It's Friday night and I'm standing alone outside of a bar with no intention of going back in. Meanwhile my friends are still inside drinking the night away with no intention of joining me. This had unfortunately become a Friday night tradition for me. Out front of the barr, people were drinking, smoking, making out and doing any number of other things that were routine for a Friday night; in short, they were having a great time. I'm a 23 year old just out of university; I should enjoy a night on the town with friends a lot more. But long story short, I've had enough striking out for one night. It's time to call it a night.
I looked up and down the street for a taxi. Mercifully, there was one not too far away dropping people off at the bar across the street. I crossed the street swiftly, dodging people and traffic. In the corner of my eye, I saw a young girl my age in a black dress also running towards the same taxi. I was in no mood for chivalry and quickened my pace, almost knocking over a young couple in the process. Despite the high heels, the girl was just as fast and we both reached the taxi at the same time. She quickly swung open the door which hit me square in the chest, almost knocking me down to the curb.
'Sorry,' she said with absolutely zero sincerity.
'Yeah right. Go ahead, I'll take the next one,' I said, already scouting for another taxi.
'Nate?' she asked with a voice that suddenly sounded familiar.
'Caroline!' I said excitedly; my mood suddenly bolstered.
Caroline closed the car door for a moment and gave me a warm hug. She wore a familiar black dress which I had seen on several occasions and had her long brown hair pulled back into a complicated knot behind her head.
'I haven't seen you since graduation. How are you?' I asked.
The moment I asked, I knew it was a stupid question. She tried to hide it, but her mascara was slightly messed up, her eyes red and even her voice had a slight crack to it. She had the look of someone who had been crying and hastily tried to fix up her appearance. Not to mention I could smell the booze on her breath. She must've had some night. Despite that, she simply replied,
'I'm good.'
'Really?' I asked, not hiding the fact that I clearly knew she wasn't.
Caroline hesitated for a moment before admitting, 'I broke up with Paul.'
'I'm so sorry. I hadn't realised that was still going. Thought it ended ages ago.'
'Oh gee thanks,' she chuckled awkwardly, 'It actually ended only an hour ago. Well, technically about a month ago, but that's kind of a long story.'
'Are you going to be okay?'
'Yeah, I'll be fine.'
Suddenly the taxi driver lowered the passenger side window and leaned across and got our attention.
'One of you needs to get in, I can't stay doubled parked on the street like this,' he said impatiently.
Caroline turned back at me and looked like she had more to say before simply saying, 'I should go. It was nice seeing you.'
She had sat down in the car and almost closed the door before I quickly pulled it back.
'You shouldn't be alone,' I blurted out.
'That's sweet, but I'll be fine. I'm a big girl.'
'Well I hear they cry sometimes,' I said, instantly feeling stupid for saying it.
Caroline laughed in spite of everything. The sound was music to my ears. 'You're funny. But I broke up with him, not the other way around. Trust me, I'll be okay.'
'Why the tears then? Come on, get out of there. You can tell me what happened.'
'You don't want to hear all that,' she said, her resistance clearly failing.
'I literally have nothing better to do.'
'Nate, it's Friday night. You don't want some girl crying on your shoulder bitching to you about how her ex has been a jerk.'
'I would rather that than go home and watch Letterman,' I paused before adding, 'and I REALLY like watching Letterman.'
She smiled and thought about it for a moment. Suddenly, the taxi driver said loudly and sternly,
'I am STILL double parked. Either give me a destination or get out.'
'She'll get out,' I told him, not waiting for Caroline to agree.
She gave me another smile and got out of the car.
'I should warn you, I may still be a bit tipsy. So you're now officially responsible for me,' she said.
'Said one drunk to the other,' I chuckled.
She laughed and slipped her arm into mine and leaned heavily against me. Such an innocent gesture that excited me much more than it probably should have.
'Let's walk,' she said.
***
'I caught him kissing some girl he knew from his work. I broke up with him then and there really, but he pestered me for about two weeks so I thought I'd give him another shot. I figured it was just a lapse in judgment and he'd always been trustworthy. But then fast forward two more weeks to tonight and I catch him fingering her right in the middle of the club. Almost no attempt to hide it. He ran after me trying to apologise, his fingers still wet..."
She began to trail off and I didn't probe any further. But I didn't have to, because after a few moments she continued again.
'Can you believe he tried to blame me? He said it's because I refused to have sex since we got back together; that that made it impossible for him to resist her. I was so stupid to take that cheating bastard back.'
'Never figured Paul for the cheating type.'
'Neither did I. But the longer we dated, all these nasty sides of him started to reveal themselves. He hides it all very well of course. I still don't know why I got so emotional back there. Like I said, we basically broke up over a month ago. Hell, I barely let him kiss me these past two weeks. Still, I guess it just hurt to be betrayed again.'
Caroline and I had been talking for sometime now. We had started walking idly through town, away from all the bars and night clubs before settling down side by side on a park bench. It was a relatively quiet part of town, but being a Friday night, there were still plenty of people hanging about. It was the type of place where there were couples taking romantic walks and at the same time suspiciously young looking teenagers drinking on a playground. We were both somewhat more sober now, but her breath still smelled of beer and shots and I assumed mine still smelled of all that rum I had earlier. To cut a rather long story short, during a brief moment of silence, I said to her,
'It's really good to see you. I'm glad you got out of that taxi.'
'Me too. I felt like I haven't seen you since graduation.'
'You haven't.'