Dramatic Child Stars

Thirteen.

Ryland,
July 23rd, 2021,
11:02 am.

I met Leah almost a full hour before Percy did.

On that day that I met Leah, I was drunk. That's obviously not an unusual occurrence, but I'll mention it now because it's relevant. I was drunk and I was in a bar called the Shanghai tunnel bar, which is a dive bar located downtown near the water front. Percy was with me down in the basement where the main bar was, but I'd gone outside to smoke and I was about to take myself back inside when Leah approached me.

She offered to buy me a drink. I accepted because in addition to my very obvious love of drugs, I also loved drinking and it was rare I paid for myself anywhere. Leah was a complete stranger, but she was pretty and she had a flirty smile. She was bold enough to offer a drink to a complete stranger. That was a type of bold that I respected.

Later, I'd realize that Leah knew exactly who I was. I'd know that she ditched her friends as soon as she saw me standing there because she recognized me and wanted to shoot her shot with a random washed up celebrity. I was like a conquest to her. For the moment though, I was just drunk enough to enjoy the attention.

The bar had two levels. It was following the Portland history of speakeasy-like accommodations, so there was a small bar upstairs and then a larger one downstairs with the actual drink selection and food and a pool table. Percy was down there waiting, but I was sitting at a barstool taking shots with the pretty stranger completely forgetting about him.

Then Leah touched my leg. I looked down at her hand sitting on my thigh and then back at her flirty eyes. She'd been talking non stop, but I don't remember anything she was saying. I just remember how it felt when she was running a hand up and down my pant leg. I remember how alluring her body language became and I remember thinking that it wasn't all that bad. I actually really liked Leah at that point. I thought she was really fun.

Leah escalated it at some point. She was touching me over my pants right there at the barstool and leaning in to teasingly kiss my neck while laughing and downing drinks. Eventually she was pulling my hand and I was hopping down off the barstool after her as if I was anywhere near sober enough to follow what was happening.

Then the thing where it goes wrong started to happen, which was objectively not good because Leah was leading me to the privacy of the skeevy dive bars bathroom. My chest started to feel tight.

The door to that bathroom was coincidentally closed because it was occupied. It was also at the top of the stairs leading down to the main bar. Leah had me pushed against the wall there waiting for the bathroom to free up, her lips on my neck and my face like it was her most treasured passion. I couldn't breathe at all. Her hands on me felt explosive and violating. I felt kind of like throwing up my drinks.

Instead of letting myself crumble in a public place, I pulled away and said, "I forgot about my friend downstairs. Come meet him."

Leah was not thrilled by that, but she followed me anyways. I think if we'd slept together that night, things would have been easier in the long run, but instead I took her downstairs. I introduced her to Percy and when he started complaining ruthlessly about my absence, I handed over the woman I'd been touched by like she was a present of some sort. She definitely shut him up for me. Leah wanted to fuck a celebrity and one way or another she got her way. I fed Percy drinks until he was drunk enough to invite her home with us. I paid for everything with Percy's credit card at the end of the evening.

Leah and I were probably both bad people that night in a lot of ways. Percy was just a bystander. As a result, he now had a small child and a person named Leah that he couldn't bear to get rid of.