by Mia Ford
“I’m not really sure… Why don’t you just surprise us and prepare something really delicious?” I say and he nods his head.
“I will do that sir, and I can assure you that it will be a dinner which your special lady friend will never forget in her entire life!”
I nod my head gratefully and walk outside to where my Harley is waiting. I kickstart it into life and then drive off to Jenny’s office. I really enjoy the trip and I keep thinking of how exciting this really is. Even though I’ve had women at my own place before, I’ve never had anyone like Jenny over there and this feels almost like a housewarming or something. I’m really looking forward to showing her each room in my house and making love with her all over the place. I know that old Rawlins will quietly leave after serving us dinner. He knows that I need some privacy and that there will probably be a lot of sexual gymnastics after dinner.
I stop in front of Jenny’s office and walk inside with a lightness in my tread which betrays my excited energy. I walk over to Jenny’s office and peer inside… but there’s no one there. I figure that she’s probably sitting in Stacy’s office, discussing some kind of business, so I immediately walk down the corridor door to go and see if she is there.
“Hi there, I’m sorry to disturb you young lady, but I was just wondering if I can speak to Jenny?” I say with a big smile. Stacy looks up and I can immediately tell from the expression on her face that something is a mess.
“I’m afraid Jenny isn’t here,” she simply says and doesn’t even get up from her chair to greet me.
“Can you tell me where she is?” I ask hopefully.
“I’m afraid I don’t know exactly where she is, although she did mention that she was going to head in the general direction of Pasadena,” Stacy says and I suddenly find myself wondering what the hell is going on.
“Why did she leave without even telling me about it? I know you probably don’t know this, but tonight was supposed to be a very special night and I was planning on taking Jenny over to my place for the very first time!”
Stacy looks at me for a moment, almost as if she’s trying to decide whether she should tell me something. Then she motions for me to sit down.
“I guess you deserve to know the truth,” Stacy says and I immediately get the feeling that she’s about to tell me something really bad, “earlier one of your biker friends came around here and really insulted Jenny so badly that she decided to go on a road trip just to get away from all of this.”
“What the hell! Who was the guy… What was his name?” I ask, feeling incredibly angry all of a sudden, “If I find out who the hell this so-called biker friend of mine is I’m going to rip his head right off his goddamn body!”
“I’m afraid he didn’t say what his name was and I’m not entirely sure what he said to Jenny… All I know is that I found her crying in her office after he left and she was so shaken up by the whole experience that she decided to go on a road trip just to get away from everything.”
I sit there for a moment, trying to stop my mind from racing in a thousand different directions at the same time. I have no idea which one of my biker friends from the motorcycle club might’ve done something stupid like this… Or if it even was one of the members of the LA dragons. Perhaps this guy was just pretending to know me and, for all I know, you might be some kind of stalker or something.
“Okay, thank you for telling me. I guess I’ll just have to call her and make sure that she’s okay,” I say after thinking about it some more.
“I’m afraid you’re not going to have much luck trying to phone her… I don’t think she took her cell phone with her. I’ve been trying to call her myself and all I’m getting is her answering service,” Stacy says with a hopeless expression on her face.
“Then how the hell am I going to find her?” I exclaim, “what kind of car is she driving?”
“The magazine has been doing so well that she bought herself a brand-new BMW… A bright blue one with a sunroof,” Stacy says and I realize that, even though there are probably plenty of bright blue BMW’s with sunroofs on the road, at least it’s a point of departure.
“Well, I guess there’s nothing else for me to do than to head in the general direction of Pasadena and start looking for this bright blue BMW,” I say and get up from my chair. Stacy nods her head and I thank her one last time before rushing outside and getting on my Harley. I have no time to lose and the sooner I get on the road the better. Who knows where Jenny might head off after she gets tired of Pasadena and the surrounding areas?
I start driving down the highway in the direction of Pasadena and send up a silent prayer that I might be able to locate Jenny by some kind of miracle. I really need to talk to her and find out what the hell has just happened! I feel absolutely certain that this is just a misunderstanding and that a simple conversation with Jenny will set things straight again.
Seeing as I have no idea where to start looking for Jenny, I decide to stop at a small town, just a couple of clicks out of Pasadena.
I stop at a roadside bar and go inside. I know it’s not the kind of place where Jenny would normally hangout, but I’m hoping that someone may have seen her around.
“Hi there sir, can I get you something to drink?” the barman asks in a friendly tone of voice.
“No thanks, I’m just looking for someone,” I say and suddenly realized that I haven’t even brought a picture of Jenny with me to show to anyone.
“Sure, what is this person’s name?” the barman asks.
“Her name is Jenny and she is, I guess, about five foot seven inches tall… with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes,” I say and look at the barman hopefully. He thinks about it for a moment and then shakes his head.
“Nope, I’m pretty sure I would have remembered if I’d seen someone by that description,” he says and I thank him before leaving the bar again. I repeat the same procedure at a couple of businesses in the small town, but have no luck. I have no idea what exactly Jenny’s plans are on this impromptu road trip of hers, but I figure she will probably end up visiting some restaurants and write some articles about their food, so I visit the only large restaurant in town and ask around if anyone has seen a girl by Jenny’s description. The manager and all of the waiters assure me that there has been no one like that around and I thank them before leaving again.
“My dear Jenny… where on earth have you disappeared to?” I whisper to myself as I get back on my Harley. It is getting pretty late, so I book myself in at a guesthouse and decide to spend the night there. I haven’t brought any extra clothes with me, so I just drape my jeans and my shirt over a chair in the room and take a shower before heading for bed. I figure I’ll just buy myself new clothes if these ones start to really smell. I don’t have time to worry about looking for a laundromat or anything like that and I quickly fall asleep as my head hits the pillow. I guess all of the worries and inquiries have made me quite tired. I wake up early the next morning, feeling refreshed and ready to start looking for Jenny again.
I book out of the guesthouse and decide to leave the small town and head further down the road. Just as I am driving past the last couple of buildings in town I notice a small motel and decide to stop there and ask whether anyone has seen Jenny. I realize it’s a longshot, but I figure I have nothing to lose and no other concrete plans anyway.
“Hi there, I’m sorry to disturb you so early in the morning with such a strange enquiry, but I was wondering if you may have seen a beautiful blonde girl with bright green eyes around here lately?” I ask the receptionist and expect her to look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. But, instead, a light of recognition suddenly shines across her face and she nods her head excitedly.
“Yes, I actually have! She spent the night here and you’ve just missed her by about half an hour!” the receptionist says and continues to describe the car in which Jenny left that same morning. She tells me that it was a light blue BMW and I immediately know that the gods have finally smiled upon me and
given me a break. I give the receptionist a hundred dollar bill to thank her for her help and she looks at me with wide eyes.
“Thank you so much for your help!” I say excitedly and jump on the back of my Harley before racing down the road in the direction of San Marino, where the receptionist saw Jenny driving off to. I’m not entirely certain how fast Jenny will be driving, but I have every hope of catching up to her on the highway.
I spend about an hour driving as fast as I can down the highway, and then realize that this is making no sense. There are plenty of places where Jenny might have turned in to take a look at some local attractions, such as a number of road houses and guesthouses along the way. The simple act of speeding down the highway as fast as I can isn’t necessarily going to ensure that I catch up to Jenny… the fact is, I might have already passed her if she’s decided to stop somewhere along the highway to write the article about something interesting she’s seen.
I pull off from the road and to take a little rest and just clear my mind. I think about it for a moment and then realize that the best thing I can do is to simply head for San Marino and hope to catch up with Jenny over there. If she’s decided to stop along the way and write some articles about various places, I have absolutely no way of knowing where to find her and my only hope is to wait for her in San Marino. I figure that she will eventually at least stop there to take a rest or sleep over for the night. I also know that San Marino has a couple of really nice restaurants and I feel fairly certain that Jenny will, at the very least, stop by one of them to write an article about their food. I get the feeling that Jenny’s road trip, even though it probably started out as a means of trying to get away from that bastard biker who visited with her at her office, will eventually probably evolve into something more of a working vacation.
I get back on my bike and start driving down the highway in a more relaxed fashion. I decide that I might as well try to enjoy this trip for what it is and not simply race along at blind speed without stopping to smell the flowers, so to speak. At around noon I stop at a roadhouse and get myself a really nice bacon and egg sandwich, which I wash down with a soda. I suddenly wish that Jenny could’ve been here by my side. I just know that she would have loved to take a trip like this with me on the back of my Harley and I make a mental note to do something like this with her when we’ve finally managed to sort out this mess.
After my roadside lunch, I get back on my Harley and cover the final distance of sixty miles to San Marino without stopping again. I arrived in San Marino later that same afternoon and immediately start going around to the local restaurants to ask whether anyone has seen Jenny. I have no luck and eventually book myself in at a luxurious guesthouse to spend the night. Tomorrow is another day and I remain hopeful that I will soon be reunited with the most gorgeous and wonderful girl I’ve ever known in my entire life.
Chapter 15: Jenny
After stopping along the way at several road houses and tourist attractions, I finally make it to San Marino at the end of the day and book into a motel to get some rest. I already feel that this road trip has been a good idea, as my mindset has already improved considerably since I left Los Angeles
I open up my laptop and write Stacy a quick email.
Dear Stacy, just wanted to let you know that I’m safe and that I have made it to San Marino. I’m going to stay around here for a couple of days and write some articles about the restaurants in the area. Will send you the drafts of my articles as soon as am done with it.
Love , Jenny.
I almost immediately get a reply back from her.
Hi darling, you should know that Brad has been around to the office and is urgently looking for you. I get the feeling that he’s hit the road on his Harley to come after you, so don’t be surprised if you run into him somewhere along the road. As far as the magazine is concerned, the next edition will be live tonight at 9 PM, so feel free to take a look!
Love, Stacy
PS: We could do with a couple of articles about some sushi restaurants, if you can find any.
I smile when I finish reading Stacy’s email. She’s always thinking ahead and, even though I’m not there to discuss next month’s edition with her, she’s already got a picture in her mind of what she thinks it should look like and what articles should be included in it. I wait up until 9 o’clock to take a look at the new magazine online and I absolutely love it! The articles really pop and Stacy has made sure that everything has been put together with vibrant colors and just the right amount of advertising on each webpage.
I close my laptop and feel ready to go to bed. My mind is a lot more relaxed now and I feel as if I will soon be ready to reconsider the whole thing with Brad carefully. I expect to have a good night’s rest, but keep having the same dream over and over… I find myself in various settings with Brad and every time I turn towards him to say something he suddenly disappears.
I wake up the next morning, and even though I’m slightly troubled by the recurrence of the same kind of dream about Brad which I have had all night, I feel refreshed and ready for the day.
I leave the motel and start looking for a sushi restaurant. I think that Stacy’s idea is a good one and I already have a rough framework in my mind for an article about delicious sushi. Even though I do my best to locate a sushi restaurant, I have no luck and eventually settle down to write a review about a local steakhouse. No one in the restaurant recognizes me, but the service is excellent and the juicy steak they bring me is so good that I cannot contain my satisfaction. I give the waiter a handsome tip and go back to my motel room to write a glowing article about the restaurant. I glance at my watch and notice that it’s around noon, so I decide to take a stroll through town to see what other places there are to see and visit.
I find a delightful coffee shop and go inside to order myself a cappuccino with foam and chocolate sprinkles. It’s absolutely delicious and I soon order another one. The coffee shop is situated right across a beautiful row of large oak trees and the setting is so beautiful that I end up spending a couple of hours there, just sitting and thinking about things.
I finally get around to considering my relationship with Brad and I now find myself thinking that I may have overreacted. Even though that bastard who came over to the office had no right to say to me what he did, I should at least have given Brad an opportunity to respond to his allegations. Perhaps it was all just a fabrication and I suddenly wished I could speak to Brad and discuss the whole thing with him. The one thing I suddenly know for certain is that I’m not ready to just let go of the relationship without at least speaking to Brad one last time. The magic of our connection requires me to at least talk to him… discuss things with him openly and see if there might be a way to carry on from here.
Later that afternoon I go back to my motel room and switch on the TV to see if there is anything nice to watch on cable. I find an old movie and start watching it. The strangest thing is that every single situation in the movie reminds me of Brad and me in a certain way. When the two main characters have a fight it reminds me of the way Brad and I used to experience conflict when he first started coming to my office. When the characters in the movie kiss and make up it makes me think of the day when Brad came to serenade me at the office and I finally gave him a chance.
“I wonder if every single thing I watch on TV from this day on is going to remind me of you?” I whisper to myself and switch the TV off when the movie is finished. I close my eyes and start thinking about all of the wonderful times Brad and I spent together at my apartment. I suddenly wish he could be right there next to me on the bed and I realize that everything seems less colorful and exciting without him in my life.
I fall asleep early and have a really good night’s rest. This time, I don’t dream of Brad… or if I do, I don’t remember it when I wake up the next morning. I decide to take a ride through town and look for other restaurants to try out. I feel fairly certain that there are no sushi restaurants close to my motel and hope that
I may locate some a little bit further away.
I really have a great time exploring the town and find many things that are very interesting and stimulating, but don’t manage to find a sushi restaurant, so I start driving back towards the motel at around noon. I decide to stop by the lovely coffee shop again and to have some more of those delicious cappuccinos. I park my BMW right in front of the place and walk inside to find a waiter. As soon as I’ve placed my order I walk outside and sit down at the same table where I had my coffee the previous day. When my cappuccino arrives I take a sip of it and the coffee tastes even better than the two I had yesterday.
I sit back in my chair and relax, staring across the street at the peaceful, large oak trees. When a shadow falls across my table I don’t think much of it at first, figuring that it’s probably just the waiter who has come around to see whether I’m ready for my next cappuccino.
“Fancy meeting a gorgeous girl like you with a fancy light blue BMW in a small little town like this,” a familiar voice speaks up from next to my table. At first I don’t register why I recognized the voice… but then it slowly dawns upon me. I look up and there he stands…
It’s Brad!
Without thinking I jump up and throw my arms around him.
“Oh Brad, I’ve missed you so much!” I say and before I know it the tears are running down my cheeks. Brad leans down and kisses all the wetness from my face.
“I don’t know what happened baby, but I’m so glad I found you,” he says and kisses me intimately for the longest time.
