Thread: Four Letters (Ariamella and Dane Stalling)

Cameron watched Marisa slide into the booth across from him and smiled at her. I'm Cameron Montri. I review bars for Alpha, he said, and you're Marisa Demmings, Walker's new wunderkind if the rumors are to be believed. He pushed the Hefeweisen toward Marissa and picked up the stout. He took a slow sip. I don't believe rumors, he said, I believe what I see, and what I see right now is a very beautiful woman who's probably pretty smart working hard to get a jump start on her career. He took another sip of his beer. You're not off to a bad start, but you haven't published with Alpha yet. You'll have to pop that cherry right if you want to keep moving up the ladder. So I invited you and you came. I don't care if you call it a date or not. I knew you were going to be here and I got you some food. If you're in Cole's at 7 on a week night, you're here for a French Dip sandwich. They invented them here. At least, they claim to have invented them here. If you don't want a French Dip at Cole's, you're trying to get shitfaced or laid. Or both. Cameron took the steak sandwich and dipped it into the soupy sauce. He let his eyes close as he chewed. The first bite of a Cole's steak dip was a religious experience. He dipped it again and held it up for Marisa. You have to try this. It's the best first impression a sandwich can make. Pay attention to how it makes that impression. It's delicious, the meat is tender, perfectly cooked, served with these crazy pickles, but it's more than that. It's making a promise. It promises that there's more where that came from. It promises me that the next bite after a mouthful of beer will be stunning in a whole new way. Casual sex is all about the promise your first impression makes. And manipulation. Cameron ate for a while, watching Marisa eat, watching her breathe, looking at the place where her cleavage disappeared into a dress that should have come with some sort of warning label. Is that a Vera Wang? he said finally, Marcus downstairs had a shoot for one of her collections and that dress reminds me of some of the dresses they were shooting that day. It looks like it was made for you. Look, I want to help you for a few reasons. First, and most selfishly, I would much rather look at you across the office than any of the last few girls they've had in there. Secondly, my guess is that you'll be very good at what you're doing. If you increase sales, my year end bonus goes up. Third, if you have the balls to show up here for a story, I might actually end up liking working with you. Okay, the players are going to hate me for telling you this, but here's how the manipulation part of it works. It's basic economics. I create a trade deficit- a debt that you have to pay back somehow. I'm banking on the probability that you either don't have money, or you feel that it's somehow demeaning to pay for your own meal. It doesn't occur to you that if I offered dinner, I should pick up the tab. If I'm picking you up, I'm going to hint that you got your drinks, you got your sandwich, you got your sparkling conversation. When do I get what I want? Cameron leaned back and wiped his mouth carefully with a paper napkin and smiled. If you don't like beer, I can have Brent mix you one of these fantastic boozy milkshakes they make here. Now, I spend a lot of time watching pickups in bars. It's my job. Your part of getting picked up is to look fantastic, and you do. The next part is more important though. You want to be in control of as much of what happens as possible. What that means is for fuck's sake, never give anyone else your number. Stay in control of who can reach you. Never take him to your place. You can't get away from him if he's in your house. Most of these guys are pretty harmless, but if he decides to experiment with tequila, he might not stay that way. And in the morning, it's way better doing the walk of shame away from his place than from yours. Cameron looked at her closely. Maybe you get off on being out of control. Whatever, but you start the night in control no matter what. He rolled his eyes at himself. I sound like your dad. Tell me how you're going to kill this column. Besides following me around to all the bars in town hoping I get lucky.