Free Fall Read online

  Trish came up behind her, rested her chin on Nina’s shoulder and whispered seductively into her ear, "Will ya look at that man!" She started humping against Nina.

  "Stop it! God, you’re such a ho." Trish’s antics had brought about a vivid picture of sex in her mind’s eye. Disconcerted by this, and the fact that the guy was looking straight at her, Nina began to feel hot and flustered. She turned and dashed into the kitchen to hide.

  Trish came in a few moments later. "What’s with you? Why are you running away! I’m going to find out who he is from Patrick."

  Trish sauntered off. Nina lit a cigarette and blew smoke up the vent above the grill. All of the sudden she thought of Eddie Palmer. For three months they had gone out together, gone on a weekend trip to the ocean, celebrated Fourth of July, and had great sex in the big four-poster bed at his apartment. He cooked for her, had a well-paid job, was near her age and attractive in the tall, gangly way she preferred. Everything was falling into place with him. For the first time in her life she thought that he could actually be the one. Then, without warning, he stopped all contact and wouldn’t answer his phone when she tried calling him. After two weeks with no word she finally got the message. He didn’t want to see her again. With no explanation.

  Nina was perplexed and hurt. For a while she had moped around and then she became angry with herself. Obviously she had read more into something that just wasn’t there between them. It was a humiliating experience and she promised herself it would never happen again.

  Trish came back into the kitchen. "There’s no smoking in here!" She took Nina’s cigarette, dipped it under the water of a nearby faucet and threw it into the trash. "His name is Joseph Walker. He’s an actor." She announced excitedly.

  "No way!" Disappointed, Nina covered her face with her hands.

  "Nina honey, don’t get all bent out of shape. I’ve heard that some actors are actually real human beings."

  Nina snorted. Actors! Living the high life, having four or five award shows a year, patting each other on the back, stroking egos and talking forever about how important it was to get up in front of a camera and play make-believe. It irked her that these people, America’s royalty, made millions of dollars each year. She enjoyed escaping into a good movie for a couple of hours, but refused to watch award shows, behind the scenes programs, and had zero interest in celebrity gossip.

  "So, what movies has he been in?"

  "Well, Patrick says he’s been in several movies, but I don’t think he’s a movie star. I’ve never heard of him and why would he come in here alone without bodyguards or an entourage? People would be all over him, and I certainly don’t recognize him from anything I’ve ever seen."

  She wrapped her arms around Nina and pulled her into a fragrant embrace. "Nina," she said gently, "You’re a wimp. You need to quit worrying about what might happen, or what might not happen. You can’t predict the future. There’s a little bit of happiness sitting out there, and he’s looking all over for you. Now, go get him!"

  Nina rested her cheek on Trish’s ample cleavage and sighed heavily. What the hell? She could scope him out and see what’s what. No harm in that. "Okay, mom."

  They walked back to the waitress station where Gail was waiting with orders.

  "VO rocks, pitch light." She yelled, peeved that there was no one minding the bar.

  "I’ll deliver the VO," Nina volunteered.

  Gail looked at her sideways. "Yes, ma’am," she said with a grin. "You want to be the waitress and I'll be the bartender? Or you just want to deliver this one drink to the table where Mr. Hottie is sitting?"

  "I’m pulling rank," Nina shot back good naturedly.

  "Nina’s gonna get her freak on! How long has it been? Ten years?" Gail teased. "Go Nina, go! Rah, rah!" She picked up an apron from the bar and started shaking it over her head like a pompom.

  "Could you yell a little louder, Gail?" Nina fixed the drink, and allowed Gail to tie the short black apron around her waist.

  "Oh, my God! Is he looking?" Gail was thoroughly enjoying Nina’s discomfiture. She handed her a wad of bills. "You’re going to need this if you have to make change."

  Nina folded the bills lengthwise and tucked them across the middle finger of her left hand. She put the drink in the center of a large tray and palmed it in the same hand. Carrying the tray high overhead she walked across the floor weaving her way through the crowd. She arrived at the table and set the tray down with a flourish.

  "Your drink, sir."

  "Hello there!" he said, obviously pleased to see her.

  She stuck out her hand. "I’m Nina."

  "Joseph." He stood up and they gripped hands across the table.

  Nina turned his hand this way and that, checking out his knobby looking wrist and bony forearm. "You’re skinny," she stated. "Eat much?"

  "All the time."

  "Some people have all the luck." Nina wished she could eat all the time and still keep her figure.

  Joseph smiled. His eyes traveled up and down her body appreciatively.

  "It’s very nice to meet you too! Will you sit down?"

  "Not now. I have to get back to the bar. Maybe later. Could I bring you something else? Some chicken wings? A platter of ribs?"

  "No thanks." Joseph laughed. "Are you singing tonight?" He placed his hand over his heart. "I really enjoyed listening to you last night."

  "Thank you," Nina said. "I certainly give it everything I’ve got. We have a song coming up next set. The drink is on the house." She picked up the empty tray and turned to leave.

  "Wait!" Joseph took hold of her hand again. "Would you go out with me? Have dinner?" He looked earnestly into her eyes.

  How sweet. A bona fide date. "Sure. Tomorrow is my day off," Nina replied.

  "How about tomorrow night, then?"

  "Okay, can you meet me out front at seven?"

  "Where would you like to eat?"

  "We can decide that tomorrow." She took back her hand and walked away.

  TWO

  THE next night Joseph waited impatiently in front of the club. He looked inside and, not finding Nina there, checked his watch and saw that she was ten minutes late. Was she coming or not? Trevor was parked in the alley behind the bar. Joseph had no choice but to use him, he had no car and he didn’t want to taxi her around to wherever she wanted to go.

  And then he saw her, walking down the sidewalk, in a black camel's hair coat and jeans. He caught her eye and she smiled in recognition, her whole face transforming into engaging dimples. Her dark hair fell in soft waves around her face and down around her shoulders. She gave a little toss of her head, and flipped it out of her eyes.

  Quite striking, Joseph thought, and wanted to fold her up in his arms right then and there.

  "Hi!" She laid her hand on his arm and spontaneously kissed him on the cheek.

  At the touch of her soft lips and the slight warmth of her breath on his cheek, Joseph felt a flash of electricity crawl up the back of his neck. "So, where do you want to go? I have a car waiting."

  "You mean…like a chauffeur?" She asked.

  "Well, it’s not a limo! But I do have a driver, yes."

  "Could we ditch the driver and just walk?" Nina hooked her arm through his and they went around the corner to tell Trevor to get lost. "Then I’d like to get something to eat, I’m starving!"

  Now that she was near him again, Nina felt a physical desire that was almost palpable. She sneaked looks at him under her lashes and thought—what a face! She wanted to devour him.

  "So you’re in charge, eh?" He smiled. "Sounds good to me."

  They walked past several eating establishments and finally chose a place called The Avenue. Nina led him straight to the right side of the restaurant and they seated themselves in a circular booth in the lounge. Joseph scooted around on the seat to sit close to her. There were couples already on the dance floor and TV screens mounted at strategic angles along the walls. As they watched one of the screens they saw dancers
float in and out of the picture on the dance floor. They looked over the menu, which had a variety of dishes ranging from chicken to pork to pasta and shrimp scampi. They ordered an appetizer platter and then Joseph focused his attention on her.

  "Does your family own the Live Wire?"

  What? He expects me to make conversation? Nina barely heard what he said as she watched him unfold a napkin; he had strong looking hands, with long, slender fingers. She wanted to reach out and clasp one of them in her own. She glanced up and saw that he was looking at her with a question in his eyes and guiltily she wondered if he could read her mind. He leaned forward and, with his face close to hers, said, "What are you thinking?"

  The next moment she was pressing her lips against his. He drew back, gave her a look of surprise, and then began to gently kiss her mouth, his lips traveling and exploring. He pushed his tongue through to meet the tip of hers and she felt a sharp ache of desire. He cupped her face in his hand and she melted against his shoulder as he kissed her more deeply, gently sucking on her lips and probing with his tongue.

  After several seconds Nina realized they were in a public place and regretfully broke away. How am I going to make it through dinner? She asked herself. They both grinned at each other foolishly.

  "I am irresistibly attracted to you, Nina."

  Nina laughed, "I think you’re very nice too."

  The appetizer arrived and as they ate Nina made small talk telling him about the bar, her brother, and her stepfather, George.

  "My real father died four years ago in a car accident."

  "Oh, I’m so sorry."

  "Don’t worry about it. I hadn’t seen him since I was nine years old. He ran off with a woman he met on his milk route." Nina smiled, "Could you get anymore cliché? The milkman? A few years later my mom married George, who I really consider my father in all ways. After my mother died of cancer, George supported us. He worked at Boeing until a few years ago. Anyway, my real father made a lot of money in real estate, if you can believe that, probably got out before the real estate bubble collapsed in 2008." Privately she believed her father had done some shifty deals but had somehow escaped with a good chunk of money left over.

  "He had about three million dollars in savings and investments when he died," she continued candidly. "He left some of it to his second wife, and the rest of it to Luke and me. So me and Luke and George pooled together and bought the bar."

  "What did you do before that? Did you make your living as a singer?"

  Nina gave a little laugh. "Well, Luke and I have been in several different bands, but I use to work as a technical writer," she paused, "and you? You don’t live around here do you?"

  "No." Joseph was reluctant to divulge he was an actor. Some instinct was telling him she would not be impressed by it.

  "I’m here on business." He answered vaguely.

  "What kind of business? Never mind, I already know you’re an actor."

  "Ah. The bouncer, right?" Joseph picked up the bread basket and buttered a slice.

  "He sat you at the VIP table so of course we had to find out who you were."

  "I have a part in a film on location here. I’m from Los Angeles."

  "So how long are you in town?" She accepted the slice of bread he offered and put it on the little plate in front of her. Joseph took out another piece and buttered one for himself.

  "A Few weeks, maybe a month."

  "Are you married?"

  "No," Joseph said truthfully. Here would be a good time to bring up the subject of Karen, but Joseph kept silent. He didn’t want to scare her off. Especially after that kiss.

  "Have you lived in LA all your life?" Nina asked.

  "No, I was born in Dearborn, Michigan where my father has tenure as a math professor at the University. I grew up there and attended one year at the college majoring in Dramatic Arts. I applied and was accepted at Julliard and spent four years working my way through the program. Then I moved to LA and have been working steadily as a character actor for the last fifteen years."

  "Wow! Julliard," Nina was impressed. "That’s no small feat!"

  The food arrived and they applied themselves to grilled pork and chicken skewers, mozzarella tomatoes, Greek olives and whole grain flat bread paired with a spinach and artichoke dip.

  "Is your family still living in Michigan?" Nina asked.

  "My parents are, but my sister was also an actor. She came out to LA and lived with me for a while. Now she is comfortably married and living in Malibu."

  They finished the food and decided to take a walk. Joseph paid the check and they left the restaurant. Nina slipped her hand into his as they walked down Second Avenue and turned right to go down the hill to the Pike Place Market. The evening was clear and reasonably warm by Seattle standards.

  The smell of fish, flowers and fresh produce became stronger as they neared the main entrance under the big red Public Market sign. In front of the famous Pike Place Fish they stopped and watched the workers behind the counter fill orders by tossing fish to one another. Then they walked the whole market from start to finish, lingering in a few of the novelty shops. Joseph bought a souvenir T-shirt with the word Seattle spelled out in raindrops.

  "It doesn’t rain constantly like people say, you know." Nina said, in defense of her city. "It rains a lot, yes, but in intermittent showers, not the steady downpour that people seem to think. And not every single day. We need the rain to keep everything green, and when the sun comes out its absolutely gorgeous. Have you seen the mountain?"

  "I haven’t. I came here a few years ago for the Film Festival, but I never did get a glimpse of Mount Rainier. It rained in a steady downpour the whole two days," Joseph pointed out.

  "Okay, that happens once in a while, but not all year," Nina conceded.

  "Maybe you could show me around. I really didn’t get a chance to see Seattle last time."

  "I’d love to. We could check out Seattle Center, go up the Space Needle," she said.

  "That sounds great. Do you want to do that tomorrow?"

  "Sure! Hey, the first original Starbucks is right over there. Do you want to get some coffee?"

  "Good idea." Joseph put his arm around her as they crossed the street. They got their coffees and sipped them as they walked back up the hill.

  "My place is two blocks from here. Do you want to finish our coffees there?" Nina asked.

  "Okay," Joseph agreed.

  With Nina in the lead they turned a corner and walked up to a three-story brick building. Once inside they climbed up marble steps and took an elevator up to the top floor. Nina unlocked one of the doors down on the left side and they entered her apartment.

  Inside, Nina led him down the hallway from the front door into her living room. Light flowed from the two floor-to-ceiling windows that covered the far wall. She dropped her purse on a stainless steel island in the kitchen and moved over to her soft blue couch.

  Joseph looked out of one of the windows. "I can see the Space Needle! Very nice."

  "Thank you. I was able to buy this with part of the money my father left me," she said modestly.

  "I like it."

  "Can I take your coat?" Nina faced him and casually slipped his jacket off his shoulders. Joseph took advantage of her closeness to put his arms around her and kiss her soft lips. Nina gave herself over to him, letting the kiss deepen, but when Joseph brushed his hand across her breast she broke away.

  "Do you want to find a movie on TV?" She knew the answer to that. A kiss was one thing, but the way things were heating up, there was only one direction they could go. She felt simultaneously disappointed and a little guilty that she might have led him on by inviting him upstairs. She put his jacket on a chair and moved away from him.

  "I’ve offended you," Joseph said quietly. He still stood a bit awkwardly by the window.

  Nina sighed. Why did she have to spell it out for him? Yes, you’ve offended me, she thought, by being so thoroughly predictable. She said, "I can get laid anytim
e. It’s no big deal. That’s the upshot of being female."

  "I got the feeling you were attracted to me. I must have got some mixed messages while we were in the restaurant." Joseph got his jacket off the chair. "I guess I should leave."

  "Now I’m offended." Nina said. "You can’t get me into bed so there’s no other reason to stick around?"

  Joseph stared at her. "It wasn’t my plan to get you into bed. I was just going with the moment. I told you that I found you irresistible. I’m sorry if I jumped the gun. I’m finding it hard to keep my hands to myself. I apologize."

  "It’s okay," Nina said, slightly mollified.

  "I’d like to get to know you better." He walked over to her and tilted her chin up to meet his eyes." Will you still show me the town? I’d really like you too."

  Joseph caressed the side of her neck then bent his head to kiss her. Once again they were lost in another warm embrace. This time it was Joseph who pulled away. "See?" he said. "This is why I should leave now."

  Nina smiled. "Okay, okay I get it."

  "I can probably get away about four tomorrow. Pick you up at four thirty?"

  "Alright," Nina said. "I’ll be here."

  The next day Joseph and Trevor picked her up in front of her building and they cruised to the Seattle Center where Trevor dropped them off in front of the Space Needle. The elevators clung to the sides of the tower like big yellow bugs going up and down. On the observation deck, Joseph asked a man to take a picture of himself and Nina with his cell phone. The skies were clear and Mount Rainier showed in the background, its snow-capped majesty appearing behind them like a humongous scoop of ice cream. They stood for several minutes and looked at the Seattle skyline and saw the Monorail make its progress from Seattle Center to Westlake Shopping Center. Then they walked around to the other side to catch the sun in its descent behind the Olympic Mountain Range.

  "I’m glad it's not raining today," Nina said, and pressed herself against him.

  Joseph put his arm around her. "It’s spectacular!" he said. He turned towards her. "Just beautiful," he continued, looking at her profile. He picked up her hand and kissed each fingertip one by one. Nina watched him and felt kind of goofy.