I want to knock on the bathroom door, or better yet, go inside. But bourbon will make you do things like let a stranger lure you into a blowjob in a hallway, so I’m not trusting my judgment at this point.
Another woman walks down the hall, her heels clacking loudly against the floor.
I stop her. “My friend is in there. I was wondering if you could check on her?” I use the best puppy dog eyes I can muster.
“Sure. What’s her name?”
“Um…”
The red-haired girl laughs. “Must not be a close friend.”
As she walks away, I touch her arm, lightly. “Please. She has brown hair and gray eyes and looks like a goddess.”
The redhead sighs. “I’ll check.”
She probably agreed just to have me leave her alone, but I don’t care.
I’ll stay out here all night in order to explain to her I don’t normally stick my cock in a stranger’s mouth. Well, that’s stretching it a bit. Don’t want to start off lying. I’m no saint, but if not for the alcohol, I would’ve thought twice about it. My sober dick is selective.
I wait and wait, thinking about what a horrendous meet-cute story this will be for our kids. We’ll have to come up with something different to tell them. Hell, it’s not like we won’t fib about Santa or the Easter Bunny. Neither the redhead nor my mystery woman surface, and a large part of me wants to push through this wooden door and see what’s going on behind it.
It’s like Grand Central Station outside the ladies’ room and another woman approaches. I decide to stop her too.
“I have this friend in the bathroom, and she’s been in there for nearly twenty years. I know women take longer than men, but I’m thinking she slipped and cracked her head on the sink. Maybe she’s got no toilet paper?”
The lady shakes her head at me, not even a little concerned about my plight of losing a friend. “Maybe they went out the other door?”
“Other door?” I walk around the corner and find another bathroom exit that leads to the dance floor.
Well, what genius thought to do that? My eyes frantically search for the woman from earlier… until I spot Alyssa at the bar, now draped on a guy with a cowboy hat, and I turn in the opposite direction. Earlier, when I arrived, she stopped me dead in my tracks before I could even order my first beer. She had her hands all over me before she could even ask my name. Glad I didn’t go out to her car like she suggested, or I’d have never seen the gray-eyed beauty that I currently can’t find. I scan every nook and cranny of this joint. Where is she?
I glance around the packed building once more for my mystery woman before heading back to the hotel.
I make a solemn vow to return to this saloon every night while I’m in town, so I might see the brunette once more.
Maybe catch her name.
“How was the flight?” Brock asks as I stand in his office, admiring the town of Harmony. It’s a fascinating small town with interesting vibes that make you feel like you’re in the Wild West.
“It was wonderful.” I leave out the fact I arrived a day early to get a lay of the land and spin back around to face the man talking to me.
Brock is a merry fellow. He’s like Santa Claus without the beard, red outfit, and… reindeer. Ok, I guess he isn’t really like him after all.
“Good to hear it. I have a car ready to take you to my daughter’s place. And don’t worry about Sydney. She’s hardly ever home.”
When Brock said I’d be staying with his daughter, I nearly choked. But it’s a good sign he trusts me.
Brock has been after me for years, trying to offer me a top-level executive position with his company. Most times, I shrugged him off because the idea of relocating to Texas sounded awful, but lately, LA isn’t shining with the same sparkle it once had.
In fact, the game of living and surviving in LA is becoming a bit too much.
And yes, I say game, because that’s exactly what it is. It’s all about who you know. What you wear. Who you date.
And for me, I don’t date anyone.
I don’t know anyone either.
It’s just a bunch of random acquaintances that annoy the ever-loving fuck out of me. It’s getting old.
So, the next time Brock called to have me fly out and hear his proposal, I jumped at the chance. I want a change.
I’m not sure if I’ll take the job with Reilly Records, but there’s no harm in hopping on a plane and seeing what Harmony has to offer.
I decided to get a head start, get a feel for this place before meeting the daughter and officially moving in. One night to clear my head.