Was He an Actor?
Ella was thrilled when the burly guy at the door beckoned them to the front of the line. Never mind that the club was dark and crowded when they got inside, and the first guy who bought her a drink was middle-aged with a combover, practically salivating as he eyed her breasts.
The second guy was all she’d been hoping for. Tall, broad-shouldered, maybe thirty-something, though it was hard to tell in the dark. Ella wasn’t a fan of the cowboy boots, but lots of guys wore them in LA.
“I want to buy your soul,” he said, leaning close because of the noise, and she laughed.
“Seriously?” she said. “Does that line work for you?”
He was even better-looking up close, gazing into her eyes like she was the only woman in the world. He didn’t need a line. Was he an actor? Had she seen him in something?
He seemed familiar. The same height as her high school boyfriend Jimmy, with the same heavy-lidded eyes. Heart-stopping, Jimmy had been, the kind of bad boy her mother warned her against. All her girlfriends wanted him too. But even then, Ella had known she could do better. Look at her now, in a club in LA getting hit on by a perfect ten. Her mother had always underestimated her. If she could only see this dress. Real silk! Ella was going places.
“Sometimes,” the stranger said. “Depends on the vibe.”
JoJo and Chloe
“Uh oh,” Jojo said. “Take a look at three o’clock. ‘Aspiring Actor’ trying to pull ‘Wide-Eyed from Wichita.’”
Chloe snorted.
JoJo and Chloe went to clubs exclusively to people-watch. They’d been talking about making a TikTok series, even a documentary: “Club Dreams.” They were still in the ideas phase.
“OMG, I bet she moved here from Nebraska last week. That dress screams just got off the bus.”
Chloe shook her head. “I vote Kansas.”
Was She the Type?
“Don’t you mean my body?” Ella teased. She felt like a different person in her roommate’s silver dress, skimpier than anything she’d worn back in Iowa. The silk on her skin made her shiver.
“Not at all. You’re not the type to sell your body. You’re beautiful, beyond price. No, your soul.”
She smiled, uncertain. Was this a deeper connection kind of thing?
“Maybe you’ve seen my organization’s ads around the city.”
More LA craziness. She’d asked her roommate about the white cardboard sign stapled to a telephone pole—WE BUY SOULS! in gigantic red letters followed by a telephone number. A Hollywood insider’s joke, maybe, like if you want a challenging job that will suck the soul out of you, apply here. Or a casting call for a musical, a movie. Or a car dealership looking for Kias. Her roommate had no idea.
The stranger moved closer, and Ella’s body tingled. He hadn’t even told her his name. She’d never gone home with someone she’d just met, though it wasn’t like anyone would know. Where had her roommate disappeared to? Maybe she’d found a guy, too.
JoJo and Chloe
“They don’t have boys like him back in Nebraska.”
Jojo snickered. “That’s because all the good-looking Nebraska boys moved to LA. They’re slinging lattes in coffee shops and manifesting stardom.”
“She’s impressed.”
“She’s very impressed. Maybe we should be recording this.”
“Nah. Everyone knows this story. We need something seriously unhinged, not Hallmark Movie or #MidwestCinderella.”
Ella Would Never
They’d finished their drinks and moved a few feet toward the dance floor. The stranger ran a finger down her bare arm. She felt the hairs stand up, electric.
“You might not even notice it,” he said. “Not until you’re on your deathbed. And maybe not even then.”
He was still talking about buying her soul. He was kidding, right? Should she change the subject? Should she tell him her name, ask for his? Maybe they didn’t do that in LA. At least not right away. She wished she could take a selfie with him to send to her girlfriends back home.
He bounced a little to the beat and without thinking, she did too, in synch with him, her hips starting to move. He grinned.
“What do you think?”
He was really hot, that’s what she thought. If not an actor, maybe a model.
“I’d never do that,” she said.
They were almost dancing now. He pulled her close when someone stumbled behind her. She could feel his heart beating against hers.
“Are you sure?”
JoJo and Chloe
“I don’t usually let guys move in so fast!” JoJo exclaimed in Wide-Eyed from Wichita’s falsetto. She held up her hands in mock horror.
“Oh come on. Never?” Chloe said in Aspiring Actor’s seductive baritone. “Maybe it’s time you rolled the dice.”
They cackled.
“What do you think? He’s 100% couch surfing, looking for a bed.”
“She’s probably sleeping on someone’s couch too. He’s promising her his heart. Or soul.”
“Should we stalk Aspiring Actor on camera for a few nights? He’s got serious rizz.”
“We need more than #CouchSurfingChronicles or #LAThirstTraps. A serial killer. A cult leader. You know, like that 7M dude they Netflixed, but younger. The one who repped TikTok dancers.”
“Yeah. Higher stakes.”
Ella On Her Way
Ella pushed herself away slightly, hands on the stranger’s chest, still moving to the beat. She’d only had two martinis, but she was feeling a little dizzy. Maybe martinis were stronger than the pina coladas she usually drank. (“You want to drink something more sophisticated,” her roommate had told her. “You’re in LA now.”)
It would be embarrassing if he noticed. She half closed her eyes, steadying herself against him until the room stopped spinning. The beat became a heartthrob. The noise around them seemed to recede. She felt weightless.
After what seemed like a few minutes, but could have been much longer, she leaned toward him, her lips almost touching his ear.
“Just out of curiosity,” she murmured. “How much would you pay?”
