Page 5 of Finding Frankenstein a Date

“You could be.” Jason lounged in the booth, legs splayed, as if to say, all this could be yours.

Franky shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not.”

That had Jason sitting forward, at the same time the waiter arrived.

“What can I get you and do you need a menu?”

Jason shook his head and held a hand up in the waiter’s direction, turning his entire attention on Franky. “So you’re saying it’s never going to happen. Not even eventually, not even maybe?”

“That’s right.” He wasn’t going to pretend something he didn’t feel, and it wouldn’t be fair to give Jason hope that he’d change his mind.

“In that case, I’ll just go. I was willing to put up with your—” Jason waved his other hand in a circle to encompass Franky. “—everything if you were a good Daddy, but otherwise, no, just no.”

Then Jason got up and flounced off.

“Well, he got one thing right,” Drac noted. “He needs a spanking.”

The waiter snorted. “You got that right.” Then he turned to Franky. “Did you want something else, or just a refill on your Coke.”

“It’s not finished,” Franky noted glumly.

“Well, no, but it’s lost all its fizz and needs a refresher.” He grabbed the drink and headed off.

Franky sighed. Well, that had not been productive.

“One down, three to go,” Drac noted.

“So the first one didn’t work out. You’ve got three other guys coming to see you. I bet the next guy is going to be great.” Bob gave him a thumbs-up.

“It would be a good start if he was on time.” Franky looked over at the clock, realizing it hadn’t mattered that Jason had been nearly ten minutes late. It was only now two sixteen and meetup number two wasn’t happening until two forty-five.

The waiter came back with his drink. “You got another one coming?”

“I do. In a half hour.”

“Well, hopefully this one will go better, eh?” The guy had a nice smile.

“Thank you…”

“Vince.”

“Thank you, Vince.”

“You’re welcome…”

Franky chuckled. “Frankenstein, but my friends call me Franky.”

“Franky. I like it. It suits you. Well, if you need anything else, just give me a wave.” Then Vince turned to Bob and Drac. “What about you two, do you want anything else? Another coffee top-up?”

Drac immediately moved his cup toward the edge of the table. “Yes, that would be great.”

“You’re going to be up until next year,” Bob noted before turning to Vince. “I’d actually like a vanilla milkshake, please.”

“Coming right up. That refill too.”

“I wanted one the minute that jerk mentioned it,” Bob told him.

Franky chuckled and actually took a sip of his drink this time. He liked the way the bubbles felt going down his throat; Vince had been right, it needed to be refreshed and now it was perfect. He took another sip. He didn’t want to drink it too quickly and wind up having to go pee just when his next date was supposed to show.