can squeeze out a few videos then we can vie for the top spot or somethin' like that. They want the new album, the whole thing, to have...kinda the same video. Not the same, but filmed in the same place, ya' know? An' so they're figurin' out how to go about it an' they keep suggestin' havin' all these women around...dancin', I don't know," he laughed. "Mal an' I had to hold ourselves together when they told us their ideas an'....ya' know, with Bon, we'd jus' get up there an' play. Ya' know? It was us, it was our band, our video, our playin'...we did a few things here an' there but this is a load of shit." I started laughing. "What?"

"I'll never understand MTV," I said. Angus waited for an explanation. "They expect these manly rock and roll bands to make videos surrounded by women, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's kinda what they're goin' for."

"So....what kind of audiences are they trying to attract?"

"What do ya' mean?"

"Rock and roll, at least according to these bands, is about sex, drugs, and...rock and roll. And the sex part is part of the videos, right?" I started to ramble. "These guys want women lining up at their dressing rooms backstage or they want a new girl every night. But...no self respecting girl looks at these bands surrounded by women they objectify and think, 'yeah, I want to date him. He seems like a feminist. I wouldn't be expendable to him.'" Angus lay there in thought. "If anything, those videos starring all the women will only attract more men."

Angus started giggling a bit. "Guess I never thought about it that way..."

"They'll get a knock backstage and it will be a group of five guys asking where the sheilas are. No women in sight. And all the women from the music videos will be taking their sweet paycheques to the bank and putting food on the table. No rockstars in sight."

"Maybe," he said. "An' what about the ladies who do enjoy their company?" He reached over and tickled me under the cheek. "Like you?"

I giggled. "If they do, they do. They can go out with whoever they want. But these bands shouldn't be surprised or upset when a bunch of blokes come knocking. They had it coming." I kissed his cheek. "And you're different besides. You're Angus McKinnon."

"I like women," he said. "Good to have around, ya' know?"

"But you're not a sleazy producer filming cheesy music videos," I said gently tugging on his shirt collar. "And like you said, your videos were you and the band. Simple as that."

He rolled over to face me, brushing some hair behind my ear. "Nah, I jus' strip for thousands every night," he grinned. "Women don't wanna see that. They're not out there whistlin' and cheerin' me on." I touched my nose to his. 

"Trying to make me jealous?" I asked. "It's working."

"I'm jus' statin' the facts, love," he said, his voice lowering to a murmur. "An' that's the way the music business is nowadays, whoever has the best video gets the most attention."

"You want fame? Play your fucking instrument!" I said and Angus nodded. "Having two women stroking your nine inch ego in a loin cloth doesn't showcase your musical talent!" He started laughing. "I'm serious!"

"Oh, we play our instruments, alright," he said and I rolled my eyes. "Maybe to them it ain't about the music as much as it is about lookin' good, ya' know?" He sniffed. "Maybe that's the whole point, ya' know? Jus'...whoever looks the best on camera. Musician an' the extras."

"Your band is lucky," I said running my fingers through his hair. "You've got both talent and looks."

"Ya' think so?" he asked batting his lashes. "Ya' think I could take on Mr. Universe?"

"In a heartbeat," I said yawning. I closed my eyes and nuzzled into my stunning boyfriend, his warmth lulling me to sleep. "I've already seen you in a wet t-shirt, you'd win by a landslide." I felt him shake with laughter. 

"Thanks, love." He kissed my forehead. 

**********

"Hey, you alright?" he asked. I squeezed his hand. Seemed like everybody was asking me that nowadays. And what scared me was I didn't really know the answer. But I gave them one anyway.

"Yeah. Fine." Once again my medicine threatened to steal me in a long slumber filled to the brim with nightmares. Recently it had been bombs at worst and Wanda at best. I saw Angus a few times but I couldn't reach him. He wouldn't even look at me. When I was awake he'd look at me with concern. And I didn't blame him.

Our shuttle bus rumbled along the narrow street. Angus had taken us to Glasgow where he was born. Despite my drowsiness and drunken appearance, I was ecstatic to see one of my dream holidays. And to spend a week here with the love of my life was even better. I kept my eyes open for our hotel and wondered when Angus would pull the rope for the shuttle to stop. We stopped at plenty of busy streets, some of which boasted hotels on sight. Tall and looming, and very clean. Sparkling lampposts and flags billowing in the breeze. I saw a tempting chocolate and lolly shop next to a busy barber shop. Bicycles zoomed around every which way reminding me of Brazil. 

"Angus?"

"Hm?"

"What city were we in? In Brazil?" He stared at me for a moment, blinking. 

"Which city? Rio," he said with a slight frown. "Ya' didn't know?" I pouted and looked down at my trainers. I sulked as he laughed a little. "Sorry, I thought I told ya'." I smiled a little. I guess it was pretty silly. 

The shuttle continued on through town, passing by small motels with large neon signs that probably looked stunning at night. One advertised water beds and colour television. Not many cars were parked outside that one, most of them surrounding the flashier hotel across the street with the revolving doors. Still, Angus kept his hands to himself and didn't even look at the rope. For a moment I wondered if he were paying attention to our stop. But he would occasionally look out the window so he must have had some idea. His fingers tapped mindlessly on his guitar case. 

When we were the last two people on the bus, Angus finally pulled the rope at a lonely and empty street, with only one car parked by the footpath. I could see a bank that was closed and a nondescript library. He collected his bag and case and helped me stand. I lugged my bag over my shoulder and followed him off the bus where the driver gave us a friendly but tired wave. As per usual with our holidays, the sun was going down. Angus led me away from the bus to a payphone and slipped a few coins out of his pocket. I watched the bus drive away, leaving behind a cloud of exhaust. 

My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I viewed my surroundings. Some trees and bushes grew in clumps and patches, more so than the rest of the city we had seen. An almost haunting feeling came over me, to be so alone out here at twilight. I kept close to the payphone, ready to defend Angus from anything snooping in the shadows. I may not have had my racquet but I had my bag stuffed to the brim with clothes and books. 

Angus hung up the phone and came out of the booth. "They'll be here in maybe...five minutes?" he said.

"They?" I asked.

"The cab. We still have a little ways to go." I stared at him hoping for a more thorough explanation. "We're not stayin' in the city part of Glasgow, we're goin' that way." He pointed in the direction of the trees and the shrubs. My curiosity piqued. What was down that path?

About five minutes later to the second a black cab pulled up to where we stood and a woman with wild red hair and a cigarette came out of the front seat. She was dressed to kill. "You're the two?" she asked pointing at us.

"That's us," Angus said grabbing all of our things. The woman offered to put them in the boot but Angus politely declined. She smirked at him and lightly elbowed me. 

"Real gentleman, that one," she said. Her voice was a tad hoarse. After we got situated she started the cab and drove us down the mysterious path. The dark windows made it even harder to see where we were but Angus held my hand reassuringly. I could start to make out a few houses, realising then we were in a neighbourhood. All the houses were very small but well put together. 

Almost too well put together...

We pulled up to a very small house that was brown in colour. A brick fence surrounded it and the grass was cut short. The woman stopped the cab and turned to face it. "Two pounds," she said. Angus handed it over to her and she put it in her tin. "I've stayed at one of these houses before. Lot nicer on the inside than they are on the outside. Lot nicer. You two married?"

"Not yet," Angus said. "Some day, though." The woman smiled. 

"Well, have fun. I can take your stuff out unless Hercules would rather do it himself," she said glancing at Angus who laughed. 

"I can do it." He opened the door and got out of the car while I followed. Angus pulled our things out of the boot and set them on the footpath by the brick fence. The woman rolled down her window and waved at us. "Thank you," Angus said.

"No problem, love," she said before winking and drove off into the night. I looked at the house in front of us then looked at Angus.

"Where are we?"

"Well..." Angus handed me my bag. "Instead of a hotel I got us a rental house. Wanted to keep the surprise goin', ya' know?" He grinned. 

"Are all these rental houses?" I glanced at all the other neat and trim houses around us. 

"Yeah, most of 'em are anyway," he said opening the little gate. "Jus' thought it'd be a bit more...private, ya' know?" I blushed and followed his lead to the house. Angus pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. "Owner of the place sent it to me," he said. "Had to call a lot of people, guess it's busy this time of year. Most of these houses are taken."

Inside was a very cosy fireplace and soft carpet with some wood flooring in the other rooms. There were no stairs, all the rooms were on one floor. There was a tiny table in the corner by the kitchen with boxes of puzzles on it. It reminded me of the little house in the woods my family used to attend church in. There was a cupboard in the living room and I opened it to see a rack of VHS tapes. There was a VCR by the telly and a remote with tape on it. There was another cupboard with a bucket and a vacuum cleaner inside along with some hangers and a couple blankets and pillows. The third cupboard was locked. 

"Bedroom's down the hall," Angus called from the kitchen. I went further down the hall and saw our room. A lovely blue bed with matching blue carpet and a window with blinds and a sheer blue curtain. Across the bed was a dark brown desk with an office chair. The bathroom was across the hall and inside was a white toilet and a pink bathtub. 

I adored pink bathtubs. 

Angus came up behind me. "Washing machine's in the kitchen," he said. "There's also a huge dog crate in there in case we had pets." Oh, the idea of having a little dog here with us almost made me swoon. Of course he would sleep on the bed with us, no question about it. I set my bag down on the floor and sat on the bed. Angus set his things down and held his hand out. "There's one more thing you ought to see."

**********

There was a little back door in the kitchen leading us out to a small yard with grass and a deck. On the deck was a hot tub and a couple of chairs.

That's why he threw my bikini at my head...

 "All this?" I asked. "This house looked so tiny on the outside."

"Well, she did say these places were nicer on the inside," Angus said stepping onto the grass in his bare feet. The yard wasn't big but awfully trim. Enough to accommodate a dog for a few days. It was chilly outside and I went back inside with Angus. "What do ya' think?" he asked, suddenly shy.

I hugged him. "It's even better than I thought," I said. He kissed my hair. 

"That's good," he said. "Wanna get some sleep?"