She released the glass, which I saw out of the corner of my eye, but just as I grabbed it, reached out and gave my hand a squeeze. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Her hand slipped away, and she was gone before I couldrespond.
I sipped the drink as I looked around, smiling at the older man at the end of the bar who I recognized but whose name I didn’t know, then busied myself with my phone. I had no desire to be alone, but still wanted to buy myself time before starting up a conversation. Just in case someone had noticed the interaction between Stormy and me. Without the aid of alcohol, it took longer than usual to loosen up, but I was finally relaxed when a guy in his thirties with a bushy beard slid into the seat beside me.
“Miller Lite?” Stormy asked when he caught her eye.
“You know it.”
She smiled then returned to making the cocktail she’d been mixing when he arrived.
“I don’t know how she keeps track of what everyone drinks,” I said, leaning closer to the guy.
I’d seen him before, more than once, but had never spoken to him. Honestly, I tended to avoid striking up conversations with men since it was impossible to predict how they would take my friendliness. Too many times a simple discussion was misinterpreted – even by men much older than me – and while most men were able to shrug off my rejection, I’d been called a tease on more than one occasion. Which was insane. A conversation didn’t equal an offer for sex.
“She’s good like that,” the guy said, giving me a friendly smile.
Thankfully, he switched his focus to his phone once Stormy had delivered his drink.
I did the same, scrolling through social media, clicking on friends’ posts and articles they’d shared. Most earned little more than a passing glance, but a couple caught my attention enough that I actually clicked on them. Like the petition a high school friend had shared, which was asking the government to repeal The Fertility Act. It was ridiculous, the powers that be didn’t care about a petition, but I still clicked on it. Over two million signatures. A lot, but also not a lot considering the population was still over one hundred million.
The second post that caught my eye was an article about avirus that had popped up in Europe. It was new, but already it had been detected in five countries and a total of fifteen hospitals.The next pandemic?was the headline, which seemed both premature and alarmist.
“I heard about that,” the bearded guy next to me said, nodding to my phone.
“We don’t know anything yet,” I told him, shutting the article and setting my phone face down. “It could be nothing.”
He gave me a doubtful look as he took a swig of his beer. “If you say so.”
Not interested in discussing the possibility of yet another pandemic, I shifted my attention to Stormy. “Your guy playing anywhere this weekend?”
“The Rooftop,” she said, waving in the direction of the other bar as if it were visible.
“Nice. Maybe I’ll stop by.”
“It’s going to be busy.”
Good. I needed a crowd if I was going to forget my sorrows.
After finishing my drink and gesturing for Stormy to make me another, I ordered a side of teezers – delicious fried, cheesy jalapeno bites – and once again tried to strike up a conversation with the guy next to me. After a few false starts, we managed to find common ground by discussing the latest Netflix sensation, which was a post-apocalyptic show about a group trying to start over after an EMP. It was good, with lots of character development, action, and even some steamy scenes, and held my attention better than anything I’d seen recently. Something I told him, which inevitably led us to discuss our all-time favorite shows. It wasn’t the least bit surprising to discover that he liked the old classic,The Office, as much as I did.
“It reminds me of a simpler time,” he said, then took a big swig of his beer.
I snorted, then covered my mouth since I was finishing up a bite of teezer, and replied, “You mean a time before pandemics were normal?”
His grin was infectious – much like the virusesthat popped up every few years. “I mean a time when a company could have a boss that was inept and still somehow not go out of business.”
I threw my head back, a boisterous laugh bursting out of me that shook not just my body, but the bar stool I was sitting on as well. Which was the only reason I didn’t notice Trevor approach. I squealed when he wrapped his arms around me, my heart leaping to my throat then settling when I glanced back and met his eyes.
I slapped him on the shoulder but barely made contact thanks to the awkward angle. “You scared the shit out of me!”
He grinned as he released me and slipped into the empty barstool on my left. “You’re in a good mood.”
I lifted my club soda and winked. “Just letting loose.”
“For a change,” he replied with a roll of his eyes, but he was still smiling. When he caught Stormy’s eye, he called, “Warped Wing Gamma Bomb,” naming his favorite local beer.
It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Like I didn’t know that.”
