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I look down at the notes we've written in the last 45 minutes.
"I guess it is."
Echo
If at first you don’t succeed… That’s what they say anyway. I’m sitting in my car that I made my driver, Nathan, park on some random street. I just had to get away.
I told Nathan I’d tell him when I was ready for him to take me somewhere. I scroll through Fluffr, the popular gay hookup app, and search for my potential partner for the night. Maybe the reason it didn’t work with that girl is because she was too much the opposite of Callum. Maybe I need something more similar.
My thumb is getting tired of swiping when I come across the profile of a man that doesn’t completely repulse me. I hesitated on it the slightest bit, so that’s the same thing.
We chat for a bit and after asking Nathan, I give him the address to the bar I went to my last hookup attempt. Even if this is another failure I might get to see Charlie again. I’m not sure if he’s working tonight, but it would be nice.
We’ve texted a little here and there, but I don’t think either of us are the best texters. I’d think he was trying to ghost me if it wasn’t for the conversation we had the night we met.
“Thanks, Nathan.” I say, closing the car door.
I immediately feel off the second I step through the doors. Hooking up with anyone other than Callum always feels gross, but this feeling…
My nausea subsides slightly when I see Charlie behind the bar. He notices me, but he doesn’t greet me in any way, not like the megawatt grin that graces my face.
“Aw, you missed me.”
“What?”
“Well you’re back so soon, so you must have missed me, right? A little.”
“You know what? I did. I did miss you.”
“Of course, I’m fucking awesome.”
“And now I don’t anymore.”
“Who are you looking for?”
“Ho— What? How did you—?”
“It’s the gift. Grandma always said I have a touch of it.”
I can only imagine the way I’m looking at Charlie right now. I guess he couldn’t really be perfect.
“You spot them yet? The place isn’t that big. It might help if you remove your back from the bar.”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Yeah, you seem it.”
I turn around to accost him when someone says my name.
“Echo?” he asks, as if there’s any confusion over who I am. My face was all over my profile. My face is all over the place. While Fool’s Errand isn’t the biggest band we’re not unknown. Our music might be known more than our faces, but I’m not exactly hidden.
I turn to face the guy from Fluffr whose name I’ve already forgotten. Doesn’t matter. We’re just gonna fuck and move on. I don’t need to know more than that.
“You ready to go?” I ask.
We head over to the hotel room I paid for for this, him following my car in his. I send Scout the address like we usually do for hookups, sometimes I forget, but the urge to make sure it’s done is a heavy weight in my chest.
It’s crazy how quickly your mind can change when you start being rich. The thought of paying for a hotel room for a singular night, let alone the one I’ve picked, would give the me I was 5 years ago a stroke.
