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“Thanks,” I say, realizing the silence has lasted a couple of ice ages. “I’m no Bill Watterson.”
“Who is? The Spaceman Spiff stories were incredible.”
“Right? I know. The things he could do with just a few colors. I tell you, that made me want to be a cartoonist. Well, that and the transmogrifier. I never laughed so much as I did when those came out.”
He smiles back at me, but there’s no warmth to it. He wants to rip off my head or pants. I can’t tell which. I’m not sure I want to know.
He nods toward the drawing on the napkin. May I keep it?” he asks.
Sure,” I tell him, not liking the way my body is heating up when I look at those muscles of his bulging in the arms of his suit. “Buy me a drink and I’ll draw another just for you.”
“You look like you’ve had enough to drink,” he says, folding the napkin before slipping it inside his jacket. “How about I pay for a cab home instead?” There’s a warmth to his voice when he says that. Like honey mixed with the protective growl of a papa bear guarding his family.
I laugh coldly, and he frowns. “Something amuses you?” he asks.
“As of twenty minutes ago, I have no home,” I say. “Not sure where the cab would drop me off. The gutter, maybe.”
He takes out a card from his wallet, placing it in my hand. The moment his fingers touch mine, I stare straight into his eyes. Something just passed between us, something more than the card. Sparks are flying in the air and I know he can feel it the same as me. Is this what love at first sight feels like? Like you’re going insane?
I refuse to acknowledge the way his fingers make me feel. Men are assholes. All men. If he’s being nice to me, it’s only to get something out of me. Or put something in me.
“I’m not interested,” I tell him, dropping the card onto the bar. “I’m also not the catch you seem to think I am. I’m unemployed, homeless, and penniless. Maybe save your seduction techniques for someone else.”
He picks up the card. “I’m not trying to seduce you,” he says. He opens the front of my jacket, sliding the card down into the inside pocket. His hand brushes my chest as he does it and my nipples stiffen instantly. “I’m offering to help you.”
My breath sharpens. How is he having such a powerful effect on me? “I don’t need your help.” I reach for the card to give it back to him.
“Keep it,” he says, his voice rumbling even deeper, sounding like a threat. “You need a job. Call me.”
“Where do you work, exactly?”
The bartender has appeared in front of him. “What can I get you, Marco?” he asks, breaking the spell. “On the house, of course.”
“Bourbon, Jimmy, and a cab for…” Marco turns to me. “Your name?”
“Anna White. Why?”
He turns back to Jimmy, handing him a fifty-dollar bill. “Cab for Anna White. Make him take her to Carlo’s.”
“Excuse me,” I say, tapping him on the shoulder. “Who the fuck is Carlo? You think I’m a hooker you can hand over to your friends?”
“Carlo’s is a hotel that I own,” he says, amused by my anger. “You can stay there for a few nights while you sort yourself out.”
I shake my head. “And let me guess. You just happen to have a key to my room so you can waltz in at midnight? No, thanks. I’ll be fine on my own.”
He turns back to Jimmy. “Get it done.”
“Yes, Marco. Of course.” He scurries off toward the phone hanging on the wall.
Marco turns to look at me. “You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t ask for your help and I don’t need it.”
“I disagree.” He takes the drink that appears on the bar, raising it toward me. “To tomorrow, Anna White. May it be brighter than today for both of us. Take the cab. Stay in my hotel. You’re welcome.” He drains the glass and then walks off, leaving me looking at the back of him.
That is, without a doubt, the most arrogant son of a bitch I’ve ever met in my life. He thinks I’ll just take his cab to his hotel because he says so? Not happening. What I’m going to do is up to me, not him. And what I want to do is keep drinking.
Shame I’ve only got thirteen bucks left but maybe it’ll be enough to get me so wasted, I’ll pass out and come to back in my mom’s arms. Back before she died. All of this will have been one horrible dream. We’ll run away together and everything will be all right. I won’t have to go into care. She won’t go into the ground, forgotten by everyone but me.
