His father had said nothing about the disarray and discord of his relationship with Gary’s mother. Years later he had asked his father what had happened.
“You are in love,” his father had said. The two had been sitting at the edge of Lake Tahoe. Gary had bought his father a place near the water. “And then one day you aren’t. You aren’t sure why you are still together. You aren’t sure why you aren’t apart. Then the daily annoyances come up. Your mother used to take hours getting ready. We’d constantly be late. It drove me nuts. We’d get into arguments about it. Relationships are about compromise and after a while we just couldn’t come to the middle anymore.”
Gary’s father had stayed out by the lake late that night. Gary had left him in his solitude. After a few hours, he looked out. The moon was high above the lake and its reflection showed in the water. The bright light of the moon highlighted Gary’s father. Gary looked at his father and wondered if he would end up like him.
As Gary turned left onto the Embarcadero he wondered how much he was like his father. Things with Joy were just moving apart. They still talked. They didn’t fight but it was like his father had said, ‘And then one day you aren’t.’
There was ample parking on the street in front of the apartment but Gary parked the car inside the garage. It had cost a fair amount extra, several thousand dollars every month but the convenience and security of having his car protected mattered to Gary. He liked to take care of his things.
He went upstairs into the apartment. The bottle of champagne was still on the nightstand. It was still half full. It had turned sour though. He smelled it and then turned his head in disgust. Gary decided he would take a drink of it anyways. It was sour and flat and it tasted as if he’d ingested a thousand sour green apples. He walked into the bathroom and spat tried to spit out the liquid.
Brushing his teeth made the taste go away but it still lingered. He went back into the bedroom and took the bottle to the kitchen sink.
“How could something so expensive go bad so quick,” he said aloud. He watched as the urine colored wine drained into the sink. He tossed the bottle into the trash.
“Fuck recycling this shit,” he said.
His secretary hadn’t called him yet for the day which meant he had free time. There were always meetings. There was always something to do but he had a few hours to himself. He took off his clothes. He pulled his shirt to his nose. It still smelled of Kalyn. It was pleasant and then he threw it into the laundry bin. He changed into his workout clothes, some high end running shorts and a sweat absorbent t shirt.
Gary knew he needed to do something. He didn’t want to think about Joy. He didn’t want to think about Kalyn. He didn’t want to think about work. He didn’t want to think about anything.
His running shoes were by the door. He walked over to them and picked them up. They hadn’t seen as much wear on them as he would have liked. It had been a few years since he’d run the San Francisco marathon. He’d done it more to say that he’d done it than having an overwhelming desire to run that far. Joy was constantly working out and Gary felt he should have some fitness goals as well.
The first few miles had been fine. Even going into mile 18 he didn’t feel too bad. He’d trained with Justin for a few months. The two had met up every weekend for three months to go on long runs together. Justin had mapped out the runs and Gary had run along.
Mile 20 had been hard. His body had started to ache. He didn’t want to keep going anymore. It had infuriated him even more when the organizers had told him that it was just one more mile, that it was just a little more to go on mile 24. He’d crossed the line and wondered why the fuck he had just done that. It was too long and he was too sore.
He put his shoes on now and walked out the door. He wouldn’t run a marathon today but he would go for a run. He turned on his iPod and began to listen to music as he ran outside. He went to the Embarcadero and began to run along the wharf. The seals were on their pier, he could tell because tourists were gathered around the railing. The clock tower was hitting 10 o’clock when he ran by it. He passed by the large bow and arrow sculpture embedded into the lawn like meridian.
There was a plaque near to the sculpture. Gary walked over and read the information. The sculpture had been made of fiberglass and steel and placed in Rincon Park in 2002. Built to resemble Cupid’s bow and arrow draw, the piece was inspired by San Francisco’s reputation as a port of Eros, a place of love.
“Love’s trade-mark weapon naturally evokes the city’s permissive and romantic reputation, while formally its taut curve resonates wonderfully with the structure of the famous suspension bridge in the background,” the plaque read.
Gary turned around and looked at the Bay Bridge behind him. The bridge had a row of lights on it. Beside it the old bay bridge was still being taken down. The bridge had been a mainstay during his time in San Francisco. If he drove across it he could reach Kalyn but Joy was here on this side of the water.
He remembered when they’d found a crack in the new bridge. It was Labor Day weekend and the new bridge had closed because there was a major crack in an eye bar. Later a steel crossbeam and two steel tie rods snapped and fell to the upper deck. Three vehicles had been struck. Even the strongest of bridges could still fall apart Gary had thought at the time.
A seagull flew overhead and Gary watched it. It dived into the bay and then resurfaced. Gary had decisions to make. He had to figure out what he was doing with Kalyn. Was it just some sort of escape valve? Did he really care for her? What about Joy?
The ocean breeze blew. He took a deep inhale of the salty air. It was fresh and burned a little in his nostrils. He had to decide something so he started to run back up the Embarcadero.
Chapter 12
“I got the oven fixed,” Mel said. “It didn’t take that long and I was able to pay off the repairmen then and there.”
The days had passed and things were business as usual for Mel and Kalyn, except that it was a lot of business. The two were handling all the clients and the books perfectly. The social media marketing that Gary had done had sent a drove of business there way and Kalyn didn’t even have to bother thinking about driving Uber at night.
Kaboose barked at Mel and wagged his tail.
“Everything got better once you brought Kaboose into the salon. I think it would be wrong to credit him with everything,” Kalyn said.
Mel scooped up the dog. It was late in the evening and the salon would close soon. She twirled about with him and Kaboose drooled on her shirt.
“He loves me. Look at him slobber,” Mel said.
“Yeah he’s happy alright.”
“Things are going well. We might need to get someone else in here soon. Soon being like next week. You think we should reach out to Deborah?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how should we feel coming back to the shop,” Kalyn said. She began counting the drawer for closing.
Mel set Kaboose back down and he ran around the salon energetically for a few minutes before going back to his resting place by the register.
“How are things with you and loverboy? Have you heard from him again?”
“Gary?”
“Yes. Gary. Do you have a new loverboy in your life besides the wealthiest man in all of California,” Mel said. She was looking very sassy at Kalyn. “I know you conflicted about it all but no relationship is perfect and girl needs to get P-A-I-D,” she said. Mel snapped her fingers as she enunciated each letter.
Kalyn smiled. “Sleeping with Gary is not gonna get me money.”
“It won’t keep you anymore poor.”
“Yes. But he’s married.”
“That didn’t stop you before.”
“Well now I don’t feel so hot about it okay. I don’t want you needling me about it,” Kalyn said.
“Fine I’ll let it all go. You obviously have to as well.”
“I know.”
It was then that Kalyn felt a buzz in her phone. It was Gary.
“Hey how’s it going? I haven’t heard from you in a while. Are you okay? I was hoping you would contact me sooner. Do you want to get dinner? Can I take you out tonight,” he’d written.
Kalyn put her phone down next to the register facedown. She didn’t want to look at the message. Partially because she didn’t know how to reply. She wanted to concentrate on counting the register. Everyone had left the salon and it was only Mel, Kalyn and Kaboose in the salon. Mel had already begun restocking everything and cleaning.
When Mel came to the front she saw Kalyn’s eyebrows furrowed with concentration.
“You okay,” Mel said.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” Kalyn snapped.
“What is the matter with you,” Mel said. She stood in front of her friend and reached out and rubbed her arm. “Did something just happen?”
“Gary just texted me.”
Mel continued to rub her friend’s arm and said nothing.
“He invited me out for dinner,” Kalyn continued.
“When?”
“I don’t know. I guess tonight.”
“Did you say anything?”
“Not yet,” Kalyn said.
Mel bit her lip. She didn’t say anything for a moment then took her arm off her friend.
“Well you know what I’m going to say. You should do it. Fuck it. It might be good for you. He can take care of you. Joy isn’t going to come to the shop. They basically left the shop to us. Gary gave us a little push and now it’s ours, well more or less. I mean maybe they’ll look into things but really, they’re so fucking rich they don’t care about the shop. You saw how Joy came in here. She bought the place on a whim.”
“She could easily get rid of me on a whim,” Kalyn said. “And you too.”
“But why pass up a chance for happiness. You like him. He’s not that attached to Joy according to what you say and what I’ve seen. You know my feelings about marriage. I mean my parents are still together, you know because they A-Z-N. They are basically miserable. My mom won’t stop talking and my dad says nothing. They have separate rooms. They don’t hold hands. They don’t show any affection for each other. What’s the fucking point,” Mel said.
“I guess I’ll have dinner with him. I should probably be straightforward with how I feel.”
“If nothing else. At least you’ll know where you stand with him,” Mel said.
“Okay I’ll do it.”
Kalyn picked up her phone and texted Gary.
“I should be free tonight. I think after 8pm. I can meet you somewhere for dinner,” she wrote.
Gary’s answer was immediate.
“Great. Have you been to that vegan place on Claremont,” he wrote.
“Which one,” she texted back. “It’s the bay area there are vegan places all over.”
“I think it’s called Century,” he texted back.
“Sure.”
“Great. I’ll make a reservation. I’ll see you there at 8pm.”
Kalyn put her phone down next to the drawer and finished counting out the register. She took the money and put it into the bank. Mel was waiting for her at the front door. She’d picked up Kaboose and had him cradled in her arms.
“So, what happened,” Mel asked.
“Dinner. 8pm Century.”
“Ooooh. Fancy. You are so high society.”
“Shut up Mel,” Kalyn said. “Give me my dog back.”
Mel passed Kaboose over to Kalyn. Kaboose barked in annoyance.
“Not you too,” Kalyn said to the dog.
Kalyn opened the door and Mel went outside. She locked the door closed after turning off all the lights.
“Have a good time tonight with loverboy,” Mel said.
“Fuck you Mel.”
“I think you got enough fucking going on in your life but seriously consider what I said.”
“You are the worst Mel,” Kalyn said as she walked away.
“Thank you. Once you hit rock bottom you’ve got nowhere to go but up,” Mel replied.
Kalyn walked back to her car and drove back home. She was more than a little anxious about the night’s meeting and had difficulty concentrating. It didn’t help that the first song to come up on the radio as they pulled out was Morrissey’s “The More You Ignore Me the Closer I get.”
“I’m now a central part of your mind’s landscape. Whether you care or do not. Yeah, I’ve made up your mind. The more you ignore me the closer I get. You’re wasting your time,” the british singer san over the stereo.
“She the fuck up Morrissey,” Kalyn yelled at the stereo. She turned off the music and drove in silence back home. Kaboose looked at Kalyn sadly because she didn’t roll down the window. That didn’t prevent him from pushing his wet runny nose against the glass smearing it was dog saliva.
When she got to her apartment she changed her clothes and fed Kaboose. The good thing about him staying at the Salon all is day was that he never really needed to be walked. Mel would take him out to get cigarettes, or she would walk him around the block to get some fresh air. Being at home for a few hours wouldn’t cause him as much anxiety as when she was working Uber and the Salon.
“Okay. Be a good boy,” Kalyn said on her way out.
Kaboose looked at her and then ran into the bedroom.
Kalyn shrugged and headed out the door. She walked to the train. It took her a little while and she would probably get a cab back but she wanted a little bit of exercise before her date. She needed to know what she wanted. She loved working at the salon. She loved working with Mel. She could see something happening between her and Gary but the men in her life had come and gone and left ruins in their wake. Gary was especially complicating because of his marital status to the owner of the business no less.
The BART wasn’t that crowded but it was late and it was dirty. The system hadn’t been upgraded since the 70’s and she rarely took the train because it was so inefficient. Her friends always complained about it.
Getting from West Oakland to Claremont didn’t take too long though and soon she was walking up Claremont street to the restaurant. The area of Claremont was nice, much nicer than West Oakland. She’d like to live around here because she could walk around safely at night, because there were restaurants and grocery stores, and because there was a dog park under the highway overpass. She couldn’t afford it though.
She passed several high-end restaurants before she came to Century. Gary was already there, seated on the back patio and the hostess led Kalyn to him.
“You look great,” he said.
“Thanks.”
She’d showered and put on clean clothes along with reapplied her make up. She wasn’t wearing anything fancy though, just a simple but long denim style shirt that came down to her mid-thigh and tight black jeans. She decided not to wear heels, she didn’t want to give him the wrong impression that this was some sort of hook up.
“How have you been.” Gary said.
“Pretty good,” Kalyn said. She began looking at the menu. Gary had already ordered a glass of wine and he flagged down the waitress and ordered Kalyn one.
When the wine came, it tasted tannic and dry. Kalyn smacked her lips and then took a drink of her soda water.
“Anything else besides pretty good,” Gary said. Kalyn was still focusing on the menu, partially because she didn’t know what to say and partially to occupy herself until she knew what to say.
“The salon has been busy. Whatever you did to bring people in is working,” Kalyn said.
“That’s fantastic.”
“Yeah it’s nice to have some stable money coming in. Now I don’t have to work driving Uber at all and can focus on other things.”
“Like what?”
“Just general quality of life, I suppose,” Kalyn said.
“Do you think you’ll stay at the salon for a while,” Gary asked.
“I’d like to. If I can but honestly, I’m not sure what Joy wants to do with the place. She hasn’t stepped in since sh
e bought it. You’ve been there more, and more concerned with the salon,” she said with a blush.
“Yeah. I don’t think that Joy will be doing that much more with the salon. I asked her about it last week and she said she didn’t really care. It will be hard for her to keep an eye on it now that she’s in Los Angeles.”
“Oh, she’s vacationing,” Kalyn said.
“No. She’s decided to move.”
“So you’ll be going there too?”
“No. We’re taking a break. Well not a break but a break up. Things ended amicably. She brought it up. We’ve both been distant from each other for some time now and she felt it best if we didn’t keep on doing what we were doing.”
“I’m sorry,” Kalyn said. She took a sip of her wine. It didn’t taste as dry and harsh as before.
“No. It’s for the best. I’ve wanted something else as well. You made me realize that.”
“Oh.”
“Listen I know this is all fast but I wanted to offer you the salon, you and Mel. I’ve been looking at the books and you guys are really killing it. You just needed a little bit of a cash injection, a little bit of a push to get you going to where you need to be,” he said.
“What?”
“Well you wouldn’t straight out own it, not right away, but I wrote out a deal and a contract. It has a low interest rate. I don’t really need the money but I figured you’d think it was more fair that way. You’d have control of the entire building. You could rent out the other portion if you want.”
“Gary,” Kalyn said. “That’s a bit much.”
“Okay. Well just an idea. If you don’t want to do it that’s fine. I understand. It’s a bit fast.”
“Yeah… things are moving a bit fast for me,” Kalyn said.
“Has everything moved too fast for you,” Gary said.
“I think so.”
“Okay.”
“I like you Gary. You’re handsome, you’re attractive, you’re nice, and you have great hair,” Kalyn said with a smile.
Single Dad’s Plaything: A Single Dad First Time Billionaire Romance Page 71