Chapter 8
Gary stared at the screen. The numbers began to run together. They all looked the same. He wasn’t getting anywhere with things. He’d done a fair amount to organize and help a better baseline for the Salon. Deborah had done a good job with some of the basics but she didn’t push things along far enough. He’d also done some emailing and had hired a social media consultant and an online marketer. They would both help drive reviews to the salon increasing bookings. Everything these days was about yelp.
Gary had looked at the Yelp reviews of the salon. There weren’t many so he decided he would write one of his own. He knew that Kalyn wouldn’t have seen it yet. She didn’t say anything about it and she would. Gary wanted to show that he could be fun and had a sense of a humor and so he wrote the review;
“It was my first time in the salon and I appreciated the open space, the easy parking and the cucumber flavored water. No bland ass tap water here. Screw that EBMUD bullshit.
I sat down with the always charming Kalyn who gave me a great cut. How could I tell it was a good cut? Well I went to the mall after the cut. I was feeling good about my clipper over comb fade and my feeling was certified when this cute honey came up to me and swiped right! She literally looked at my face and put her index finger on my forehead and swiped right. Then she said, ‘Hey hot stuff I’d swipe right on your profile all day til my finger fell off!’ I fainted from excitement, which was a bit awkward but the girl was also a paramedic so she revived me.
This was a welcoming feeling since I’ve been getting my hair did at Super Cuts. After I got my hair I’d be out and about and girls would literally scream at me, “Nah, Nope and Never!” Then they would swipe left on my face.
I can’t wait to go back. Of course, not only for the fantastic haircuts and cucumber water but for the excellent service!”
Gary had chuckled to himself after sending the review through. It was a good first review. The salon needed more than one good Yelp review though, Gary knew that. Writing the review had made him feel good. He felt positive about things and was feeling better about things between Kalyn and him. He still wanted her but he also had her phone number. She was in reach. She’d texted him an hour or so later and told him that she was watching the video over and over. He’d taken his phone and spun in a circle like a lovesick teenager. He laughed. It was goofy but who cared. He was feeling things that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
He wasn’t sure if he should press things more and decided that he would leave things as they were for now and he went home.
The drive back across the water to his San Francisco apartment was short. When he and Joy had initially started off in the bay they’d had an apartment in the Tenderloin. It had been hard and every day they’d have to duck, bob and weave between crack heads and used needles. Most nights Gary had gone to Joy’s restaurant to pick her up. The two would walk back to their small one bedroom apartment together. Sometimes they would pick up cheap Chinese or something else to lubricate their tongues and they would talk for forever.
Their new place was up by the Embarcadero. Joy had picked it. It looked out over the water but was close to Broadway and Kearny. She’d talked about how much she loved to go to Citylights bookstore but the two hadn’t stepped into the store since moving into their new apartment.
Gary had bought it after Joy said she was bored. That had been the pattern of late. Joy would get an idea and then Gary would pay for it. She was a bit like a cat and would play with the new toy, the boat, the apartment, the car for a while and then would become bored. Boredom seemed her ruling passion.
When he pulled up and entered the large apartment he found her drinking champagne in the living room. She was by yourself and slightly drunk.
“Hey lover boy,” Joy said.
“Hey honey,” Gary replied. He noticed that she was swaying back and forth. He swept her up in his arms. She still held onto the bottle.
“I’m drunk,” she slurred.
“I can see.”
“Rough night,” he asked. He scooped her up into his arms and started to walk her to the bedroom. She normally would have wanted to do her nightly ritual. A facial mask, a shower with conditioner, a change of clothes, brushing her teeth for fifteen minutes and flossing, but she would be doing none of that.
“It was the worst of the worst,” she said.
“Why is that,” Gary said. She was light and Gary felt strong carrying her.
“I just couldn’t decide,” Joy said. She pulled on the bottle of wine and then let herself drape over Gary’s arms again.
“Couldn’t decide what?”
“Should I stay or should I go.”
“Are you quoting the Clash?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I’m drunk. Our days. What happened to them Gary? What happened to our days?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gary replied. He let her down softly on the bed. He took off her shirt and jeans and tucked her into bed.
“Gary,” Joy said.
“Yes?”
“Leave the champagne. I might need a drink in the night,” Joy said.
Gary laughed. “Okay no problem. I’ll also get you a glass of water.”
He went back into the kitchen and poured a glass of water out. He put it next to the bottle of champagne. It was a bottle of Blanc De Blancs and was considered the essence of Salon. It was the only champagne produced by the label and came from a blend of Chardonnay grapes in the Cote des Blancs region of France. Gary had had it before. It was a powerful and lively wine with flavors of honeyed orange and sugary citrus. The champagne was rich and restrained unlike Joy.
He didn’t know why Joy was so drunk. It seemed unusual for her to cut so loose. She was always watching her weight and her diet. She always had a goal weight she was trying to maintain or was trying to make her ass bigger, her stomach tighter. The maintenance of her body was about the only thing she cared about.
The kitchen was large and empty. Joy had had it designed to have a minimalist appeal. It made Gary feel small in the empty room. He opened the fridge and considered it. It was full of leafy greens, shakes, and organic fair trade food. Again, it was Joy that did the shopping. She ordered food online and had it delivered.
He pulled a beer out of the fridge and opened it. The bottle hissed open and he took a pull. The hoppy IPA had a bitter taste to it. The beer wasn’t enough he wanted something more, something stronger. He kept nice whiskey in the pantry and pulled out a bottle. The whiskey was from one of 110 bottles all of which were sold before the whiskey was on the market. The whiskey was rich and sweet and had the usual Speyside influence. It had been made in the Glenfarcias distillery in Scotland and the owner, George Grant, handpicked a barrel that was bottled for 50 years to owner the founder, John Grant.
Mixing the whiskey with a bottle of beer diluted the flavor but Gary didn’t care. He wasn’t concerned with his palette, he was concerned with getting drunk. There was a heavy flavor of sherry on his lips as he took a sip of the whiskey. He then took a sip of his IPA. The hops lit up his tongue. Every beer in California was overly hopped.
His head started to swim and he felt a little drunk. He picked up his phone and looked at it. He brought up Kalyn’s profile and looked at the video of the drunks. The dog, a Shiba Inu was Japanese. The word Shiba meaning brushwood and was a type of tree whose leaves turned red in the fall similar to the dog’s coat. The dog had a small diminutive stature and was sitting silently in the video while Morrissey sang out his song.
The video had repeated itself a dozen times when he got the buzz. It was Kalyn.
“You up,” the text read.
Gary’s fingers flashed across the screen.
“There is a light that never goes out.”
“So that means you are still up. I decided to head into San Francisco. I wanted to meet up with my friend. We got a drink and she went home. Are you around,” Kalyn had written.
“I am. Did you want to meet,” Gary wrote. He looked at his clock. It wasn’t that late, eleven at night. He could still meet up with Kalyn.
“Sure. If it’s convenient. Where do you live?”
“Why don’t we go to the Redwood room. It’s near Union Square.”
“Okay. I’ll take an Uber over. I should be there in 30 minutes,” Kalyn texted.
Gary didn’t know what had changed her mind. Maybe this would be a platonic meeting, maybe this would be something more again.
Gary made a call to the hotel, the Clift and booked a room. He wasn’t sure that he would be sharing it with Kalyn but he wanted to be ready just in case.
Before he left he looked into the bedroom. Joy was still passed out the champagne bottle sat half full on the night stand along with the glass of water. Both had been untouched. She snored lightly. Gary went into the bathroom and took his wedding ring off. The ring was simple and platinum. It had their anniversary printed along the inside. He twirled it in his hand before he put it into the drawer. He wanted this. He turned off the lights in the apartment and walked out of the door.
Gary got to the hotel before Kalyn and checked into the room. It was a private apartment on the top floor. The room had custom furniture made of wood and Venetian glass. The bed had 300 thread count bedding and a down duvet. Everything was state of the art and new. He plopped down on the bed waiting for Kalyn to message him or call. It seemed like forever but was only five minutes.
“I’m here, where are you,” she’d texted.
“Be right down.”
“Down,” she texted back.
He locked the apartment up and took the elevator to the lobby. The elevator doors opened and he caught sight of her from across the room. She was standing by herself in the lobby. His breath was taken away. She looked magical. She was wearing heels and a maxi dress. The pink dress was off her shoulders with the straps around her biceps. The criss cross lacing on the front hinted at her ample cleavage and the dress fell to her mid-thigh. It had a light look to it. Gary could feel his cock throb when he looked at her.
“You look great,” he said to her.
“Thanks. I’m maybe a little overdressed,” she replied.
“Not at all.”
“So, you live here,” Kalyn asked.
The two still stood in the lobby and so Gary pulled on Kalyn’s arm leading her to the bar.
“No. I just have a room here.”
“Oh. A room by yourself,” Kalyn said.
“Yeah. For tonight, at least. I wanted to get away from the house and everything.”
“It must be nice to be able to do things like that on a whim.”
“Having money has its perks,” Gary said.
Kalyn nodded. He could tell that she was nervous and was a little stiff. They sat at the bar which was composed from a single redwood tree. The bartender came over and the two ordered drinks. Gary got a manhattan and Kalyn ordered a margarita.
Kalyn played with her straw, stirring the ice cubes around. Gary wasn’t sure what to say to her.
“Thanks for coming over,” Gary said.
“Yeah. To be honest I was thinking about the other night more.”
“What were you thinking,” Gary asked.
She turned in her chair and uncrossed and crossed her legs. Her body was turned so it was facing him. The two were parallel to the bar. Gary spread out his legs and Kalyn put hers between his. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
“I think I’d like to do it again,” she whispered into his ear.
“I think I’d like that,” Gary replied.
“I want you inside of me,” Kalyn said. “I know you’re married but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I want you. I need you.”
Gary put his hand on her thigh. Her leg felt smooth and silky. He yearned to push up her dress and fuck her right there and then. He waved at the bartender and settled the bill quickly. The two took their drinks and headed to the elevator. The doors opened and shut. They were going to the room.