Page 133 of The Bartender Special

“Benny, have you seen what's in the women's bathroom?”

“You mean the tampon and pads platter?”

Felicity hit the table with her hand in a rare hoot of laughter.

“Yes,” she exclaimed. “There were three of us in there just staring at it. I mean, it has labeled dividers and the really nice name-brand ones too. There's even a drop box next to the sink that asks for suggestions on how to make the bathroom experience even better.” Felicity laughed again. “I've never seen that before and, honestly, I'd come back to drink here just for that kind of service.”

Benny was about to tell her that she wasn't the only person there who had praised the selection, but the sound of Dixon yelling from a table over beat him to a response.

“I knew it!”

TWENTY-THREE

So, it started with me jumping off a cliff.

It was amazing. I ran. I leapt. And I didn't even notice for a while. There was the sky and it was nice and warm and weightless. Suddenly, I couldn't remember what anything else felt like.

That's when I saw you. Right next to me, smiling.

You didn't know it, and you still don't, but you did something I've only dreamed about for years.

You made life easier.

But easy isn't real, right? It's an illusion.

This feeling will fade.

But it didn't. You didn't.

The ground never met me after walking with you through the clouds.

Years later and I'm still here.

Waiting for you again.

Waiting for another smile.

Waiting for it to be easy.

Jack wished he hadn't read it.

He wished he'd just stayed in bed, arms wrapped around Benny's sleeping form and stayed happy in the fact that the night before had been one of the best of his life. That the party had been a total success, he'd been surrounded by noise, and it was all thanks to a beautiful man who danced horribly to eighties rock.

But that night couldn’t last forever.

The next day came.

With it, a reminder of what Carol had said at the party before she’d left in a huff.

“I finally read it,” she'd said, without a single segue in sight. “You know, the 'fan-favorite' blog post about him. About Guy. I get why it made so many people go back and try to solve the mystery of who he is.” She'd smiled that smile. The one that warned any other predators around that she was going for the kill. Not them. “It was short and sweet and, considering Benny only wrote it—what, five months ago?—extremely intriguing.” She'd over-sighed, all dramatics. “The rest of us would only be so lucky to feel a love like that.”

Then Carol had looked pointedly behind her at the table Benny and Marcus were sitting at. Laughing and smiling.

It hadn’t bothered Jack.

At least, not then.

“I guess we’re lucky,” he'd said, simply.