Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1) (5 page)

BOOK: Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1)
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As she sat in the sandwich shop sipping a diet soda and waiting for her order to be ready, Amanda couldn’t help but think about her future.  It was why she’d come here to Los Angeles in the first place, but other than a vague notion that she might meet the man of her dreams she had very little idea what that future might actually look like.  Of course she didn’t want to live in Quincy for the rest of her life, but neither did she want to spend it as a waitress.  But what then?  Even if she did meet a man here and get married, she felt like she should have some greater aspirations of her own.  She’d already taken a few courses at an online community college.  Maybe she could transfer the credits and try taking classes at a college here in LA.  Maybe she could get a degree and pursue a career.  In what, she wasn’t sure.  She loved music.  Nothing made her happier than when she sang and played her guitar.  Perhaps a career in the music business?  She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but then she’d never get anywhere if she didn’t start making some plans.

Sitting in this café all by herself and so far from home, Amanda couldn’t help but miss Piper and Lucy and all of the regular customers at the diner.  She missed Whiskers and her mom and dad.  Other than Lauren and Darren, whom she’d only just met, Amanda didn’t know another soul in this entire city.  That would take some time.  She’d make new friends, she told herself.  It was far too soon to be melancholy.  Maybe if she still felt this way in another few months, then she could allow herself to succumb to the creeping indulgence of depression.  For now, Amanda was still eager and excited to see what adventures awaited her here in this new home.

“Cheesesteak!”  A cashier placed Amanda’s sandwich on a plate with some fries and put it on the counter.

“Thank you!”  Amanda hopped up and hurried over to retrieve it.  She picked up her plate and turned back toward her table as another customer came through the door.  Amanda stopped in place.  It was her new neighbor.  Peter.  Pete.  Petey.  And his cobalt blue eyes, handsome features and perfectly cut brown hair, bangs hanging playfully over one eye.  He’d changed out of his suit and into a blue dress shirt, un-tucked with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and blue jeans with brown leather dress shoes.  On his left wrist was a shiny silver watch with a rotating black dial around the bezel.  Amanda had seen pictures of watches like this one in magazines.  She’d never seen one quite like it in person.  Farmers didn’t wear fancy watches, or fancy shoes or fancy anything for that matter.

“Hey neighbor.  Funny bumping into you again,” he said.

“At least it’s only figuratively this time.”

“Too true.  It looks like you’re finding your way around the neighborhood all right.”

“I guess so.  Is this place any good?”

“I come here all the time.  It must be all right.”

“Glad to hear it.”  Amanda moved around Peter and returned to her table, not quite sure why she felt so flustered.  The more she opened her mouth, the more likely she was to sound like a small-town, country bumpkin.   It was better to keep that reality a secret.  Amanda took her seat and picked up her sandwich.  She wanted to take a bite but hesitated.  How could she eat with him watching her?!  She raised her eyebrows and Peter turned to the counter to place his own order.

“Cheesesteak and house-cut fries to go,” he said.

The cashier rang him up and Amanda bit into her sandwich, savoring the taste.  She’d known she was hungry, but this sandwich was indeed divine.  The effect on her was almost immediate as her blood sugar levels rose and her flagging energy began to return.  She took another bite, closing her eyes and breathing in through her nose as she chewed.

“That good, huh?”

When she opened her eyes again, Peter was standing just across the table.  “Mind if I join you while I’m waiting?” he said.

Amanda’s eyes opened wide.  She just wanted to eat, in peace.  As fast as she could get it down.  But what could she say?  “Sure,” she conceded.

Peter pulled out a chair and sat.  “I’m Peter, by the way.  I don’t think we were properly introduced.”

“I’m Amanda.”

“You’re Lauren’s new roommate.”

“Uh, huh.”

“She doesn’t like me much.”

“Oh?”

“She didn’t say anything?”

“No.”

“Well,” Peter shrugged.  “I’ve got nothing against her.  She’s a nice girl.  I’m sure you’ll get along fine.”

“I hope so.  She seems nice.”

“Yeah.  So, are you new to LA, or just the building?”

“New to everything.”

“You’re actress?”

“Who, me?!”

“That’s why people come here, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know why people come here.  Why did you?”

“I grew up here, if you can believe that.  One of the few.”

“Oh?  Did you go to that high school up the street?”

“What, Hollywood High?  No.  My background was a little more pedestrian than that.  I’m a Studio City kid.”

“What’s that?”

“Studio City?  The valley?”

Amanda shrugged.

“The San Fernando Valley,” said Peter.  “You have heard of that, right?”

“Sure, I’ve heard of it,” Amanda said, though it was just like she’d expected.  She couldn’t open her mouth without sounding like a bumpkin.

“It’s over the hills, on the other side.  You know, behind the Hollywood sign?”

“Oh.”

“So where are
you
from?”

“Iowa.”

“Wow.  Good timing, huh?  You get to see what a California winter is like.”

“You call this winter?”

“My point exactly!”

Amanda smiled but then looked back to her sandwich, wishing he’d stop asking so many questions.  She couldn’t resist taking another bite.

“Iowa, huh?” Peter mulled over the concept.  “This place must seem very surreal to you.”

Amanda nodded as she chewed carefully.

“Order’s up!” said the cashier.  He placed a brown paper bag on the counter.

“That’s me.  It was nice talking to you!”  Peter hopped up and retrieved his order.  “See you around.”

“Bye,” Amanda managed.

“Feel free to stop by if you ever need anything.  Apartment number eight.” 

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Peter gave her a smile and a nod and then walked on out the door.  As he moved on down the sidewalk, Amanda wondered what Lauren really had against him.  He certainly seemed nice enough.  Then again, Lauren was an intelligent girl.  She must have had her reasons.  Those details were bound to come out before long.  Whatever the situation was between them, this was probably a drama best avoided.  Amanda would try to steer clear of Petey, despite those cobalt blue eyes.

Chapter Six

 

Amanda sat with her laptop computer on the kitchen table, scrolling online ads for waitressing jobs.  She’d already applied for a few positions, sending her short resume to some promising places.  As she read the listing for a job at a kosher deli on the west side, her eyes wandered to the search box at the top right corner of her browser.  The box was taunting her; tempting her to type in the query she was really most interested in after all.  It was far too hard to resist.  Amanda clicked her cursor in the box and typed the words. 
Grant Hutchinson The Bride
.  Enter.  Back came a whole string of results, mostly articles about the show itself.  She clicked on “Images” and saw various photos of bachelor number five; in a tuxedo, on a horse, holding a bouquet of flowers.  She’d already seen this stuff before.  What interested Amanda more was information about where he hung out in LA.  Besides the nightclubs she already knew about, what restaurants did he go to?  What part of town did he live in?  Who were his friends?  Of course she hadn’t
actually
moved here to find him, but how much fun would it be to cross his path?  It couldn’t hurt to organize her life in a way that might give herself the best possible chance.  Then again, perhaps Piper was right.  Was Amanda in danger of turning into one of those people that you read about in the papers, arrested on the street in front of some famous person’s house, refusing to leave them alone?  Obsessing over some fantasy and desperate for a life not their own?  Hers wasn’t all just a fantasy, though, was it?  She and Grant wanted the same things; to find that perfect mate, settle down, get married.  They both wanted kids and a happily ever after.  Grant wouldn’t be on the show if he didn’t want those things.  He wouldn’t be chasing after
the bride
if he didn’t want to end up with
someone
in the end.  Obviously he failed to understand that this bride was entirely the wrong woman for him.  He had no idea how narcissistic she really was.  He didn’t foresee how miserable he would be if he went through with the wedding at the end of the show.  If Amanda
could
somehow meet him, she might be able to do him an enormous favor.  Even if she didn’t end up with Grant herself, at least she could warn him.  That was all the rationalization she needed to carry on searching.  She was merely being a humanitarian, and so she scoured the links, looking for clues.

Facebook had more than 20 Grant Hutchinson’s, none of whom appeared to be her man.  A few had avatars for their pictures, making it impossible to tell what the person really looked like.  The restrictive privacy settings made these profiles a dead end.  Her general web search offered no information that she didn’t already have.  What she needed were some basic clues.  Where did he like to eat?  What gym did he go to?  What neighborhood did he live in?

IMDB listed a few acting credits; bit parts on some second-rate television shows.  Nothing useful.  It was when she checked LinkedIn that Amanda finally hit pay dirt.  Grant Hutchinson, actor, Los Angeles.  She clicked on the profile and a smiling picture of Bachelor Number Five stared back at her from the page.  Born, Houston, Texas.  Age: 26.  Graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.  His resume included some of the same acting gigs she’d seen already plus a few roles in regional plays.  Below that was a series of food service and bartending positions, starting with a honky-tonk in Austin and continuing on to a hamburger joint in Hollywood.  Her heart almost quit beating when she saw the word “present.”  Could it really be true?  Was he still working there, even now?  The possibility that all she had to do was go get a hamburger and she might finally meet the man of her dreams made her lightheaded.  On
The Bride
he was referred to as an entrepreneur but there was no mention of that here.  Maybe he waited tables to supplement his income until his company took off?  She did a quick search for the restaurant, The Hamburger Hut.  It was located on Melrose, less than a mile away.  Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

The clock on Amanda’s computer read 9:02 a.m.  She had just two hours to wait.  She’d go there for lunch and maybe even apply for a job while she was at it.  There was no better way to get to know Grant than that, working with him side by side.  Amanda felt a surging sense of confidence and well-being.  Everything was going to work out, she was sure of it.  As for right now, she’d have a quick bowl of cereal and then head down to Santa Monica.  She wanted to see first-hand where Bachelor Number Five went to the beach.  Who knew, maybe he’d even be down there catching some waves before work?  Amanda moved across the kitchen and pulled a box of cereal from her shelf.  Next she took out a fresh container of milk from the fridge.  When she’d poured the cereal in a bowl and added the milk, she could hardly get it down fast enough.  Today was the day, she told herself!  Deep in her bones, she could feel it.

Chapter Seven

 

Amanda held the photo from the magazine up in one hand and compared the angle of the pier in the picture to the real one looming in front of her.  This was the spot.  Bachelor Number Five, Grant Hutchinson, had stood right here in the sand.  Now with summer long gone the crowds were sparse.  A few hearty families sat closer to the sea, their children frolicking knee-deep in the water on a late autumn morning.  Beyond them broke small waves, maybe two-feet high, but there were no surfers to be seen.  Amanda felt her first pang of disappointment for the day.  Of course, she told herself, seeing him here was too much to expect.

Making her way across the beach to a set of wooden stairs, Amanda climbed up onto the pier itself.  Here things were a bit livelier as people wandered through a small amusement park, past carnival barkers manning games of chance and a few small rides.  Above her head wound the snaking tracks of a roller coaster.  At the far end the dainty carriages of a Ferris wheel looped up into the sky.  It was all a little bit like the county fair back home, only on a pier above the Pacific.  The crowd was different, too.  Back at home she’d see mostly rural farming folk mixed with a few small groups of immigrant laborers.  Here was a black family with two small kids buying cotton candy, an urban Hispanic couple checking out games in a small arcade and a group of Asian girls playing ski-ball.  Two white men stood along the pier’s rail taking in the action, with tattoo-covered arms showing from under white tank-top T-shirts.  Amanda hurried past, feeling their gazes fixed upon her.  When she reached the end of the pier she looked down into the swirling green sea and wondered if she could ever feel at home in this strange place.

BOOK: Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1)
13.63Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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