Leo

“Come on Leo, why do you look so damn depressed? It is a beautiful day and the sun is shining bright outside. You need to get out of this funk.”

“Maybe it is bright for you Grey. I haven’t seen you do anything but smile since the wedding and birth of your kid. It is not normal. This job used to be fun and exciting. Now I am carting you around to get a stroller. This is going too far. I used to pick up hot chicks that were skimpily clad, but now I am running you around like an old man.”

“What, you are not happy for me? You were the one that told me that I should find ‘the one’. Well I did.”

“I wouldn’t go that far to say that I am not happy for you Grey. You know I am happy for you and Cameron, but when I took this job, you were one of the richest, most eligible bachelors in the city. Now you might as well be a soccer dad. Soon I am going to have to start carting around your kids. It just isn’t the same and I can be sad about it if I want to. I miss the hot chicks, it’s just that simple. Why can’t you be like every other guy and get some on the side?”

He chuckled from the back seat and I could tell from the smile on his face that he wasn’t bothered by what I said. Nothing bothered him anymore and I know that it was because of Cameron. I was happy for my boss. He was happier than I had ever seen him before, but it was also a constant reminder that I didn’t have the same thing going on in my life. I missed so many things about my old job and the old Grey, but I missed the excitement the most.

I missed picking up random, beautiful girls all of the time that he was dating and plaing the field. The things that I saw through the rearview mirror helped me to live vicariously through him when I was too busy to find the same for myself. Now I lived the same, mundane life that I had before when compared to the latter. While Cameron was beautiful and pretty to look at, she was also committed to him in a way that made it impossible to even fantasize about her anymore. It all made me realize that I had to get a life of my own; something that I had a feeling was going to be harder for a driver like me, then a rich lawyer like Grey. It had been so long since we had been out for a drink together and he had been my wingman.

“Don’t be so down Leo. I don’t like seeing you like this. You are depressing the shit out of me. You need to get out and mingle. Am I working you too hard or are you just being cranky?”

I nodded that he wasn’t working me too hard. I needed the hours now that I wasn’t getting calls at two o’ clock in the morning to pick up a girl from his house that he was done with. Now I barely worked forty hours a week. It helped me have time for the band, but the rest of the time I was just bored. Why was it so different now?

“No, it isn’t that. We should go out sometime if Cameron doesn’t have you on such a tight leash. You know, like we used to.”

He gave me a look that made it clear that he didn’t respect what I said about Cameron and her inviable hold on him, but there was really nothing I could do. I was bitter and the more I thought about it, the more I missed my old boss. I wanted things to go back to how they were.

“Cameron has told me before to go out. I think she wants some alone time as well. We spend a lot of time together now that we are married. Why don’t we do something after I get out of court this afternoon or this evening? Scott has been hinting that he wants to go out again and I have been putting him off as well.”

I tried to remember who Scott was, but nothing was really ringing a bell. The more I tried to remember who he was, the blanker my mind became. Hadn’t I driven him around a couple of times?

“Scott?”

“Yeah, you know that old friend of mine from high school. You have taken us to a couple of stripper clubs before me and Cameron got married. He is the one that talks too much and can’t hold down his liquor.

“Oh, him.”

Scott was not my kind of guy. He was rude as all get out and the fact that he was obsessed with titty bars was kind of strange to me. The last thing I wanted to do was have to pay for a girl to get naked. It just seemed wrong on so many levels and a waste of time. Desperation meant having to pay someone to want you. It was the last thing that I wanted to do and Grey just chuckled again because he knew where I was going with this. If I had to pay for a girl’s attention, it just wasn’t worth my time.

“Fine, but no Scott. He is kind of a douchebag and now that he is single, he is even more of a mess. I don’t remember him being that bad in college, but I guess that is what a bad marriage will do to a person. Just you and me then Leo. Maybe you can take me to the club that your band plays at. When is your next night you are playing? I haven’t heard you guys since you moved from the Radisson.”

I was almost surprised that he remembered. He was always so busy, but whether he was my boss or not, over the years we had become good friends and I was always thankful that he remembered those little things about me.

“We are playing tonight if you can get away for a little while. It isn’t the kind of place that you are used to, but the music is good and the draft beer is cheap.”

“Good, then you will pick me up before you go and I will check it out. I think you are right. It is time to get out some and get out of the house. Marriage does crazy things to your brain. It doesn’t help that I like to be around Cameron. Half the time I just want to stay home and hang out with my wife.”

We were at the courthouse and I stopped in the front to let him out. Grey had a big case going on and I could see reporters were waiting for him. I knew that there was nothing he liked more than a good article on him, so I waited for him to fix his hair. Grey was many things, but he was always worried about his appearance. I watched him get out and smile that fake smile he did that showed all of his teeth. It was the same smile that he gave to the pretty girls that used to grace the back seat back in the good old days.

I watched him for a few minutes before I left to go pick up the few things that he wanted me to get. I hated to see that it was more stuff for the baby. I was supposed to drop it off to Cameron later and since I had no other duties until recess at the courthouse, I decided to take a drive to the park. I had started running on my off time or just going there to relax. It helped clear my head and at this time of day there were always beautiful women to watch, bouncing around in their yoga pants. It wasn’t the best way to spend my time, but it sure did make me feel better and I was feeling like I was in a funk lately.

***

The items that I had to get weren’t hard to find since the sweet clerk that was on duty was feeling so helpful. I asked her to help me pick out a stroller, pretending that I was some poor schmuck that didn’t know what I was doing. It wasn’t a hard sell because when it came to baby things, I was about as lost as anyone else could be that was never around kids.

Sandra was the woman’s name and she smiled in a way that told me that wanted to go out. I could feel a connection and even though she wasn’t really my type, I was bored and I invited her to meet me out at the club later.

“Oh that’s nice, you play in a band? What instrument do you play?”

“I write most of the songs and I play the drums.”

“Nice. There is just something about musicians that is hard to ignore.”

Her eyes went to the car outside that I drove and I could see the wheels spinning in her head. I told her that I was just doing a couple of errands for a friend and she seemed to think that my job was far more luxurious than it was. I wasn’t going to stop her from thinking that. It was better than copping to the fact that I was just a driver for a lawyer. It wasn’t near as glamorous as my real life, but the drummer thing really seemed to help.

“I won’t be able to pick you up of course, but I would love to see your pretty face down there. You could be my muse for the evening.”

She was shy in the way that she looked down and there was something about her that reminded me of Cameron. I wanted a good girl that would be bad for me and I figured that Sandra might be the one. I had learned a lot from Grey while we worked together and his magic tricks were working. The little minx was going to be putty in my hands if I played my cards right. I found it good when I had a guaranteed date with me for the night. It took some of the anxiety and guesswork out of finding a suitable match for the evening to take home. Sandra seemed like a guaretee.

“Okay, what time do you play?”

I gave her the place and time and told her that I looked forward to seeing her. The uniform that she in was business attire, but I hoped that I would get to see some more of that hot little body when she came tonight. I had high hopes for this one, no matter what the circumstances were that brought us together.

Like Grey always said, there were women everywhere and you just had to make them feel like the only one in the world for a while and they would do whatever you wanted them to do. I was hoping that with a little coaxing and a few beers, I could see the naughty side of Sandra. I had a good feeling about her and the sultry look in her eyes when I told her I was a drummer. I got into music a long time ago because of the girls and there was something that rang true. A woman found it hard to resist a man that could serenade her.