Two Nails, One Love by Alden M. Hayashi

Author:Alden M. Hayashi [Hayashi, Alden M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2021-09-15T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Meeting Lucas wasn’t “love at first sight”—I don’t even know what that is—but there was definitely an undeniable, irresistible attraction. When I first saw him, I was with a couple friends at the Studio One disco in West Hollywood, enjoying a carefree night of celebration. I’d just finished playing in the orchestra pit for the final performance of the Pasadena Playhouse’s revival of “Carousel” and was in the mood to blow off some steam by dancing into the early morning. I’d already had several beers when, while waiting in line to use the men’s room, I noticed a tall, medium-build guy, maybe a little older than me, with straight black hair in a neat side part, accenting the strong features of his handsome face. He saw me and smiled, but I quickly turned my gaze away, embarrassed that he’d caught me staring. Lucas had the most endearing smile, his slightly crooked grin and soft brown eyes seeming to light up with kindness and intelligence. Before I knew what to do next, though, one of Lucas’s friends grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the dance floor, and they were quickly swallowed by the crowd of shirtless men.

After I used the restroom, I looked everywhere for him. There must’ve been at least a thousand men crammed into Studio One, and it took me a good hour just to circle the dance floor. In the process, I lost the friends I was with, and then my mind started its usual descent into pessimism: Lucas was smiling at someone behind me in line, not at me; if he’d indeed been interested in me, he’d have stopped to talk; one of the friends who’d dragged him off was really his boyfriend. All that negativity still cluttered my head two hours later as I stood in line to use the men’s room again.

And then, just as I neared the front of the line, Lucas came walking out of the restroom. I caught his eye, and he walked directly over to me. “We’ve really gotta stop meeting like this,” he said. We both laughed, and then quickly introduced ourselves.

Throughout the night, as we danced together, I learned that Lucas didn’t live in Los Angeles. He was from New York City, where he worked as an editor with Warner Books. He was in L.A. that week for a publishing conference and was flying back home the next day. Because Lucas was returning to the East Coast so soon, it made that night all the more special. I felt like I was in a dream, one I knew would end soon, so I wanted to savor every second before returning to reality. All my senses were heightened to the vivid colors of the laser lights on the dance floor, the blaring sound of the music reverberating through every cell in my body, the visceral smell of men perspiring while packed on a dance floor, the electric charge I felt every time Lucas’s

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