“Oh no. Are you serious?” Is a week even going to be enough time to find this guy? What if he keeps moving just ahead of me and I end up spending a year here. I’m sure Viv won’t go for that. And why should she?
“Like a heart attack. You came from that way, right?” She points to the left.
“Correct.” I giggle as I try to not make a right left confusion. The look on her face tells me that she doesn’t get it.
“Okay, yeah, you just came in East Lyme. You didn’t actually get in East Lyme. You have a lot to explore down the road. I made you that list of restaurants, but it might be a little overwhelming seeing that you just got here.” She looks down at the scribbled handwriting on a piece of Sleep Inn stationary.
I glance down at the paper in her hand and then back up to her. “Can I see it?”
Mandy shrugs and hands it over. There are about six or seven different places on the paper. When I look back up to her, her face is scrunched up like she’s just waiting for me to say that it’s too many.
I smile and fold the paper up, tucking it into my front pocket. “This is great! Exactly what I needed!
Her bright blue eyes beam with joy. “Really? You’re not just saying that right?”
“Nope! This gives me a great start. Is there any that you would recommend for tonight, for my first dinner in Niantic? Ya know, narrow it down a little?”
Mandy blushes and smooths a piece of auburn hair out of her face. “Yeah, you should check out Main Street Grill. It’s not that far from here. Maybe ten minutes. Do you like seafood?”
I can’t help but grimace at the thought of anything fishy. “Um, no. No, I do not.”
“OMG! Me either! You’ll like Main Street Grill then. They do have seafood, but they have a lot of other stuff that’s normal food.” Mandy reaches behind the desk and pulls out a keycard, but when she swipes it through her machine, she must’ve gotten an error. “Duh! I forgot to get a credit card from you! Good thing this machine has a brain cause I would’ve forgotten to get one on file.”
“Sure, sure.” I unzip my purse and rifle through it until I find the credit card I save for absolute emergencies. I hate having debt, but this is one of those times where I don’t exactly have an option. And it’s not really going to be debt because Viv will pay me back. I hope.
Mandy takes the card, punches the numbers into my file on her computer and then swipes the keycard. “Now it works!” She giggles as she slides both my credit card and my room card across the counter to me. “It’ll be through the doors and to your right, room 132.”
“Oh, first floor! That makes it easy.” I slip the keycard in my back pocket and throw my purse strap back up on my shoulder.
“Why make people climb the stairs when there’s empty rooms down here?”
I wave at her and head through the glass doors to the left of the check-in counter. The smell of chlorine is less in this hallway, and I forgot to ask about a hot tub. Maybe there will be a list of amenities in my room. Although, I’m not so sure I want to sit in a hot tub by myself, let alone with a stranger. Maybe never mind. The thought of sharing bath water with a stranger gives me the ick. Especially after reading the article about the man who was so overweight that he couldn’t wipe himself so once a week he would go down to the local health club and let the jets in the hot tub clean out his butthole. I nearly gag at the thought when I find my room.
The keycard works on the first swipe and when I open my room, it smells vaguely of old cigarette smoke. With everyone vaping now a days, I’m kind of surprised to even smell that. The room is so dim that it’s hard to make out any shapes of furniture. Once I flick on the light, I can see an old box tv on a low, dark wooden dresser at the foot of the king size bed. It’ll be weird sleeping in such a big bed without Squeaker.
There’s one of those metal stands to set my luggage on so I fold in the long handle and set my rolley bag on top of the stand. I would open it up, but I honestly don’t need anything in it for now. I pull out the rumpled piece of paper from my pocket and see the list of places Mandy made for me. She even wrote down the addresses! What a great girl!
My stomach rumbles and I take a quick picture of the paper so that I have it in my phone. I grab my purse, sling it over my shoulder and head back out to my car. When I pass by the check-in counter, Mandy must’ve stepped away because no one is there. The bell jingles as I go through, and I hear Mandy yelling from somewhere in the back to have fun. I just raise my hand up in a wave and walk across the parking lot. Bugs buzz around my head and pester my ears as twilight hits the area. It’s hard to keep track of time here. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not totally governed by a clock that I have to punch in and out of, or if it’s the area.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The lock clacks open on my car, and it seems like it’s extra loud. Even with the bugs buzzing around, it feels especially quiet in the area. It’s dark enough outside that my dome light visibly illuminates the inside of my car. There are so many wrappers in the backseat that it’s embarrassing. I knew Kendra was just whipping them back there, but I guess I didn’t realize just how many snacks she had eaten. In fact, I’d be surprised if she’s hungry by now because of how many she ate. Although I don’t know if a person in a catatonic state can even feed themselves. She wasn’t moving when she left and being that I haven’t heard any news about her, I’m guessing she’s in the same condition. I should call her cell phone later and see if she picks up.
The GPS lights up when I plug it back into the cigarette lighter. I punch in the address for the Main Street Grill and push go. I don’t know how people functioned before GPS. I think they used something called MapQuest and had to print out directions. And before that, people would just use these huge map books. My dad had one when I was a kid. My mom was always the co-pilot and had to follow along on the map and tell him where to turn. I mostly slept in the back seat.
I pull out onto the road and follow along in a group of vehicles for a while. Mandy was right. East Lyme Niantic is a lot bigger than I realized. Even though Main Street Grill is just the tip of the iceberg, I can see a lot of signs up ahead. Soon, my GPS is telling me my destination is up ahead and it looks like I’ll be able to see water from the restaurant. What a wonderful view! If it weren’t for the fact that I’m hunting for someone, I would think this would be a nice vacation destination.
The parking lot is pretty full for as late as it is, and a Tuesday. I end up parking next to a gold minivan that has a whole bunch of those stick figure stickers on the back window. Like a whole bunch. I almost don’t want to eat here because it’s probably so loud in there that I won’t be able to think, but I’m too hungry.
When I get out of the car, I’m kind of confused where to go in at. There’s a huge double decker patio eating area, filled with people eating and laughing. I decide to go to the street side of the restaurant and go in through the front door. Can’t go wrong with that, right?
Across the street is another restaurant from Mandy’s list: The Black Sheep. If this place is too busy, then I can just walk across the street and try there. As I walk in the Main Street Grill, a young girl with a messy bun on the top of her head greets me. “Welcome to Main Street Grill. How many for tonight?”
“Just one. Um, is it really busy? It looks busy.” I scan the room and am overwhelmed by a sea of faces everywhere. This is why I read and edit books. No people.
“Oh! Well, yeah, maybe.” The young girl looks around the room and flashes a metal smile at me when she turns back to face me. There are multiple rubber bands hooked onto different areas on her braces and I’m afraid one of them will break if she opens her mouth too big. That happened to me when I had braces as a kid. Nailed my friend in the face who was sitting next to me at a movie when I laughed too hard.
“Do you have a booth that’s a little quieter?” Suddenly I am very aware of just how weird I am.
“Lemme look, hang on.” She heads over to someone dressed in slacks and a tie. Must be her manager. He points toward the back of the restaurant where there are swinging doors connected to the kitchen in the rear. She skitters back over to me and slides across the floor. “I have just the place! Here’s a menu. Please follow me.”
She thrusts a sticky laminated menu into my hands and then starts heading toward the back of the restaurant. When we get back to the swinging doors, waiters and waitresses are coming and going, slamming dishes around and flinging the doors every which way.
“How’s this?” The girl motions to a very small booth that looks like it’s for the staff to sit at where they can be out of the way and still take a break.
“Um, on second thought, can I sit outside? Don’t you have a great view out there or something?”
“Oh yeah! It’s wonderful! But... I thought you wanted a quiet booth.”
As much as I want to tell her that while this is a booth it is definitely not quiet, I just shrug. “I guess I changed my mind.”
She seems to be happy with that and motions for me to follow her. We head up a flight of stairs, wind our way through occupied tables, and then through a glass door to the upper deck. The breeze feels amazing as it kisses my cheeks and ruffles my hair. She directs me to a small table, big enough for two people, that is set right on the outer edge of the deck. The sun setting on the horizon is glittering in the water as the waves gently wash up on the beach below.
“Is this any better?”
“Actually, this is perfect.” It’s still busier than I like but it’s better than the first option. She nods her head and goes to turn around to walk away when I touch her arm. “Oh, but can I ask you a question?”
She stops mid-turn and looks back at me. “Sure!”
“I’m not from the area and I’m looking for a person. Do you know who Blake Randolf is?”
The color drains from her face as her doe-brown eyes get wider than is normal. “W-why?”
“I work for a publishing company and he’s an author. I need to make contact with him to see… to see how he’s doing. Do you know him?”
The girl fidgets with her fingers and looks behind her like someone is watching. “I-I can’t talk now. Meet me when I get off. I get off at 9:00pm.”
“Uh, okay. Meet you where?”
“Meet me at The Black Sheep.”
“Across the street? Why not just meet here? It’s basically the same.”
“No, it’s not. Trust me.” She leans over and smiles at me and then says loudly, “Why thank you! Someone will be with you in just a minute!”