With each step, the urgency increased. Then she became aware that perspiration began flowing down her face. The vibrations slowly became thumps which got louder and louder. The sound of the hum intensified with each step.
Leslie kept stepping toward the beam. The perspiration was practically blinding her now, but she refused to slow down. She raised her arm, desperately reaching for that beam of light.
Out of that orange beam slowly came a hand that was reaching for hers. She became frightened, but the voices inside were commanding her to press forward. The hand grabbed hers and then suddenly it jerked ….
“Beep-Beep … Beep-Beep” rang the alarm on Leslie’s cell phone.
She quickly raised herself up from the bed, not knowing exactly where she was. Looking around, Leslie was relieved to see everything in her bedroom was completely normal.
Good grief, she said to herself. That was a crazy dream!
Leslie had experienced wild dreams before, but this one was different. It seemed to strike a much deeper chord inside her as compare to any other typical dream.
In addition, the memory of her dreams usually dissipated during the morning rituals of preparing herself for the day ahead. But the memory of this dream remained vivid in her mind – even after she showered and ate breakfast. This is what really left an impression on her.
What could it mean? She wondered.
The thoughts of that orange beam of light in the mist hovered at the back of Leslie’s mind as she went through her day.
She attended two classes and grabbed a latte before heading to her final class. That question kept lingering – what did that dream mean?
Why would she step toward that light beam, which obviously frightened her? And why hadn’t she stopped when she felt the fear?
About halfway through her Chemistry class – it hit her. Or at least her interpretation of the dream hit her. It seemed to her that the hand coming out of that beam of light was Bobby’s!
Something inside was forcing Leslie to face her fears. In spite of her fears, she had bravely moved toward Bobby and a potential relationship – which terrified her. The only problem with the dream was that it provided no outcome.
What happened after Bobby grabbed her hand and jerked?
When she finally grasped the meaning of the dream, she understood something else too. Once class was over, she pulled out her phone and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Holly, it’s me,” Leslie said. “I’ve decided to meet Bobby tonight.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I know it’s a little surprising. But can you help me get ready this evening? I’m kind of at a loss on what to wear.”
“You know I will. I’ll see you this evening.”
“Okay, goodbye.”
Leslie was satisfied with her decision – in fact, she was relieved – until the butterflies started flying formations in her stomach.
* * * * * * *
“Sit still a second!”
“Okay, sorry.” replied Leslie.
Holly was putting the final touches on Leslie’s make-up.
“Thanks so much for helping me, Holly.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie.”
“And casual slacks are okay at the French Connection?”
“Oh sure,” said Holly. “The name is fancier than the actual restaurant, but Bobby was right in what he told you. It’s a fantastic place – you’ll love it!”
“Sounds nice.”
“Looks like you’re all set.”
Leslie looked into the mirror. In spite of her intense modesty, she liked what she saw.
Her freshly pressed khaki slacks were complimented nicely by her favorite silk red blouse. She had topped this off with her stylish black blazer, along with her black sandals with heels.
“Bobby is a fool if he doesn’t think you’re beautiful,” smiled Holly.
Leslie smiled, blushed and looked down.
They walked together to the door.
“Now you know where it’s at, right?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“It’s only about a ten minute walk from here. Call me if you get hung up.”
“Okay, thanks so much, Holly.”
Leslie started down the sidewalk, not really sure of what to expect from the evening. She found herself spending a lot of energy trying to calm down. Having this much nervousness was something she hadn’t anticipated. Her legs were a little shaky and she could feel her heartbeat increase with each step.
She stopped at a bench along the sidewalk to gather herself for a moment. Thank goodness she was ahead of schedule and had plenty of time.
She sat down on the bench, trying to catch her breath. Looking up, there was a middle-aged couple hurrying down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. What sat them apart was that the man was intensely dressing down and berating his wife.
The man turned to his wife to emphasize yet another point when he slipped on a wet spot and landed flat on his backside. It was a picture perfect wipe-out. Leslie only wished she’d had her cell phone out recording the incident.
“I could’ve made thousands of dollars on one of those blooper TV shows,” she chuckled to herself.
The man lay on the ground not knowing what to make of his situation. The puzzled look on his face had completely disarmed his anger. Now he had other things to worry about than being mad at his wife.
This made Leslie giggle – which was a good thing. It relaxed her a little. As she walked along, more giggles would ensue every time she thought about the man on the ground.
The last portion of her stroll to the restaurant became a blur as her mind was a million miles away. Since dusk was approaching, the lights were beginning to flicker at the French Connection – which was just ahead.
Her hazel eyes adjusted as she came within focal range. She could see that Bobby was standing on the front porch. He and another guy were leaning forward on the porch rail laughing.
Apparently, the guy with Bobby was a member of the restaurant staff as he was wearing a white shirt with black tie, along with black dress pants.
Bobby looked especially nice. He was wearing a sharply pressed white dress shirt, a dark green sleeveless pull over sweater, and dress jeans.
Leslie loved how that thick black hair complimented his nice clothes. Nature blessed him with a stunning pair of black eye brows, and then threw in those sky blue eyes for good measure. The genetic lottery was nailed when Mother Nature created this guy. Good Lord!
Bobby looked up and smiled when he saw Leslie. He excused himself from the other guy and walked up to meet her.
“I’m delighted you decided to join me,” Bobby said warmly. “You’re really going to love this place.”
“My roommate agrees, she said it was the best place in town.”
“Who is your roommate? Is she a local girl?”
“Holly Roberts. I think she went to a different high school than you did.”
“I think I know her. She dates Carl Suggard, right?”
“Yes, that’s her.”
“I’ve known Carl for years; we played football against each other.”
They walked up the steps and were greeted by the guy Bobby was hanging with earlier.
“Johnny, this is Leslie Ford. She’s from Hollister and a pre-med student at MVS.”
Johnny slightly bowed in gentlemanly manner, “Pleased to meet you, Leslie.”
“Bobby, would you like to be seated now or would you like to sit at the bar for a spell.” Johnny asked.
Bobby paused and thought for a moment.
“We’re not busy, your table isn’t going anywhere,” added Johnny.
“What do you think? Wanna grab a cocktail?” asked Bobby.
“Sure, a glass of wine would be nice,” smiled Leslie.
Johnny led them to the bar. He gave Leslie a friendly wink and smile before walking away, “Let me know if this guy gets out of line.”
“
Okay,” Leslie chuckled.
And thus, the process of Leslie and Bobby becoming acquainted began. They talked and discussed all sorts of things and amazingly discovered that they had a lot of things in common.
Leslie was pretty shocked at how well things were going considering that she despised this guy a just few short days ago. The experience was nothing short of surreal and amazing.
She learned that he had several traits that was particularly endearing. One was how honest and open he seemed to be with his feelings and things that were on his mind. Candor was something she always valued in a person.
“Bobby, I’m curious as to why you were so intent of meeting me?” asked Leslie.
“I saw you at the diner one day and you really made an impression on me.”
“How so?”
“For one, you are a beautiful girl – which I’m sure you are already aware of.”
Leslie smiled and blushed a little.
“But I liked the way you went about taking care of your customers. You treated them with kindness and respect. And you project dignity from a profession that – let’s face it – isn’t always viewed that way.”
“Bobby, I’m sure there are lots of servers who do that.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to be that way –because you’re an honor student who’s going to be a doctor someday. That’s what makes you different.”
Hearing that made Leslie feel like a million bucks. Bobby’s comment completely described who she was and the things that were important to her.
“That’s a nice thing to say.”
“Something else I like about you is that you’re smart.”
Leslie smiled as she touched her wine glass.
Bobby reached out and touched the bottom of Leslie’s glass, taking care not to touch her hand.
“You know, I’m really enjoying your company tonight. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun with someone,” Bobby gently smiled and looked into her eyes.
“Not even with your cousin?” Leslie said mockingly, as she raised the wine glass to her lips.
Bobby rolled his eyes and chuckled a little. “Yeah, Musher can be a piece of work,” he admitted.
He then added, “I think he means well most of the time, but he does go overboard a bit.”
“That’s an understatement. He was pretty rough on me in the hallway that day.”
“I know and I’m really sorry about that. We just got carried away. I would do just about anything to make it up to you somehow.”
“I bet you would,” Leslie said with a slightly evil grin.
“That’s not what I meant!” he said sheepishly.
They both laughed.
Then the intrusion came out of nowhere.
“How long are you going to make us wait, Bobby?” said the blonde girl.
Blondie proudly displayed a shapely figure, complete with heavy make-up, and a tight fitting short skirt.
“What?” Bobby asked with an irritated, but surprised look on his face.
“Oh c’mon sweetie, me and Jade have been waiting on you over an hour at the Moonlight Inn. We got that room you love with the gold Jacuzzi. You’re not going to stiff us with the bill, are you?” she said stroking through his hair.
Bobby stood up quickly pushing her hand away. “Who the hell are you?!?” he demanded.
“Is this your new flavor of the month?” Blondie said as she stared at Leslie, sizing her up.
Leslie was completely dumbfounded; she opened her mouth and couldn’t say anything.
“What the shit is going on?” Bobby shouted. “I don’t even know you!”
“Bobby, we set all this up last weekend. Me, you and Jade did. Is it our fault that you forgot?”
“You’re crazy.” Bobby desperately looked at Leslie. “I’ve never even seen this woman before!”
“This is the second time you’ve set up a last minute date with someone else and left us hanging.”
Bobby’s jaw had dropped open and face was losing color.
Oh no, thought Leslie. Unfortunately, what Blondie said was totally correct. Bobby had set up their date at the last minute. How could I have been so blind? She asked herself.
Leslie quickly stood up and looked at Bobby. “I believe this night has come to an end,” she sternly said.
Bobby chased after her, leaving Blondie standing by the table.
“Leslie, please!” Bobby pleaded. “This is a big mistake; I don’t even know this woman.”
“No, the mistake was me agreeing to see you tonight.”
“Please, you’ve got to believe me.”
“Just leave me alone!” she said, disappearing into the night.
During the chaos, Blondie had already walked outside and was crossing the street. Moving down the sidewalk, she dialed the number.
“Hello?”
“Okay, it’s done,” She reported. “You owe me five hundred bucks.”
“No problem, my dear.” Musher smiled. “No problem at all.”
Chapter 6
Leslie had never been one of those girls who sob incessantly, but this was one of those rare moments when she felt like doing just that.
There were just too many feelings going through her. She just couldn’t process all of them, much less get her mind around any of them singularly.
During quiet times, Leslie had always looked at things with reason and logic – as do many people. She had always said to herself things like “This is what I’ll do when I get through this again” or “Here’s how I’ll handle that next time”.
Now that she was knee deep in one of those emotional moments that she’d “prepared for”, she was drawing a complete blank. And quite frankly, her emotional energy tank had been drained anyway.
Certainly, she felt betrayed and deceived by what Bobby had done, but the thing that bothered her most was that familiar little voice inside her head. It reminded her how love would never be there for her, and this incident only confirmed that fact.
To be clear, it was the pain from years and years of doubt and heartbreak that Leslie was trying to overcome. As the events of the night unfolded, Leslie could feel the combined weight of every let downs from her past. Coping with the disappointment of tonight was easy compared to all that.
* * * * * * *
When Leslie got home and saw Holly, she disappointed herself even further by sobbing uncontrollably.
Holly hugged her and waited for the calm after the storm before asking any questions. She let Leslie describe what had happened. It seemed that Leslie was feeling better about the events as she discussed them.
“So you think the lady in the restaurant was a prostitute?” asked Holly.
“Well yeah,” said Leslie, confirming the obvious.
“I’ve lived in this town all my life and have never met a hooker here before. This is a small town and everyone knows everyone – or at least knows of everyone.”
“If you saw her, you would agree with me.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’re here, I’ve just not seen one before.”
“She made it sound like Bobby was a regular customer or something.”
“You know that I’m not the biggest Bobby Black fan in the world, but honestly I’ve never seen him with any girls that look like hookers. A guy like that doesn’t need to see prostitutes.”
“Looks like you may be wrong about that.”
“Maybe,” Holly mused, “Something else that’s a little weird about what that girl said.”
“What’s that?”
“She mentioned having a room in the Moonlight Inn with a Jacuzzi, right?
“Yeah.”
“The Moonlight is one of the seediest motels in the world. I doubt if the staff there has even heard of a Jacuzzi – much less offer one in any of their rooms.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Leslie concluded. “I’m all done with Bobby Black.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
&n
bsp; * * * * * * *
“You Son of a Bitch!” shouted Bobby, as he pushed Musher against the wall.
“Bobby, what are you upset about?” ask Musher. “What did I do?”
“As if you didn’t know.”
“I DON’T know, please enlighten me.”
“You sent that damn whore to Frenchie’s last night to screw up my date with Leslie!”
“What?”
“You heard me!”
“Dude, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t even know you were out with Leslie.”
“Bullshit!”
“I didn’t.”
“Damn it, Mush. I know you were behind this and if I find out you for sure … God help you!”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“Screw you. Ask your whore what happened.”
Good God – he is really pissed, thought Musher.
Of course, Musher had seen Bobby upset before, but he had to admit that Bobby was about fired up as he could ever remember.
Musher wisely chose not to follow after Bobby as he stomped out the door. After a few days, surely everything would be back to normal again.
More importantly, Musher hoped that Leslie was now a bad dream that just went away.
* * * * * * *
After the ugly incident occurred at the French Connection, Leslie decided to retreat back into her safe place – mentally speaking. For Leslie, that meant focusing all her energies on the stuff that really mattered to her.
One at a time, she began assessing the important things in her life. But she took that even a step further.
Leslie not only wanted to identify what was important to her, but she needed to understand what exactly about those things made them important. Leslie learned the secret of doing this a long time ago.
It all had to do with gratitude. A person only had to find out what made them grateful about something to understand its priority level in their life. It was as simple as that.
Leslie began feeling grateful for the level of intelligence she had, and how it allowed her to earn a college scholarship. The notion that she was going to be a doctor one day still excited her – it was literally a dream come true.
She was thankful at how well classes were going and that she was making good grades.
And it was great that she was able to find a job right after moving into town. That wasn’t always the case for people needing jobs – particularly in this economy. Thanks to the Diner, she was able to live there and support herself. And her boss was understanding and flexible enough to work around her classes.