PART II - Chapter 1

Dean

“If we invest everything into the new live streaming app, I think that would be our best bet,” Brandon, or Ren said as we started our weekly investment club meeting.

At twenty-four years old, Ren wasn’t the kind of guy I usually hung around with. His cockiness and insistence on knowing the technology field wasn’t useful to me at all, but this was our weekly investment club meeting and I could endure him for the short amount of time we had to be together.

“Of course you want all our money to go into technology, but for those of us who hate technology, this is the worst investment ever,” I added. “I have a really hard time taking any advice from a guy who can’t even get laid.”

“I get laid more than you old man. How can you hate technology? It’s all the girls posting on Instagram and Twitter that have you relevant in today’s world anyway. I mean, I wouldn’t even know who you were if it wasn’t for technology. Most of your movies came out when I was a baby,” Ren replied.

He was a little shit, and I hated that I actually liked the kid. It was the truth, though, and I loathed that even more than being jabbed about my age. At 48-years-old, I certainly wasn’t a young Hollywood star like I used to be. Luckily, there were still much older stars like George Clooney who were continuing to be profitable, so I was holding out hope that I could land a movie that would bring the excitement back into my life and keep me going in the industry.

After being on Broadway for over a year, I was ready to get back to the relatively dull life of shooting movies. Broadway required me constantly to be in one place and to work six days a week, every single week. Although I had become accustomed to the schedule, I wasn’t in love with it at all. I missed the days of shooting movies for six weeks and then taking six weeks off to travel with delicious women and lay on the beaches of Mexico.

Movie star life was so much different than Broadway star life. In my day to day life now, I felt like a normal guy. I went to work, did my job, and then headed home every night. There was a small window of time after a performance where I might find some fans outside the show, but as soon as I signed autographs and took some pictures, they were gone. In the morning light, I was just some dude who was walking around the city.

In front of my hotel there were paparazzi on some days, but not all of the days. It really just depended on the news stories that were swirling around. Most of the time, they simply snapped a few photos and then went back to their day to day lives. They didn’t follow me too often, only when I had a beautiful date on my arms.

My agent had insisted that doing Broadway would help me become well known again. It wasn’t working out that way, though. Although people in New York certainly recognized me more, the overall country didn’t seem to care all that much about what I was up to. I really needed some publicity if I was going to land any decent parts in movies.

Occasionally, there was a story about a movie I had done in the past which would get some excitement going. I’d get a few interview requests and sometimes even enough attention to keep me busy for a week, but it always died down. Without an upcoming release to talk about, there was a dead zone between me and the media. You could only talk about your Broadway show a certain number of times before everyone had heard it all before.

“I’ll have you know my agent just signed an endorsement deal for me with Instamatch,” I blurted out, only barely knowing what the phone app was. “I’m hip. I know what my fans like so don’t try your little games with me,” I laughed.

“Really?” Ren said as he couldn’t hold back his surprise. “You’re on Instamatch? Are you sure it isn’t GrandpaMatch?”

“Shut it little man, I’m one of the big new marketing names for Instamatch,” I said as I tried not to punch the kid in the face.

I did my best to disguise the uncertainty in my voice though, because I barely knew what Instamatch was. All I knew was my agent insisted it would make me more relevant with the younger generation. I was supposed to talk about it on social media or something, and I’d magically become hip again. Even the thought of it all made me laugh; I felt like I had moved into the ‘Dad role’ world and couldn’t see that ‘hip’ roles were in my near future. But I trusted my agent, so I was going to roll with whatever she thought was best.

“Isn’t that app geared toward the twenty-something crowd?” Wyatt chimed in and laughed under his breath.

“I have no idea. To be honest, I just love my agent and all the work she’s getting me. If she thinks this is a good idea, I’m all for it.”

Wyatt had met his new girlfriend Dakota online, but up until he met her, I wouldn’t have ever thought anyone could meet a decent girl online. Sure, I’d messed around with the online programs, but it was all fun and games. Wyatt and Dakota’s love increased the possibilities for me, and really the two of them were the only reason I hadn’t freaked out when my agent said she signed the marketing contract with Instamatch before running things past me.

For years, I had self-managed every detail of my career. I said yes or no to things my old agent signed me up to all based on my gut. But my Broadway show was ending soon, and I still didn’t have a big Hollywood movie deal, so I needed a new plan and Bella Haden, my young hip agent, was just the person to bring me into the next phase of my career. Her husband was a casting agent, and I knew her father from way back; I trusted Bella and knew she would only have my best interest at heart.

“So what will you be doing? Dating twenty-year-olds and doing commercials saying how great a hookup app it is?” Merrick added. Merrick was the owner of Stanley Associates and a well known billionaire in New York. He wasn’t the kind of guy who normally hung around low level investment groups, but his friend Wyatt had roped him into it.

“Maybe. Hell, I don’t even know what the app is about,” I said with a laugh. “I mean, I know it’s a dating app.”

“It’s for twenty-somethings because they use it to hook up. You do know it’s not actually a dating app like the one Wyatt used, right?” Luke chimed in, barely able to look up from his new cell phone.

“Wait? I don’t get it. The app is just for sex?” I asked. “Is that legal?”

I was truly confused. My agent had sold the job to me as if the app was actually a dating app that helped busy people connect and was great for people who traveled a lot. Nowhere had she told me the app was just for sex.

“I’ve heard the creators are trying to branch out and expand their market,” Ren remarked. “They probably want you to find someone on there and post on social media that you two met using their app. It would be good publicity. They are very social media savvy; I’d be surprised if that weren’t a big part of your contract.”

“Basically, I was just told to open the app and swipe right for the girls I like and left for the girls I don’t. If I wanted to take them out on a date, that’s up to me.”

“Hmm, I think it’s a good idea,” Merrick added. “You can never meet too many young twenty-something-year-old women.”

We all had to laugh at that. Merrick certainly was the king of dating the younger women. As the owner of Stanley and Associates, and one of the most sought after millionaires in New York, Merrick could have his pick of women, and he did. Merrick wasn’t really interested in finding a woman of substance, though; he was more interested in their bodies.

I really wasn’t much better when it came to women. I enjoyed them all. Old, young, rich, poor, smart, ditzy, and everything in between; women were very enjoyable company. Since moving to New York, I had fluctuated in my celebrity status based on the whims of the tabloids. Some weeks I’d go without a single mention, and I could meet a woman at the local bar and hold a full conversation with her before she realized who I was; other weeks, I could barely leave my house.

The idea behind me joining the dating app was intriguing to me. Would these women know who I was right away? Would they match up with me purely because of my celebrity status or would I actually find someone who didn’t know who I was, but still was interested? It didn’t really matter to me. It was a job, and I always worked my ass off for any job; this would be no exception. I was hired to be their spokesperson, whether that was on social media or some other new technology, that didn’t matter; I was still a hired employee and was going to make sure I earned my keep.

“So how much is Instamatch paying you?” Wyatt asked.

“I’m not sure. You know these endorsement contracts can get pretty hairy. There’s a base rate and then additional based on mentions in the press, social media, interviews, etcetera. It should flush out to be at least a million, though.”

“Sounds like a sweet job. You get to date hot chicks and get paid for it, like some sort of reverse call girl situation,” Wyatt laughed.

“Hey, I’m not turning down any dates, you know me.”

I actually knew a little more than I wanted to tell everyone. My contract was for one month with an option to extend if both the client and I were happy with the progress. I legally only had to post on social media three times within 30 days, but I could post more than that if I wanted to. My commission from my particular posts would come from the specific links that people clicked on from my page. It was all very complicated, and although I didn’t fully understand how to put the links, or tags, into my social media posts, I was sure Bella would show me how it was all done.

“Damn, that’s some serious money just for dating some hot chicks,” Ren commented. “How do I get an endorsement deal like that?”

“Oh, just one way. Be famous.” I laughed.

“Okay, all jokes aside. Have you started matching with these women yet? I’m on Instamatch, and it seems full of fake accounts and women who post pictures from ten years ago,” Luke said as he reached for my phone on the table. “What’s your password?”

“There’s no password; the app should be right there on the main page. Swipe away, I’m bored with it already. It takes forever to read through their profiles and look at all their pictures.”

“Seriously Dean, we need to talk about your cyber security.” Ren looked at me in disappointment and then started to swipe right on all the women who showed up on the screen. Then he started swiping right without reading anything or looking at the women’s profile at all; he was actually looking at me and the rest of the guys while he was swiping.

“A little discretion at least; I don’t want to have a million women on there.”

“The more the merrier.” Ren laughed as he continued to play on my phone. “Shit, someone sent you a message already. Damn, that was fast.”

I watched as Ren typed a message back to the woman and then a quick dinging noise when she responded to him. Ren was clearly enjoying the app more than I was. He was probably more appropriate for the age group of women I had seen on the app so far.

“Maybe you should just go out with her instead of me,” I said with a smile.

“Sure thing, this girl is smoking hot.”

We all gathered around the phone to see what the girl looked like as Ren pulled up her profile. The main pictures were of a very young, brunette girl wearing skin tight jean shorts and a top that looked to be three sizes too small. The faint outline of her hard nipples could be seen through the shirt.

This girl wasn’t even in the realm of the type of girls I would normally date. Sure, she was beautiful and young, but she looked more like a high school cheerleader than a woman. I wasn’t in my 20s anymore, or 30s; at 48 years old, there was only one thing a young woman like that was good for, and it wasn’t an interesting conversation. I was fine with having a young piece of ass every now and then, but it was always better if we could actually have a conversation too.

“Better just delete her; I’m supposed to be matching up with women that I can actually go on a date with,” I added. As much fun as I was sure this Ariel girl and I could have had back at my place, it wasn’t at all what the job was supposed to be about. And I was trying to build up a better reputation so I could get back into films. I was going to have to pass on the hot young brunette.

“Too late; I told her you’d meet her at Vik’s tonight at ten.”

“Yeah, way to go,” Wyatt added.

“It’s going to be a tiring night for you dude,” Luke chimed in.

“Shit, Ren! I can’t screw this girl. I’m supposed to be using the app for dating. I’m trying to get a good reputation and get back into films. I can’t exactly tag this girl in a photo; the press would go crazy.”

“A date doesn’t mean screwing her. You’ve got to have self-control.” Ren laughed. “Plus, it’s too late; she said she’s at work and had to go. You’ll just need to go out with her. Poor Dean, being forced out on a date with a beautiful twenty-two-year-old.”

“Yikes, twenty-two, that’s a bit young even for me,” Merrick said smiling.

“I bet your show is going to suck tomorrow. You’re going to be exhausted,” Luke said wryly.

“Guys, seriously, I can’t go out with this girl. Is there a way to cancel the match or something like that?”

“Nope, you’re going to just have to meet her at Vik’s and break her heart there. Or you could be a douchebag and stand her up.”

“Fine, but give me my damn phone back; you’re not in charge of my dating life any longer,” I said with a laugh.

It was hilarious that I had to go out with someone already from the app. I hardly knew what was going on, and I was being thrust into seeing some poor girl who wanted to actually meet a guy to love, or maybe not. Maybe she was only interested in hooking up. I felt off my game already, though. Online dating was much harder than meeting a girl in person.

***

I read through Ariel’s profile on my way to Vik’s. She was 22-years-old, said she loved traveling, movies, and was working on her communications degree from NYU. She seemed like a nice enough woman, and I resigned myself to just having a drink and talking for a little bit before I exited the situation. I certainly couldn’t afford to lose my new sponsorship gig, so I wasn’t going to do anything that might jeopardize that.

“Dean? Dean?” A young woman with a business suit and dark-rimmed glasses waved her hand in the air. She barely looked anything like the profile pictures she had on her account. The brown hair and perky breasts were all I recognized and that was enough to keep me interested, for the time being.

Instead of looking voluptuous and sexy, the woman in front of me was frumpy and a bit of a nerd, she certainly wasn’t dressed like she had been in her profile pictures. I did my best not to react to the stark differences between her profile and what she really looked like, but it was difficult.

“Ariel?”

“Yes, oh, my God, I can’t believe it is really you. You look exactly like your profile. And like you did in Forever Never Dies. Wow, that was such a good movie. I’m a big fan of yours. I wasn’t sure it was you. But now, I’m sure. Wow. This is so amazing. Can we take a selfie for my Instagram page? Oh, no I’m sorry, that’s probably not appropriate,” she said as she pressed her glasses back up her face.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said as I tried to steer her away from her fan girl behavior. “This is my first date from Instamatch. You seem pretty normal,” I said with a smile. “That’s a relief.”

The noise around the bar was a welcomed distraction as I looked around to see all the other couples interacting. It was nice to be on a semi-normal date, even if the girl didn’t look as sexy as she had in her photos. I wasn’t about to blow this new gig and if that meant having a conversation or two with a young woman, I could handle it.

“Oh, me too. I’m too shy normally, but the messages we shared were so sweet. I couldn’t believe I was really talking to you.”

I had not paid attention to what Ren had sent in the messages, but I doubted they were so profound that this girl would have come out to meet anyone else, except for me. She was a nice enough girl, though, so I didn’t see a need to run away from her. I’d just sit and have a drink, talk for a little bit, and then leave her to tell her celebrity encounter story to all of her friends. I had my fill of dating fans; it was fun when I was younger, but it was exhausting trying to answer all their questions and be the person they thought you were supposed to be.

“Should we get a drink?”

“Yes, Strawberry Daiquiri for me,” Ariel said to the bartender.

“Bourbon straight for me,” I added.

“I’m going to need to see your ID, young lady.”

I did my best not to smile as Ariel handed her license to the bartender, and he examined it. She did look very young, but then again that was what twenty-two-year-old women looked like. As I made eye contact with the bartender, I felt a wave of judgment flash across his eyes.

Yes, I was more than twice her age.

Yes, I looked like a dirty old man having a drink with this sweet girl.

Yes, I felt a little sleazy about the whole thing.

But it wasn’t the first time I had received a look like that, and it likely wouldn’t be the last time. Age wasn’t an issue to me. I liked women, all of them, and I didn’t mind fielding a few despicable looks while I enjoyed the company of a young woman. The funny thing was, when people knew who I was, there wasn’t a darting look at all. Only when bartenders thought I was some normal New Yorker did they bother to judge me; only normal men were judged for dating 22-year-olds, not celebrities.

“So how long have you been on Instamatch?”

“Oh, my God. I’ve been on there for months, and I totally couldn’t believe I matched with you. I don’t match up with people often. I think it’s the weird pictures.” She laughed nervously.

“Oh, I thought your picture looked good.”

“The first one does, but then the rest are more me and who I am. It’s cool that we matched.”

I cursed Ren for swiping so fast, and then I cursed myself for not paying attention to any of her other pictures besides the first one. But what was done was done, and I was going to try and talk to this girl and enjoy the next twenty minutes before I made my daring escape.

“Yeah, your photos were pretty damn sexy,” I said in an effort to see if she would address the fact that she didn’t look like her main photo.

“I know, I love that main picture. It totally turned out awesome didn’t it?”

Something like that, I wanted to say. Ariel was a nice enough girl, but I could quickly tell that this wasn’t going well. I’d have to cut my losses and take off soon. Even when dating a young woman, I had to be able to have a conversation. Not rocket science conversations or anything like that, but an easily flowing connection was always helpful.

“I can’t stay long. It’s been a rough week. I’m doing eight shows on Broadway each week, so you know…just really tired.”

“Oh, I totally understand. Let’s just chill for a minute and have a few drinks. You know I have to hear about what it was like to work with Mark Cutter. Was he a total ass?”

“Just between you and I,” I said as I leaned in toward her chair, “he was a nightmare. A total diva. I thought I was working with a teenage boy band celebrity or something. He actually requested that the crew pick out all of the green candies from his candy dish and only serve him those ones. It was pretty wild.”

“Wow, that had to be hard for a professional like yourself.”

Ariel was feeding my ego throughout the evening, and the more alcohol I consumed, the more I got into the conversation. She seemed like she didn’t get out much, though, as she knew practically every movie ever made and didn’t really talk about other people in her life. After about two hours and four drinks, I really needed to get going. I had stayed much longer than I had intended and was beyond tired of answering movie-related trivia questions.

“This was a great date; it was nice meeting you …” I started to say as I stood up.

“Should we go back to my place to fuck?” she asked boldly.

Her question threw me totally off guard. She was a pretty girl, but there hadn’t really been sexual chemistry between us. It seemed odd that she so boldly offered to bring me home. I suspected she didn’t get to bring all that many men home with her.

“That’s a nice offer, but I better get going for tonight.”

Suddenly, Ariel unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse and slipped my hand inside her shirt. My fingers felt the delicate lace fabric and moved under it to cup her perfectly formed 22-year-old tit. There were a lot of things in this world that I could resist, but perky 22-year-old tits were not one of them.

My mouth moved to kiss her lips, and before I knew it, we were in an Uber on the way to her apartment. I thought it was a great idea to go to her place. I had slept with fans in the past and even had them over to my place, but it always ended up being a disaster. Paparazzi would nab pictures, and I’d always end up having to deal with awkward situations. The best option for me was to go with Ariel to her place and enjoy the evening. Then go home and move on with my life like it had never happened.

“Shhhh,” she said as we walked into her dark apartment. “My roommates are real dicks.”

Her language, her whole demeanor, had really loosened up with the few drinks we had. I could barely see the apartment as we made our way down the hallway, it was cramped and weirdly dark. But I could see the real Ariel more and this girl was much more interesting. I liked the loosened up version much better than the one I met when I sat down to meet her.

“Does that mean we have to be quiet?”

“Yes,” she teased me as her hand slipped down the front of my pants and started to massage me.

I did my best to keep the noise to a minimum as I pulled her clothes off piece by piece and then my own. Her room was too dark to see where the bed was, so I followed her lead as we tumbled into the extremely soft sheets of her world.

“You’re beautiful,” I whispered.

It was a standard line, but it never hurt to pull it out when I was with a woman. I knew women. I had spent years learning the ins and outs of women, they liked to be complimented, appreciated, and adored; especially in bed.

Gently, I pushed her back onto the bed and spread her legs as my lips moved up the inside of her thighs. The delicate, smooth skin was instantly intoxicating, and my already hard body was raging with desire. If I had felt bad about going home with this girl before, I didn’t any longer. The sweet sensation of her body was enough to make me forget any trepidations I might have once had.

As my tongue made its way around her delicate spot, I adored the soft moaning that was coming from Ariel. She was adorable and certainly worth my time that night. I instantly regretted wanting to get away from her when I first met her. There was a lot more to this girl than appeared at first sight, and she was clearly in need of a good orgasm.

“Fuck me,” she moaned in a growling demanding voice.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

After I quickly grabbed a condom from my pants pocket, I lowered myself above Ariel and positioned myself near her sweet spot. My hips pressed forward slowly, and I reveled in the delicate air that she let out as her body adjusted to mine.

Slowly, we moved together, and then our speed picked up as each of us became more comfortable with each other. My lips found hers, and I gently kissed her as my thrusts got harder and harder.

“I want to be on top now,” she demanded.

I was more than happy to oblige her as I rolled over onto her smooth sheets and let her straddle me. The moonlight shone in from the window onto her face, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I was able to see the pleasure on her face as she rocked on top of me.

I let my fingers hold onto her hips tight and did my best to guide her delicious thrusts as deep as possible. More and more she delivered, and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from exploding. Then I remembered just how much energy a twenty-something had and hoped she wasn’t interested in a long night of screwing. I didn’t have that kind of energy anymore.

Luckily, Ariel wasn’t concerned with having a full night of lovemaking, and I felt her body start to tighten around me as I thrust into her. I watched her face for clues that would give me permission to release and finally got permission to fully explode into her. Finally, as her hips thrust one last time and her body collapsed on my chest, I let myself finish.

My arms wrapped delicately around her body as she lay on me. I should have left. At that moment, I should have kissed her and left. I would have looked like a total ass, but it was what I normally did. On that particular night, I was exhausted, tipsy, and I made the decision to sleep it off and just head home in the morning.

After setting an alarm on my phone for early the next morning, I let Ariel curl up next to me as we drifted off to sleep. If I could get out of the apartment before her roommates woke up, that would be best; I didn’t like awkward morning introductions.

There’s a particular portion of your sleep cycle where it’s physically impossible to wake up. During this cycle, your body is so deep into sleep that it interprets what is going on around you and pulls it into your dream. I’ve had my phone ring before and then felt like it was ringing in a dream. So as I started to wake up, but wasn’t fully awake yet, I heard Ariel talking in my dream.

“Stop, don’t do that,” I heard Ariel say. But my eyes were still closed, and I was slowly coming out of my sleep.

When I finally opened my eyes, it took me a moment to get my bearings on what was going on. There was a young blonde woman standing at the end of the bed, and it appeared as if she had just taken a photo of Ariel and me with her cell phone.

“Good morning to you too,” I said sarcastically.

“Oh, my friggin God. Markus get in here. Ariel just screwed Dean Morrison.”

“Get out! Get out right now!” Ariel yelled. She was in tears, and I gently rubbed her arm as we sat up in bed.

The blonde took another photo.

“Young lady. I’m going to ask you nicely to please stop taking photos of us.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said as a young man entered the room and stood next to her.

“What’s going on?” the guy said as he looked at me and Ariel in bed. “Oh, Ariel has a boyfriend. Wait, he’s old. What’s going on? I’m lost. Ariel, I didn’t know you dated old guys,” the man said as he looked at me.

Both the woman and the man seemed overly interested in what was going on in Ariel’s bedroom. It didn’t surprise me though, she hadn’t seemed like the kind of girl who was normally bringing men into her bed. Plus, the blonde clearly recognized me, even if the dense dude next to her had no idea what was going on.

“Oh, my God, both of you get out!” Ariel screamed.

The young man seemed to realize how rude they were being and pulled his blonde friend out of the room. It was awkward for sure, but not the first time I had my photo taken while in bed with a woman. Although, admittedly it had been a few years since I had to deal with the trouble. And I had never had my photo take in Hello Kitty sheets!

I cringed as I looked around Ariel’s room at the Hello Kitty decorations that filled the room. If I hadn’t felt old when I had arrived at her apartment, I certainly felt old at that point.

“I’m so sorry,” Ariel said as tears started to flow. “I don’t bring dates home. I don’t actually date much at all. But it was you and I have loved you forever,” she said softly as the shyness from out date returned.

“It’s alright. I'm used to people getting a little out of hand. Let’s get dressed, and I’ll get out of here,” I said as I started to look around the room.

I looked around the room and took in the reality that I had slept with a 22-year-old for sure. She still had posters of her favorite band on the walls, and her super soft bedding was actually from a popular television show. I felt a bit like a predator as I scrambled my clothes together and kissed Ariel quickly before I left.

“It was great meeting you,” she said as her tears dried up.

“You too.”

There wasn’t much time for niceties, and as I made my way down the stairs of her apartment complex, I tried to forget about that night altogether. I had to call my agent. I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to keep working with Instamatch, the crowd of people on that app weren’t really what I was looking for in a woman.

“Bella, is there an out for the Instamatch deal? I don’t think it’s right for me. I’ll come see you tomorrow at your office in New York. You are still in town, right? Well, we need to talk about all of this.” I left the message on her voicemail.