California Bored and Tourism (2 page)

“Nope. Just clean California living.”

“I see.” She went back to her travel
book.

“You know, you’re actually here now, you
think you need to keep reading the travel guide?”

“If I don’t then how will I know if you’ve
told me something wrong?” Faith smiled and walked outside.

* * * *

Faith cleared her throat, knowing she’d
pushed his buttons all day. So what if he had an infectious smile,
sandy blond hair, and dimpled cheeks, his cheerful attitude was
maddening. Her intention was not to intrude on Dimple’s magical
tour of California, but she thought there was more to the state
than Hollywood homes and infamous nightclubs. Maybe that’s why most
people flocked to Hollywood, to see the glitz, glamour, and infamy
flooding television screens daily. One couldn’t help but be curious
about how people lived in Hollywood. After a glare from Kendra and
Sandy, who were obviously in love with the guy, she decided to make
peace.

“I was just mentioning the
J. Paul
Getty Museum
. Sorry about that.”

Nick strolled to the back of the tour bus.
“Oh, so you like museums?” He grinned.

“Yes,” she said warily.

“Then you will love the
Getty Museum
.
Unfortunately, it’s not part of the tour but all of you should go.
You may need to call and make reservations for group visits. It’s
always busy in there.”

“Thanks for the info,” she said.

As he continued to smile, Faith fought the
urge to slap his perfect, dimple-cheeked face. This was just
another example why someone laid off from her job less than a month
ago should have cancelled this vacation. She’d been agitated and
sad ever since she stepped off the plane. She’d already paid for
the room and airfare but had to put everything else towards paying
bills. She protested and informed the group she wouldn’t be the
best of company.

“So does this mean I get the rest of the
tour to myself?”

“Absolutely.” Faith smiled as she dug in her
bag for her MP3 player and put the tiny buds in her ears.

* * * *

Nick looked at her for a moment in disbelief
then slowly turned to work his way back to the front of the bus.
Why the hell would someone go on vacation and stay in a bad mood
the whole time?
He looked in the mirror and saw that she’d
closed her eyes in defiance. With her eyes closed, he noticed how
young she looked even though he was sure she was in her early
thirties. Contrary to her friends wearing skirts, sandals, and
pretty hair accessories, she looked like she was ready to scale a
mountain. He’d never thrown anyone off his bus but today might set
the precedent.

Nick dropped the ladies off at the Hollywood
and Highland Center, allotting two hours to eat lunch and shop. He
never tired of telling someone all the things he knew about
Hollywood and the great state of California. The tours gave him a
sense of fulfillment and something to do when he didn’t feel like
being cooped up in the office. He found a good spot, parked, and
then noticed Faith sitting on a bench with her eyes closed.

“Finished your sight seeing early?” he asked
as he took a seat next to her.

She jumped. “You scared the crap out of
me!”

“You should know better than to sit with
your eyes closed on a bench in L.A.”

He took the California guidebook out of her
hands and looked it over. “He,” he pointed to one of the names on
the cover, “is a good friend of mine.”

“I won’t hold that against him.”

“So where are your friends?”

“Shopping, I think.”

“And you don’t like shopping?”

Faith turned and held a hand up. “Before we
get into that old chauvinistic debate, why don’t we save ourselves
the trouble? If you want to make small talk and engage in low-level
flattery, don’t bother. I suggest you try one of my friends who
find you oh so adorable with your dimples and your come hither
eyes.”

Come hither eyes?
That was a new
one.

“Are you sure you’re immune to the dimples?
Women always love my dimples,” Nick said with amusement.

Faith opened her mouth, her mind seeming to
reel with a stinging retort, when the rest of the group showed up.
Everyone, full from eating and shopping, were chatting and gazing
up at the Hollywood sign. Faith continued to sit on the bench while
the others followed Nick.

“Hey, Happy. Are you coming? We’re on a
strict schedule,” he said then smiled.

Faith joined the group, dragging her feet
the whole way.

After dropping the ladies off, Faith still
in resistance mode, he headed back to the office.

Nick smiled to himself as he cleaned out the
bus. Faith decided to remain mute for the rest of the day. To his
surprise, he missed her butting in and trying to take over his
tour.

As he made his way to the back of the tour
bus he saw her MP3 player on the seat.
She probably listens to
devil worshipping music
. He turned it on and scrolled through
her playlist, pleasantly surprised. She had a good reason for
ignoring him. Her taste in music was the same as his. He’d call the
hotel and leave a message that he’d found it, but tonight it gave
him something to do.

If intimacy could be achieved by listening
to someone’s MP3 player, then Nick felt as if he’d known Faith all
his life. He listened to her music into the wee hours of the night,
looking forward to seeing her the next day so they could continue
their sparring match. It was strange to want to know someone who,
by first glance, he had nothing in common with, but that’s what he
liked about the world, things weren’t always as they seemed and
Faith was no exception.

He awoke the next morning, still listening
to Faith’s MP3 player.

Nick readied himself then headed out the
door for another day of touring with the ladies.

The group was waiting for him, all smiles,
dressed in pretty sundresses and floppy hats. Faith was standing at
the front desk talking to a clerk.

“Good morning, ladies.” He greeted everyone
with a big smile.

“Good morning, Nick.” Kendra beamed at him.
“We’re ready to go.”

“Just waiting for Happy.” He smirked,
watching Faith at the front desk.

“She’s not coming today,” Kendra said
sternly.

“No?”

“No, you can talk without interruptions
today.”

Strangely, today, he wanted an interruption.
“The tour bus is open. Go on in. I’ll be right there.” He strode
over to Faith, who was finishing her conversation.

“Your friend said you’re not joining us
today?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “Was it something I
said?”

“As if anything you say would turn my world
upside down. Don’t flatter yourself, Dimples,” she said curtly.

“Then why won’t you be joining us?”

“I’ve decided to see Los Angeles another
way.” He glanced at the map in her hand.

“Don’t worry, your groupies didn’t want me
along today anyway. Now they can all drool and gaze at you like
you’re some sort of misogynistic messiah.”

“What’s wrong? Scared I might know a little
more than you?”

“I just got a map of Los Angeles from a man
at the front desk named KiKi. It’s safe to say my courage level is
up this morning. Do you have something of mine?” she
questioned.

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled
out her MP3 player. “You have very…interesting taste in music. I’m
a big Eric Clapton fan too.”

“You thought I’d have crappy taste in
music?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But I think that’s what you expected.”

“Is not. I don’t know what to expect with
you.”

“And you don’t have to,” she said snidely.
“Your tour group is waiting.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you.” He
stood in front of her with his arms folded.

“Don’t you check with your office? I only
signed up for one day,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Why would you sign up for one day when the
rest of your friends signed up for five? It doesn’t make sense, but
I suspect you never do anything the easy way.” Nick pulled her
close to him. “The rest of the group is waiting and you’re making
us late.”

* * * *

Faith turned to go. She tried not to get
sidetracked by his biceps as he stood blocking her way. Talking to
him diminished her energy and put a damper on the last shred of
optimism she had for the day.

She sighed. Going on this trip turned out to
be more stressful than losing her job. Her friends wanted her to
pretend that everything was okay, spend ten days in sunny
California, and leave her problems behind, but she couldn’t do it.
Escaping reality was the last thing she needed to do right now. She
didn’t want to admit to him what no one else around her would
accept as her reality. She was broke.

“Look, Dimples. Not that it’s any of your
business, but I only booked a one day tour because that’s all I
could afford. I am among the newly unemployed, and against my own
good judgment, I came out to this great state of yours anyway. What
a mistake that’s been. I would rather spend the rest of my money
doing other things.” She wasn’t ashamed, she told herself. There
was no shame in admitting you weren’t able to do something because
you didn’t have the money, but she hated admitting it to
him
.

“Why don’t you come anyway? Free of charge.”
He smiled sincerely.

“I appreciate that, but there’s no point in
you losing your job too.” She chuckled unexpectedly. “I don’t think
someone else should have to pay for us to contradict each other all
day.”

“My boss knows me. I do stuff like this all
the time.”

“Thanks but it wouldn’t be right. Besides,
my friends and I…need a little break. They can’t understand why I’m
so wound up. So I’ll take a much-needed vacation from the vacation.
You’d better go, Kendra just popped her head in here, and I don’t
want to be blamed for holding up the tour.”

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out
a business card. “Call if you get lost or have any questions while
you’re out venturing. I know you’re a big girl but don’t wander off
and please stay in public places, with crowds.”

Faith thought for a moment then said,
“Thanks, Dimples.”

“You’re welcome, Happy.”

* * * *

The tour for the second day ran smoothly.
Nick made all the scheduled stops and talked incessantly about the
sights. His passengers listened and flirted as he did his job even
without the usual fuel to his fire. His mind wandered thinking
about Faith and what she might be doing. He’d planned to sit her in
the seat up front next to him so he could torment her when he
wasn’t using the microphone. He had to admit, he hadn’t had an
exciting day on the bus like that in a while.

When he dropped the ladies off at the end of
the afternoon, he heard them talking about a club they were going
to later. They asked the usual questions, and he told them what he
tells all his tourist groups—stay together, don’t wander off with
anyone, and go back to the hotel together.

“Thanks, Nick!” They said in unison as they
stepped off the bus. He looked around for Faith but she wasn’t
around, and she hadn’t called him. As he pulled out of the
driveway, the hotel van pulled up, and Faith stepped out of the
front seat. She looked tired.

“Thanks, Alex!” she yelled to the driver and
walked into the hotel.

He wondered how she would spend the evening
since the club the ladies were trying to get into had a
fifty-dollar cover charge. She was still toting that travel book,
he could see it peeking out of her bag as he watched in the rear
view mirror.

* * * *

Faith was sitting in a chair on the balcony
of the room, watching people come and go from the Starbuck’s across
the street. She’d seen a total of three minor celebrities today and
one guy who did a lot of supporting cast work on a few television
shows she liked, but no major stars always in the media.
Maybe
they were somewhere on vacation too
. There was a knock at the
door, and Kendra bellowed from the bathroom to answer it. Faith
slowly crossed the room and opened the door, expecting to see Sandy
or one of the hotel staff.

“Hey,” Nick said with a slight smile.

“Hey, Dimples.” She looked surprised to see
him.

“Who is it?” Kendra yelled. “If it’s the
girls, tell them I’m almost ready!”

“No, it’s not.” She looked back at him. He
wore a yellow polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants. “I’m sorry,
what are you doing here?”

“How was your day?” He ignored her
question.

“It was eventful,” she said with a sheepish
smile. “Nothing like finding your own way in a strange new
world.”

“It is very exciting,” he said
thoughtfully.

She coughed, “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I’d take you out for a night
tour. Your friends said they were going to a club and I didn’t
think you’d be going.”

“Technically, Kendra and Sandy are the
friends
. The others are friends of theirs. I didn’t know
your company did night tours?”

“They don’t. This is a native Californian,
night tour. I thought we’d go to the
Santa Monica Pier
.” Her
eyes lit up, but she fought back the excitement.

* * * *

He heard Kendra telling Sandy that Faith
would have loved to see Santa Monica because her favorite movie was
The Truth about Cats & Dogs
.

“Don’t you have something else to do
tonight?” she asked warily.

“Well, I could spend a peaceful night at
home, watch horrible audition tapes with my friend, Scott, who’s an
aspiring director trying to make his first movie, or pick up the
grouchiest tourist in California and take her to the beach while
praying neither tries to drown the other.”