Illusion of Luck by Robert Burton Robinson Read Free Book Online

life,
especially after killing that lady lawyer. But he could not stop—he
had quickly become a fame junkie. The reader raves were his
heroin.
    And nothing would stand between him
and his next fix.

    Chapter 8

    “ Hey, Man, we’d better get
going soon. Our reservation is for 7:00,” said Sandy.
    He and Greg had slept late, ordered pizza,
and spent the afternoon talking shop and reminiscing about their
college days.
    “ Where are we
going?”
    “ It’s a
surprise.”
    “ I don’t know if
trust your kind of surprise.”
    Sandy laughed. “What? You’re afraid of
having too much fun? It’s your last night of freedom.”
    “ But that’s just the point—I
don’t want to
be free anymore.”
    “ Look—after tomorrow night
you’re gonna be wearing the old husband handcuffs. All I’m asking
you to do is forget that for a while and just have some fun with
the old Sandman.”
    “ Okay, I’ll try. As long as
you don’t get too crazy.”
    “ Me, get crazy?”
    “ Shut up. Just let me check
my email real quick.” Greg got up from the couch and walked to his
bedroom.
    Sandy yelled from Greg’s comfy recliner.
“Why? You think you might have something from your wife-to-be?
That’s cheating. You two said you wouldn’t talk or see each other
until the wedding. And emails count as talking. And so do text
messages and instant messages. You can’t do any of that, Man.”
    Sandy got up and walked into Greg’s bedroom
to see for himself.
    “ I knew you couldn’t hold
out.”
    “ No. It’s from one of my
students. He’s telling me he might have to miss his piano lesson on
Tuesday. Apparently, he didn’t read the email I sent out to
everybody announcing that I would be on my honeymoon next week. I
even posted it on my web page.”
    “ I couldn’t do what you do,
Greg.”
    “ What?”
    “ Your students can cancel
their lessons at the last minute. And then you don’t get paid. You
have no control over it. I get paid whether my students
show up or not.”
    “ That would be nice. But on the other
hand, all your students are the same age—late teens to early
twenties.”
    “ So?”
    “ So, isn’t that kinda
boring? I mean, you don’t get the joy of teaching piano to a six
year-old girl, or the fun of guitar lessons with a 67 year-old
man.”
    “ Yeah, that must be a hoot.
I can’t believe I’m missing out on that .”
    “ No, really—it’s pretty
cool, actually.”
    “ If you say so. Now let’s go
eat. I’m starving.”
    **********
    “ Thanks again, Sandy. It was
delicious,” said Greg.
    They got into Sandy’s car.
    “ Okay. Now for your bachelor
party.”
    “ What do you mean? I thought
that was my
bachelor party.”
    “ Oh, no. A steak and a baked
potato do not a bachelor party make.”
    “ Well, thank you for your
words of wisdom, Yoda.”
    Sandy tried talking in Yoda’s voice. “Off to
the party now we flee. Cake of your bachelorhood you will see. Beer
shall you drink until you pee.”
    Greg laughed. “That’s funny.”
    “ Thank you.” Sandy smiled
broadly and nodded.
    “ But not very good .”
    Sandy pouted.
    “ And anyway—I don’t
drink.”
    “ That’s okay. Believe
me—you’ll still have fun.”
    Greg didn’t like the looks
of the place—not that he could see it all that well. It was dark
outside, and even darker inside .
    Sandy gave his name and a young woman
wearing a bikini led them to a room and showed them to their
chairs. Then she walked out.
    “ Now what?” Greg had a bad
feeling.
    “ Sit tight.”
    Another young woman walked in to take their
drink orders. Sandy ordered a Bud Light and Greg asked for a Dr.
Pepper.
    “ I wonder what Cynthia is
doing right now?”
    “ Hey, you’re not supposed to
be thinking about her. Remember?”
    “ Okay. I’ll try not
to.”
    After a few minutes, the woman brought their
drinks. They had taken a few sips when a huge cardboard cake rolled
into the room. Two scantily-clad ladies pushed it into place, right
in front of