News Blues by Marianne Mancusi Read Free Book Online Page A

.”
    “Ooh, yes.” I nodded enthusiastically. “That’s my fave, too. I used to imagine how cool it’d be to be a writer like Jake in
     gay Paris, loafing around all day and hitting the bars all night. The unrequited love with him and Brett. It’s so romantic.
     Tragic and romantic.”
    “It’s definitely given me inspiration.”
    I cocked my head in curiosity. “Are you a writer or something?”
    “Aspiring. Well, I did publish one small-press book. A sci-fi action-adventure. Not exactly Hemingway, ” he clarified, his
     cheeks coloring a bit.
    “Really?” I’d never met a real author before. “Can I read it?”
    His blush deepened. “I guess. If you really wanted to. And you’re not just being polite.”
    “No way.” I shook my head. “I’m never polite. Bring it in tomorrow.”
    “It’s a deal.”
    The waiter returned with our drinks. I was having so much fun talking to Jamie, I suddenly realized I hadn’t thought about
     my tragic life in ten minutes. Amazing. The alcohol helped, too, warming my insides and making my troubles seem inconsequential.
    “Where’s your fiancée?” I asked, remembering for a moment that the attractive man charming me from across the table belonged
     to someone else. Not that it mattered. We weren’t on a date. We weren’t even flirting.
    “In LA, ” Jamie told me between sips. “She has about a month left at her job before she moves down here.”
    “Ah, I see. So you’re down here all by your lonesome, ” I couldn’t help but coo in mock sympathy.
    “Not really. You’re here, aren’t you?” The corners of his mouth quirked up in a grin.
    Now it was my turn to feel my face heat with embarrassed pleasure. Oh, how I wished he wasn’t half of a committed couple.
     How serious was the engagement anyway? The woman didn’t even move down with her man? She left him alone in a strange city?
     Didn’t seem very loving to me! Maybe he was looking for a way out of the relationship. That was why he moved down to San Diego.
     Hey, you never knew.
    Before I could ask him more about this fiancée character, a scantily dressed waitress approached our table. She held out a
     tray full of florescent-colored shot glasses.
    “Care for a shot?” she asked. “We have Scooby Snacks, Ding Dong Dogs, and Oatmeal Biscuits.”
    I had no idea what any of those were, but they looked delicious. And this was supposed to be my night for getting trashed. I raised my eyebrows at Jamie, wondering what he thought of the idea.
    “We’ll take two Scooby Snacks, ” Jamie said, answering my question by handing the woman a twenty and a five. “Actually make
     that four.”
    The woman placed four shots on our table and headed for her next round of victims.
    “What do you think they are?” I asked.
    “Only one way to find out!” He took a shot in his hand. I grabbed another. “To new beginnings, ” he toasted.
    “New beginnings!” I chorused before I downed the shot. It was delicious. Tasted like whipped cream and pineapple. I grabbed
     the other one and proceeded to suck that down as well.
    “Hey, wait for me!” Jamie cried, grabbing his other shot. “I’m not having a pretty girl drink me under the table!”
    I beamed, licking the whipped cream off my lips. He thought I was pretty. This sexy, cool, motorcycle-riding, ex-film photographer
     thought I was pretty.
    We talked. We laughed. We drank a few more rounds. And by the time midnight rolled around and the DJ came on to start spinning
     some tunes, I was feeling pretty darn good.
    “I love this song!” I cried, as The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” started playing. “I’m a total sucker for eighties new wave.”
    “Yeah. Me, too. Especially the British stuff.”
    “Really?” He was too good to be true. Way, way too good to be true. He was so cool and nice and he liked ’80s Brit Pop? I
     sucked down the rest of my fourth (or was it my fifth?) K9 Kosmo. “We should go dancing.”
    “You think?” he asked with a