Bachelor Number Five - Chapter Two

Ok, better late than never, here's Chapter Two of my latest romance novel, Bachelor Number Five.  I'm still hoping for a release in about five weeks, fingers crossed!  I'll keep posting a chapter a week until the book comes out, however long that ends up taking.

Chapter Two

When Amanda opened the front door and flipped on the light she was met by their tabby cat, Whiskers, purring as he weaved himself in figure-eights around Amanda’s ankles.  “Hello Whiskers!” said Amanda, moving inside and closing the door behind her.  She put her purse on a small bureau and picked up the cat with one hand behind each of his front legs, holding his face up to her own and looking him in the eye.

“Meow,” said Whiskers.

“Meow to you,” Amanda replied.  She put the cat back down and went on into the kitchen where she opened a cabinet and took out a can of cat food.  Whiskers couldn’t contain his excitement as Amanda peeled open the lid and then reached down for his dish.  Using a spoon she found in the sink, she scooped half of the can into the dish and set it back on the floor where he set to it immediately.  “I know, you only love me because I feed you.  That’s ok.  I don’t mind,” Amanda said, though her hint of sarcasm was completely lost on the cat.

Moving into her bedroom, Amanda pulled her uniform off over her head and tossed it onto the bed.  She went into the bathroom and turned on the taps in the tub, holding her fingers under the spout to test the water temperature.  When it was ready she stripped off her underwear and dropped it into a hamper before switching the water flow to the showerhead and stepping in under the warm, soothing stream.  It was her favorite time of the day.  Time to relax and wash away all of her worries.  Amanda closed her eyes and put her face under the steaming jets.

When she was showered and dry, Amanda threw on a sweatshirt, jeans and her favorite pink slippers.  The clock on her bedside table read 9:20 p.m.  Plenty of time for a movie and a big bowl of ice cream.  In the kitchen she went straight for the freezer and pulled the door open.  Amidst bags of frozen vegetables and frozen dinners was one carton of mint chip ice cream.  It felt conspicuously light when she picked it up.  Amanda pulled off the lid and looked inside to confirm her suspicions; but for a few small scrapings, the carton was completely empty.  “Dammit Piper!  If you’re going to eat it, just eat it!” she said out loud to herself and the curious cat.

Amanda tossed the carton back into the freezer and slammed the door shut.  She had eight minutes to get to the Quincy Market before they closed for the night.  Back in her room she dug a clean pair of socks out of her dresser, flipped the slippers off her feet and sat on the bed while she put on the socks and a pair of canvas sneakers.  “See you in a few minutes,” Amanda said to Whiskers as she moved through the living room and on out the door.

But for one lonely cashier, the Quincy Market was completely deserted.  In the frozen foods aisle, Amanda stood gazing into the ice cream case.  She could choose peanut butter and chocolate, pralines and cream, strawberry cheesecake or one of twenty other flavors.  This was what her life had become; Friday night all alone with ice cream and her cat.  It didn’t escape her that this wave of depression might have something to do with that show.  She felt the same way every Friday as soon as The Bride was over.  It was a nagging sense that everyone else in the world her age was out there living a life more glamorous and exciting than hers.  Not that it took one television show for her to recognize this sad fact.  It was obvious enough anyway.  Amanda tried to push these thoughts aside.  She opened the case and reached for the peanut butter and chocolate.  Life was always better with chocolate.  And peanut butter.

That cashier was waiting patiently when Amanda got to the register.  “You find what you wanted?” the cashier asked.

“Yeah, thanks.”  Amanda put the carton on the counter.  Behind it was a row of tabloid newspapers and few glossy gossip magazines.  From dead center on the cover in front of her, the handsome smiling face of Bachelor Number Five stared back.  Bachelors of The Bride read the headline.  The Real Lives of 10 Hopeful Hunks.

The cashier scanned the ice cream carton.  “Anything else?” she asked.

“Yeah, this.”  Amanda pulled out a copy of the magazine and tossed it onto the counter.  When she’d paid, Amanda took her ice cream and her magazine out to her car.  She sat in the driver’s seat and placed the ice cream beside her.  She turned on the overhead light and flipped through the magazine until she found the article in question: half a page devoted to each of this season’s last ten bachelors.

Amanda skipped through the first few pages and landed on number nine.  She gave a cursory glance to the tribal tattoo ringing his right bicep.  Piper would like that.  Amanda flipped the pages back until she found who she was looking for.  The photo was taken on a beach with bright sun, pure sand and a tanned number five in red board shorts holding a surfboard under his left arm.  Amanda’s heart raced as she saw his bare chest for the first time, smooth and rippled.  She took a deep breath.  Below the photo was a short bio followed by a Q and A.  Real Name: Grant Hutchinson.  Occupation: Entrepreneur.  Age: 26.  Birthplace: Houston, Texas.

Question:  What do you consider to be your best feature?

Answer:  I am very loyal.  I’d like to think that my friends can always count on me, and hopefully my bride, too.

Question:  What is your worst?

Answer:  I hate to admit, but I don’t always show up on time for appointments.  It’s why I have my own business, so I can be late if I want to and I won’t be fired!

Question:  What is your business?

Answer:  Online marketing and promotion.

Question:  You’ve lived in LA for four years.  What do you like the most about the city?

Answer:  I love the electricity of the place, and the club scene, too.  Ecstasy, The Snake Pit and Midnight Domino are some of my favorites.

Question:  Are you willing to give up that lifestyle if you are the chosen one and get married?

Answer:  Hopefully my bride will want to come out with me.

Question:  Last one, why appear on The Bride?  You must meet plenty of eligible singles in the club scene already.

Answer:  I’m an old-fashioned guy at heart.  I’m looking for someone with more traditional values who is ready to settle down and start a family.  Hopefully the bride will choose me and we can start building a strong foundation for the future together.

Amanda closed the magazine and leaned back in her seat.  She felt as though all of her life energy was draining out of her body, as if she might just evaporate completely, leaving behind an empty green Ford Focus with a carton of ice cream melting on the passenger seat.  She might as well have ceased to exist.  It wouldn’t make any difference in the grand scheme of things.  How many people would even miss her?

Amanda fought against this instinct to have her own little pity party.  She knew that the key to happiness was to keep a positive attitude.  She’d read that before, in this same magazine.  It was what Piper understood intuitively.  What Amanda realized, though, was that ever since high school she’d been waiting for the love of her life to appear as if by magic and whisk her off to a life of joy and fulfillment.  Her subconscious was waiting for it, every day of her life.  She even thought she’d found it once, moving with Adam a few years after graduation.  That was going to be the beginning of the rest of her life.  She’d been so excited then, sharing an apartment with a boy for the very first time.  It felt like such a grown-up thing to do.  Even the small things were a joy; sharing meals together or going to the grocery store to stock up for their week ahead.  She’d begun taking online courses at a community college and making plans for the future.  There were warning signs, toward the end of the first year, but Amanda ignored them, putting it down to Adam’s moodiness or perhaps to stress.  It was so very slowly that her life went from one of happiness and optimism to sadness and misery.  What was wrong she couldn’t even say, exactly.  All she knew was that he’d become surly, occasionally at first but then more and more often.   Whatever the cause was, Amanda never gave up hope that she could fix it, all the way up to the day he dropped the hammer.  It seemed to come from nowhere as they were sitting at the dinner table one night.  He didn’t love her.  He wanted to break up.  She’d have to move out.  The shock of it was debilitating.  Her heart was crushed.  Amanda retreated into her job at the diner and the people in her life who really did love and care about her; Lucy and Piper and her mom and her dad.  They provided the comfort that she needed to mend her broken heart, but Amanda still craved the love of a good man.

As she sat in her car reliving these past few years in her mind, Amanda understood with certainty that as long as she stayed in Quincy, falling in love was never likely to happen.  It might work in a place like this for Piper, who didn’t mind spending the rest of her life on a farm in the middle of nowhere, but not for Amanda.  The time had finally come for her to leave this small town and venture out into the world.  She wanted to hang out on a beach somewhere with white sand and shimmering blue water.  She wanted to go to nightclubs with names like Ecstasy and Midnight Domino.  And she wanted to meet a bleached blond surfer boy from Houston, Texas. 

After tossing the magazine on top of the ice cream, Amanda started her car and pulled out onto Main Street.  She only had to drive a few blocks before she got to Rusty’s Road House.  She parked again and went inside, spotting Piper and Donny almost immediately by the pool table in back.  Amanda walked past the barstools filled with regulars, and the jukebox playing an old country tune.  Piper stood holding a cue in one hand, studying the table for her next shot.

“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 somewhat 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.”

Bachelor Number Five - Chapter One

Here in a (finally!) rainy Southern California, I'm still hard at work on my latest novel, Bachelor Number Five.  This story follows Amanda Perkins, a small-town waitress from Iowa who dreams of romance with a contestant on her favorite reality TV show.  I've decided to post a new chapter here every Sunday for the next six weeks or so.  After that, I'm hoping to have the book ready for publication, fingers crossed.  In the meantime, here's the first installment!

Chapter One

The dinner rush ended early in a town the size of Quincy.  Farmers up before dawn didn’t generally stay out much past 8 p.m.  By the time Amanda Perkins cleared the last table in her section, the only customer left in the place was Floyd Jenkins, a retired railroad engineer who sat in his usual place at the counter, eating a steak with green beans and mashed potatoes.

Amanda wore a white waitress’ uniform, with white skirt and red trim.  She was 24 years old, of average height and weight, with long brown hair and pleasant features.  She considered herself to be average in every way, though friends told her otherwise.  They told her that she was smart and pretty, with a great singing voice and a bright future, yet it was hard to believe any of it when here she was, slinging hash in this small-town diner.  Things in life had not worked out the way Amanda had hoped and lately she was beginning to think they never would.  She hoisted a tray of dirty dishes onto her shoulder and carried it past the counter, through a swinging door and into the back.  She dropped the dishes at a wash station before wiping her hands on a rag.

“That about it for the evening?” asked Sonny, a middle aged cook who stood in the kitchen in a white apron with a white paper hat on his head.

“Looks that way, Sonny,” Amanda answered.  She put down the rag and returned through the swinging door and into the dining room.  The restaurant looked like a thousand other diners in a thousand other small, Midwest towns just like this one.  Worn red vinyl booths lined the walls, with a row of tables in the center and a long counter stretching from one end of the room to the other.  Behind the counter stood Lucy, the graying, no-nonsense proprietor, cleaning around the coffee machine.

“Don’t turn that off yet, you know I’m going to want some with my pie!” said Floyd.

“I know, Floyd.”  Lucy’s impatience showed.

Beyond Lucy stood the small and wiry Piper in a waitress uniform of her own.  She held a remote control in one hand and pointed it at an old television mounted near the ceiling.

“Oh, you ain’t puttin’ on that there bridal show again?!” Floyd complained.

“It’s called The Bride and if you don’t like it, you can just go somewhere else!” Piper replied.

“There ain’t nowhere else to go and you know it!”

“Too bad, then.”  Piper put down the remote and looked up at the screen.  A group of eight handsome young men in black tuxedos stood lied up in the foyer of an enormous mansion.  A solid wooden staircase curved around one side of the room and on up to the second floor.  A man who could only be the host of the show stood on one of the stairs facing the contestants.

Amanda made her way past Lucy to Piper’s side where the two of them leaned back against the counter, heads tilted up to watch the show.

“There he is,” said Piper.  “Back for another week.”

“There who is?”  said Floyd.

“Number five!” answered an annoyed Piper.

“Who’s number five?” Floyd pressed.

“Bachelor Number Five!” Piper snapped at him.

Floyd merely shook his head.  Trying to understand these women was a lost cause.

“Amanda has a crush on number five,” Lucy tried to explain.

“I’m not the only one!” Amanda protested.  “Piper likes him too!”

“No, number five is yours.  He’s too slick for me, with that blonde hair and those chiseled beach-boy looks.  I like number nine.  He’s my type.  That’s a man with some edge to him.  Some style.”

“Ah, none a them ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of pretty boys, ya ask me.”

“Nobody asked you!” said Piper.  “Besides, can we help it if there aren’t enough manly men like you to go around?”

“Don’t be makin’ fun now!” said Floyd.

“Shhh… turn up the sound, I want to hear this!” said Amanda.

Piper raised the remote and increased the volume.  On the screen a woman appeared at the top of the stairs, looking glamorous in full makeup with long blonde hair and wearing a full-length gown of green chiffon.  Very carefully, she made her way down the stairs.

“It’s a wonder she doesn’t trip and fall flat on her face in that gown!” said Lucy as she paused from her cleaning.

“Might make the damn show more interesting,” said Floyd.

“Shhh!!!” the two girls replied in unison.

When the camera panned back to the eager bachelors, Amanda kept her eyes glued to number five.  He looked so handsome with his broad chest filling out his crisp tuxedo.  A wisp of hair hung down over his right eye.  She couldn’t imagine “the bride” choosing any other contestant, despite what Piper thought.  Number five was perfect in every way.  In fact, Amanda couldn’t imagine how he ended up on this show in the first place, competing with a bunch of less-worthy bachelors for the hand of one un-deserving woman.  Surely there must be a gagillion other girls around the world who would marry him in a heartbeat.  Why fight for this shallow, narcissistic bride who obviously cared only for herself?  Why throw himself at a woman who could never appreciate his finer qualities?  His kindness, for example, or his intelligence?  Did he really want to get married that badly?  If so, Amanda was here, waiting for him in this little diner in the middle of nowhere.  She would appreciate him.  She would make him happy, no matter what it took, if only she could somehow let him know.

On the television, the host was busy explaining to the viewing audience that one of these eight bachelors, from an original group of twenty-four, would not be invited back for the following week.  It was up to the bride to decide which suitor would be sent packing.  In her right hand she held a stack of nine invitations.

“Have you made your decision?” the host asked her.

“Yes, I have, but it’s getting so hard?!” the bride giggled.  “It gets harder and harder every week!”

“Well, you know what time it is.”

“Yes, I do,” the bride blushed lightly.  She held up her stack of envelopes and looked to the envelope on the top of the stack.  “The first invitation goes to the bachelor who made the biggest impression on our date this week.  Bachelor Number Two.”

Amanda’s heart sank just a little bit.  She knew that if number five wasn’t chosen, she’d never see him again.  If he made it until the end, however, he might actually marry this woman.  That would be the worst outcome of all.  On screen, bachelor number two walked up to the staircase and held out his hand.  When the bride gave him the invitation, number two smiled and winked at her.

“Oh please!” Piper protested loudly.  “Did you see that?  How cheesy can you be?!”

“I thought it was kind of cute,” said Lucy.

“Is this woman actually going to marry one of these pretty boys?” said Floyd.

“If she does they get half a million dollars.  All they have to do is stay married for a year,” Amanda explained.

“Hell, I’d marry her for a quarter mil, if that’s what she’s after.”

“I’m sure you would,” said Lucy.

“I might even bring her here for dinner.  Now gimme a slice o’ that lemon meringue pie, would ya?”

“And coffee,” said Lucy.

“That’s right.  See what I love about you gals?”

“I ain’t a gal no more.”  Lucy cleared his empty plate and replaced it with pie and a coffee.  On the television, the girls watched as the bride chose bachelors four, seven, twelve and eighteen.

“What is she thinking?!” Piper shouted.  “Number nine!  Pick number nine!”  When the bride did so on the next pass, Piper threw up her hands.  “Jesus, it’s about time!”

In the end it came down to two remaining bachelors.  Number five and number sixteen.  One of these would be going home.

“She’ll pick him, she’s got to,” said Piper.

Amanda’s tension was obvious as she crossed her fingers and looked away.  “I can hardly watch.”   

“My last invitation goes to…” the bride paused for effect.  “Bachelor number… five!”

Amanda looked back just in time to see a big smile cross the face of Bachelor Number Five.  He clasped his hands together and looked up to the ceiling as though thanking the heavens.  Amanda felt the same sense of relief.

“Bachelor Number Five, you may step forward and accept your invitation,” said the host.  “Bachelor Number Sixteen, I’m sorry but you will not be attending the wedding.”

Lucy looked to her two idle employees, still leaning motionless against the counter.  “All right girls, you can turn it off now.  I’m not paying you to watch TV.”

“You love it as much as we do and you know it!” said Piper, raising the remote to turn off the television.

“Let’s go, this place won’t clean itself,” Lucy added.

Amanda picked up a bussing tub from beneath the counter and walked back around to the dining room.  She made her way through, collecting catsup and mustard containers from each table one after the other.  Piper followed behind, setting each place with clean napkins and silverware for the next morning’s breakfast customers.

“One more week of number nine!” said Piper cheerily.  “Nine for me and five for you!”

“Doesn’t it just depress you sometimes, watching that show?”

“Me?  Depressed?  Not over something as stupid as a TV show.  I’m not going to shed any tears over The Bride, that’s for sure.”

“It’s not the show itself that depresses me.  It’s just… Don’t you ever wonder where your prince charming is?  When is he going to come walking through the door of this diner and sweep you off your feet?”

“Unlike you, I live in the real world.  Besides, I’ve got my prince charming.”

“Is that what you call Donny?”

“What’s wrong with Donny?!”

“Nothing, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Just because you think you’re too good for this place doesn’t mean some of us don’t like it here!”

“Look, I said I was sorry!”

Piper paused to look Amanda in the eye before deciding to forgive her.  “Your prince is out there,” she said.  “You’re going to find him, you’ll see.  You just have to have some faith, that’s all.”

“Thanks, Piper.  I wish it was easier to believe you.”

When they’d cleaned and set all of the tables, swept and mopped the floor, Piper ducked into the back to clock out and change out of her uniform.  Amanda saw Donny’s old Chevy pickup truck pull up out front.  He parked in a space near the door and shut off his lights, not bothering to come inside.  When Piper reappeared in the dining room she wore jeans and a grey sweater.  “We’re going to Rusty’s if you want to come!” she said to Amanda.

“Nah, thanks anyway.  I don’t think I’m up for it tonight.”

“All right, don’t wait up for me!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“See ya Lucy, see ya Floyd!” Piper added.

“You keep yourself outta trouble!” said Floyd.

Piper smirked and then bounced on through the door.  Amanda watched as she climbed into the truck on the passenger side and then slid across the bench seat to give her man a kiss.  Donny started the engine, turned the lights back on and then eased the truck backwards before heading off down the road.

“You all right?” said Lucy.

“Yeah, fine,” Amanda replied, snapping out of a trance.  “I’m fine.”  She headed into the back herself to clock out, trying to fight off a melancholy that seemed to be descending upon her.  Why couldn’t she be like Piper, content to spend her whole life in a place like this?  Piper was happy.  She had everything she needed; friends, family, Donny and a night or two out per week at Rusty’s Road House.  Before long Donny would propose, they’d get married, have a few kids and that would be that.  So simple.  So easy.  And so utterly depressing as far as Amanda was concerned.  Not that she wasn’t happy for Piper, but it wasn’t the kind of future Amanda dreamed of.  Maybe it was television shows like The Bride that ruined her for this place.  Maybe it was the knowledge that men like Bachelor Number Five existed out there in the world.  All she knew for sure was that if she ever wanted to find happiness of her own, she was going to have to leave and the sooner the better.

Amanda found her purse and jacket in the break room and then lowered her card into the time clock and punched out.  She moved through the kitchen where the cook was busy scrubbing the grill.  “Good night, Sonny!” she called out.

“You take care, now!” he called back.

Amanda pushed her way through the swinging door for the last time that night.  Floyd was gone and Lucy was at the front window flipping the “Open” sign to “Closed.”

“See you tomorrow, Lucy.”

“Have a good evening.”

“Thanks.”

Amanda walked out and across the parking lot to her faded green Ford Focus, illuminated by a single street light mounted directly above.  A chill was in the air with the arrival of fall.  Soon it would be winter, with the plains covered in a thick blanket of snow.  Another winter stuck here in Quincy.  No love.  No life.  She tried not to feel sorry for herself.  She tried to take a lesson from Piper, to be happy with whatever came her way.  Piper wasn’t a glass half-full type of person, she was a glass completely full person.  Life was simply what it was, with no time for regrets or second guessing.  One had to make the most of it, and that was all.  Amanda wished she had this outlook.  She longed for it, but wanting it and having it were too different things.

Putting her purse on the roof of her car, Amanda slid into her jacket.  When she’d zipped it up, she lifted her purse again and dug through it until her fingers found her keys.  She opened the car door and slid inside.  The starter struggled a few times before the engine turned over and Amanda headed home to the small house she and Piper shared.  To another night spent sitting on the couch, watching TV all alone.