Page 9 of Finding Alfred
But he scoffed. “Worse thing about your move is you’ll never find someone to be with. Hard enough here in the big city.” As if Sacramento was all that big, but George raised his hands over his head as if he thought it was. “I never found anyone here. Nevermarried. And I’ve never seen you with anyone. Both of us…” he gestured between us. “Work, work, work.”
“Yeah. I work a lot.”
George clapped my shoulder. “Ahh…listen to me. I’m just a lonely old man. Full of myself. You’re going to be fine. Good luck to ya.”
“Thanks, George.”
He waved and left me standing there looking at the other houses on the block, wondering if this was a big mistake.
I brushed it off with a good shake and headed back inside. Tomorrow morning, I would need to clean. It wasn’t in bad shape or anything, but I’d give it a once-over, mostly floors and windows. But for now, I wanted to jump in the pool.
My new place didn’t have one, so I want to take this last swim. Who knew how long it would be before I got another one in? Of course, putting in a pool later was always an option, if I decided to buy the house. I loved the water, so I probably would.
After quickly changing into my trunks, I eased down into the cool water. I’d never been one to jump in. I preferred slow and easy to adjust to the temperature of the water. But once in, I went all the way under. It was refreshing. I came up and shook like a dog, my long hair slapping around my face. I was going to miss my pool for sure.
Swimming a few laps helped me clear my brain. Normally, it was my zen as well as fitness, but after the first lap though, my brain decided to churn out more crap. George from across the street was probably only twenty years older than me, maybe less. Is that what I had to look forward to for the next phase of my life? Work, work, work. Then come home alone.
Alone.
It didn’t seem fair and wasn’t what I wanted. It was bothering the fuck out of me and ruining my swim. I stopped and flipped over, floating on my back.
I didn’t want to end up like that, didn’t want to be alone. What the fuck? Was I meant to die an old, lonely, cranky workaholic? Like George? It was true that there were a hell-of-a-lot fewer single gay men in Foggy Basin and the surrounding community, and my new house was kind of out in the sticks,alonein the country.
And what about Jackie? Because, of course, that’s where this train of thought would lead. Jackie Corbin—fiery redhead extraordinaire. And where had he been the last few weeks? I hadn’t seen him at all. It was totally weird and… damn, I hated to admit that I missed him. He’d gotten under my skin already. Fuck. Just fuck me.
But seriously, was having a real relationship with him even possible? I didn’t actually know him that well, though I enjoyed reading his blog. It made me feel like there was some peace out there to find, and maybe it was possible to get to know some people, maybe even enrich my life instead of continuing on this lonely rat race. Maybe a small town, filled with folks who wanted more from their community, had more to offer as well. And maybe, I needed a blog-writing firecracker to show me that.
Jackie was a force to be reckoned with. That much I knew. And he was an extremely good friend. Not only was he Brock’s best friend, but he’d taken to Eddy as well, and I knew from experience that wasn’t always easy to do. Eddy could be challenging—a neurotic little mess.
But what else did I know about Jackie? What did he like? What did he dream about? Something inside me burned to find out.
The stress I’d been carrying in my shoulders and neck eased up. Interesting. This was the first time I’d focused on what I liked about him instead of all the ways we’d fuck it up. It was the first time I truly considered a possible future with Jackie. Maybe.
Maybe.
Chapter nine
Epiphany.
No other word for it. When it clicked, it had me sitting straight up in bed. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? It was still very early, but I was on my own schedule. I texted Brock to let him know I’d be out of town for a few days, and not to expect me in the bookstore. I didn’t actually have assigned shifts anyway. Unless Brock actually needed someone to cover for him, I simply came and went as I pleased.
But now, I had something else to do.
Seattle was about a twelve-hour drive for me, so I needed to prepare. Probably smart to do a two-day drive. Or I fly... I’d rather drive. I quickly booked a hotel for two days, hoping that would be enough time. And a hotel for one night on the way up, near the halfway point, and the same for the return trip. So, two up, two there, and two back.
I texted Brock to let him know that my few days would actually be about a week.
But it was necessary. And I could write the whole thing off on my taxes, because this was research for the blog. It was time to compare a big city to a small town and, at the same time, learn more about the kinds of things Alfred might like. If he wanted to go to Seattle, I needed to find out why.
Hmm…
He never actually said he wanted to go to Seattle. But, I knew he did in my soul.
I packed a few sweaters and my windbreaker in case I encountered some of that famous Seattle weather. Then, I loaded the car and started driving. It would take me all day to get to the first hotel.Eugene, Oregon, here I come!
I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express near the Willamette River, not that I was going to do more than look at it when I crossed it the next day. The hotel was on a cute little business block with a mom-and-pop coffee shop on the corner. I imagined that it would get busy in the morning for sure. There was also a Starbucks on the way back to the highway. I’d probably end up sticking to hotel coffee simply out of convenience, but I needed to eat.
One of the fast-food places, back toward the highway, would end up being dinner. I’d definitely find better places to eat in Seattle, but for the driving part of the trip, it was all about junk food.
