My little adventure in LA with Karla

I met Karla on a warm August night. I was heading to LA from San Diego for a conference at the Disney Studios. I already had a big smile on my face for being off work for two long days. When the train arrived at the Union Station in the afternoon, all I wanted to do was to leave my suitcase at the shitty hotel I booked and hit the streets.

I enjoyed the bohemian Hollywood vibe. I liked to visit there from time to time. It allowed a temporary getaway from my critical thinking of life which I was obsessed with those days: How my life would’ve changed if I had totally different reactions to the past events over the years. The question wasn’t really quantitative and there was absolutely no way of knowing.

On one of those nights I found myself walking slowly on the Sunset Boulevard. There were so many people around enjoying the night in their own ways. Right in front of me was a blond girl trying to parallel park her car and couldn’t properly manage. I took a light drag from my cigarette. She knew that I watching her. After many tries the girl parked and got off her car. When our eyes met I cockily said “That doesn’t look right, you gotta try again”. I smiled at her with arrogance. I took another drag from my almost finished cigarette, tossed it and walked up the street. I was heading to the famous Viper Room for some live music and drinks.

With the effects of music and alcohol I had two great hours. I chatted up so many random people- teenagers, old couples, good looking women and groups of friends. After a while the venue started getting too crowded. I never liked bars where it was too difficult to move around. It was time to bounce. As I started walking down Sunset Boulevard I passed by the Irish Pub Rock & Reilly’s where I saw her again. The girl who couldn’t park was drinking a beer by herself. She seemed like the person that chose loneliness over bad company, just like me… It is difficult to find good connection with people these days anyway. I walked in the bar through the karaoke singers and introduced myself. Her name was Karla. We started talking about random things. She seemed like a sweet girl, I bought her a beer. Then, it was her turn to sing on the karaoke night. She had an angelic voice, I was very impressed. After her amazing performance the bar shut off the lights. It was time to go.

Karla gave me a ride to my hotel and I invited her upstairs for some more chit chat. Apparently she had also graduated from Arizona State University and then moved to California to become an actress. Sadly she wasn’t a very successful one. She did a bunch of side roles and extras chasing season roles in series. And she worked as a cocktail waitress in the off season when she couldn’t find ongoing work.

Her story wasn’t much different from eighty percent of other people in Hollywood. But what made this girl special was the misery in her eyes; she was clearly hiding a sad story deep inside her. I always felt close to people who had tough experiences in the past, it built character. This felt like a soothing light through the tunnel in the California shallowness. After a 20 minute conversation I felt this instant connection with her that neither of us could deny. As she left my hotel room, Karla passed me her business card and told me to give her a call the day after. With the effects of all the beer I had drunk, it didn’t take me too long to get to sleep. I dreamt about kissing every inch of her body and making love to her. It felt amazing.

As I left the conference the day after, I thought that it was one the most boring one I’ve ever been to. I had plenty of work in San Diego waiting for me at the office, and I was wasting my time here at the Disney Studios over bullshit. Nevertheless it would’ve been a shame leaving LA without making love to Karla, so I called her. She said she’d be there within 30-40 minutes which ended up being two hours. Note to self: “Never rely on women you’ve recently met at a bar” I was starting to get really hungry waiting for her arrival.

She took me to some place where we had delicious Mexican food and beers. This was the real deal, not the Americanized version. When we finished our tacos we took a round of tequila shots and headed to her car.

I told Karla that I have booked the hotel for only one night, and I needed a place to stay. As I expected she offered me to spend the night at her place. She lived at Los Feliz, one of my favorite neighborhoods in LA. When I got inside her house, there was a sharp smell coming up my nose. It was one of the dirtiest places I’ve ever been to. The carpets were covered in cat litter, there were clothes and trash everywhere. She had three cats in the apartment, one of which was deaf. I thought that the messy apartment was symbolizing her messy head.

I asked for the way to the bathroom to take a shower. Then I got out all naked and told her that it would be really fun to shower together. She took off her clothes and joined me. We slowly touched and washed each other’s bodies, then we got out and made love. It was magical; we cuddled and slept together until sunrise.

Early morning as she drove me to Union Station, she told me that her mother who has recently passed away drove her father to this same place every morning. It brought a flashback to her childhood. I could see the emotion in her blue/green eyes. I hugged her, kissed her, and then hugged her again. I thanked her for everything and started walking toward the platform. I wasn’t going to see Karla for another three months. As I gulped down I lit up a cigarette. I had plenty of work waiting to be attended in San Diego.

On the way back I thought about why I felt closer to people with pain over the superficial lives of California. All the pain and struggles we’ve been through made us who we are today. Working towards a goal, making it happen, earning it step by step is one of the biggest glories that life can ever give us. It lets us build a solid ground stronger that anything that would’ve been spoon fed. And this girl was no different- coming from a broken family, a good college education and many lonely nights; she chose to follow her dreams over some boring job that offered a stable salary. I’m sure this girl with a big heart is going to get the glory she deserves someday.