Middle C - A Love Story in the Key of Doubt

Part One

Rod Jones Artist-Writer

Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA. 11 PM or so.

“Hey, get away from my car, what do you think you’re doing? Jerk!”

“I was putting a note on your car.”

“Why? I don’t respond to guys who put notes on my car. I think they’re dangerous. In fact, I don’t respond to guys that are not formally introduced to me. So save yourself some trouble, take that note off my car and get the hell away from me. Better yet, just get in your car and drive away. I know the bouncer in the club and I’m sure he would be more than happy to come out here and beat the crap out of you if he thinks you are a threat to me.”

“Wait a minute, back up, you’re interpreting this situation pretty much the way I would expect from a girl who just came out of that club, I might add a notorious club here on Sunset Strip. That’s probably the most pick-up joint in Hollywood.”

“You don’t know anything about me and I sure as hell don’t need to tell you anything about me. There was a reason I dropped into this club and it wasn’t to meet guys. Now, tell me why you’re putting a note on my car or I will go in and have a bouncer come out here. Also, who the hell do you think you are disapproving of me because I just happened to be coming out of that club? You definitely have me all wrong, totally wrong, and this is coming from a guy who is putting a note on my car.”

“Ah yes, the note on your car. I put a dent in it.”

“You what, you put a dent in my car, why? How? What were you doing so close to my car?”

“See those lights on, the ones at the top of this building. I was dropping off some very important papers that needed to be signed for one of my clients. There wasn’t a lot of room and I was under the gun to get those papers to them before they left the office. There wasn’t a lot of room, I admit, I’m not that great at parallel parking. But I managed to get my car behind yours and in front of the car behind me. When I came out to leave, I drove my car up onto the curb slightly. I think I was irritated by what went on when I had to get those papers signed, and their attitude toward me. I turned my wheel the wrong way, fell off the curb and banged into your car. It’s not in my nature just to forget it and take off, so I was putting a note under the wiper blade letting you know my name and my phone number and letting you know that I put a dent in your car. It’s not a very big dent, you probably would not have noticed it at least not for a while, but I was responsible so the note was to let you know that I was the one who put the dent in your car and I apologize for doing that.”

“Show me the dent, but don’t get close to me, cause I don’t trust you. Stay back and I will read your note.”

“Good, that’s a good idea. I’m surprised you came out of that joint alone. Weren’t you there trying to connect with some guy?”

“No! Not that it’s any of your business, but my brother is a bartender there. He hit me up for some money so he could pay his rent. Not that I can afford to give him any, because I lost my job this morning. I would never go into that place if it wasn’t to help out my brother, that’s not the kind of person I am. Again, not that it’s any of your damn business. I love the way you made a judgment. I’m not even dressed like a girl who would want to get picked up in that joint, obviously you can see that, can’t you?”

“ No, I guess I was just making a judgment. When you approached me, your demeanor was hostile and accusatory. I guess if guys saw you coming out of that club and they knew this was your car, they probably would put a note on it trying to make a connection, and probably thinking the same thing I thought, I guess. I sincerely apologize.”

“ Well I’m not dressed like a bimbo, because I’m not one. I’m not trampy and all the other words you guys have a tendency to use referring to the kind of girls that hang out in clubs like this. I was genuinely on a mission and I wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could. And I was definitely irritable because of the pressure my brother put on me to give him some money. I was especially irritated because he wasn’t too terribly concerned that I lost my job today and he didn’t seem to be too terribly concerned as to the additional pressure he was putting on me.The last thing I needed or was even remotely interested in was some jerk putting a note under my wiper blade with no doubt, some lewd and suggestive comments. Especially in this part of town and especially outside of this club. Everyone in Hollywood knows that this is the premier pick-up joint. Apparently you even had that thought when you saw me.”

“My name is Nicholas Carver, outside of my business world, my friends and family call me Nick.

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I have an idea and I hope you’re up to it, do you want to meet me at Denny’s? We can have a cup of coffee. I will tell you more about me and what line of business I’m in. I would like to know more about you, especially what line of work you’re in. I have a lot of connections and maybe I can give you a referral. What do you think?”

“ First off, I want you to clearly understand that I am definitely not looking for a boyfriend, I don’t have one now and I’m pretty sure I don’t need one right now in my life. So if you have that thought in your mind, forget it. That Hollywood Denny’s is also known as a pick-up joint. But it is probably the only place around here where we can sit and talk. So the answer is OK. I will meet you there. I guess I should formally introduce myself to you, my name is Elise, Elise Holloway. I really don’t want to go to that Denny’s. I don’t think it’s safe at night. I don’t know where you live. I assume at some point you want to go home and I do too. What if we drove to Pasadena and we had coffee at Conrad’s? I would be way more comfortable there.”

“Elise, that’s a pretty name. Thank you for sharing your name with me. I’m all for going to Conrad’s. That would be more convenient for me and I’m guessing it’ll be more convenient for you and I have no problem getting the hell out of Hollywood. If it wasn’t for having to deliver those papers, I rarely come through this area, if ever. Let me back my car up as much as I can so you can get out easily. And I will meet you there at Conrad’s.”

“OK, great Nicholas, or should I call you Nick? I will meet you there. I’m going to stay in my car until I see you pull in, then we can walk to the door together.”

“Whatever is comfortable for you, Elise. I would like you to call me Nick, but I understand, it’s fun to say Nicholas, so whatever works for you. Depending on traffic, I’m guessing we should both get to Conrad’s in about 30 to 45 minutes, so I will see you there. Drive carefully.”

Elise pulled into Conrad’s parking lot in Pasadena filled with trepidation. “This is just great! What am I doing? I really don’t know what motivated me to agree to this. He seems like an OK guy, but any smart woman knows that could be just a disguise. I should’ve thought about this more. Who delivers papers to the top floor of a building late at night, with no little explanation? Seems kind of covert to me. Well, even though I think I’m making a huge mistake, it’s pretty safe for me to go into the restaurant and have coffee. I just have to make sure when we leave he doesn’t follow me. I pretty much know my way around here, so I can duck out if I have to. I don’t like how I feel, I’m not comfortable with how we met. I keep thinking of all the disastrous scenarios that could ensue. This curiosity of mine could get me in serious trouble. I could just drive off now, although he does have my license plate number and I suppose if he has the right connections they can track me down.”

“I wish I smoked. This would be a perfect time to light up a cigarette. Where is he? I wonder if he decided not to show up. I’ll give it five more minutes and if I don’t see him pull in I’m out of here.”

Nicholas pulled into the parking lot at Conrad’s. He partially jumped the curb, which Elise could easily see and hear. And thinking to herself: “First he hit my car and now he can’t even pull it into a parking lot without hitting the curb. I don’t know about this guy.”

Nicholas pulled into the space next to Elise’s car. He opened the door and walked over to her driver’s side. She opened her door. “What took you so long, Nicholas? I was beginning to think you weren’t gonna show up, I was ready to drive off.”

“I’m glad you didn’t, Elise. All of a sudden traffic came to almost a standstill. Don’t know why; there wasn’t any accident on the freeway. I would’ve called you, but I don’t have your number. Anyway, I’m here now. Let’s go in.”

Nicholas and Elise walked into the restaurant together. He held the door open for her and almost immediately a waitress came up to them with a couple menus in her hand, and spoke out with a greeting, “How are you two doing this evening? Where would you like to sit, up here across from the counter by the window, or would you like something more private toward the back? There’s a cozy booth back there where you two can talk.”

Elise never gave Nicholas a chance to respond; she aggressively told the waitress, “We will sit up here, thank you. We don’t need that kind of privacy. Trust me.”

Nicholas looked over at the waitress, rolled his eyes, embarrassingly. Then he took control, as best he could of the situation to overcome Elise’s rudeness. With a warm smile, he told the waitress, “Yes, this table is the one, I want to sit here with my acquaintance,” making sure he did not reference or acknowledge a friendship in the traditional sense with Elise.

“Very well, can I start you two with something to drink, just so you know you can order a cocktail if you wish.” The waitress, who had many years of experience in her line of work, quickly determined that the guy was being a perfect gentleman, and the lady was being a real pain in the ass. This duo and contradictory personalities made her wonder to herself, “What’s a nice guy like this doing with this rude woman? It’s late at night when they walked in. I thought they were out on a date.”

Elise spoke first to the waitress, “I will have a cup of decaf coffee with cream and two sugars. Plus, I would like a fried egg sandwich with mayonnaise, sparingly, and black pepper, also sparingly, on white toast.” She looked at the waitress and blurted out, “Got that?”

The waitress, with her many years of experience, profiled Elise immediately. She thought to herself, “I will just placate her, like I do all my customers and keep my judgments to myself.”

The waitress, with a warm and genuine smile, looked at Elise and said, “Yes dear, I got it, and I’m sure our chef will prepare the most perfect fried egg sandwich with just the right amount of mayonnaise and just the right amount of black pepper. I myself will prepare your coffee to meet all of your expectations.”

Nicholas, witnessing this exchange between Elise and the waitress, was doing everything he could to keep from laughing. He thought to himself, “Lady, you just earned yourself one hell of a tip.”

The waitress looked over at Nicholas with a pleasant smile and asked, “What will you have, sir?”

“I will have the same as my lady companion, except hold the eggs, toast and all of its trimmings. I will just have a simple cup of caffeinated coffee, no cream, no sugar.”

Nicholas’s wisecrack comment, intentionally meant to tease Elise, hit its mark.

“Thank you, Nicholas, for embarrassing me in front of our waitress. I hope you derived a great deal of pleasure, I didn’t. So tell me, Nicholas, are you one of those condescending mean bastards? You know, like you are, like you acted just now?”

“I apologize, Elise, no harm was intended. From my point of view, I thought you were being a bit rude to the waitress. I just wanted to bring a little levity into the waitress’s late evening shift.”

“I know I was, and I owe her an apology. I think I’m just extremely uncomfortable with you. I never allow myself to get picked up like this and I don’t know why I did.”

“Elise, I’m not a bad person and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. I know the situation and how we met was certainly not the best. But I truly wanted to get to know you, and I wanted you to get to know about me. I never thought of this as being any kind of pick-up. It was a set of strange circumstances that brought us together and now we’re sitting across from each other in a Pasadena restaurant. Go figure. Let me tell you about me, who I am and what I do. Perhaps you can share the same about yourself with me.”

This is the end of part one, in part two Elise and Nicholas, well, I should say, mostly Elise will make everything difficult when it comes to Nicholas getting to know her. We will see where this relationship is headed and witness how one personality can be both charming and antagonistic. ~ Rod

Will they reach that Middle C?

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