"Can I buy you a drink?"
Angela wasn't sure what the woman had just said to her. She hadn't felt like herself all evening. These monthly drinks with the girls had become the only time she got out of the house. She'd been stuck in her own head all night though. She thought she was getting away with it until Sharon insisted she join her for a cigarette. Angela knew she was on the patches, she wouldn't stop talking about the patches. Angela tried to play it off as nothing. Sharon just wanted gossip to share with whoever she brought out for the next smoke.
He had been acting strange though. It had been years since they'd had sex, she didn't even bother to think about it anymore; not that she'd want to anyway. She was certain he was cheating on her. She wasn't sure if she actually cared. Two weeks ago, he hadn't come home. He said he was out drinking and stayed on a friend's couch. If it was just a lie she could have dealt with that, but he had been acting strange ever since.
He'd stopped sleeping in the same bed. In the mornings he would hide in the bathroom to get changed. She wouldn't be feeling so bad if only it all made sense.
"So I take it you're not thirsty then?"
It was only hearing the voice again that pulled Angela from her own thoughts. This woman was throwing a very suggestive eyebrow directly at her. Angela followed the eyebrow down the face, down the low cut top, down the leather trousers and down past her ludicrously high boots. Angela was trying very hard to stare at her breasts. She noticed a long thin silver chain with a small key nestling. . Angela realised she had just been staring at this woman for at least a minute. She immediately felt herself blush.
"Oh. Oh my god. Me, you mean me." She stammered in response, desperate to fill the dead air with any noise she could muster. "Um, yes. A drink. For me. Yes. You're offering to buy me a drink. Yes. Thank you, yes"
Angela had no idea what she was doing. Her entire body was flushed with embarrassment. The woman didn't seem phased though. She hadn't stopped looking at Angela this whole time. Angela wasn't entirely sure she had blinked. In the corner of the bar, she could hear her girlfriends laughing. It was not helping.
The woman flicked two fingers at the barman. He quickly produced two drinks for them.
"You know you're pretty when you're flustered" the woman told her.
Angela turned a shade of red beyond human perception. It had been years since anyone had looked at her like this. She couldn't deny that she was enjoying it. She was feeling something stirring within her that had been dormant for a long time. She had to regain some control over the situation. This was ridiculous.
"Thank you. This is very sweet, and I'm uh flattered but you should know that I'm uh married." Angela held up her wedding band as proof, like some kind of defense.
Completely to Angela's surprise the woman took her hand and started to examine it closely, turning it over. Angela could feel the woman's nails gently pulling against her skin. She was so gentle.
"Married women are allowed to have a drink, aren't they? How long have you been married?"
"A few years now?"
"Are you happy?" The woman asked her.
Angela's mouth flapped open and closed a few times. She wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure what to think. She should be furious at this woman, coming over to her like this when she's obviously married and hitting on her and making insinuations about her marriage. It was a question she had been asking herself a lot.
The woman laughed. It didn't seem cruel. She was smiling.
" I have an easier question for you, but you might not like it." The woman leaned back in her chair.
She seemed so relaxed, so confident. She must do this kind of thing all the time. Swing into the lives of married women, leaving them flustered and excited. Is that what she wanted? Her friends had gone quiet now. Or, if they were still chattering she wasn't paying any attention to them anymore. Angela's whole focus was on this mysterious woman, leaning back on her chair, sipping from her glass. Anegla stared at her. She took her in, seeing the angles of her collarbone and her nails painted dark red and filed down to sharp points. Angela felt her mouth go dry with anticipation.
" What?" She managed to croak out.
" When was the last time you came?" The woman asked her.
It was all Angela could do not to spit her drink across the bar. She should be furious at this woman, she was sure of it. She was going to yell at her, or throw her drink in her face or storm off or all three. What if the barman heard? What if her friends heard? When was the last time she came? When was the last time she had had sex? When was the last time she had even thought about sex? She couldn't even remember the last time she had played with herself.
Angela saw the woman lean in closer towards her. She felt a hand position itself
gently on her knee. Looking down, she could see her nails tenderly resting on the hemline of her skirt. She could barely feel it, her hand was so gentle. But still, she could feel electric thrills expanding out from each of her fingers, sending cool shivers through Angela's spine.
"Uh... I... Uh.." The words stumbled out of Angela, her thoughts racing.
The woman just sat, smiling softly eyeing up Angela who was sitting in stunned silence. The woman watched as Angela started several sentences before they petered out in front of her. She had been entirely pacified by the question.