I finish all my tables and head to the back, where I know Joan is doing her monthly inventory of bar supplies and deciding what to order. She's classically pretty, tall with dark hair, and a vintage smile that makes drinks taste better and wallets open. She waves me toward her when she hears the door open. "So you're the newbie."
"Seems like I am."
"Well, sit," she says, tossing a clipboard to me. "It's easier to do this with two people when I can just say things and you write them down instead of me having to do both. Hell of a lot faster too."
"Okay."
And that's it for a while. I follow the pattern she's used on the form and write down what she tells me, and it's only a half-hour before the inventory is done completely. "When's your first shift with me?"
"Tomorrow."
"Good. Go home and google the basic drinks and memorize the recipes. Come in early and I'll test you on some of them and make corrections. Trust me, neither you or I have the time to just stand together while I spit out recipes that are on the internet. And you're an actor. I'm sure that memorizing shit doesn't take that much time for you."
I laugh. "You're right."
"Of course I am. And don't wear what you're wearing, wear something sexier."
"You have something in mind?"
She rolls her eyes but she smiles. "No. I'm not going to pick out your clothes for you, newbie. Just try something that fits the dress code and do some testing. Keep wearing what gets you tips, and don't be squeamish about it."
"Squeamish?" I hand her the clipboard so she can check my work.
"High and mighty. Prudish. Too good for it."
I internally pause, but I just say. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow.”
Grabbing my stuff from my locker, I head out to my car. I can see what she means, I can imagine a lot of people new to L.A. would be a bit nervous about so blatantly being asked to use their body like that. It’s been less than an hour and I’ve basically been told twice that I need to be sexy in order to get people to pay me more. I can’t imagine what kind of stuff gets said to female service workers.
I wonder what Amber would do—
I close off the thought as soon as I have it. I’m here, and we’re not together. I need to stop pretending that we are. Even if this was our dream, it can’t be anymore. Now it’s just my dream.
Driving across town, I roll down my windows and feel the warm breeze coming off the Pacific. This sure beats the cold of the east coast any day. Hands down. It’s like coming here after so long, finally I feel like I belong somewhere. The city sings to me in a way that no other place has, and I love it. There’s a relief to being here, an easing of tension that I never noticed I held.
Even as I flop onto my mattress that doesn’t have a bed frame and is surrounded by boxes, I’m smiling. I finally made it.
14
Peter
Present
I get into my own cab and pull out my phone, and I text Amber the code to my door so she’s not standing on the steps of my house until I get there. But the whole ride, I can’t seem to sit still. My leg is bouncing up and down, and even the driver seems to notice how fidgety I am. He keeps glancing back at me in the mirror.
Now that Amber and I are together, I don’t want to be separate. Every second that she’s not with me feels like I’m burning. It could be because I’m a little drunk. Possibly that. I’m a little drunk on her and the sex that we just had and the sex that we’re about to have. It was amazing and it didn’t even scratch the surface.
I let my head fall back against the seat, reliving every moment of that. I’m hard again just thinking about it. And thinking about what we might do now. Every fantasy I’ve had about Amber spirals out in my head, and I want to tell her every single one and see how she feels about them. And I want her to tell me her fantasies too, so I can drive her wild.
We need to be more careful. Having sex in the bathroom probably wasn’t the smartest move since we’re trying to keep this secret, but I can’t bring myself to care enough to be worried. But from now on, I promise to be more careful. Houses only. Or maybe my trailer.
Yes. My trailer. The thought of fucking Amber in my trailer with the whole crew right outside directs the remaining blood in my body to my cock and I have to grit my teeth to keep from groaning. I glance outside, almost there. Almost there.
My phone screen lights up, and Amber’s texted that she’s there. Inside. Waiting. Seconds later there’s a picture of her dress on the floor of my entryway, and I have to pick my jaw up off the floor of the car.
Almost there.
She sends a winking face back.
I start the transaction to pay the driver as we’re pulling into my driveway, so I can leave the car faster. “Thanks,” I call to him as I slam the door, taking the steps to my house three at a time. I only pause for a second to make sure the driver actually drives away before entering my code and going inside. And there on the floor is Amber’s dress. A little farther into the hall are both of her shoes, and just peeking out from around the corner, her thong is on the floor.
Fuck.
I kick off my shoes and undress on my way to the bedroom, my hand already stroking my cock as I walk in to find her naked and waiting. She’s facing away from me, glancing over her shoulder at me, wiggling her ass.
“You’re evil,” I say with a grin.
“I couldn’t have you forgetting me on the way home.”
Striding over to the bed, I grab her foot and pull her to me, and her giggle lights me up inside. “I could never forget you, Amber.”
I’m over her now, and I see her face sober for a moment. “I could never forget you either.”
I kiss her, and I hope that that sexy purple lipstick gets everywhere on me. It’s still on my cock, and I like it. I can practically still feel her tongue on me. Now that we’re here, things have to slow down. I still have that urgency to fall fast and hard into each other, but I can resist it. Take my time. “I have one problem,” I say.
“What’s that?”
“I have so many things that I want to do to you, that I can’t decide.”
She squirms underneath me, and for a few seconds I can’t even think. “I can think of a few things that would solve that problem,” she says, reaching down to touch me. Her fingers bring my focus straight downwards, and just the barest brush of them feels amazing.
“Tell me what you want,” I say.
“You.” It’s an automatic answer, too fast to not be true.
“More than that,” I say. “Give me a fantasy.”
Amber freezes, blushes. “I don’t have any.”
I lean down to kiss her neck. “I don’t believe you.”
“Really,” she says, “I don’t.”
Pulling back, I left myself fall onto the bed beside her. “Are you embarrassed?” I ask, tugging on her hip so she turns on her side towards me and we’re pressed up against one another.
“Yes.”
“Why?”