Before Lucky (Forever Love #2.5)(12)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Oh, cool.” She nodded her head and smiled. “I guess I could say I find the law to be a bit boring as well.” ZING! I grinned at her words.

“Oh, so do we.” The guy laughed. “But it’s all about the money, money, money.”

“And making it rain on them hoes.” The other guy laughed and they high-fived. I saw Lucky’s face change from interested to disgusted, and my insides felt lighter than a balloon.

“Excuse me please, Lucky.” I called out to her, and she smiled at me gratefully.

“Excuse me, guys, I need to take care of my other customer, but I’ll be back with your waters and to take your order in a few minutes.” She walked over to me without waiting for an answer. “How can I help you, Zane?”

“I thought you might want an excuse to get away from those wannabe rap artists.” My breath caught as Lucky’s eyes lit up in laughter and her obvious struggle to keep it in.

“Thanks.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s not every day I get to meet winners like that.”

“Thank God for that.” I played with my fingers before I spoke again. “So, you go to UM?”

“Yes,” She nodded. “I even hope to graduate some day.”

“That’s cool.” I smiled, trying to contain the excitement that was bubbling up in me. I couldn’t believe she was a history major. I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure if it would work, and I didn’t want her to know that I knew what she was studying. “Do you like movies?”

“Movies?” She looked confused. “That was a random topic change. I guess I do enjoy movies.”

“Sorry, I’m a bit all over the place today. I’ve just found that many people who like history like movies, and you know, documentaries.”

“I can’t say I’ve watched too many documentaries, but that’s mainly because I don’t have much time, or cable.” She pulled out her pad. “And now I better get your drink order before I get in trouble for chatting with the customers all night.”

I want to be more than your customer. The words were spoken in my head, but as soon as I thought them, I knew they were true. I also knew I had to call the Johnsons back. As soon as possible. Maybe there was a way for me to get to know Lucky and to continue Noah’s work. It had seemed highly impossible when I had spoken to them earlier. How was I going to make a historical documentary on their lives? I’d told them that I would try to work my magic and see what I could make happen. I knew that if Noah were alive, he would want me to continue making the documentary on the Johnsons. And now that I knew Lucky was interested in history, it seemed like a sign. Maybe this was Noah’s way of helping to bring Lucky into my life. It seemed like fate that she was also interested in history, and this documentary was on the history of the Johnsons’ life and segregation. It was almost like a sign. And I would do anything I could to make sure that it came true. I needed to bring Lucky into my life, if I wanted to stop my constant thoughts about her. I knew that once I’d had my fill, she would be forgotten like all the rest.

***

Sandra, my date for the night, arrived about ten minutes later, and I was surprised at how laid-back and smart she was. I wasn’t sure why Braydon had dated her. Yes, she was pretty, but she wasn’t beautiful, and she didn’t seem the sort to care about Hollywood and fame. In fact, it was refreshing talking to someone who wasn’t an airhead or self-centered.

“Here are your two salads.” Lucky dropped the plates off at the table, and this time I didn’t look over at her and smile my thanks. I kept up my eye contact with Sandra and smiled. I couldn’t afford for another date to think my attention wasn’t 100% on her.

“I hope this will be the most delicious salad you have ever had.” I smiled seductively at Sandra, hoping to get Lucky a little jealous.

“Anything else?” Lucky questioned, and I shook my head without looking at her again. A part of me felt bad for ignoring her, but I knew that I would be too distracted by her if I made eye contact with her, and I needed to focus on Sandra. I had a gut feeling that Sandra knew something about Braydon, and I wasn’t going to allow myself to fail at getting that information out of her.

“I’m sure it will be good. Though, I really wanted a juicy burger and fries.” She laughed.

“So why didn’t you get one?”

“I had a burger for lunch. I try to eat one healthy meal a day. Otherwise I will blow up like a balloon.”

“That’s unlikely,” I looked over at her trim body and smiled.

“I recently lost about 50 pounds.” She grinned at me. “And I think my body is missing it.”

“Fifty pounds? Really?” I was shocked for two reasons. One, I couldn’t imagine her being overweight, and two, I couldn’t imagine Braydon dating an overweight girl.

“Yeah,” She sighed. “I lost the weight at rehab.”

“Rehab?” I tried not to be nosey, but I had a gut instinct that the information I was after was tied up in this story.

“Yeah,” she ate some salad and paused. “I was addicted to cocaine and weed.”

“Cocaine and weed?”

“My last boyfriend got me hooked.”

“Oh?” BINGO!

“Yeah, he liked to snort a lot of coke.” She shook her head. “I should have known I was walking into trouble. You always hear that Hollywood types are druggies, but I guess I didn’t really expect it.”

“He did a lot of drugs as well?” I was surprised. From everything I had heard, Braydon wasn’t really a drug abuser, more of a drug pusher and casual user.

“Yeah, coke, heroin, molly. You name it, he was doing it.”

“Huh.” I frowned. This didn’t sound right.

“Yeah, so I dumped him and dated his friend.” She laughed. “Though, I started dating his friend ’cos he got it cheaper for me.”

“Oh? So you dated two actors then?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re thinking, why date two drug addicts?” She laughed. “Honestly, the second guy wasn’t an addict, he just had access to a lot of drugs.”

“I see.” I was betting the second guy was Braydon.

“I mean, if I am being honest, I still preferred the first guy but he became too much of a downer. Braydon was fun and had the hookup.”

“So Braydon helped you score?”

“Well,” Her face went white. “I don’t really want to talk about it. I’ve been clean for a few months now.”