Love in All the Wrong Places

by Audrey Harte

  “Karaoke bars usually are.”

  “Yeah, exactly. So I waited for about ten minutes after I finished my song and he never came back inside. I went outside to look for him, but he was nowhere to be found.”

  “Seriously? He just ditched you and left you there?”

  “Yep. He didn’t say anything to me before he left, he didn’t send me a text or call me later, nothing. I tried calling and texting him, but he didn’t answer either.”

  “What a douche.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “What a douche!” he exclaimed, making people look at them again.

  Groaning, Annie dipped her head in embarrassment. “I don’t know you,” she said as she quicky walked away from him, but he just followed her.

  Casey reached over to playfully tickle her side as she tried to slap his hand away. “What? You said to say that again.”

  “I didn’t mean literally and I didn’t mean for you to yell it.”

  Chuckling, he nodded. “I’m just helping you break out of your shell. You care too much about what people think of you.”

  “And you know this from spending a couple of hours with me?”

  “I may not look like it, but I’m a perceptive kind of guy.”

  “Hmm. Well, anyhow, that was the end of my story. The guy fucked me and ditched me with no explanation, and that’s why you saw me so upset in the parking lot at work today.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  As she glanced up at him and saw that he looked sincere, her attitude towards him began to thaw. “Guess I’m just learning my lesson the hard way.”

  “Well, you know what I think?”

  “Do I want to know?”

  Ignoring her comment, he went on. “Well, first of all, I think you need to stop meeting guys online.”

  “I might have to agree with you on that one.”

  “Second of all, don’t ever sleep with a guy on the first date — you’ll probably never see him again.”

  “I know…and with this last guy, it wasn’t really our first date, it was more like our third date. I know I still shouldn’t have slept with him that easily. But like I said, it was my fault — I did go looking in Casual Encounters.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. Well, look, I hate to drink coffee and run, but I’ve actually got to meet up with some friends.”

  Annie’s heart began to sink as he seemed to be making his excuses to get away from her as quickly as possible. “Oh sure, no problem,” she stammered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you so long.”

  “Hey, it was my idea. You looked like you needed a friend to talk to and like I said, I hate seeing a pretty girl cry.” He gave a lazy grin and winked at her, head slightly cocked back as he shook his head for emphasis. “Listen, do you want to do this again, maybe on Thursday? I’ve got another rehearsal that day.”

  Mildly surprised that he wanted to see her again, Annie hesitated a moment before answering. “Sure, that’d be cool. Meet for coffee again, same time?”

  “Works for me.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Daydreaming could be dangerous if you let yourself fall too deeply into it. You could easily spend an hour pondering something before you realize it. To her dismay, Annie was caught staring into space at work, doing just exactly that.

  It was a little before noon when Grace, the legal assistant to the firm’s managing partner, came by to ask about one of her monthly reports. It was a simple request and only took her a few minutes. Mr. Grant wanted ten copies of the most current attorney caseload sorted by clients and all she had to do was hit the sort button in her Excel spreadsheet and print, but the fact that Grace had caught her staring into space instead of working made her a little nervous. Having someone stand over your shoulder while you’re trying to do something you normally do quickly can suddenly make you feel so nervous and look like a fumbling idiot.

  Everyone at the firm knew that Mr. Grant listened to everything Grace advised him to do. It was an unspoken, but fairly well-known fact among the female employees that the two of them were having an affair, even as Mr. Grant was married to someone else. Annie just hoped Grace wouldn’t be reporting back to him that she was slacking when she should have been working.

  When she was alone again, Annie breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the clock. It was almost lunch time, so she decided to text Alex to see if he wanted to meet her for lunch. He worked in Culver City, so they sometimes met for lunch since her office was only a short ways away in Westchester.

  Alex responded right away, asking if she felt like sushi.

  Annie: When don’t I feel like sushi? Kabuki?

  Alex: Where else? See you there in twenty.

  Annie: Cool, see you soon.

  Kabuki was crowded with the lunch hour rush. The hostess told them they’d be able to sit down right away if they ate at the bar, so they decided to forego waiting for a table. After they had placed their orders, Alex nudged her.

  “So girlfriend, start talking. I haven’t seen or spoken to you since Sunday night. What’s going on with Nate? Did you already hit that? Did he have a tiny dick and you kicked him to the curb?”

  “I would be happy if I never saw that guy again.”

  “Whoa, what happened? He seemed really nice.”

  “I don’t know if he’s a really good actor or if something horrible happened, but I am having a hard time coming up with an explanation that will excuse what he did.”

  “What did he do?”

  Annie sighed. “Okay, so you saw him on Sunday. We were all hanging out having a good time and then you took off. So then I was totally sure we were going to fuck, but he said he had to work early in the morning and left like right after you.”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “Yeah, I thought it was kind of weird, too, but he said he wanted to get to know me and be real friends, but with benefits. Anyway, so then he called me the next night after I got home from work and I told him I was going to karaoke for Ashley’s birthday and asked him if he wanted to come. So he came and we were having a great time.”

  “What did you sing?”

  “Because the Night.”

  “Nice. And?”

  Grinning, Annie puffed her chest out a bit. “I rocked the mic, of course, and he liked it. Then I went to the bathroom and when I was coming out, he was standing there. So he pushed me back into the bathroom, locked the door and we did it right there in the bathroom. It was so freaking hot and we could have been caught at any moment. And actually someone did knock on the door after a few minutes, but when we opened the door, no one was in the hallway.”

  “Wow, totally hot. So you liked it?”

  “Well yeah, it was exciting in the moment. But when I went up to sing my next song, he got a phone call and went outside to talk. I went to look for him after waiting for like ten or fifteen minutes and he was gone.”

  Alex’s mouth dropped open. “Like gone, gone?”

  “Gone, gone. I checked the main lot and the one next door and his car was nowhere in sight.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I know, right? I couldn’t freaking believe he’d do something like that. So I went home and I took a shower and I cried and I’ve felt like shit since then. I tried calling and he didn’t answer. I tried texting and he didn’t respond. It would be nice to have some kind of explanation. I just feel like the biggest fool.”

  “Honey, he fooled me, too. Don’t feel too bad. What an asshole, though.” He leaned over and gave her a side squeeze.

  Annie hugged him back and sighed as she nodded. “He totally is. Like who does that?” Their waitress interrupted them just then, setting down their orders of sushi. They busied themselves with pouring soy sauce into their little dishes and mixing in some wasabi before starting to eat their rolls, sharing a few pieces with each other. After she’d eaten a few bites, Annie continued their conversation. “Anyhow, there’s more to the story, but it actually doesn’t really have
to do with him.”

  “Oh?”

  “I was totally bumming about Nate while I was at work yesterday, so I went out to my car at lunch time and checked to see if he had emailed me and nothing. I was all teary and upset thinking about it when this gorgeous guy who I’d seen in the parking lot once before stopped to ask me if I’m okay.”

  “Oh God.”

  “I know. At first, I was humiliated to be caught crying over stupid Nate and then I was angry for him intruding.”

  “Well, it was kind of sweet.”

  Nodding, Annie rolled her eyes. “I know, it was completely sweet and I was such a bitch to him at first, and he was just trying to be like a good Samaritan or something. Anyway, he asked me if I wanted to get coffee with him after he got out of dance rehearsal.”

  Alex grinned. “Ooh, he’s a dancer?”

  “Yep…I have to wonder what he’s like in a club. Totally hot, I’m sure. He definitely seemed like the type who’d have some moves.”

  “Well, are you going to find out?”

  “I don’t know. My head is pretty messed up after what happened with Nate and I don’t even know if Casey is looking for anything like that with me. I think he’s just being a nice guy and besides, I don’t even know if he’s single.”

  “So what did you guys talk about at coffee?”

  “Oh my God, Alex. I don’t know what happened, but it’s like I had word vomit or something. For like the first time ever, I wasn’t afraid of just being one hundred percent completely and totally honest with a guy. I told him about Mark and I told him about the Craigslist ads and meeting Gabe and Nate. I gave him details!”

  “Well, you’ll never see him again.”

  “No, that’s what I thought, too, but he wants to hang out again after work tomorrow. He has another dance rehearsal.”

  “Mmm, get it, girl.”

  Laughing, Annie shook her head. “I don’t know. I think I just kind of want to take things slow and try being friends with him. Besides, he is so fine and he totally reminds of me Channing Tatum, so I don’t want to get my hopes up. It would hurt too bad to be disappointed by him.”

  “Magic Mike, huh?”

  “Haha, no, he said he isn’t an exotic dancer.”

  “Stripper.”

  Annie laughed again and shoved at Alex’s arm playfully. “Shut up, he’s not a stripper.”

  “Sure, he’s not. So, coffee tomorrow night, huh?”

  “Yeah, just coffee and more talking. Maybe he’ll tell me he has a psycho girlfriend he’s trying to get rid of.”

  “Way to think on the positive side, honey.”

  “You know me.”

  “Well, just be careful with your heart, baby girl, no matter what. I worry about you.” He leaned his head on her shoulder and sighed. “I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

  “I could say the same about you. What’s up with your love life?”

  “Nada, and I think I kind of like it that way for now.”

  “Well, let me know if you want me to hook you up sometime. I’m sure Casey knows someone.” She giggled at the thought. “Hope you like a guy in tights.”

  “Who doesn’t? So if not exotic, what kind of dancing does Casey/Channing do?”

  “You know, he didn’t say. I’ll have to ask him that tomorrow night.”

  “You do that. Well, girl, it’s been fun and I wish I didn’t have to jet so soon, but I’ve got to get back to work before my boss discovers I took a longer lunch than usual.”

  “That bitch is such a slave driver.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  “Why don’t you quit?”

  “Because she pays me too much.”

  Laughing, Annie shook her head. “So it’s self-inflicted torture.”

  “The best kind. See you later.” He set down some cash for his half of the bill and blew a kiss before he sashayed out of the restaurant. Now she only had to get through four more hours of work before she could go home and lose herself in reality TV shows and Chinese take-out.

  ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

  After work, Annie stopped by her favorite salon and told Janai, her stylist, she wanted to chop off her hair into a bob. She was trying to make a fresh start in her love life and she wanted a new haircut to go with it. Holding her breath, she squeezed her eyes shut as Janai cut off several inches of her hair. It felt weird, yet oddly uplifting to have her hair become lighter and lighter as pieces of it fell to the ground around her.

  When the job was done, Annie looked at herself in the mirror and couldn’t help but smile. Janai had made her look amazing as usual and she barely recognized the beaming face in the mirror. Thanking her talented stylist, she handed her a tip and then wrapped Janai in a big hug.

  “This is exactly what I needed,” she said, half to Janai and half to herself.

  The next night when Annie got off work, she stopped in the ladies’ room to freshen up her make-up and switched from comfortable flip flops to high-heeled sandals. Even though she wasn’t sure what Casey’s intentions were, she couldn’t help from trying to look good. She figured anything from yesterday had to be an improvement.

  As she approached the dance studio on her way to meet up with Casey, she saw him standing just outside the doors talking to a very attractive petite blonde with an amazing smile, perky rack and killer legs. The blonde was leaning towards him with her hand on his shoulder, laughing at something he had just said. To her dismay, he was laughing with the girl and not making any attempt to disengage himself from her touch.

  “Ahh, hi there,” Annie said as she came to a stop in front of them.

  “Hey, there you are.” He turned to the blonde who had immediately started glaring daggers at her when she interrupted them and excused himself. “Kelsey, I’ll catch up with you later, k? See ya.” Turning away from her, he smiled at Annie and gestured towards Starbucks. “After you.”

  Unable to help herself, Annie smiled smugly at Kelsey who glowered at her even more, then turned to start walking towards the coffee shop.

  “Wow, you cut your hair!” he exclaimed as fell into step with her.

  “Oh, yeah…do you like it?” she asked nervously, self-consciously patting the side of her head.

  “Yeah, it looks good on you. What made you decide to cut it?”

  “I don’t know…I just felt like I needed a fresh start and it was kind of a symbolic first step for me.”

  “Cool, I get that. Well, good for you, it looks really great.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling shyly at him. “You know, I don’t even know what your hair looks like. You’re always wearing that hat every time I see you,” she said with a smirk, pointing a finger up at his head.

  He laughed and pulled the cap from his head, running his fingers across a buzz cut. “Not much to see,” he said. “I usually keep it pretty short…just buzzed it again this week.”

  “It looks like it’s blond,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

  Putting his cap back on, he nodded. “Yeah, ‘Dishwater blond’, as my mom always says, but that doesn’t sound too sexy to the girls.”

  “Well, you make ‘Dishwater blond’ sexy.” Annie tried in vain not to blush as she busied herself with opening the door to Starbucks.

  Casey raised an eyebrow at her as she gestured towards the door, indicating he should go inside ahead of her. “Thanks,” he said as he walked into the coffee shop.

  After they ordered their coffee and a snack, Casey nodded towards the door. “You wanna walk again?”

  “Sure.” They walked around the plaza in companionable silence, sipping their coffee and munching on a slice of banana nut bread and a lemon bar, which they split and shared with each other. “So you haven’t told me what kind of dance it is you do, other than confirming that you’re not a stripper.”

  “Exotic dancer, and no, I’m not and never have been. Although I hear the money can be pretty good and I’ve had an offer or two along the road.”

  “Really?”

&nb
sp; “Yeah, but they couldn’t afford me.”

  Annie snorted and shook her head. “Not arrogant at all, are we?’

  “I’m not arrogant. I would just charge more to take off my clothes than any strip club would be willing to pay me. Now if the offer came from a music video director, that’s different. And that’s enough money to make me take as many clothes off as they want.”

  “You dance in music videos?”

  “And in concerts as a back-up dancer.”

  “Wow, that’s so cool!”

  “It can be, but it’s a lot of work, too, and you have to stay in shape. It doesn’t really leave a lot of time for socializing.”

  “So I should feel special that you’ve had coffee with me twice now?”

  “Very special.” He grinned and winked at her.

  “Are you what they call professional? Like do you make your living from dancing?”

  “Yep, for about two years now.”

  “That’s crazy. Well, good for you. I’ve always wanted to perform, but I’ve never had the guts to seriously pursue anything.”

  “Oh yeah? You dance?”

  Annie shook her head. “I’ve never had lessons, I just like to dance at the club. But I love to sing…that’s what I would do if I could have any career I wanted.”

  “Well then you should do it.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  “Nothing worth having ever comes easy.”

  “That sounds like a quote.”

  “I think it is, but I don’t know who it’s by.”

  “Well, it’s a good one,” she said, nodding.

  “You’re the only thing standing between you and your dreams.”

  “That sounds like another quote. What are you, a fortune cookie tonight?”

  Laughing, Casey shook his head. “Look, I hate to cut the night short again, but I have an early flight out tomorrow morning to join a concert tour.”