Chapter 20
Colt
I heard the front door slam shut because it always runs loud, and I usually liked that fact. I could hear people coming and going, but this time I didn't want to. I didn't want to hear the door close when Candy left, because I knew that it signified something bad.
Refusing to go to the window and watch her leave, I found a cigarette in one of the kitchen drawers and lit it. I didn't smoke much, only a couple of cigarettes every now and then, but now I felt like I needed a whole pack. I don't know how I was ever going to feel normal again and when there was no longer a sound of the wheels on the driveway, I knew that she was gone for good.
Ralph walked into the kitchen, saying something about getting some coffee. We usually didn't make coffee in this house much later then noon, but it looked like both of us needed it.
“Why don't we go ahead and put something a little stronger in here? I think that we could both use it.”
I had to agree.
“Okay, what should we put in there?”
“I don't know, anything that is going to get the job done.”
I just shook my head slowly and thought about Candy. She had said something very similar before and of course it would remind me of her when he said it again.
“How about I go get some whiskey?”
He agreed that whiskey would be fine, and I went up to the bedroom where I knew there was some. The bed was unmade, and everything was making me remember and think of Candy. I couldn’t stay there, and I told Ralph to change because we're both going to go out instead. I needed to get away from my house and all the memories that were made so quickly, vividly in the last couple of days. My weekend request was going to bite me in the ass it looked like and there was nothing that I could do about it.
“Why are we going out?”
“Because it’s a beautiful night and we don’t have any good whiskey.”
Ralph could have easily called me on that bluff. I most likely had four or five bottles scattered out and around the house. I knew that there was more to it than that, but I really wasn’t going to get into it, I really couldn’t. The last thing that I needed to do was bring up any of that.
***
The woman across the room was still looking at me and I started to pay a little attention to her. I wasn't going to say that it was a coincidence that she was a redhead and she looked a bit like Candy.
Ralph was not paying attention to the woman across the room, or to me for that matter. He was worried about something else altogether. I finally went over to talk to her, but even though this was normal for me, it felt strange now.
“Hello. I see that you are here alone. Would you like some company?”
The redhead was looking at my watch and my shoes, before she looked at my face. That was really all I needed to know about Ginger, supposedly her real name, because she just became just like every other woman I've met. She wasn't worried about the man I was or even the physical man that I could be, all that women like her were ever worried about was money.
This was not something that was new to me. The concept had always been rather clear, especially coming from the family that I did. I was meant to be a lawyer, just like a long line of lawyers before me. My father didn't teach me much outside of the business, but he did talk a lot about how to see a woman's intention for what it really was. Ginger was a gold digger and it wasn’t hard to see that. She was the type of woman that didn't even want to hide it because Ginger was pretty enough that she didn’t have to.
I was the type of man that wasn’t offering anything, except one night of pleasure. It was all that I ever offered, and it was all I was going to do again. Never again would I go down the same route that I had with Candy. I just didn't have it in me to do it again.
“So why don't we get out of here Colt and you can show me your place?
Ginger had a slight smile on her face, though she wasn't being very slick. I knew what it was that she wanted, because she was so obvious about it. There was no hint of mystery or innocence and the brown eyes that looked back at me. She knew exactly what was going to happen and I had a feeling that she was going to be very good at what she was offering up with the question.
“Yeah, sure, come on. I just have to let the guy I came with know. We can get a cab or something.”
“Oh, you don't have your own car?”
She looked at me with something akin to disgust and for some reason, a big part of me wanted to just walk away. There were plenty of women here, though none of them were red headed and I was in the mood for a redhead. I had been done with the one I had and in the right lighting, Ginger would be exactly what I needed. If I could just get her to close her mouth long enough to give it to me.
“Of course, I do. However, my driver is out on an errand for me and I want to leave the car for my friend. A taxi is just easier.”
I don't think that Ginger actually believe me, even though I was telling the truth. She look back at the watch, maybe the shoes and jacket, realizing that they were worth more than her car and she decided to take a chance. I knew before we got in the taxi that ginger was going to want the same thing that every other woman I took home wanted. They wanted more. They wanted exactly what Candy kept asking me about, what was next. I wanted to give Candy that, but she hadn’t wanted it.
It didn't take long to get to the house and she was making comments of how big it was. I had several cars in the driveway and some weren’t even back yet. She was most likely thinking that she was thankful that she’d taken the chance on me. I found it hilarious of course, but Ginger wouldn’t. She was thankful that I wasn’t going to waste her time.
Ginger smiled at me several times and she laughed at all of my jokes. Ginger didn't drink too much, not letting herself get sloppy and she took the first steps. They were half-hazard at best, but it wasn’t hard to see what it was she wanted and what her goal was. She wanted to attach herself to me, and the best way for a woman like her to do that was to use her body. It was a damn fine fuck-buddy, but there was no birthmark in between her breast and a brash of red color on her chest when she started to get turned on. Ginger was close, but not close enough.
I enjoyed the moment when I could silence my brain again, much as I had enjoyed many women for her. She was generous now, but I knew that she was going to be angry in the morning. I tried not to think about it, just like I’d always had before. At first, I had tried to imagine that I was with Candy, however, the disappointment was just too bitter, and I turned the lights off completely.
I went to sleep with the woman next to me and I could already tell that being with her had been a mistake. I was left defeated and I didn't know how long it was going to be until I didn't feel this way anymore.
***
The next morning, I didn't waste any time getting rid of Ginger. Ernest was back from his late-night airport trip and he was able to take her to her place. She was not happy about how everything was arranged and, like everyone else, she seemed to really think that she was going to be the one to make me settle down. It didn't seem to matter to her that I had already settled down. That hadn’t worked out very well.
The more I tried to forget about Candy throughout the day, it just reminded me that it was unlikely that I was going to be able to. If I hadn't forgotten about her in seven years, I didn't think that I was going to now. Especially after what happened between us. There was no way that I was going to be able to rid her from my mind.
The worst part of it all, was the fact that I had created more memories with her and now it seemed like she had ruined me for anyone else. Candy was all I could think about and even when I was in the presence of a beautiful woman like Ginger, it wasn't enough. I worried that no other woman was ever going to be enough and I was going to live this way forever. A week ago, that idea wouldn't have been so bad, but now it made me wonder. I had to wonder if this was it and I must say, that I wasn't that excited about my future anymore.