JASON STARR - Panic Attack

At around ten, he showed up at the club, paid the five- dollar cover, and went inside. He looked around near the bar and didn’t see Marissa, and then he went farther in toward where the band was playing. Man, what shitty music. Was she serious with that “best band in the world” crap? Johnny knew if she wasn’t screwing the bass player there was no way in hell she would’ve liked this garbage, and when Johnny saw the bass player up there, strangling the bass, trying to look like Kurt Cobain, burnt- out with the hair over his eyes, he couldn’t help smiling. If that was the guy she went for, some wannabe like that guy, there was no way she’d be able to resist Johnny Long, the real deal.

Johnny looked toward the front of the stage, thinking she’d be up there with the other groupie types. He didn’t see her- but wait, there she was, standing next to a few other girls. She looked better in person than she did in the pictures. She had a sweet little body and what looked like a pretty nice ass. He didn’t look at her for very long, though, knowing how important it was for her to notice him first. He got into a good position, off to the side about ten feet away from her, and looked toward the stage. After a little while, although he was still staring straight ahead and couldn’t see her at all, he could feel her eyes on him. He knew she was checking him out, noticing how hot and sexy he was, but he had to play this right. Timing was everything with a pickup, and he had to give her a chance to really notice him, build up a fantasy in her head about who he was. She didn’t just have to like him, she had to want him.

At the perfect moment, when he sensed she was about to look away, he turned and gave her the Johnny Long smile. He knew that the way a woman reacted to his smile was as good as him asking her to have sex with him and her answering yes or no. If she looked away quickly the answer was no; the door was closed. If she didn’t look away but reacted like she’d been caught doing something, the door wasn’t completely closed, but it would take some work to open it all the way. Ah, but if the woman smiled back and didn’t look away at all, then the door was open, and in Marissa Bloom’s case there was no doubt about it. Her door was wide, wide open.

He went over to her, maintaining lots of eye contact, and asked her if she wanted to get a drink at the bar, and naturally she said yes. He let her walk ahead of him, loving the way her little ass looked in those tight jeans. He liked the little tee she was wearing, too, how it showed the angel tattoo on her lower back. Tattoos on the lower back were always a good sign. He’d never met a girl with one of those who didn’t love to screw.

At the bar, he put his greatest asset to work- his irresistible charm. As he expected, she loved that he’d shortened his name to Xan, and saying that he’d call her Rissa from now on had been unplanned but ingenious. Having a pet name for her communicated to her that he wanted to see her again, that he expected to see her again, but he didn’t have to come out and say it, which would’ve made him seem way too pushy so early on. He bet he was the only Casanova in the world who knew this trick.

When the conversation got into art, he really hit his stride. It was obvious that she was thrilled to meet an artist, and it impressed her more than if he’d told her his last name was Trump. He dropped all the names of her favorite painters but did it in a casual way, like Wow, we both love the same paint ers, isn’t that a big coincidence? Man, she ate that shit right up. Every time he mentioned Pollock or van Gogh or Kahlo or whoever, he was one step closer to scoring. He knew so much about her, had so much information to drop, it almost seemed unfair. But then he reminded himself- she wasn’t just some innocent girl, she was the daughter of Adam Bloom, the daughter of the guy who’d killed Carlos in cold blood. She deserved everything she had coming to her.

Things were going so well that he knew he could’ve scored with her tonight if he wanted to, but he had to stick to his same plan. This was a long con after all. Yeah, he was going to nail her good, but he had to build her trust completely to accomplish everything he wanted to accomplish.

So he kept the BS flowing, telling her everything she wanted to hear, and then her boyfriend came over. This was too perfect. Johnny figured it was that Darren guy she’d been blogging about. Johnny had been in this situation many times before and knew there was no better way to win over a girl than to get rid of her pissed- off ex. It helped when the ex was a skinny little weasel. So Johnny took Darren aside and squeezed his hand as hard as he could and told him very calmly that if he didn’t leave Marissa alone he was gonna cut off his dick and feed it to him. He said this with steel in his voice, looking right into the wimp’s eyes, and he could tell he was getting his point across. Finally he let go of the guy’s hand and watched him hightail it out of there.

Johnny could tell Marissa was impressed, and he scored more points when she went to tell her friend that she was leaving. Her friend looked over at Johnny, and he grinned and read her lips: He’s so hot. Now Johnny had gotten friend approval. Was he the greatest pickup artist in the world or what?

Johnny had to be careful not to get too cocky, not to shoot himself in the ass. At the cafй he almost went a little too far, saying that he’d lived in Hampstead at the same time she did. Of course, he’d picked up this info from her blog, and he’d been smart enough to do a little extra research about it earlier, checking out the neighborhood on a map of London and picking up the name of a street in Hampstead near where she lived. But that was all he knew about the area and he had to change the subject quickly before she asked too many questions.

He had to be more careful from now on, make sure he didn’t get boxed in like that again. He saw her checking her watch, saying she had to get home. He knew she was just being the Good Girl, trying to make him think she wasn’t the type who went home with guys she hardly knew. Yeah, right. He knew if he tried to get her back to his place, hit her with some more charm, he could’ve scored, no problem. He almost pushed for it because he was in the mood to bang her, but he knew that would be taking a risk. She might feel bad in the morning, freak out, not want to see him again, and he didn’t want to take that chance.

So he insisted on taking her back to Forest Hills, and he could tell she was impressed. She’d met a hot guy who was nice and thoughtful, too. She probably felt like she’d struck gold. What woman wouldn’t?

At the house, Johnny was glad to see the police car parked in front. He’d expected Bloom would panic when he found the note under his door and try to get some kind of extra protection, but little did he know this was gonna backfire right into his face. This was exactly what Johnny wanted, for the cops to see him coming home with Marissa, kissing her good night, and walking away. Now he could get as close to the Blooms and the house as he wanted to because as far as the cops were concerned he was clean.

He told Marissa all the right things, how he wanted to see her again, and he knew she wanted him to kiss her. He let her want it a little longer, making her really want it, and then he gave it to her. He was holding both her hands and was gentle with his lips and slipped in just enough tongue. She was pressing her body up against his in a way that told him she was ready for him, but he stuck to his plan and said good- bye, leaving her wanting more.

As he walked away, he saw the cop looking over at him. Johnny looked down, avoiding eye contact. Man, Johnny couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a rush like this. He couldn’t wait to see Marissa’s blog tomorrow. She’d write about how she’d met this great guy named Xan and how excited she was. Just thinking about that name, Xan, cracked Johnny up- But nothing was funnier than picturing Dr. Bloom sitting there in his fancy house. He’d probably jazzed up his alarm system, gotten new locks for the doors, and thought he was safe with the cops sitting out there. Yeah, like anything could protect him now. Pretty soon Johnny was gonna be inside his daughter and inside his house, and that would only be the beginning of the pain he’d make that man feel.