Sadie was safe for me because she was in a dedicated relationship with one of those kinkyguys.
She was staring at me now; her eyes were full of understanding about my apprehension with getting involved with another woman. She went back to writing in her notebook, and now my concentration on the assignment wasgone.
“One of my best friends once said that only the brave find hope in a second chance,” she said quietly as shewrote.
Only the brave find hope in a secondchance.
There was something so profound about that statement. I sat there feeling like I had been struck bylightning.
“That’s a real deep statement your friend made.” I wrote a few words down but kept going back to that phrase;only the brave find hope in a second chance.“I’m going to have to meet this friend of yours,” I said and glanced toward the door that led to the garage. I heard the garage door rise, which meant that her kinky guy washome.
“You’ll get to,” Sadie replied. “He’s coming home with Nick tonight. We’re going out to dinner with his friend. So, I’ll introduceyou.”
I could hear two male voices as the door opened and then Nick appeared. Followed behind him was a man about the same age as Nick and a few inches taller. Nick went straight to Sadie, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips and then her cheek before unwrapping himself and reaching across to shake myhand.
“Ryan, good to see you,” Nick said and stepped back to draw his friend closer. “Ryan, this is my good friend, Russell Moore. Russell, this is Ryan Hudson. He’s also a film major and in many of Sadie’sclasses.”
I reached out and shook Russell’s hand. So, this was Russell “only the brave find hope in a second chance” Moore. I had heard Sadie mention Russell before and knew he was a close friend of Nick’s, but I had never seen him until tonight. He had a badass look to him. It wasn’t the look of a guy who would tout deep phrases. I realized that it was stereotypical of me, but it was just my first impression. He looked like a badass, but calmtoo.
“How is the screenplay project going, guys?” Nick askedus.
“Good, though we didn’t get very far tonight,” Sadieadmitted.
“Well, you guys can work on it this weekend and next week. Go get ready for dinner, sweetheart,” Nick requested before he turned to face me. “How’s the MGM,Ryan?”
“It’s still going great, I love my work there,” I said while I packed up my notebooks in mybackpack.
“Ryan works at the MGM with their promotions department,” Nick explained toRussell.
“I change out expired promotions placards with the new ones for all different areas of the hotels. Like, each month the slot club has something going on, so I change out banners and lighted displays with posters. Even the physical signs throughout the casino. Or if the buffet is doing a special, I change out the old deal with the new deal posters. Stuff like that,” Ishrugged.
“Okay, Ryan, do you want to work on this tomorrow?” Sadie askedme.
“Yes, I don’t work until Sunday. Tomorrow willwork.”
I exchanged pleasantries again with Nick and Russell before Sadie walked me to the front door. While I walked to my old, but new to me, Ford pick-up, all I could think of was the phrase, “only the brave find hope in a secondchance.”
I knew Nikki was working tomorrow night at the Rebel Diner. I was going to go and see how brave Iwas.
That night I hopped online with Kim and April. I had met both of them last semester online in a film study forum. Our conversations quickly turned from film to conversations about anything and everything else. The two of them had already been friends for years, and both seemed to enjoy chatting with me in the evenings. While I kept myself guarded at first, I was surprised at how much I had opened up to them since thefall.
The pair always made me laugh and sometimes even blush. I’d think sometimes that they enjoyed teasing me some, but I had a good time with them. Talking to Kim and April was also safe for me. Online chatting was good for me because it still maintained some anonymity. I had always worried that some kid in one of my classes, or even the professors, would recognize me from one of my amateur pornvideos.
Over the course of a few months, I had told April and Kim about Tiffany and why I was so reluctant to get involved with anyone else. It was easier for me to spill my Tiffany pain to Kim and April because again, there was that safety net in place with them. I had just finished telling them about the hot girl in the bleachers at the game, and the teasing and jabsbegan.
Kim: So, THIS is the one,huh?
April: Duh, Kim! Remember, he said that she was also wearing a UNLV baseball t-shirt.
Kim: OMG, you’re right! I can’t believe I overlooked thatcommonality.
April: Wearing the same clothes is a sure-fire way to detect potential soulmates.
I laughed at the screen as the two went back and forth teasing me for finding true love in the bleachers at a baseball game. But I had to jump in and joke back withthem.
Ryan: Whoa, who said anything about a soulmate?
Kim: That’s right, the soul mate phrase scaresyou.
