A Short Story by Irm Bjorklund
It was late as I drove up to the law school recruiting social. You know the kind of social in which I would be given an opportunity to hob knob with the best partners from a few prestigious law firms.
I was a little disheveled as my dad had just died. And for some reason his perfectly perceived, but quite dead body, was in the back seat of the car blankly staring at me; but not in an impatient way. I guess his death had made me feel a little sentimental this evening, but I had no time to ponder these feelings as I was running late to this recruiting function and had to be at the top of my game.
I parked the car outside the strip joint; oh yes, did I mention that this once in a life time recruiting event was being help at what could only be described as a raunchy, run of the mill strip club filled with cigarette smoke, large brawny bouncers, and the normally scantily dressed dancers. And in the middle of all this raunchiness, there were a handful of tables, all with five or six name tags each, that we where supposed to sit down at and discuss why we wanted become the next great lawyer with several prestigious partners.
Unfortunately, I spent more time paying attention to the bouncers and strippers; and not enough time "hob knobbing" with the partners. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity but I didn’t really seem to care. I guess I was a little distracted. Maybe it was my dead dad in my car. Maybe it was the fact that I was thinking (on a subconscious level) about my ex girlfriend. Maybe it was the confusion of telling a stranger my life story in a strip club; which is oddly enough the behavior that I would probably engage in even if the partners where not here.
Strangely enough, at this moment in which my mind was wondering and my smile grew evermore fake as the minutes passed, my ex-girlfriend showed up. I guess she had heard that my dad had died and was a little concerned about my state of mind; or she just hung out at these types of places? In either case, it was a great relief to see her and to know that I could spend some time with her. We decided to leave the club to get a bite to eat and spend some time talking about us, I hoped.
I told her I would meet her outside; I just had to show my face one last time to the partners and express my gratitude for their interest. As I left the club I couldn’t seem to locate my ex anywhere. The only people in the parking lot were one huge bouncer (that seemed to follow me with his eyes) and a few strippers that where smoking and looking at me like I owed them something; like I was some type of cute puppy dog.
I am not sure what made me more uncomfortable at this moment. The thought that my dad’s body lay in the back seat of my car or the fact that my ex had seemed to have vanished.
There was only one option; to drive around searching for that one restaurant where she was eating. So I grabbed by best friend from law school, Henry Lee, and headed off to find my ex.
We took his car of course. As he drove I attempted to find my ex’s phone number in my Blackberry. But I couldn’t find it. Maybe I was a little drunk but the screen on my phone seemed very blurry and my fingers seemed just a tad bigger than normal. I guess you could say I was all thumbs.
We must have looked for two hours, but we couldn’t find her. Man this was turning out to be one weird night. I had Henry take me home so I could wallow in my loneliness in private.
I guess I had forgotten about my dead dad in the back of my car. Neither my car nor his body seemed to be a real concern. Oh well. I guess I was hoping to have some closure with my ex. Maybe she would call?
Just then the phone rang. It wasn’t her; it was “Shaq” (you know Shaquille O’Neal, the famous ball player). He needed my help with some matters in Japan. I guess my problems would have to wait until I returned home.
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