FR: Beverly Center

OBSERVATIONS
-Relax and smile. It goes far.
-Being honest with your intentions can work if you're sincere about it and not dicking her around
-Discretion is the better part of valor... or something

THE STORY
Went back to the Beverly Center tonight as per my normal scheduled time to go... somewhere where girls gather. I had spent the previous two hours looking for some web programmer interns for work at The Art Institute of LA so I was socially warm already. I had four interactions, all with Hired Guns (because, hey, they're relatively easy):

1) Blonde in first-floor of Bloomingdales. I flubbed this one pretty bad but pushed through it to Rapport, which was choppy and disjointed at best. After about 5 minutes I bid her adieu.

2) White girl from Iowa working in Kenneth Cole store. She was cute (kind of a Meg Ryan quality to her face) so I went in and told her so. She was physically ill so I had no opportunity for kino other than the handshake (she was holding a crumpled kleenex in hand and looked tired) but went through my Rapport stack anyways. Rapport went well (and was good practice for me) so I went for the day2, got the BF answer. I said "cool" and wished her a good evening.

3) Chinese girl working in the Gelato place up in the food court. High School senior(!) and a little chubby but cute nonetheless. Just vibed with her, got some logistical info (like the whole "I'm in High School" thing), flirted a lil' then bid her a pleasant evening. This one's a fine line that I'm walking, since I don't like jail.

4) Korean chick in Armani Exchange. I'll elaborate on this interaction because it almost caught me off-guard:

HER: Excuse me do you need any help?
ME: No, I'm just poking around.
HER: OK... [starts to leave]
ME: Actually... one thing...
HER: ???
ME: I know this is a little random... but I just had to say you're really cute.
HER: :-D Thanks! High-five!
ME: [Almost got caught off-guard by this reaction] No, wait, you get a Low-five... [low-five her]
HER: :-\ :-)
ME: OK... now you get a high-five, too! [high-five her]
HER: [laughs] [starts to walk away]
ME: [Grip her fingers a little] Wait, what's your name?
HER: C____. :-)
ME: I'm John. :-)

From here I get about 30 seconds of Wide Rapport before some customer comes in and pulls her away. :-\ I chill and do some shopping, then re-open for a little bit. Flirt a lil' and ask her if some shirt I grabbed makes me look hot or sexy and get her to laugh. Find out she's from the same hometown as I am(!) so I roll with that for a second before she's pulled away again.

I go try on some clothes then come back out.

ME: Hey, C______.
HER: :-)
ME: I know you're REALLY busy right now, but I want to take some time to get to know you. When do you get out of work tonight?
HER: 10:30pm.

From there we waffle on her schedule some, but it's nothing solid. So I go for the contact close.

ME: Let me get your number and I'll call you tomorrow so we can set up a time to meet.
HER: :-\ ...
ME: Just tell me, I'll memorize it. I don't want to put you on the spot.
HER: :-) 700-6...
ME: Wait, [grab a random shirt] take me to a changing room.
HER: :-D

Get into a spare changing room, get her number properly and give her a quick call so she has my number in her cell phone.

Leave the store and leave a voicemail that goes like this:

"Hey C_____ this is John, that sexy and/or hot guy you met at work in A|X. I just wanted to leave you a message so you know what my voice sounds like on the phone. I'll give you a call tomorrow so we can set up a time to meet next week. Talk to you later. :-)"