“Holly, he’s no good for you. Don’t waste your time with this one,” her mother had voiced the evening Holly had arrived home late from a date with Michael Ferns, senior class president.
“Why? There’s nothing wrong with this guy, Mom. He’s really nice and I like him.”
“Honey, I just get the feeling that something is off about him, especially when I told him to have you home by eleven and look what time it is now—it’s an hour past your curfew. That’s not very responsible.”
“So what? We lost track of time. Big deal.”
Darlene brushed the hair away from Holly’s neck and stared pointedly at her daughter’s purplish, red hickies. “You two sure did have enough time for those, didn’t you?”
“Mom! I’m sixteen. I know what I’m doing.”
“That’s fine. You do what you want.” Darlene waved Holly off. “But I’m telling you—he’s not for you.”
Come to find out, her mother was exactly right. The night of their fifth date, Michael nearly demanded that Holly give him oral sex as payback for all the expensive dates he had taken her on. When she refused, he dumped her off on the side of the road and took off. After that night, Holly never doubted her mother’s judgment again, well except with Matthew. She often wondered if her mother could have been wrong about Matthew if she had lived. Would they have gotten married by now or was her mother’s death to blame for their break-up? Unfortunately, thinking about the “what if’s,” were futile. The only definite thing was that she and Matthew were never meant to be. One day Holly would just have to learn to accept it.
“If anything, Mom would have wanted me to end up with Matthew, not on some dating website.”
“It’s not as dire as you make it out to be,” Tim said, smiling at her dotingly. “Look at it this way—one year of lousy dates equals a million dollars. How bad could it really be? Think of all the exposure you’re getting.”
“As I told Dr. Adams, no amount of money is worth my sanity,” Holly replied. “And I have plenty of business as it is.” She expelled a deep sigh. “I wonder if Mom would have taken a deal like this. God, I still miss her so much.”
Tim traced the outline of his daughter’s face with his thumb. “You look more like her every day, Holly. Just like the first time I met her at the comedy club. Wow, what a vision.”
Holly’s eyes began to water. “Dad—”
“It’s comforting to know that when I look at you, I have a big piece of her left.”
“I’m glad for that.” Holly rested her head on her father’s shoulder. “But you were lucky to find love twice.”
“I was. Gale is God sent. I don’t think I would have made it this far in life without her or without you for that matter. Tragedies have happen, but I’ve also been blessed with so much.”
***
A few days later, a BIO mixer took place at the Next Door Lounge in Los Angeles. Inside the chic restaurant, black and white films projected against the walls on small movie screens. A stately u-shaped bar with elegant leather ottomans and large chairs, were all swathed in fine fabrics, along with handcrafted wood slab dining tables.
In the lounge area, forty eligible men waited on two lovely millionairesses: Brittany, a twenty-eight year old actress from Hollywood and Janelle, a forty-year old artist from Malibu. After the two were introduced to their recruits, everyone mixed and mingled like butterflies. From afar, Holly glazed at her pride and joys with a satisfied smile.
“Holly, we have a situation,” Chris whispered in her ear.
“Can it wait? I’m in the middle of observing.”
“Um—I don’t think so. There’s a woman at the front, who’s not on the guest list, claiming she’s been invited. Considering you never have more than two women at each mixer—”
“Are you saying we have a crasher?”
“Pretty much. I can’t get her to leave.”
“Okay. I’ll take care of it,” Holly whispered.
Chris led Holly to the bar area where Emma had detained the crasher. Holly wasn’t able to get a good look since Emma happened to be blocking her view of the mystery woman.
“Excuse me.” Holly eased her way in between Emma and Chris. “Oh my God. What are you doing here?”
Madelyn stared back at Holly with a smirk. She was wearing a long multicolored hobo/bohemian inspired dress, and her long black hair glistened like dark glass in the sunlight. The girl obviously had showed up with an agenda by the way she had dolled herself up.
“I’ve come to join the party,” Madelyn said.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Holly snapped. “This is a private event. Either you go or I call security.”
“I have just as much of a right to be here as you do. This is a free country. As they say, love, peace, and chicken grease.”
Emma stared back at Holly in confusion. She had no idea who this crazy chick was or what she was talking about.
Madelyn dug into her purse and extracted a tube of lipstick and a compact mirror. “I’m just another single girl looking for love.” She gazed at herself in the mirror and dabbed on the dark shade of red lipstick. “You, my friend, hold the key to opportunity and I plan to get in on it.”
“Wow,” Holly said with a sneer. “Honey, you really are dreaming.”
“Can’t we all just get along?” Madelyn asked innocently.
Holly was about to tear her hair out. “Emma, go find someone to escort this little girl out—now.”
“Suit yourself,” Madelyn said, strolling to the other side of the lounge.
Holly was actually relieved that she wasn’t going to have to put up more of a fight. “The show’s over. Back to work, everyone.”
The mixer reverted to normalcy and Holly carried on with her business. The event was running smoothly, and the millionairesses appeared to be enjoying themselves. Both women persistently giggled and flirted with the recruits. A surge of inner tranquility flowed through Holly as she continued to observe the crowd. Then anger boiled like acid under her skin when she caught someone familiar chatting it up with one of the recruits on the patio.
“Oh shit. She’s back!” Chris brought to Holly’s attention.
“Her ass is grass.”
Madelyn was acquainting herself with forty-five year old Toby Reeder, a handsome banker with deep blue eyes, a youthful looking face and silvery blond hair.
“So, I’m getting ready to be a model,” Madelyn explained to Toby. “My friend gave me the number of an agent to call. Pretty soon, I’ll be in magazines.”
“Excuse me,” Holly cut in between the two. “This girl is not part of the mixer.”
“Huh?” Toby asked.
“I’m sorry, Toby, but she’s a crasher,” Holly explained. “If you could go back inside and join the rest of the recruits.”
“I was actually enjoying my conversation with Miss Madelyn, more so than with whom you’ve equipped us with today.”
“Oh, wow. That’s pretty sad,” Madelyn commented. “You must really suck as a matchmaker.”
“Toby, if you want to continue to be part of this mixer, I suggest you go back inside,” Emma said.
“Well, I’m not impressed with my choices, so I’m out of this game.” Toby took a sip of his wine and smiled fondly at Madelyn. “I’d rather spend my timing getting to know this lovely lady here.”
“Then you two need to vacate the premises immediately.” Holly pointed a fierce finger toward the front door. “You, Toby, are no longer a welcomed guest at my mixer.”
“You can’t force me to leave.” Madelyn waved her drink in Holly’s face. “I’m a paying customer.”
“Holly, I’m getting the manager.” Chris took off and went to find help.
Holly had had enough of Madelyn’s juvenile stunts to last her a lifetime. “If you want to find a man, go on Matchme.com and search for someone who’s in your league. You will never find someone on your low income level here.”
“Oh? Watch me.” Madelyn turned around and faced To
by. “No offense, Toby, but you’re not really my type.” She ignored Holly’s warning and made her way back to the lounge area, prepared to flirt with more men.
“This is unbelievable,” Holly said, incredibly outraged. “She’s intentionally trying to stir up drama with my clients.” She watched Madelyn mosey on into a sea of man and act as though she was just another millionairess who had paid big bucks to belong there. Holly knew this was going to wreak havoc with her real millionairesses. It wasn't long before a particular disgruntled pair confronted her.
“Holly, what’s going on?” Janelle asked. Her dress was so tight that it looked like she was struggling to hold in her curves. “Who is that woman?”
Brittany took a dainty sip of wine and asked, “Since when have there been three millionairesses at one mixer?”
“Rest assured that we are handling the situation,” Chris said. “There’s no need to worry. We’ve got everything under control.”
Holly kept her eye on Madelyn who continued to make her rounds with the recruits. “In lemans terms—this woman is a crasher.”
“And she’s stealing our thunder,” Janelle whined.
“Please, don’t freak out.” Emma placed a supportive hand on Janelle’s arm. “Security is coming as we speak.”
“Well, I didn’t sign up for this drama,” Brittany said, stomping away.
The manager of the restaurant appeared. “Is there a problem here?” he asked.
“Yes.” Holly pointed to Madelyn. “That girl in the hobo dress needs to vacate. This is a private event and she was not invited.”
“Miss, I can’t tell her to leave the restaurant unless she shows signs of disorderly behavior. All I can ask her to do is leave your party.”
“That’s fine,” Holly replied. “As long as she’s nowhere near this mixer.”
The salt-and-peppered haired man went to confront Madelyn with Holly, Chris, Emma, and Janelle all trailing close behind him.
Madelyn was in the middle of tittering with Jason Beckman when the manager tapped her on the shoulder. “Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to leave this event immediately.”
Madelyn flipped her hair off her shoulder. “I’ll leave when I feel like it.”
“I’m sorry, but this is not what I’m paying thousands of dollars a year for.” Janelle took one last chug her of wine and slammed it down on a table. “I’m leaving.”
“Emma, go get her and explain the situation,” Holly said in desperation. “Please.”
Madelyn then decided to cause a greater scene by shouting at the manager, accusing him of being prejudice against Mexicans. This confrontation caused many of the recruits to become distressed and half of them walked out of the mixer.
“It looks like my job is done here.” Madelyn awarded Holly with a crooked smile and nonchalantly walked out the front door.
Holly could hardly believe that Madelyn had the audacity to plan this all out. Obviously, the girl was seeking vengeance for being kicked out of her apartment. If this was the game Madelyn wanted to play, she was about to find out that she had more than met her match.
***
Holly was already beginning to feel burnt out from all the online dating. No matter how much she loathed doing it, she just had to keep telling herself that it was a job with a big payday in the near future.
There was actually a plus side to all of this. Holly got some major hits on her blog and the phones were ringing off the hook. She had to turn down business, and due to her newfound fame, Emma and Chris had to do quite a bit of screening. The majority of people inquiring about Holly’s services were either jokesters, scammers, or those who could not afford her services in the first place.
In the middle of this mess, Holly got an email on Dr. Adam’s website from someone named Jake. Right off the bat, he wanted to know if she liked kids. Holly found this question rather odd and assumed that he had to be a single dad. From his photos, Jake appeared to be a geek, but in a cute country-boy sort of way. He had moppy dirty blonde hair, and although his thick-lensed glasses hid the shape of his eyes, she could tell that they were a vivid shade of green, like an endless stretch of pasture.
Jake had very ordinary, clean-cut features, but he was built well. His lackluster attire was tight enough to make it known that there wasn't an ounce of fat on his body. Truthfully, he was nowhere near her type. Then again, her not being attracted to him could be the key to making this experiment work in her favor, so Holly took a chance and emailed him back. She soon found out the reason why he asked if she liked kids. Jake ran a children’s group home and devoted most of his time to abused and orphaned children. Holly needed to give him credit where credit was due. A man who dedicated his life to children was a unique and endearing quality. Jake deserved a shot, but for the first time in Holly’s life, she was not going about this in the formal way. If he turned out to be a prick, she wanted to skip all the meaningless bullshit and exit stage left as fast as she possibly could. The plan was to simply meet up for a drink and find out if they had anything in common. This would actually be the first time Jake would be meeting someone online, so he also desired to make it as non-threatening as possible.
***
May 27, 2013-Date # 11: Jake
Holly sat at the Covell bar in Los Angeles, sipping on her second martini. Jake was late, which didn’t give off a great first impression. There wasn’t a way to get in touch with him either, except of course, by email. Holly never bothered to talk to Jake on the phone. Frankly, she no longer cared about getting to know anyone before a date. From experience, it was clearly a waste of time. Holly now preferred to do 100-percent of the communication by email or text.
Holly figured that Jake had most likely gotten cold feet at the last minute, knowing he was a virgin to the online dating world. Holly decided to stick around for a few more minutes, just in case he had hit bad traffic or something.
A light touch on the shoulder took her by surprise.
“Darlene?”
Holly turned around to face a tall, dirty blond wearing a buttoned up flannel shirt over a white t-shirt, eyeglasses, and dark denim jeans. Yes, everything about this guy oozed geek.
“Oh! You must be Jake McClusky?”
“The one and only.” He smiled like a mischievous little boy and took a seat beside her on a barstool. “I apologize for being late. We have this eight-year old boy named Jeffie. He had a break down right before I left, so I had to stay and calm him down. When he was a toddler, his birth mother locked him in a closet for three days and he has a lot of issues because of it.”
“Oh, wow. That’s heartbreaking,” Holly said, suddenly feeling foolish about her previous judgmental behavior. “Is he okay?”
Jake flagged down the bartender with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, he’ll be fine. He just has his moments.”
“What can I get you?” asked the young and pimply male bartender.
“A Bud Light, please,” Jake said as he turned to face Holly. “So anyway, I hope you’ll forgive me. I know first impressions are imperative and I certainly blew it with being an hour late.”
“Oh no. Consider it water under the bridge.” Holly took a lingering sip of her martini. “Poor boy. What an awful, awful mother. I can’t even imagine doing something like that to a child.”
The bartender placed an icy cold beer in front of Jake, and he wasted no time pouring it into the frosty mug. “Yeah, but I’ve seen worse. Of course, that’s a whole other story and you don’t want me to get all morbid on our first meeting now, do you?”
“Yeah—I think for once I would like an offline meeting to be a happy, pleasant occasion.”
“Cheers to that.” Jake clinked his mug with her martini glass.
“So is that your full-time job?” Holly asked.
“Yeah, and I don’t get paid a dime for it. I’m pretty much investing everything I have into the group home.”
“Then how do you get by, if I may ask?”
“I have plenty of money saved
up.” Jake took a sip of beer. “I grew up privileged, so I’ve wanted to give back to children who are less fortunate, you know?”
Holly was pleasantly surprised by this admission. “Wow. That’s very admirable of you, Mr. McCluskey. Not many people would do something like that.”
“I find it very rewarding and most of all, I enjoy it,” Jake said with a shrug. “So what do you do?”
She swallowed down the last of her drink and replied, “I’m a—a writer.”
“Interesting. And what kind of writing do you do?”
“Oh, you know.” Holly giggled like a child caught with her finger dipped in the honey pot. “Articles here and there, marketing or whatever comes my way.”
“So freelance work?”
“Yeah. I guess you could say that.” Holly did not feel the need to elaborate on the subject any further. In fact, she wanted to avoid it as much as possible. “So anyway, as far as I can tell, you seem normal. Why are you on a dating site?”
Jake looked down at the counter and said with a slight smile, “Well, in all seriousness, my mother’s been pushing me to get married because she thinks I’m at that “age.” It seems that whatever I did in the past hasn’t worked for me, so I thought I’d try a different method.”
“So you resort to the most desperate resource available?”
“The group home doesn’t leave me a lot of time to date,” he explained. “What about you? You are way too attractive to be man-hunting online.”
Holly didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t be honest with him about certain aspects of her life. “I recently got out of a long-term relationship. I’m just starting to get my feet wet again.”
“And how’s that working out for you?” Jake asked.
Holly raised an unyielding eyebrow in response. She didn’t have to say a word for Jake to catch her drift.
“That bad, huh?” Jake asked. “Since this is my first time, I wouldn’t begin to know what it’s like.”
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