Auctioned to the Biker

by Mia Ford

  “Okay, that makes sense to me… so what you’re saying is that I should try to find a way of approaching this girl with something she enjoys herself?”

  “Exactly. Stop trying to draw her into your way of doing things and try to figure out a way of approaching her from an angle which is more familiar to her… something which she won’t expect from a guy like you.”

  Trevor and I finish our coffee and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for his advice. We say goodbye and I decide to go home and regroup. Although Trevor’s advice is actually pretty vague, I get the feeling that his suggestions might come in handy and, if nothing else, it gets me thinking of some alternative ways of approaching Jenny, rather than simply banging my head against her emotional barriers and praying she will eventually let me in.

  After getting back home, I get something to eat and sit down on the sofa to think some more about Trevor’s advice. It finally becomes crystal clear to me that I need a brand new approach… that it would make no sense for me to keep calling her or showing up out of the blue at her office, unannounced. If I continue that way I’m certain to simply get more of the same rejection I’ve already suffered at her hands, so I spend some time racking my brains for a new approach. I can’t quite think of anything, so I decide to take a look at Jenny’s website on the Internet again. I go through every page carefully and then, finally, my eye catches a little piece of information which I think might end up being helpful. On the very last webpage, underneath the message box which can be used to contact Jenny’s magazine, I see another name. Stacy Donovan, marketing and advertising.

  I think back to the first time I’d visited Jenny at her office and can still recall the other girl I saw there. I suddenly realize that this must’ve been Stacy and that she also works at the magazine with Jenny. I think about it for a while longer and then realize that this might be my golden opportunity. Stacy seemed quite nice the first time I met her and I get the feeling that I might be able to talk to her. Perhaps she can speak to Jenny for me and convince her that I’m not such a bad guy after all.

  Having decided that the best way forward is to go and speak to Stacy at Jenny’s Travels, I get dressed and take a ride on my Harley to the part of town where the magazine is situated. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do if Jenny confronts me and tells me I should leave, but fortune favors the brave so I just forge right ahead and walk in unannounced, as has become my habit by now.

  Fortunately Jenny doesn’t seem to be there. Perhaps she’s on a mission somewhere to go and get information for an article, so I just walk right past her office to the door at the end of the corridor. I figure that this must be where Stacy’s office is located and when I get to the end of the corridor door and peer in I realized that I’m in luck.

  “Hello! I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if I could have a word with you,” I say and Stacy looks up with a pleasant enough smile. I already know what her name is, but I pretend to be in the dark when she speaks to me.

  “You’re the same guy who was here the other day… Brad isn’t it?” she says and I nod my head.

  “Yes, that’s me!” I say with a big smile.

  “Hi, my name is Stacy,” she says with a big grin of her own, “just how can I help you Brad?”

  “Well, I was actually looking for Jenny… But now that I’m talking to you, I was wondering if you would be able to help me,” I say, apprehensively.

  “No problem, why don’t I go and make us some coffee and then we can have a talk,” she says and I’m quite surprised at just how helpful she seems to be. Stacy is a really pretty girl and if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m already obsessed with Jenny, I might have turned on the charms and tried to get inside her pants.

  She makes us some strong coffee and we go and sit in the boardroom. I take some time to explain to her how I know Jenny from somewhere else, but she doesn’t seem to be too interested in that part of my story, so I cut it short.

  “The point I’m trying to make is, I would really like to get to know Jenny a bit better, but she keeps cutting off every time I ask her out… Is there absolutely anything you can do to help me in my quest?” I say with my most honest face.

  “I shouldn’t really be telling you this, but it’s for her own good so I’m going to share a bit of personal information about Jenny with you,” Stacy says and I feel my heart beating faster inside my chest with excitement, “Jenny was very close to her father before he passed away and I’m afraid she keeps comparing every guy she meets to her dad… I guess I don’t have to tell you that they always fall short and this is probably part of the reason why you’re not having any success with her.”

  I think about Stacy’s words for a moment and, even though I’m no psychologist, I can easily understand how a thing like that might be an incredible stumbling block for a guy like me to overcome.

  “Okay, I think I catch your drift, but what exactly would you suggest I do about this obstacle in my way to your best friends heart?” I ask, slightly puzzled.

  “I’m not too sure… although I can tell you that her father used to play guitar to her when she was a little girl and she has always loved the sound of guitar music,” Stacy says.

  We spend some more time talking about my problem and I truly appreciate the way Stacy seems to be on board with my quest. She tells me how close she and Jenny have always been and how she’s never actually seen Jenny with a steady boyfriend in her entire life, even though Jenny always had a score of guys chasing her.

  “Thank you so much for talking to me. It means a lot more to me than you can ever imagine!” I say and finally get up to leave after I’ve picked Stacy’s brains for every last bit of information that can be of assistance to me.

  “No problem Brad! I really hope that you can manage to find a way past the walls my best friend has built around her heart… It will be for her own good,” Stacy says and shakes my hand before walking outside with me. Jenny is still nowhere in sight and Stacy promises that she won’t mention our talk to her best friend.

  “Thank you so much, I owe you big time,” I say with a grin before waving Stacy goodbye and getting on the back of my Harley. I drive home, feeling like there is hope again for me and Jenny to get together after all. I now know exactly what the next step for me is going to be. I think back to the advice my good friend Trevor has given me and realize that I now have a golden opportunity in front of me to do the exact kind of thing he suggested. I can come to Jenny from a different angle and find a way of really entertaining her, which will probably truly impresses her at the same time.

  Come hell or high water, I’m going to get a guitar somewhere and ask someone to teach me how to play it!

  I make my way towards a local music shop and take some time to look at all the various guitars they have there. A shop assistant walks up to me and helps me pick out a nice guitar. I ask him about the easiest way to learn how to play it and he directs me to a local music teacher, not too far away from his shop. I thank the guy and pay for the guitar before carefully putting it in a protective hard case and setting off on the back of my Harley towards the music shop he’s told me about.

  I have to wait for a while before I can see the music teacher, but when he finally comes out I can see that we are going to get along just fine. He’s got some tattoos on his forearms and he looks like the kind of guy who might enjoy becoming a member of my motorcycle club himself. He tells me that he has a spot open and we go inside the practice area where he shows me how to hold the guitar and press the basic chords. I discover that I actually have quite a knack for this and it’s not long before I’m able to play three basic chords on the guitar. My strumming is still a bit uneven, but I get the feeling that I’ll be able to get the hang of this very quickly. The guy tells me that he used to play in a band and assures me that there’s nothing like playing a guitar to get inside a girl’s pants. I thank him for the lesson and make arrangements to come and see him again during the week, after I’ve had some time to pr
actice everything he’s taught me.

  I drive home excitedly and Rawlins, my trusty Butler, looks quite impressed by the fact that I carry a guitar into the house.

  “Good heavens sir, have you decided to become a musician now?” he asks with an incredulous expression of his on his face.

  “Why not my good man?!” I exclaim, “we only live once and I have decided that it would be nice to be able to serenade the woman of my dreams!”

  “What a splendid idea Sir!” Rawlins says and takes the Harley’s keys from me to go and park it in the garage. I rush inside, sit down on the couch and start practicing the chords which the guy at the music school has taught me. I suddenly realize that I never asked Stacy exactly what kind of music Jenny likes, but decide that me being able to play the guitar will be enough of a way to impress her without necessarily playing a song she specifically knows. I start practicing the song which my music teacher has taught me how to play, a little ditty from the seventies called ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’. It’s not long before I can play the chords and sing the tune at the same time.

  I look up and see old Rawlins standing in the doorway, looking at me with great admiration.

  “That actually sounds very good sir,” he says and his compliment spurs me on to practice even harder.

  Chapter 11: Jenny

  I’m sitting at my desk and I’m busy with a very important article about a new restaurant that’s just opened up on the platinum mile, right on the beach. It specializes in Mexican food and I’m trying my best to look up all the correct spellings for the various Mexican dishes which they offer. It would do me no good to write a wonderful article and get some of the names of the dishes misspelled along the way.

  While I’m busy, I hear the sounds of guitar music coming from outside in the street, but I pay no real attention to it. I figure it’s just a street musician plying his craft and I expect the sounds to die away soon as the musician continues walking down to the town square where most of these people play for whatever coins the locals and visitors care to cast their way. I’m so engrossed in my article that I don’t realize there’s a familiar voice singing along with the guitar music. After about ten minutes, when am finally done looking up all the correct spellings for the Mexican dishes, I still hear the music coming from outside and I decide to go and take a look. I figure I might as well give the musician a couple of dollars just to encourage him to keep playing. When I get outside I see Stacy already standing there and from the look on her face you would have thought she was at a rock concert, watching her favorite rock star performing.

  “Looks like I’ve been missing out on the show,” I say and smile at Stacy. But she doesn’t even look at me and continues to stare at the musician. I finally decide to take a closer look at the guy who’s been playing the music and for just a second my mind refuses to accept the signals which my eyes sent its way. Surely this is impossible…

  It’s Brad!

  I looked over at Stacy and she stands there with a huge grin on her face, almost as if she wants to say, “I told you so.”

  I look over at Brad and he just stands there grinning like a schoolboy while he keeps playing his guitar and singing.

  “I guess there’s a bit more to your male admirer than you first thought,” Stacy says with that same grin on her face as we both stand there listening to the song Brad sings. It just happens to be one of the songs my dad always used to play to me… ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’. As I stand there listening to Brad playing guitar and singing it takes me back the days when my dad used to sing to me when I was just a little girl. For the very first time in my life I find myself drawing a favorable comparison between my late father and a guy who is interested in me.

  When Brad is finished with his song he takes a little bow and Stacy and I applaud him wildly.

  “That was beautiful! I’m so sorry I didn’t come out earlier to hear the other songs you were playing,” I say.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve been playing that same song for fifteen minutes now… was kind of wondering whether you were ever going to come out and listen to it,” Brad says and we all burst out laughing.

  “But you never told me you were a musician… I mean, you were so secretive about what you do for a living and I never knew that you could sing and play guitar like that!” I say and don’t even try to hide my delightful surprise.

  “Well, I wouldn’t call myself a professional musician or anything, but I do enjoy playing the guitar… especially for two beautiful girls like you,” Brad says with a beautiful smile on his gorgeous face and I feel my resistance melting away inside me. This was the very last thing I was expecting from him and I find myself thinking that I’ve been far too hard on Brad… that I’ve seriously misjudged the man he is. By now there’s quite a crowd of people gathered around us and they ask Brad to play them a song. Not surprisingly, he starts playing the same song which had gone done so well with Stacy and myself and everyone starts singing along… “Leaving on a Jet Plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again!”

  This time Brad gets a thunderous round of applause from everyone listening and I can tell that he is a bit blown away by the enthusiasm of everyone standing around. Stacy and I rescue Brad from the new admirers and he follows us inside the office to sit down and take a rest.

  “Be honest Brad… That’s the only son you know, isn’t it?” Stacy asks and Brad nodded his head in such a funny way that I can’t resist laughing.

  “I’m going to be perfectly honest with you,” Brad says, “I heard a little birdie tweet that you like guitar music and I decided to take guitar lessons and learn how to play that song just to impress you!”

  I look over at Stacy and she just stands there with a wicked grin on her face. “It was you who told him, wasn’t it?” I say with a note of mock anger in my voice.

  “Yes it was me who told him and you can thank me later for helping this gorgeous hunk break through your ridiculous defenses!” Stacy says.

  I look at Brad and he sits there like a naughty schoolboy waiting for his test results. “Okay, I have to admit… That was really special and the fact that you went and took guitar lessons just to play me that song makes it even better,” I say, “If you still want to, I will go out with you.”

  Brad looks at me incredulously for a moment and then jumps to his feet excitedly.

  “Fantastic! I will pick you up after work and we can go wherever you want and do whatever you want to,” he says and before I can say anything else, or change my mind, he waves us goodbye and rushes out of the office with his guitar under his arm. A moment later I hear his Harley starting up and I turn to Stacy, who’s still standing there with an enormous grin on her face.

  “I was going to act all angry, but I guess it won’t do me any good… You know me so well that you can probably tell I’m extremely grateful for what you did. Thank you so much!” I say and give Stacy a big hug.

  “Don’t mention it! Just you go and have a good time with Brad tonight and always remember that you owe me big time!” Stacy says and I nod my head.

  “I do owe you… I owe you for being the best friend a girl can ever hope to have!” I say and dance away to my office excitedly to go and do some work. But I can’t get my mind off of what has just happened and the words of the song which Brad played for me keep ringing through my mind. Eventually I give up trying to write the rest of the article on the Mexican restaurant and just sit around impatiently, waiting for the time to pass and Brad to come and pick me up for our date. I realize that I never arranged a specific time to meet Brad and I’m wondering whether he will be coming around before the end of the business day. I find myself hoping that he will come early so I don’t have to spend any more agonizing moments waiting for him.

  I keep looking at my watch and when it’s 4 o’clock I slam my laptop shut and lock the office door behind me. I quickly say goodbye to Stacy and she just gives me a knowing wink before I leave the office. I go outside and prepare myself to wait for Brad, but it i
sn’t necessary. He’s standing right there with a big grin on his face and we walk over to where his Harley is waiting. I get onto the back and put on the spare helmet.

  “How did you know to come a bit earlier than closing time?” I ask with a smile.

  “To be perfectly honest, I was hoping you would be able to leave before five, so I just took a chance and drove all the way over and waited out here for you.” He says.

  “Good thinking,” I say and feel the excitement welling up inside me.

  “Okay, where do you want us to go?” he asks and I suddenly don’t have any specific idea in my head about possible destinations for our date.

  “I just feel like taking a wonderful, long drive somewhere beautiful!” I say and jump onto the back of his Harley after putting on the spare helmet.

  “Your wish is my command,” Brad says and kick starts the bike to life. We drive off on his beautiful Harley and I hold on tight as he opens up the throttle. He’s going a lot faster than he went the last time he took me on a drive and I really enjoy the feeling of the wind rushing past us as we eat up the miles of tarmac.

  I have no idea where we’re going, but I trust Brad to take us somewhere suitable… Somewhere nice and quiet where we can be alone. We drive a long way out of Los Angeles and end up next to a beautiful, green field with large trees surrounding it.

  “Why don’t we get off here and just take a walk through the field?” Brad says and I nod my head in agreement. The place looks perfect for a nice walk and it feels great to be out in nature. We walk towards a very tall tree and decide to sit down in the shade just to take a little rest. We left the helmets and the bike a little ways off, next to the road, so we have our hands free and it isn’t long before I’m in Brad’s arms.