Bachelor Number Five (The Bachelor Series, Volume 1) (8 page)

“I’d be eternally grateful.”

“Sure,” Amanda answered.  “Just let me grab my own laundry first.”

“Take your time.”

Amanda moved to the dryer and opened the door.  She reached a hand inside and felt the clothes.  When she was sure they were dry she pulled them out and into her basket.

“I’m not in a huge hurry if you want to fold them first.”

“I can fold them upstairs,” she said.  Having Peter hover over her shoulder while she folded her underwear was the last thing she wanted.  Still, she recognized the irony of the situation.  He was asking
her
for a favor.  It completely turned the tables on the dynamic of their interaction.  It put Amanda in a position of strength.  She wasn’t sure if she would fully take advantage of that fact, but talking to him at all was progress nonetheless.  Amanda lifted her clothes basket and walked out of the laundry room with Peter following right behind.

When they got to the top of the stairs, Peter stopped outside the door as Amanda moved on into her apartment.  “Should I wait out here?” he asked.

Amanda saw him hesitating anxiously on the landing.  “You can come in,” she said.

Peter nodded and took a few tentative steps inside, looking around the room with seeming curiosity.  “This is the first time I’ve ever been in here,” he said.  “Lauren’s not home, is she?”

“No, she’s on a hike,” said Amanda.

“Oh, good.  I mean, you know… I’m sort of persona non grata around her.”

“I’ve gathered that.”

Amanda put her laundry basket down on the coffee table.  “My purse is in my room.  I’ll see if I have some change.”

“Thanks, I really do appreciate it.”  Peter followed along into the hall and stood in Amanda’s doorway while she went into her room.  She found her purse on her bedside table and opened it up to pull out her wallet.  “I’m sorry,” she said, peering inside.  “I don’t have change for a ten, but I can loan you a five.”

“That would be great, if you don’t mind.”

Amanda looked up to see Peter gazing around her room.  It made her feel self-conscious.  This was her private space.  These were her private things.  At the same time, a small part of her was flattered that a handsome man like him would take an interest.  She followed his eyes from the shoes and dresses in her open closet, to the computer on her desk, to the guitar case resting beside it.

“You play the guitar?” he asked.

“I do.”

“And do you sing, too?”

“Yeah, I sing, too.”

“Really?”  He seemed to disbelieve her.  “Professionally, or just for fun?”

Amanda laughed.  “I’ve played around at a few places,” she stretched the truth.  It wasn’t like she’d ever been paid for it, though there were those amateur nights at Rusty’s Road House.  At least she’d earned some tips.  Peter moved on into her room and walked across to the desk.  When Amanda saw him looking at the picture tacked to her bulletin board she felt all of the blood drain from her face.  Peter leaned in to read the caption.

“Ha, look at that!” said Peter.  “Midnight Domino.  I was there last night.”

“Really?” Amanda perked up.

“It’s not my favorite but you know how it is.  Sometimes you just end up going where the night takes you.”

“Yeah, I know how that is.”  Amanda nodded.

“Is this guy a friend of yours?” Peter asked.

“Um, no, not really.  Why, do you know him?”

Peter licked his lips as he looked back to the photo.  He shook his head.  “No.  I can’t say that I recognize him.”

“I know it’s funny that his picture is up there.  I just thought he was kind of cute.”  Amanda tried not to show how mortified she felt.  “I didn’t have anything else to put on the wall yet…”

“Uh huh.”  Peter turned back toward her and then smiled.  “That’s ok, we all have our crushes.”

“It’s not a crush!”

“No?”

“I just…”  Amanda couldn’t come up with a better response.  “Anyway, who are your crushes?!”

“Me?  Oh, I prefer to keep that to myself.  I don’t go around tacking their pictures to my wall.”

“Ok, I think I’ve had about enough of this.  Do you want the five dollars or what?”  She held the bill in the air.

“You know I’m only teasing!  I apologize.  You have to tell me, though, when do I get to hear you sing something?”

Amanda shook her head defiantly.  “Oh, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why not?  Don’t you have any gigs coming up?  I’d love to come see you.”

“Gigs?  No.  I don’t have any gigs.  I just moved here!”

“Is that why you came out?”

“I came because I wanted a new life.  That’s it.  I wanted some excitement.  I wanted to feel like I was alive.”

“Well, nobody ever said that Hollywood was boring.  Not that I heard, anyway.  If you want to line some gigs up, though, I can tell you the names of a few good venues around here.  I know a great coffee house that has an open mic night if you want to start small.”

“No, look, I’m just trying to get settled right now.”

“Ok.”  Peter seemed slightly taken aback.  “If you change your mind let me know.  Maybe I could check out your website.  Do you have anything up on YouTube?”

“Nope.  Sorry.”  Again Amanda held out the five dollar bill.  She just wanted him to leave at this point.  She was tired of having to explain herself; that the photo on the wall was of the guy she was stalking, that playing for a few friends at Rusty’s Road House didn’t make her a professional singer/songwriter, that she was a small-town waitress completely out of her element here.

Peter reached out and took the bill from her hand.  “Thanks,” he said.  Amanda followed him out the bedroom door and through the living room.  “Did I say something wrong?” Peter asked.

“No.”

“Ok.”  He stepped out onto the landing.  “Because I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Why would I be offended?”

“I don’t know.  Thanks for the loan.  I’ll pay you back later.”

“Take your time.”

Amanda closed the door and went to sit on the couch where she started in on folding her laundry.  Any hopes of having Peter help her track down Grant Hutchinson had completely evaporated.  Still, she realized how badly she’d wanted Peter to like her, even after everything Lauren had told her.  Even after seeing that sleazy girl leave his apartment.  Amanda still wanted to impress him.  It wasn’t as if she had feelings for him, it was more that she held him in awe.  He knew so much more than she did.  His life was so exciting.  As for Grant Hutchinson, she’d just need to come up with another lead, to find him all on her own.  Amanda was folding a shirt when her phone rang.  It was a number she didn’t recognize.  A local number.

“Hello?” Amanda answered.

“Hi, is this Amanda Perkins?”  It was the voice of an unknown male.

“Yes.”

“Hi, this is Kevin Webster, the manager at The Hamburger Hut.  I was just looking over your application.  Are you still looking for a job?”

“Yes, I am!”  Amanda tried not to sound too excited.

“Great, how would you like to come in for an interview?”

“That would be fantastic.  Just tell me when.”

“Four o’clock tomorrow?”

“Four o’clock it is.  I’ll see you there!”

“Thanks, Amanda.  We’ll see you tomorrow.”

When she hung up the phone, Amanda immediately felt better.  So what if Peter thought she was some backwards country girl?  So what if she didn’t have a website, or any of her songs uploaded to YouTube?  Amanda was making her way in the city.  She had an apartment.  She had friends.  Very soon she would have a job.  As she lifted a skirt from her laundry basket and shook out the wrinkles, Amanda smiled to herself.  Everything was going to be ok.

Chapter Ten

As she drove back home from The Hamburger Hut, Amanda was giddy.  She’d done it!  She actually had a job!  She and Kevin, the manager, had hit it off right away and by the end of the interview he went right ahead and put her on the schedule.  She would start training at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.  Kevin appreciated that she wasn’t an aspiring actress.  He was relieved that she wouldn’t be running off at a moment’s notice for casting calls and auditions.  He was encouraged that she didn’t hope to ditch the job as soon as she landed a part on a television show or in a movie.  No, Amanda persuaded him, she wasn’t going anywhere.  She might take some courses at a local community college if she could, but that was something they could easily schedule around.  Kevin had no problems with that.  In fact, he even encouraged her.  “I have great respect for anyone who wants to pursue their education,” he’d said.

It also didn’t hurt Amanda’s mood to consider that everyone else who worked in the place had been in close contact with Grant Hutchinson.  Some of them might even still be friends.  How many actually had his phone number?  Surely a few of them at least.  These thoughts made him seem that much more real and that much less a figment of her imagination.  Sometimes when she saw Grant on the show it seemed like he was just a character in a drama, created by a screenwriter out of thin air.  Knowing that she’d be working in the same restaurant that he had made it clear that Bachelor Number Five was every bit a real human being.

After parking her car a few blocks away, Amanda walked back to her building and breezed up the front stairs.  Inside the apartment, Lauren sat cross-legged on the couch with a section of the Sunday newspaper in her lap.

“Hey roomie!” said Amanda.

“Hi.”  Lauren’s response was flat.  Something was wrong.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.  What’s up with you?”  Lauren folded the paper and put it down beside her.

“Big news!  I got a job!”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, at The Hamburger Hut!  I start on Tuesday!”

“Congratulations.”

“Why don’t you sound like you mean it?”

“No, that’s great.  I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Is there anything else you have to tell me?” Lauren asked.

Amanda wracked her brain for anything out of the ordinary.  “I don’t think so.  Why?”

Lauren nodded toward the coffee table.  Amanda saw the rest of the newspaper stacked haphazardly.  Beside it was a single five dollar bill.  “Is that mine?” said Amanda.

“It is.”

“Peter dropped it by?”

“He did.”

Amanda took a few steps toward the table and picked up the bill.

“Would you mind telling me why you’re loaning money to Peter?” Lauren asked.

“I saw him in the laundry room yesterday and he didn’t have any change.”

“Uh, huh.”

“What!?” Amanda laughed, astonished by the apparent gravity of the situation.  “Can’t I be civil to my next door neighbor?”

Lauren thought about this for a moment.  “You can do whatever you want.  Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Fine, I have been dually warned.  I was just doing him a favor.”

Lauren picked up her section of the newspaper and began reading once again.  “By the way, he told me to tell you that he ran into your dream boy last night, whatever that means.”

“What?  That’s what he said?”

Lauren peered up from the paper.  “Do I have to repeat myself?”

“Did he say anything else?”

“That was it.”  Lauren shuffled her paper.  “Who’s your dream boy?”

“I don’t know.”  Amanda retreated to her room where she closed the door and then flopped down on her bed.  Could it be?  She looked at the photo of Grant tacked up on her bulletin board.  Had Peter really run into him?  And had they actually spoken?  Or was it all just a misunderstanding?  Maybe he saw someone who merely
looked
like Grant.  Or maybe he was only teasing.  Amanda wanted to walk right over and ask him, but she knew that would mean leaving herself wide open to the wrath of Lauren.  Instead she decided to wait until Lauren went out.  After half an hour, though, her roommate showed no signs that she’d be leaving anytime soon.  Eventually, curiosity simply got the best of Amanda.  She couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.  Amanda got to her feet and walked back out of her room, past Lauren without saying a word, and on out the front door.  At apartment number eight she gave three loud knocks on the door.  After a short wait it swung open.  Standing on the other side was Peter, all decked out in skin-tight black biking shorts and a red jersey splashed with corporate logos.

“Hey, Amanda, what’s up?  Did you get the five dollars?”

“Yeah, I got it, thanks.”

“Great.  What’s going on?”

“I heard you met somebody last night.”

“Oh yeah!”  A light smile showed on his mouth.  “Funny, huh?  I ran into that guy on your wall.”

“Where were you?!”  Amanda fought to retain her composure.

“I was at this diner I like to hit up after hours.  Mel’s.  Have you been there?”

“No.”

“You should try it sometime.  Great burgers.”