Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1) (3 page)

“Piper!” Amanda called out.

“Hey!” Piper’s eyes lit up as she spotted Amanda approaching.  “I thought you didn’t feel like coming!”

“I had to tell someone.”

“Tell someone what?!”

“That I’m leaving.”

“But you only just got here!”

“No, I’m leaving, leaving.  I’m leaving Quincy.”

“What are you talking about?  Where are you going?”

“I’m going to…”  Amanda realized that she didn’t actually know.  Then again, she did.  “Los Angeles.  I’m moving to Los Angeles.”  She stood where she was for a moment, letting that realization settle in.  Then she turned and headed back toward the door.

“Wait, come back!” Piper shouted after her.  “Let’s talk about this!”

“I can’t,” Amanda answered.  “I need to start packing.”

Chapter Three

Her bags were packed and her car loaded.  It was just two weeks since Amanda had made the fateful decision to leave Quincy.  One might consider it an impulsive decision, though in truth it had been brewing in Amanda’s subconscious for quite some time.  It was that little ping in the back of her mind that told her she was not happy here and probably never would be.  That ping had been swirling around in her brain for years.  How long exactly she could not even say, but it always seemed to hit her at unexpected times.  Her mother, commenting on when Amanda was going to find a man and get married?  Ping!  Her high school friend Molly posting pictures online of her glamorous life in New York?  Ping!  A bare-chested Bachelor Number Five staring back at her from a beach in Los Angeles?  Ping!  Ping!  Ping!!!  That last one probably wasn’t any worse than the rest of them.  It was just the final straw.  It was the one that told her once and for all that it was time for Amanda to go.  Once she’d come to that realization, she wasted no time.

As Amanda stood on the curb with Whiskers in her arms, she couldn’t help but have a few second thoughts.  Maybe Piper was right.  Maybe Amanda had completely lost her mind.  Then again, if anything, Piper was just a little jealous.  Besides, there was no turning back now.  Not after Amanda had told everyone she was leaving.  Not after she’d quit her job and sold off all of her belongings that wouldn’t fit into this small car.  Not after she’d arranged to rent a room from a total stranger in a small apartment in Hollywood; an apartment that cost more than twice as much as a whole house in Quincy.  But still, it was Hollywood!  Just the word itself made her whole being shiver with excitement.  Amanda was going through with this, period.  That didn’t make the prospect of climbing into the passenger seat of her car and driving off down the road any less frightening.

“It’s not too late to change your mind!” said Piper, standing nearby with Lucy and Amanda’s mother, Sheila.

“Shut up, Piper.”  Amanda gave her friend a wry smile.

“I’m just saying, none of us will blame you.”

“I’m not going to change my mind.”

“It seems like you’re going to an awful lot of trouble just to stalk number five.”

“I’m not stalking him!”  This time Amanda laughed out loud.

“Sure, that’s what you say, but we all know the truth, don’t we Lucy?”

“Leave me out of this one!”  Lucy put her hands to fend off the question.

“I’m going out there to stalk number nine, if you must know.  I’m going to marry him and we’re going to have a bunch of beautiful little babies.  We’ll name them Four, Six and Eight.”

“Oh no you don’t!” said Piper.  “Hands off number nine, he’s mine!”

“Mom, can you save me from this?” Amanda pleaded as she rubbed a purring Whiskers on the top of his head.

“I’m afraid you’re on your own,” Sheila shook her head.

“I guess I’ll have to just go then…”

“All right, I can understand abandoning the rest of us, but Whiskers?  How could you?!” said Piper.

“Don’t make it any harder than it already is!” Amanda looked Whiskers in the face.  “You take care of yourself, Whiskers.  I’m going to miss you the most.”  She kissed the cat on the nose and then handed him over to Piper, who took him in her arms.

“Oh, come here, Whiskers.  We both know she’ll be back.  Maybe she’ll even bring you a pretty Hollywood kitty.  Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Piper, you are a goof ball, you know that?”  Amanda almost lost her composure, fighting back her emotions.  Piper’s joking around was the only thing that kept Amanda from crying.

“What?!” said Piper.  “You better get number nine’s number for me out there or I will never forgive you!”

“What about Donny?”

“Forget Donny!  We’re talking number nine here!”  Piper held the cat in one hand and smacked herself in the forehead with the other.

“Ok, I’ll do what I can.”

“You better....”  Piper seemed satisfied.

Amanda turned to her boss.  “Goodbye Lucy.  Thanks for everything, and for coming to see me off.”

“Are you kidding?  You two are the girls I never had.  Of course I’m going to see you off!”  Lucy embraced Amanda in a big hug.

“I appreciate that!” Amanda choked as the air was squeezed out of her.

“And don’t worry; you’ve always got a job here if things don’t work out in LA for you.”

“Thanks, really.”  Released from Lucy’s grasp, Amanda took a deep breath and then turned toward her mother.  “I guess this is it.”

“I always hate goodbyes,” said Sheila.  “Especially as big as this one.”  Sheila wiped her eyes before any tears could dare escape.

“Don’t cry!  You’re going to make me, too!” said Amanda.

“I’m sorry,” Sheila sniffled.  “You know your dad wanted to be here as well, to say goodbye himself.”

“I understand, he’s busy.  Give him a hug for me, ok?”

“First I need one for myself.”  Mother and daughter held each other in an embrace.  Amanda felt like a little girl all over again, afraid to leave her mother’s side.  It was only now that the enormity of the changes she was facing became completely clear.  If she thought too much about it she might never bring herself to go.  Instead she thought of number five.  Someone just like him was out there waiting for her.  It was time to go and find him.  Amanda kissed her mother’s cheek and then forced herself to let go.  “Goodbye mom.”

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing it!” said Piper.

“Don’t try to stop me!”  Amanda opened her car door and climbed in, closing the door behind her with an authoritative thud.  She put her key in the ignition and rolled down the window before turning again toward the three women on the curb.

“Say hi to number five,” said Piper.

“Will do,” Amanda answered.  She turned the key and the engine coughed to life.

“Call us from the hotel tonight to let us know you’re ok!” said her mother.

“I will, mom!”

“Drive safe!” said Lucy.

“Ok!”  Amanda forced herself to push on the gas pedal.  It was the first step in a long journey.  Her car began moving down the street.  In her rearview mirror, Amanda saw the three women waving farewell.  At the corner she turned left onto Main Street, filled with a mix of liberation and sadness.  It was the thrill of possibility combined with sorrow over everything she was leaving behind.  This was the only life she’d ever known.  A single tear rolled down her cheek and dropped off the end of her chin.  “I hope this is a good idea,” she said to herself as she moved out of town and continued on down the highway headed west.

Chapter Four

After three days motoring along the lonely highways of Nebraska and Colorado, Utah, Nevada and eastern California, the rush of traffic as Amanda entered the outskirts of Los Angeles made her decidedly uneasy.  She’d never seen so many cars in all of her life.  In fact, she probably saw more cars in one hour on the Los Angeles freeways than she’d ever seen before combined.  When the downtown LA skyline came into view it was hard to keep her eyes on the road.  She’d seen plenty of photos of big cities but nothing prepared her for the awe she felt at seeing for herself these enormous buildings reaching for the heavens.  She wanted to stop her car to get out and stare but there was nowhere to pull over.  When Amanda slowed too much she was met with a chorus of honking horns.  Instead of gawking, it was best to concentrate on where she was going, easing from the 10 freeway to the 101, the Hollywood Freeway.  Just the name made her pulse race.  Was it really true?  Was she really here?  Had she actually done it?  Seeing the huge white letters of the Hollywood sign on the hills above was as definitive an answer to that question as she could hope for.  Amanda had arrived.  Her new life began today.

Exiting at Santa Monica Boulevard, Amanda drove west, following the directions on her phone through a maze of city streets, right on Highland, left on Fountain, until she came to North Citrus Avenue.  Her street.  She turned right and continued along a residential block, past small apartment buildings and single family homes.  She wanted to roll down her window and shout out to passers-by, “Hello neighbors!  I live here, too!”  Instead she gripped tightly to the steering wheel, slowing to read the street numbers as she moved past.  The neighborhood didn’t seem so bad.  The buildings were well-maintained.  The lawns well taken care of.  These weren’t the mansions of the stars, but they weren’t slums either.  She could live in a place like this.

Amanda saw the sign before she saw the number, arching over a concrete walkway between two wings of the same building.  “Hollywood Sunset Apartments,” it read.  The building itself was two-stories high and colored a faded pink, with a lawn and garden in the middle anchored by a burbling stone fountain.  This was the place.  A stairway toward the back led up to a second-floor veranda.  On the right hand side she spotted what must be her new apartment.  Number seven.  This was it.  Amanda was home.

Driving to the end of the block, Amanda turned right and found a parking spot around the corner.  Any apprehension she’d felt about making this move was overwhelmed by sheer euphoria that she’d actually done it.  She only wondered why she’d waited so long.  For the first time in a very long time, Amanda felt fully alive.  Starting from today, her life was entirely her own.

Walking up the stairs of her new building with a duffel bag slung over one shoulder, Amanda hoped that her new roommate would be home.  She’d spoken with Lauren the night before but Amanda was here an hour earlier than she’d expected to be.  Worst case, she could always wait.  When she got to the top of the stairs she was relieved to see that the door to the apartment was open.  Amanda was a little bit less at ease when she heard strange noises coming from inside.  “Ayyy-yah!  Yah, yah, yah!” a man’s voice shouted.

Amanda eased herself to the doorway and peered around the edge.  “Yah, yah, yah!” said the voice.  Inside the apartment, a man dressed head to toe in a Spiderman outfit kicked, squatted and spun around in karate poses, watching himself in a full-length mirror.  Amanda froze, unsure whether to announce her presence or back away slowly.  She looked to the number on the door just to make sure.  Number seven.  She looked back to the brown leather couch, wooden coffee table and green walls with old-fashioned movie posters hanging on them.  This was the place all right.  Just like the photos.  She was about to clear her throat when a woman about her age walked out from a back hall.  The girl was tall and thin, with long brown hair tied back in a pony-tail.  She wore a brown sweater with blue jeans, and sandals on her feet.

“Oh, it’s you!” The girl stopped in her tracks.  “I didn’t expect you so soon!”

Spiderman stood up straight and turned to face Amanda, his head tilting back in surprise as he peered at her through the fabric of his costume.

“Am I interrupting something?” Amanda asked with some hesitation.

“What?!” said the girl.  “No!  Darren is just being a goofball!  Come on in.”

Amanda took a few steps into the apartment.  Spiderman reached up with one hand and pulled his mask off over his head to reveal the face of a young black man in his early 20’s with short hair and a handsome face.  “Sorry if I frightened you there, I didn’t know anybody was watching.  I’m Darren.”  He reached out a hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Amanda.”  She shook his hand.  “Are you in a movie or something?”

“Ha, doesn’t he wish!” the girl laughed.  “I’m Lauren.  Welcome to Hollywood.”

“Thanks!” said Amanda, breaking into a broad smile.

“I’ll show you your room.”

Amanda walked through the living room and followed Lauren into the back hall.

“That’s my room on the right,” said Lauren.  “The bathroom is here in between us.  Your room is down there on the left.  The sheets on the bed are clean.”

“Oh, I appreciate that.”  Amanda walked into her new bedroom and dropped her duffel on the floor.  The room was small but clean, with a full-sized bed under a flowery green comforter, a small desk and a chest of drawers.  A hardwood floor was partially covered by a brown rug.  The yellow walls were bare but for a cork bulletin board hanging above the desk.

“I cleared out a shelf for you in the bathroom!” said Lauren.

 Amanda stepped back into the hall and peeked into the bathroom.  It too was small but clean, with a green rug on the floor and cream-colored tiles on the walls.  Lauren’s makeup, curling iron and hair drier were shoved into a series of shelves built into one wall.  One shelf, on the bottom, was free.