by Martini, Mae
“Yeah, big deal… I don’t know what can of worms he’ll open up. Richie doesn’t need that. His family doesn’t need that.” As an afterthought she added. “I’ve seen pictures of him with women all over the world. Drop dead gorgeous women who don’t have checkered pasts. It’s only a matter of time before he’d dump me anyway. A clean break would be better for him…for me.”
“Only a matter of time?” Lauren said. “You’ve been with him for close to four years now. Why is it a matter of time all of a sudden?”
Kara sighed and shrugged. She rose up gathering her laptop. “I’m going downstairs. I have some studying to do. Catch-ya later.” Without waiting for her sister-in-law to reply she walked down the stairs to her apartment.
During the Mobster and the Cowboy
Chapter 39
“…I don’t know. She ran out when I asked her her name,” Logan said to Richie as they sat at a table in Satan’s Skull, each eating a burger and drinking a beer, the only food or drink the place offered. The Allman Brothers “Whipping Post’ was playing on the juke box as Logan was telling Richie about a girl he had been seeing around town lately, a very pretty dark-haired beauty, and he was intrigued.
“Did she buy anything at Geli’s? Have her look up her name.” Richie took a bite of his burger. Juice dripped down his chin and he scooped up his already shredded napkin to wipe his face again. “Gees, when the fuck is Jay gonna get some decent napkins around here?” He flung the napkin down on the table and took a swig of his beer.
“Hah! You sneaky son-of-a-bitch,” Logan said with his hand in the air. He looked around to get the waitress’s attention. “I already tried that. She paid cash.” He put his hand down when the waitress came over. “Selma, can you get this guy a pack of napkins, sweetheart?” Logan knew it wasn’t the napkins that bothered his buddy. It was the beautiful blonde ex porn star that got him all ‘effed up. All he could do was listen. He himself swore off blondes for good, but his friend had it bad for this chick.
Selma shook her head laughing. “Richie, Richie, Richie. What are we going to do with you?” Her deep raspy voice could have been sexy except Richie knew she smoked almost three packs a day.
“Well, maybe if he didn’t order his burger raw, it wouldn’t be so messy,” Logan said.
“It’s not raw. It’s rare. I like it rare. All the juices dripping down. Mmmm-mmmm-mmm.” Richie took another bite.
“Be right back with the napkins,” Selma said as she laughed and backed away.
“She’s looking this way,” Logan said before he took a bite of his burger.
Richie dropped his burger. “Oh, no. really?” He didn’t even have to know it was Big Betty that Logan was talking about.
Big Betty was a big girl, a big biker chick, and she loved Richie. She pulled up a chair, spun it around, and straddled it as she dropped her plate on the table right next to Richie, uninvited.
“Boys.” She dipped her head. “I’m looking to sell my Sportster but I’m undecided on a Wide Glide or a Street Bob. I can get the Street Bob at a really good price, but it has over a hundred thousand miles on it,” Betty said after she shoveled a quarter of her burger in her mouth.
Richie cringed as burger meat flew out of her mouth and landed on his face. “Whoa.” He picked up his shredded napkin and wiped his cheek then shot a look over to Logan.
Logan grinned as he chewed a bite of his burger. “Well, it depends on what you’re looking for, I guess. They’re both good bikes. I like the Wide Glide though. Bigger engine. Faster too. What do you think, Rich?” He took a sip of his beer with a smirk on his face.
“I don’t know. Whatever you want,” Richie said as he slightly moved his chair away from Betty.
“I don’t know what I want. That’s why I asked you.” Betty winked and smiled at Richie. She took another bite of her burger. “I was thinking the Street Bob because the price is right.” She spit a chunk of burger and bun on him when she coughed.
Richie was so turned off, he threw his burger down and got up. Grabbing a handful of napkins from Selma who was heading his way with them, he grumbled about how this place was going downhill and he walked out.
Logan shrugged and finished eating with Betty, and the two of them talked motorcycles the whole time. Despite her looks, she was really a very nice person, smart and sharp. After finishing his burger, he bid her good night and paid his tab at the bar. He walked out and found Richie outside, sitting on the concrete strip of walkway with his feet in the dirt parking lot and cracked up laughing. “You were rude to Betty,” he said as he straddled his Harley.
“Was I?” Richie straddled his new Ducati and reached for his helmet. How he let Logan talk him into wearing one was beyond him.
“Yeah. You want to head over to the Salty Dog? See if Carmen’s around and up for a little action?”
“Nah,” Richie blew out a breath and looked around. He couldn’t see anything, it was dark out and the only light came from the red sign that read ‘Satan’s Skull’. He never saw the ghost of an Indian chief who always appeared to be searching for something outside the joint that others had claimed they’d seen. He wasn’t looking for him or anything anyway, just frustrated. He raked a hand through his hair before putting on his helmet. “I’ll catch you tomorrow.” He started up his bike and took off, zipping down the winding road.
Chapter 40
“Hello?” Kara said into the phone a bit groggy as she looked at the alarm clock next to her bed. 1:45 am.
“Hi.”
“Richie!” She sat up, fully awake now.
“I’m sorry to call so late… I just… I just…” He let out a long audible sigh. “I needed to hear your voice.” And after a long bout of silence he asked. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah. I’m still here.”
“What’s going on here, Kara?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that shit. You know damn well what I mean. My uncle was about to award you a lucrative contract to design one of our most prestigious properties.
“I know. I’ve never designed on that big a scale before and I got scared.” Kara stood up and began to pace.
“I told you, I’d work with you. There was nothing to worry about.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Kara?”
Kara let out a breath. “Look, Richie, uh. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
There was a long pause before he said, “Why? Is this about my cousin and what went on in the hotel room that night?”
She hesitated. “No, no. It’s just…uh…I met a guy.”
“Oh, wow… Okay… Well I appreciate your honesty.” This news hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn’t see it coming at all. He thought they were progressing along. He had come to care for her. He had come to love her. Now he was glad he didn’t tell her. “You could have told me in person instead of over the phone. I deserve at least that much.”
“I’m sorry, Richie,” was all she could say because he was right. This was cowardly, but she would have never been able to go through with it if she did. One look at him and she wouldn’t be able to end it.
“And this couldn’t have just happened. You could have mentioned it before the meeting with my family.”
“I’m sorry.”
After a long pause he said, “Well then, Kara, I wish you well. Uh, if you want to call me, feel free. I’ll be here.”
“Okay, Richie. Um, before you go, I want to let you know I’ll be shipping the watch to you, so keep a look out. I’ll put enough insurance on it.”
“Keep it. I bought it for you.”
“Okay, thank you. Also, as soon as I can, I’ll pay you back the college tuition.”
“Kara, you don’t owe me anything. I meant what I said, no strings attached.”
“Thank you.”
“Be well, Kara.”
“You too, Richie. Bye.” She hung up just as the first tear fell down her face.
Ch
apter 41
The day couldn’t get here fast enough. Kara fussed with the tassel of her cap for the umpteenth time while sitting in her seat. The speeches seemed to drag on. She was so done with school, and if it weren’t for her brother and sister-in-law talking her into coming to the ceremony, she would have been happy skipping it to stay at home, alone.
It had been four months since she spoke with Richie. It killed her when she lied to him about finding someone else. In the four years that she knew him, she never once lied, but she couldn’t see any other way of letting him go.
“Isn’t he hot? I’d do him,” the girl sitting next to her said as she elbowed her.
She looked to the girl trying to recall if she had ever seen her around. “What?”
The girl moved in closer. “Dierks Randolph, the speaker. He works out at my gym.”
Kara looked to the stage, seeing the guest speaker, the local newscaster, for the first time, taking in his cropped blond hair, strong jaw, and stretched suit. She looked back to the girl, ready to agree with her, but the girl was annoying the girl on the other side of her so she didn’t bother to comment. Truth be told, no one looked as good as a certain Texan she adored. No one ever came close.
‘America the Beautiful’, the music the band had played earlier was stuck in Kara’s head as she looked down to her manicure and spotted half a dozen things wrong with it. Gotta find a new nail salon…and crown thy good with brother— “What!” Kara looked to the girl on her other side when she elbowed her. What the fuck?
“We have to get in line.”
Kara looked around. “Oh.” She rose up and followed the girl. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. She didn’t even realize they started calling the graduates to the stage.
While waiting in line she took notice of all the cheers when a name was called. As she got closer she started feeling awkward, she’d probably get the least cheers. Her brother was just as quiet and reserved as she was. She’d probably be able to hear Lauren cheer and maybe Keith and Maria Elana, a couple of friends she made through the years here at school who were also graduating.
“Katherine Storm.”
Kara walked up on stage listening to Lauren and a few others cheering. She paused with her hand outstretched to touch the blank piece of rolled up paper the dean was holding so the photographer could snap a picture before taking it from him and exiting down the steps on the other side of the stage.
“Kara! Kara, over here!”
Kara, glad to finally be outdoors even if it was a hot day, looked around. Across the lawn she saw her friend Keith calling her. He was already with Maria Elana. She navigated her way to them and motioned for her brother and Lauren to follow for some pictures.
Kara hugged and kissed her friends and they introduced each other to their families then the cameras came out.
After the picture taking Keith asked her. “Are you going to the Draft House tonight? Everyone’s going there to celebrate.”
“No. I can’t.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun. You can come with me.”
Kara smiled to herself. She knew Keith was into her, but she didn’t feel anything for him. He was cute and fun to be around, and he was always helpful. They shared notes and worked on projects together all the time and he would always try to get her to go out with him, but she always refused. He was almost four years younger than her, but that didn’t deter her. In fact, everyone she hung out with from school was younger than her, and sometimes it showed. She wasn’t into beer pong and getting wasted like they were.
She gave him and Maria Elana a kiss then turned around to her brother and froze when she spotted Richie talking to him. He turned his head, locking eyes with her and offered her a smile.
Her stomach did flips, and she bit her lower lip. His hair was shorter now and he looked as handsome as ever. It was hotter than hell outside and he looked all cool and collected in linen pants and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked…GQish.
“Excuse me,” Richie said to Eric. He closed the gap between him and Kara. “Congratulations, Kara.” He reached in and kissed her cheek.
She slowly smiled. “You came?”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Thank you, but you didn’t have to.”
“I Know. I also have a proposition for you. Your brother tells me you’re going out to dinner. Can you save a little time for me afterwards?”
“You’re welcome to join us.” Eric said.
Richie turned to see Eric right behind him. “I don’t want to impose.”
“Nonsense. No imposition at all,” Lauren said while she was trying to contain a squirming Emily who wanted out of her arms to play with her brother.
He looked back to Kara. “It’s your day. You don’t need me to—”
“I’d love it if you’d join us,” she cut him off.
Richie studied her face.
“Please,” she said.
Richie nodded. “Okay, thank you. I’d like that.”
Richie met them at a seafood restaurant and they dined on stuffed lobsters and sangria. Emily enjoyed a jar of carrots, while Max ate chicken nuggets, and for desert Emily had a jar of pears while everyone else had chocolate cake. She was content.
Dinner conversation was light and with lots of laughter, and there was a little altercation when Richie grabbed the check the waiter had put down on the table, and he was adamant.
“Can we talk?” Richie grabbed her arm and pulled her back a bit once they were in the parking lot.
“Sure. Do you want to come back to the house?”
Boy, did he want to. “Maybe later, but now I was thinking of getting a drink at some quiet bar or something.”
“Okay. There’s Checkers, a little pub with booths not far from here. Is that good?”
“Yeah. I’ll drive?”
“Okay, let me just say goodbye to my brother and Lauren.” She walked faster to catch up with them, Richie on her tail.
That was easily the most uncomfortable car ride Kara had ever experienced. Once upon a time she and Richie didn’t have to talk for hours and she was content in his presence. She looked over to him and he was the picture of calm. Was it awkward for him? It was hard to tell.
Richie looked around. Checkers was dimly lit. Their booth had a pendent light above the table with a low watt bulb in it. The table had a checkers set on it, the board folded in half and the checkers stacked on top of it. Rock music played softly in the background and the bar stools at the red and black checkered bar were all in use. He noted most of the booths were taken and yet it still was a pretty quiet place, save for a loud cackle here and there. He leaned back and turned his attention to Kara. He had felt her eyes on him the whole time. He smiled. “Why you nervous?”
She took in a breath and as she let it out she leaned back against the tufted booth-back. “I don’t know. It’s good to see you, Richie. You cut your hair?” She felt lame stating the obvious and quickly added, “I love it.”
“Thank you.” He snickered. “I figured it was time to grow up.”
She looked from him to the young pretty waitress, who had introduced herself as Tiffany when they first sat down, walking up to the table with their drinks.
“Thank you,” she said when Tiffany set down her Paloma.
“Thank you,” Richie said when his beer was set in front of him.
The waitress set down a bowl of peanuts and a bowl of pretzels. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Richie answered.
The waitress nodded and walked to another table.
Richie picked up his beer and held it out. “Congratulations.”
Kara picked up her drink and clinked his glass. “Thank you.” And before she took a drink she said. “No, really, thank you, Richie. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It was my pleasure.”
She nodded once and took
a sip of her drink. As she set it down Richie asked, “So, what are your plans now?”
“I’ve sent out my resume to a few interior design companies and have a couple of interviews lined up. One tomorrow.”
Richie nodded then leaned in. “I want to throw something at you.”
She instinctively moved her upper body in. “Okay.”
“Ever hear of Madison Designs?”
“Yes! They’re one of the biggest companies out there. I’d love to get in there.”
He smiled. “Well, they’re looking for a designer.”
She laughed and sat back. “Yeah, well, I’m sure they’d be looking for an experienced designer.”
“No. Victoria is looking for someone new, someone fresh.”
“Victoria? You know Victoria Madison?”
“Yes. And I might have mentioned you to her.”
She grinned. “You mentioned me to Victoria Madison?”
He laughed. “I did. And she’s interested in meeting you.”
“I’d have to move to New York.”
“Uh-uh, Austin.”
“Austin?”
“Yeah. She’s got an office in Manhattan, but she’s looking for someone for her Austin office.”
“Oh.”
“Would your boyfriend be okay with you moving?”
She took a sip of her drink. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
He had to suppress a smile. “Oh. No more? I was wondering why he wasn’t at your graduation today.”
Kara dropped her hands to her lap and nervously rubbed them, noting the sweat that accumulated. She hated to lie to him, but could she reveal that she never had one? “No.” She kept her answer short.
Now he smiled. “So, what do you think? Would you be interested in meeting with her?”
“I would be meeting with her?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you do her?” Oh, boy did she just blurt that out? She covered her mouth with her hand.