Long Gone Cat

Chapter 2

Alec

Brooklyn

On a blustery night in May, Alec Branneth trudged his way down a packed street as he silently brooded over the travesty of a play he'd just appeared in for the past three weeks. He trailed a few feet behind his friend, Richie, a Marine Corps vet who'd somehow turned into Alec's talent agent over the course of the years since Richie's discharge. The two men ducked into a noisy bar, the go-to neighborhood watering hole. It bustled with drunken activity, as was typical for a Friday night.

"Grab a table, Al," Richie shouted behind him. "I'll buy you a celebratory drink."

Alec dropped himself into a chair and leaned into his elbows as his sleeves became instantly soaked with beer left by the table's former occupants. He stood back up and passed Richie to grab some napkins from the bar. After searching for a moment, he hollered over the crowd at the ebony-haired bartender.

"Miss? Do you have any napkins?"

"What?"

Alec raised his voice. "Do you have any napkins?"

"Speak up!"

"Napkins!"

She continued to sling drinks to the mass of people waving cash at her.

"Napa?" she shouted, becoming exasperated. "There's a wine list by the register!"

Equally exasperated, he briefly turned his eyes toward the ceiling and gave up.

"Where'd you go?" Richie inquired, pushing a beer across the table into Alec's hand. "Need a shot, too?"

Alec snorted.

"You'd think." He laughed. "Anything to wipe that play from my memory. If only I could wipe it from my resume."

"Come on," Richie wheezed. "It wasn't that bad. At least you had steady work for a whole month. You realize how many struggling actors would kill to be able to say that?"

Alec huffed in irritation as he gulped some of his beer.

"Beggars can't be choosers." Richie wagged a condescending finger in Alec's face.

"Obviously not," Alec grunted.

Richie threw his hands into the air. "Ya gotta' pay your dues, my friend! Nobody bursts onto the scene out of nowhere."

"You're preachin' to the choir."

"So, stop bitching about it."

Alec let out a deep sigh as his eyes drifted back to the commotion at the bar. The girl behind it was frantically filling orders and grabbing money, pausing every so often to catch her breath and push a stray hair behind her ear. There was something vaguely familiar about those shiny black locks.

"She's cute, huh?" Richie mentioned, as if reading Alec's mind.

Cute was one way of putting it. Another way would be something like—the prettiest girl he'd seen in he couldn't even remember how long.

Alec casually turned back to his friend. "I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."

"Ten thousand Italian broads in this city, brother," Richie quipped. "I'm sure you've seen her everywhere."

"So, what's next on my to-do list?" Alec asked as he let the striking girl slip from his mind.

"Don't kill me."

"Christ, what have you signed me up for now?" Alec dropped his face into his hand, already knowing he wasn't going to like his next gig.

"A series of commercials—Crazy Louie's Discount Electronics."