Chapter Two
Brandon
“How on earth are you going to get that painting into your house?” Josh asked as we left the art show.
“That’s a good question. I’m not sure. Maybe take the sliding glass doors off from the back deck?”
“What I would give to be so rich that I could buy paintings that don’t fit through doors. You know, it is really odd that you would spend that much money on that. Is that a lot of money to you? I mean, I don’t think you and I have the same view of what a lot equals.”
“Oh, come on, Josh, you know it’s a lot to me. Don’t you remember how I freaked out that first day you were teaching me how to trade stocks?” I laughed at the memory. “When I lost all my money on one trade because I was being stupid?”
Joshua was a day trading expert and made his money at home while he followed the latest stock trends. I had managed to convince him to teach me privately, since day trading wasn’t exactly a class you could take, and I was getting bored.
He was really good at what he did. We’d met a few years before at a friend’s party and I remember thinking that his job was the coolest. At the time, I was neck deep in my own company and working every waking moment. I traveled more than I was home and had just signed the paperwork for my divorce. Josh’s life seemed like paradise.
He talked about waking up whenever he wanted and spending the day watching the news and sometimes buying stocks. Other days, he just took notes and didn’t buy anything at all. If I had known about stocks and investing when I was younger, I was sure I would have picked that as a career. It sounded interesting and much more fun than the manufacturing business I had been running.
“Brandon, you just sold your business for, like, a billion dollars; losing five hundred dollars in a trade is nothing to you.”
“Five hundred dollars is a lot of money,” I protested. “Just because I can replace it easily doesn’t mean I don’t value it.”
“Maybe if you weren’t a billionaire, we could continue with this argument. For now, I think I’m going to claim that five hundred dollars isn’t a lot to you,” Josh laughed. “Where are we going now?” he asked as we loaded into an Uber.
“I’d like to follow that hot blonde we saw back there, but since that isn’t an option, let’s find a club and chill for a bit.”
“That girl looked like a real-life man eater,” Josh laughed. “Did you see how she looked at that guy when he grabbed her arm? I thought we might have to rescue him from her if he hadn’t let go when he did.”
“He seemed like a chump, for sure.”
The air was crisp for a summer night, much cooler than we were used to in Los Angeles, but probably not cold compared to what others in the country dealt with on a normal basis. Our driver zipped through the streets and pulled up in front of Avalon, a hip, new dance club.
“Let me do the talking as we go in here. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time,” I said as we made our way past the line to get inside.
“Hey, I thought a tip would help.”
“Tips are out. You have to know people to get into the clubs. Or at least, they have to know you. We don’t live in the two thousands anymore,” I stepped in front of Josh as we went straight up to the bouncer who guarded the front of the club.
“Yeah, yeah. I think you could flash a smile and get us into any of these clubs. They’ll let you in just because you’re good looking. And if you show your identification, we’ll get a VIP table, for sure.”
“That’s only because they want me to spend thousands of dollars. The clubs obviously don’t understand how frugal I am.”
“Frugal,” Josh laughed. “Like the million dollars you just spent for a painting? Yep, that’s my friend. Frugal Brandon.” He made a dramatic motion with his arms as he pointed me out to the ladies in the line. “Hey, ladies, this is my millionaire friend Frugal Brandon; come find him when you get inside.”
“Very funny – and technically, I’m a billionaire now.”
Josh continued to laugh as we made our way in and the owner placed us at a VIP table. Although I wasn’t interested in spending a ton of money, I couldn’t exactly turn down the best table in the house. At least a nice VIP spot was helpful in getting the ladies to come visit with us so we didn’t have to roam the dance floor looking for them.
Despite spending so much money on the painting, I really didn’t like spending money all that much. Only when something was really important to me did I fork out enormous amounts of money, otherwise I felt like I lived a pretty normal life. Okay, maybe not a “normal” life like other people would live, but I wasn’t out buying Ferraris or taking private jets each weekend. When I flew on a private jet, it was through my JetCard, and only for very special occasions.
“It was a really expensive painting. But I get if it was important to you and you wanted it, that’s cool. It’s your money, man.”
“Like I said in the gallery, it reminds me of my son.”
“I’m sorry; I was just joking. It’s got to be hard not having him around.”
“Well, let’s get this conversation out of our sadness hole and onto the hot ladies in the club,” I quickly said as I felt myself getting choked up.
My son Noah had passed away from cancer. It was the hardest thing I had ever gone through and had destroyed my marriage, too. Sometimes people talked about how horrible my life was since I had lost my only child and ended up divorced from my wife. I liked to think of my life as being pretty damn lucky, though.
Within a ten-year time frame, I had met and married the woman of my dreams and had the most amazing child ever. I was lucky enough to spend eight years with him in my life and I learned so much about myself as a person. Not only did I learn what true love really was, but I also learned how to prioritize the things that were really important in life. Many people went their entire life without truly being able to see the gifts they had in front of them; my tragedy had certainly given me a clearer vision for my future.
Rose, my ex-wife, and I actually still got along very well. We mutually came to the understanding that we couldn’t stay together and both needed to move forward. Our marriage didn’t end with someone cheating or a huge blow out of a fight. Although I had started talking to another woman, and Rose believed I might have been cheating on her. I hadn’t cheated and I would never have done something like that to her. We simple made the conscious decision that we both wanted a fresh start.
Rose recently found her fresh start with Carlos, an ex-military special ops guy. He was a decent enough guy from what I could tell, although there always seemed to be just a little something off about him when I was around.
“Those two right there?” Josh asked as he pointed at two very scantily-clad young ladies, bringing my mind back to the present.
“Sure, go get them and bring them up.”
“Okay, boss.”
“Don’t call me that. You know I’m not really your boss, right?”
“Technically, you pay me each month to teach you about stock trading. I think that qualifies you as my boss. Don’t worry, I’m telling the girls we are in business together; it sounds way cooler than being a lonely day trader.”
Josh made his way over to the girls and started to talk to them. I was able to see them for a while, but the club was so dark that I soon lost them in the crowd. Being left alone in the VIP section was too lame for me, though, so I made my way across the crowded dance floor looking for Josh when he didn’t return after fifteen minutes.
“That’s a kick ass dress,” I said to a young blonde as I passed her.
“Thanks. I’m Kendra,” she quickly replied and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “Dance?”
As much as I hated to dance, I certainly wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to see her sweet curves move in the tight white dress she had on. My eyes quickly surveyed the outfit and my body reacted with desire. The throbbing in my center had me wanting this girl in my bed for the evening.
Picking up women was how I coped. I had spent a couple of years in therapy talking all about it. But I didn’t see the problem with how I was coping. I was an adult, they were adults, and having fun seemed like a very good way of coping with all that I had been through.
“I’m Brandon. Nice to meet you,” I replied as I moved in close so we could dance.
The thing about meeting girls at dance clubs was that you really couldn’t talk to them, which was perfectly all right with me. Since becoming divorced a few years earlier, I had come to the conclusion that dating and me just weren’t a great mix. More specifically, picking up women from clubs and dating them wasn’t the best mix for me. I was sure there were better women out there, but I just wasn’t ready for that type of commitment, so club girls were what I liked.
When dating a club girl there really were only two possible options.
The first option was that you’d go home together and have a fun night and then one of you would never call the other one. You would both go on about your lives without incident and nothing bad would happen. This was my favorite option when picking up club girls.
The second possible option was that you thought the girl was really nice and started dating her on a regular basis. Sooner or later, she would be unable to cover up her insane personality, though, and you’d end up with death threats or crazy ex-boyfriends pounding on your door. I was not a fan of option number two.
Recently, I had signed up for a dating company that promised to match me up with the woman of my dreams. It seemed unlikely that such a woman existed, but there was a small part of me that hoped I would find such a woman someday. Didn’t everyone want to find their perfect life partner? I was content to continue playing the field until I found that forever match, though.
Kendra grabbed my belt loops and pulled me toward her. My body throbbed as she held her thigh up against me and wiggled it around. The warmth of her body as it pressed against mine was growing rapidly. Her hands suddenly reached down and grabbed a hold of me as she pressed her lips near my ear.
“My place or yours?” she asked.
“Mine.”
Just like that, I had my company for the evening.
I grabbed her hand and whisked her through the sweaty group of dancers and out to the waiting taxi stand. In the lights outside of the club, I got a better look at Kendra. She was very typically attractive, with long, blonde hair, fake boobs, and a fake tan. She clearly subscribed to all the latest hair and makeup trends and enjoyed getting coated in cosmetics before heading out to the club.
“I need to text my friend to let him know I’m leaving,” I said as I pulled out my phone and we slipped into the back of the cab. “Do you need to let anyone know?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she said in a high-pitched chipper voice.
I sent off a quick text to Josh that he had free-range of the VIP table if he wanted it and could charge to my account there. My gut turned with a little regret for not hanging out longer with him. He worked from home and didn’t get out of the house very often. Our weekend sessions on learning the art of stock trading were often stretched into a whole afternoon of talking just because Josh didn’t get out to talk with people all that much. He was a really likable guy, but he was always trying to earn money and never took breaks to build his social network.
My life was all about balance since my son passed away. Partying hard was an awesome coping strategy, and without it, I wouldn’t have survived Noah’s death and my divorce from Rose.
When it came down to it, though, I was always a man of steadiness and worked hard to allow myself the time for partying. My parts manufacturing business had been my whole life and up until I sold it, I’d really never imagined I would do anything else. Now that I had all the money I could ever ask for and nothing to fill my time with, I spent more and more time partying, which had me way off my normal equilibrium.
“You’re really cute,” Kendra said seductively. “I’m glad we ran into each other.”
“Thanks. I only live a few miles from here. How was your night at Avalon so far?”
“It was such a drag. My boyfriend left me there after we fought.”
“You have a boyfriend?” I asked with an eye raised.
“Not anymore,” she replied as she leaned in to kiss me.
If I had been a man looking for a girlfriend, Kendra’s situation wouldn’t have been ideal. Fortunately, I wasn’t a man looking for a girlfriend, at least not on that evening. I needed a nice girl’s company for the night and Kendra fit the bill just fine. I didn’t need to talk to someone, and I certainly wasn’t looking for a long-term commitment.
I leaned in to kiss her – partly just because I really didn’t want to talk about her love life and partly because I needed a little primer before bringing her to bed. This girl was obviously eager to get back at her ex-boyfriend, and I was more than happy to oblige her with an evening of fun.
When we burst through the doors to my house, I had my shirt half unbuttoned and my body still throbbed with desire. Kendra’s hands made quick work of unbuttoning my pants as we kissed and we finished undressing each other on the way to the bedroom.
Her lips pressed roughly against me and her hand moved forcefully up and down my body when we reach the bed. She wanted me so badly that she probably would have taken me without any protection, but that wasn’t how I rolled. As much as I loved a good one-night stand, I always used protection.
“Just a second, babe,” I said as I reached into the side drawer.
“Your house is so big. You are so big. I can’t wait to have you,” she said as her hands started to play with her breasts.
It was obvious this girl was a wild one. I watched her as she grabbed herself and moved in front of me. She reminded me a bit of a woman who worked on a pole for a living, but I wasn’t about to ask her if that was what she did.
“Those are some beautiful breasts you have there.”
“Oh, I know. I just got them a few months ago. Do you like?”
“Yep,” I said as my mouth wrapped around one of them and I pressed her back onto the bed.
There needed to be less talking and more action. I didn’t invite this girl to my house to have a long, thoughtful conversation. I invited her to screw her – and that was exactly what we were going to do.
I let my tongue tease her nipple for a little bit while I unwrapped my condom and slid it over me. There was no need for a long evening of teasing; this girl was obviously primed and ready to go.
Our bodies moved together in a furry of thrusts and moans as we both let out the sexual tensions built up inside of us. It was a relief to have a woman who seemed so readily accepting of the one-night stand option. Most of the women I brought home really seemed like they wanted to move things into a relationship era as they talked about their lifelong goals and dreams before we made love.
Not Kendra, though; she and I had barely spoken a few sentences to each other before she was ready to fall into bed with me. I wasn’t judging her; it was a fun night for me, just not something that was going to go past that evening.
By three o’clock in the morning, Kendra was dressed and we were out front waiting for the Uber I had ordered for her. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me before sliding into the black leather seat of the vehicle.
“Thanks for a fun night,” she said and blew me a kiss.
There was no need to respond. I simply waved her goodbye as the car pulled out of my driveway. A sigh of relief came over me, and I made my way back to my bedroom and into my extra-large shower. The rainforest showerhead was pounding my back with warm water in less than five minutes, and I was fast asleep shortly after that.
There wasn’t anything better than one-night stands. I had a fun evening of sex with no consequences and was still back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time. I didn’t have to buy the girl presents, meet her parents, or make compromises on where we should go for boring dates.
Of course, there was a downside to dating women with no intention of moving a relationship forward.
The emotional connection of a real dating relationship could be very mutually beneficial. I was eager to give it a try again with Dating the Rich. Even if I just found some stable women to go out on dates with, it would give me the opportunity to practice my real-life dating skills. I hadn’t really dated since I was in my early twenties. I didn’t call what I did with the women from clubs dating; it was more like primal need fulfillment.