“No, it's not.”
She makes herself comfortable on the stool, leaning forward and resting an elbow on the bar. “My name's Jenny.”
“Mikey. You look awfully lonely without a drink.” It's the sort of line I would have used back in the day.
“Lonely? Well, I am kind of lonely, now that you mention it. I wouldn't mind a vodka cranberry.”
I order her one from the bartender, and she keeps shifting her gaze about, but letting it always settle on me, her eyes filled with desire. I know that look. I've seen it on plenty of girls before, and this isn't the kind of girl who I'm going to have to work hard to get. Hell, she's doing most of the work for me.
“So, what brought you out tonight?” I ask her.
“My girlfriends. It's my friend Carol's birthday party.”
“Happy Birthday to your friend.”
“I'll pass it along.” She leans close to me like she’s trying to emphasize her impressive breasts. “You have the most beautiful blue eyes. Has anyone ever told you that?”
I want to tell her plenty of women before her have said the same thing, but I go with, “It's come up.”
“A man who knows what he's got. What other sort of compliments do you receive from women?” Her gaze drifts lower. “I have a funny feeling you get a lot of compliments there as well.”
“No complaints.”
Her lips, bright red with lipstick, curl into a smile. “Look, Mikey, I'm gonna make this real easy for you. I'm honestly not the best of friends with Carol. She’s my coworker’s friend, and they’re both starting to get on my nerves tonight. I’m only in town until the end of the week. You're cute, and you seem like no drama. So to save us both the stupid lines, I just want to tell you, if you're game, I'm game.”
I should take her up on this offer. We could Uber or Lyft back to my place or go to wherever she's staying and just have a little fun.
Maybe that would help me shake Scott.
The truth is, though, I don't want to shake him.
“I think I'm going to bow out tonight,” I tell her.
“It could be real fun.”
“I believe you, and I would, but the truth is, I'm kind of getting over someone.”
“Oh, really? What’s her name?”
“His name? It’s Scott.”
“You could have just told me that you're batting for the other team.”
“I bat for a lot of teams.”
She snickers. “I like you, Mikey. So who's this guy? Tell me about him.”
“He lives in Georgia, and we've had a thing going on for a few months. I've never had anything like that. Never any sort of connection with another person, but this guy, I mean, he changed my whole world. I didn't even think I would ever want something like that.”
“Why not?”
I don’t have to think about that. I know it’s my parents, not only with how they made me guarded by betraying me, but by being the shittiest example of what a relationship was. In some way, I think I’ve always been afraid that’s how relationships are: filled with lies and misery and resentment. And I think I’ve just been avoiding them because I don’t ever want to end up in that nightmarish place with another person.
“It's a lot of things,” I tell her, because I don't plan on sharing that kind of information with a stranger.
“But this guy's different?”
“Very different. Amazing and wonderful and special.”
