Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1) (27 page)

I hope you enjoyed Volume I of the Bachelor Series!  Thanks for reading, and if you'd like to help get the word out, a short review on Amazon would be greatly appreciated.  You can find the book here:
Bachelor Number Five
.
 To learn more about the author or see a sample of Volume II, please read on.  I also love to hear from readers, so if you’d like to drop me a line with any questions or comments, you can find my email address on the next page!

--Kenneth Rosenberg

About the Author

Kenneth Rosenberg is a California writer and UCLA graduate in English Literature who has worked as a journalist, merchant seaman, photographer, dive master and snowboarding instructor.  Kenneth spends his free time surfing, snowboarding and traveling the world on a shoestring.

Kenneth loves giving away free copies of his novels from time to time to help get the word out.  If you'd like to be the first to hear about any giveaway promotions or new release announcements, you can sign up for Kenneth's mailing list here:
eepurl.com/zoJuL
.

You can find Kenneth online at
www.kennethrosenberg.com
, check out his blog at
kennethrosenberg.blogspot.com
, or follow him on Twitter at
@IndieNovelist
.  Kenneth also loves to get emails from readers, so feel free to drop him a line at
[email protected]
.

The second volume in Kenneth Rosenberg's “Bachelor Series,”
Bachelor Number Nine,
follows the continuing sagas in the lives and loves of Piper, Amanda, and the rest of the gang in Hollywood.  Please read on for a short sample.

Bachelor Number Nine – Chapter One

Piper Daniels stood in her bedroom, looking herself over in a full-length mirror.  She wore a pale pink taffeta dress.  Her cheeks were highlighted in blush.  Eye-shadow and liner accentuated her eyes, with mascara on the lashes and pale pink lipstick on her lips.  She’d spent the better part of an hour sculpting her shoulder-length brown hair with a curling iron, hair spray and a drier.  Piper never wore dresses.  She didn’t wear makeup either, or spend any time on her hair.  Not unless a wedding was involved.  At least today's ceremony wasn’t her own.  That thought in itself came as a surprise.  For years Piper had looked forward to getting married to her boyfriend, Donny, and settling down to raise a couple of kids here in the small rural community of Quincy, Iowa.  This place was all she’d ever known and a life here all she’d ever considered until lately, when other, ill-formed ideas began creeping in to disturb her more tranquil reveries.  Piper struggled to understand these thoughts and where they came from.  It was beginning to dawn on her that perhaps she wasn’t quite satisfied with this vision of the future she’d held for so long.  Piper had never thought of herself as a particularly adventurous type but maybe there was something more to life than this quiet, rural existence.  If so, then finding it would mean leaving everything she’d ever known behind.  That was a haunting prospect.

Patting down the sides of her dress with both hands, Piper turned to one side.  “I look like a clown,” she said, though a part of her was pleased.  Even a tomboy could have fun playing dress-up once in a while.  It was too bad Donny wouldn’t appreciate it.  He wouldn’t comment on her appearance at all.  He wouldn’t even notice.  To Donny, Piper was simply there.  She was the girl he could always count on; the girl who came running whenever he honked his horn.  The girl whose house he could roll up to after a late night out, no questions asked.  When they did break up from time to time, it usually only lasted a day or two.  Every big argument they had, Piper told Donny that it was the last straw; she was done for good.  He seemed to understand that she never really meant it, and most likely never would.  It was the reason he was able to get away with so much.  Forget her birthday?  Well, they’d fight about it sure, but she’d never really leave him.  Show up on Valentine’s Day with nothing more than a twelve-pack of beer?  Hell, at least he remembered.

Not that Donny was all bad.  There was something to be said for having a strong, confident man around.  During the better times it was nice to feel like she belonged to someone, and that someone belonged to her.  But then just when she'd let her guard down, when she began to relax, Donny would find a way to ruin things.  Often it was just in the way he looked at other women, as though Piper didn't even exist.  She liked it even less when he talked to them.  Luckily there weren’t many opportunities for his eyes to stray in a town this small.  That was part of what suited Piper about this place.  Ironically, however, it was her own interest that had begun to wander of late, ever since she’d placed that fateful call to “Bachelor Number Nine.”

The first time Piper called him, it was all just a lark.  She’d actually hoped to get his voicemail.  She simply wanted to hear what he sounded like on the other end of the line.  When number nine picked up and said hello, Piper didn’t know
what
to do.  “Who is this?” she responded after a pause.

“What do you mean, ‘who is this?’  You called me!” he answered.

“Yeah, right, I’m sorry.”

“Are you trying to sell me something?”

“What?  No!  I hate those calls!”

“Do I know you?”

“Not exactly,” Piper answered.  It all seemed so surreal; to be having a conversation live on the telephone with the man she’d drooled over for a whole season on her favorite television show,
The Bride
.  When her friend Amanda claimed to have his phone number, Piper didn’t really believe it.  She figured Amanda was just joking around, giving Piper a phony number that she’d never have the nerve to call.  Of course Piper had to try it out, just to prove a point, but as soon as he answered she recognized that voice.  With the actual number nine on the line, Piper didn’t want to let him go.  She wanted to keep this going, but what to say?  “I’m a big fan of your work!” she blurted out.

“Oh.  Is that why you’re calling?  You want to order a bike?  ‘Cause I’m not the one who handles all of that.”

“I wish…” said Piper.  “I don’t think I can afford it.”

“What’s your budget?”

“What’s your cheapest option?”   Piper could hear an audible sigh on the other end of the line.  She knew from the show that number nine worked at a custom motorcycle shop.  She also knew his actual name.  Damon.  Damon Bradley.

“You know, I just work on the bikes.  If you want, I can give you the number for Valerie in sales and she can help you out.”

“That’s all right.  I just wanted to tell you that I like your work.”

“Ok…”  Damon seemed confused.  “How did you get this number?”

“From a friend!  Thanks, bye!”  Piper hung up the phone, elated at having spoken to him.  She certainly owed Amanda an apology for ever having doubted her.

The second time Piper called him was three days later.  She had no reason or excuse, really, though she tried to make one up.  Perhaps it could all be put down to boredom, or maybe to the way that Donny took her for granted.  Piper needed some spark in her life, however she could get it.  “Hi, I called a few days ago,” she said when Damon answered the phone.

“Not you again...  I remember,” he replied.

“I just wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize for calling me, by calling me again?!” he laughed.

“I thought I should explain a little bit…”

  Again came the sigh.  “Go ahead, but I got work to do, so make it quick.”

“Should I call you later?” she asked.

“You want to call me
again
?!”

“If you have more time, you know.  We could talk more.”

Damon thought this one over a bit.  “How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Are you cute?”

“Of course I’m cute!  Super cute!”

“Text me a photo then.  I gotta go now.  Catch ya later.”

After he’d hung up, Piper realized that he’d never even asked for her name.  That didn’t stop her from texting a picture.  Four of them, in fact, over the course of a day.  None of them were actually her.  Instead she found a girl online that she thought might spark his interest.  This girl was taller and blonder and definitely more beautiful than Piper, in a showy kind of way.  The last photo she sent showed the mystery girl in a bikini, lounging by a lake.  This was the shot that seemed to get his attention.  He called back twenty minutes later.

“What was your name again?”

“You never asked.”

“Ok, I’m asking.”

“Mindy.”

“So how exactly did you get this number, Mindy?”

“My friend gave it to me.”

“And who is your friend?”

“She knows Grant Hutchinson.”

“Oh…”  He sounded disappointed.

“Don’t worry, she doesn’t like him either.”

“So why the hell did he give her my phone number?”

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“Yeah, ok, never mind.”

“Why did you call me back?”

“’Cause, you are kind of cute.”

“
Kind of
?”

“Fine, jeez, you’re cute!  What do you want from me?!”

“That’s more like it.”

“That doesn’t mean I won’t hang up.”

“Go ahead then, hang up.  See if I care.”

“You’re feisty, too.”

“That’s what they tell me.”

“Kind of like my annoying kid sister.”

“You wish.”

“Have you actually seen any of my bikes, or did you just make that whole thing up?”

“I’ve seen ‘em.”

“Where?  Have you been to the shop?”

“No, I live in Iowa.”

“Iowa!?”

“I’ve seen them on TV!”

“Ohhh,” the truth seemed to dawn on him.  “This is about
The Bride
, isn’t it?”

“Maybe…”  Piper felt uncharacteristically ashamed.

“Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but…”

“Just because I watched the show doesn’t mean I’m some sort of freaky fan girl!”

“No???”  Damon sounded skeptical.  “You just make it a habit out of calling total strangers out of the blue, with nothing at all to say?!  Is that normal for you?”

“Good question.  As soon as I come up with a good answer, I’ll get right back to you.”

“I’ll admit, it has been somewhat amusing talking to you, but I’ve really got to go.”

“Fiiine…”  Piper relented.  “Just don’t think I’m some kind of stalker or anything, because I’m not.”

“At least I’ll sleep ok at night knowing you’re halfway across the country.  You don’t actually know where I live, do you?!”

“No, I don’t know where you live.  I know where you work, though!”

“Great, come on out.  Maybe I’ll sell you a bike.”

“Let me talk to Veronica first to sort out the details.”

“Valerie.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to her, too.”

“Take care, Mindy.”

“See ya.”

After that she knew better than to call him again.  That didn’t stop her from sending him a funny text now and then.  “
Hey, it’s your stalker here.  How’s my bike coming?”
she wrote one time.  “
How’s your charming sister?  Give her my regards
,” she wrote another.  Sometimes he wrote back and sometimes he didn’t, but either way, nothing stopped Piper from sending out these occasional messages.  It wasn’t an infatuation that she had with Damon.  She didn’t dream of spending her life with him, or even meeting him at all.  Piper just wanted some connection with the outside world, however slight.  Interacting with Damon, even if it was one-sided, helped her to feel alive.

Over time, Piper’s exchanges with Damon began to feel increasingly natural.  His responses grew more regular and at one point, surprising even Piper herself, he started sending notes to her, uninitiated.  That was when she began to feel like they were actually becoming friends in some sense.  One way or another, Damon Bradley was a part of her life now.  That much was impossible to deny.  As she stood in front of her mirror in her pink taffeta dress, she couldn’t help but wonder what
he
would think of it.  She wanted to send him a selfie, and probably would have if he didn’t expect her to look like “Mindy.”  She couldn’t very well blow her cover.  Besides, there was still that fine line to consider between virtual friend and stalker.  Piper didn’t want to scare him away with too much attention, nor did she want to sink too deeply into this fantasy world herself.  Maybe Damon Bradley actually was a real, living human being, but they had never met in person and never would.  Piper lived here, in Quincy, Iowa.  Her boyfriend was Donny, who she heard pulling up to her house at that moment in his pickup truck.  Before he’d even parked in the driveway she heard the honk of the horn.