*Beep* My phone notifies me of a text, distracting my thoughts.
Unknown Number: it's benji. be there in 15. curious to where you take me ;)
"Aghhhhh!!!!!", I chuck my phone onto the couch in front of me. Curious to where you take me? That text confirms everything I already knew. He was mocking me. He wants me to take him to a place where all the poor people flock just to give himself a laugh.
Fine. I'll take him to the best place in Vegas.
I sprint to my room and search through my hamper, tossing unworthy clothes to the floor. I find an old yellow shirt with the words Sunset Mobile Park across the chest in gaudy orange lettering. I throw it on and continue through the hamper until I find my Goodwill jeans with the holes in the knees and the ripped belt loops from trying to pull my pants over my fat ass. I shrug on my worn leather jacket. I slip on my black boots to complete my look.
Perfect. One Trailer Trash Vicky comin' right up!
Faye approaches the doorway and leans on the frame just as I'm checking myself out in the mirror. "Trashy Vicky is out I see. You tryin' to serve looks in that outfit?" she points her long manicured nail at me.
I turn my head to her with a mischievous grin. "Oh, I'm serving revenge, Sweetheart".
*Beep* I hear my phone from the living room.
Unknown Number: what's your apt #? i'll come get you.
Me: no it's fine, on my way down now.
Here it goes.
I leave my apartment and hop down my stairway to see a shiny silver Mercedes Benz. The windows were tinted so dark, I couldn't see anyone in it but I knew who it was.
Show off.
I hear Benji's door open and I quickly run to the passenger side and get in. I'm not letting this bastard open the door for me. It's all part of his ruse to make me think he treats everyone the same.
I settle into my seat and turn to see Benji getting back into the car. To my surprise, he's not in a suit. His hair is slightly disheveled and stubble is in its early stages on his face. He's wearing a grey henley with the sleeves rolled up, his muscles flex as he steers. He paired it with a dark pair of jeans and black boots. He looked good. He looked normal.
"I was going to open the door for you", he explains.
"It's fine", I say flatly as I turn back to face the windshield, shaking the thoughts out of my head. I don't know what was so amusing, but he lets out a small chuckle and starts to drive.
"You look nice tonight", he smiles, giving me a once over.
Lies! "Thanks", I answer curtly.
"So, do you-"
"Turn left".
"Are you"-"
"Right".
"I think-"
"We're here".
Benji pulls into the parking lot of my favorite restaurant. The Strip Joint was an old dive bar further down the strip. No strippers though, the name is pretty misleading. It didn't look like much on the outside (or the inside for that matter), but the had the best burgers and chili cheese fries in town.
"The Strip Joint?" he stuffs his hands in my pockets, staring at the semi-run down building.
"Yeah, you said my pick. Right?", I give him a raised eyebrow.
He laughs and walks towards the entrance. "Yeah", he smiles.
I bring him to my usual booth and sit down. I pluck the menu out of its holder and hand it to Benji. "Pick what you want, everything's good here", I tell him. He searches the menu as I watch him intently. As annoyed as I am, I can't help but look as those light green eyes of his. His eyes had a similar look as he looked at the menu, just less intense. His eyes looked like they were searching for something that even he didn't know what that was.
The waitress comes over to our table, causing me to come back to reality. "What'll it be", she asks Benji between smacks of her gum. He looks to me like he wants me to go first, but I motion my palm to him in insistence.
"I'll have the #4 burger and the chili cheese fries", he says proudly.
"And for you?", she turns to me.
"Same", I say as she jots my order down and struts away.
"You like chili cheese fries?", I ask, suspicious. I was still under the impression that this guy wanted to humiliate me in my own environment. I was testing him.
"They're my favorite", he smiles. "I used to get my maid to buy them for me whenever my parents weren't home even though I wasn't allowed to have them. They didn't want to disobey my parents until I started slipping them twenties from my piggy bank".
Must be nice to have maids. and money. and a piggy bank for that matter.
Our food comes and we eat in silence. Benji keeps looking at me like he wants to talk, but doesn't know what to say. The awkward silence drags me back into my conclusions about the actual reasons behind this dinner. The conclusions turn into anger that I can no longer hold inside. I was done playing my game, I wanted to know the truth.
"Why are we here?", I slam my silverware down onto the table. Benji looks up at me in confusing, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Well, you owe me a favor and you took me here, remember", he grins. The sarcasm only makes me angrier.
"I mean, why did you want me to take you out? Here?", I motion to the room. "You knew I'd take you to a dump. You knew I wouldn't be able to take you anywhere fancy, so why make me come to dinner with you? I know why, you made me bring you here so you could laugh at me". I finish my tirade and search his face for a reaction. He looks pensive, he's fighting with his words. "Well, joke's on you! Because I'm proud of where I come from and who I am!"
"Is that why you were acting so weird in the car? And during dinner?", He crosses his arms on the table in front of him. Before I could even answer his question, he sighs. "Believe it or not, I don't only eat fine dining. I like real food too, I crave it like everyone else. Do you really think I would be that awful to make you take me somewhere just for laughs?"
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. All I can do is look at him. He continues,"You claim you're proud of who you are, yet you still refer to this place as a 'dump'. He says it so nonchalantly as he picks up a fry and pops it in his mouth, his eyes never leaving mine.
As much as I wanted to be angry at his words, I couldn't. Even though I didn't want him to be, he was right. I was so determined to take Benji to the worst place I could think of that I'd forgotten my humble beginnings started from places like this. What I once referred to as my favorite place was now considered a dump.
I hang my head in shame, unable to say anything back. The silence is daunting and uncomfortable.
"Wanna shoot some pool?", Benji disrupts my wallowing, pointing to the pool table next to us. He smiles at me giving me the confidence to speak again.
"You play?", I ask playfully, sliding out of the booth and to the pool table. "Winner buys dinner".
"You're on", he challenges. He grabs a pool stick off the wall while I position the balls in the triangle. He lets me break. I end up being strips, he's solids. We order a pitcher of beer and drink between turns. We talk about mostly work until we didn't.
"Sunset Mobile Park?", he reads my shirt, awaiting his turn.
I lean over the table and shoot my turn. Miss. "I grew up there, it's a little ways past the strip". Most people show me pity or sympathy whenever I tell them where I'm from, but Benji looked indifferent. He looked like he wanted to understand, not pity.
"Hmm", is all he says as he takes his shot.
"Are too from Vegas?", I ask.
"Yeah, born and raised. Lived in the Palms area all my life", he says. Palms was basically it's own small city located near the strip. It was a community where all the wealthy people lived, worked, breathed. It was like all the rich people huddled there because they were too good to mingle with the lower class.
"Must be nice", I hear myself blurt out.
"It's not", he sighs taking another shot. "People are fake there. Women get lip injections while men pretend to be your friend just to get what they want out of you. I always say it's like an act and we all have to play our part".
Listening to him talk, it was a feeling I knew all too well. I knew we grew up differently, but his words resonated with me. I knew how it felt to have to be something your not to get ahead. I can't count how many times I've had to hide the holes in my shirts for interviews or how many times I've had to lie about my address on resumes so nobody would judge me. It's like an act and we all have to play our part.
"Looks like you're paying tonight", I smile.
***
BENJI POV
Before going into work, I'd already convinced myself that I wasn't going to try and find this girl. But when I saw her in that theatre, I changed my mind so fast before I could convince myself no again. I'd never chased someone before, but my legs were already moving towards her like I had no control over my body. I felt the need to know her, like I needed to breathe.
When I picked her up that night, she was radiant. Her long raven hair cascaded down her back, swaying in the summer breeze. She looked so effortless and natural, like she didn't have to prove anything to anyone. She was real. I'd never thought I'd be able to recognize anything remotely real even if it hit me in the face, but she exuded it. I didn't know much about her, but just the way she carried herself showed that she's been through a lot and I'd only seen a glimpse of it in the elevator.
She picked this dive bar a little ways out of town for dinner. I'd never been there before. My parents would never be caught dead in a place like this. I never got to eat or do anything outside of the Palms area until I graduated college. Even then, I'd have to make my ventures outside of the Palms quick before my dad caught me. One time a magazine article came out showing pictures of me at a taco stand and my dad went ballistic about how I shouldn't fraternize in those kinds of places because it made the Blair name look bad. God forbid one of his high society friends caught his son getting something to fucking eat. But I wanted to get to know this girl and I knew girls like her wouldn't want to be out of her comfort zone. And what I mean by 'girls like her', I mean down-to-earth girls that could care less about fancy shit. The last thing I wanted to do was intimidate her or wave money in her face.
Although it started off a little rocky, we talked and laughed. She was funny and witty and smart. She was nothing like the girls I was used to, she had substance. By the way she talked about her upbringing, I could tell she really was proud of who she was. She was strong and independent, she didn't need anybody. I liked that. She was authentic and easy to talk to. She didn't seem like she was playing a part with me and I realized I wasn't playing a part with her either.
***
The beer must've put her in a good mood because she let me walk her up to her door. Normally, this would be the part where she plays the "I don't normally do this" act along with me playing the "Of course not, we'll just kiss" act until both of us are naked and rolling around in her sheets. But tonight I had a feeling there would be any games or plays or acts. There was just reality, just now. It was just her and me and this moment in front of her door.
"Well, I had a nice-"
"Goodnight!", she quickly shouts, facing her head to the ground and putting her palm up for what looked like... a high five? I reluctantly give her what she asks for and smack my palm onto hers. She fumbles with her doorknob and slams the door in my face.
What the fuck? I walk back to my car unable to keep from laughing.
***
Author's Note:
Don't you just love Victoria? 😂😂😂😂😂 I think she's hilarious!
How do you guys like their chemistry? Yay or nay?
This seems to be the first time Benji's dealt with someone so authentically herself, she doesn't hide anything. He finds it refreshing to meet someone like that while his world is constantly filled with fake people.
Do you think Victoria's honesty will start to affect them in a bad way?