Jenni padded into Funky Joe's and scanned the bar for her friends. The place was noisy and the lighting would get even ugly guys laid, but she managed to spot Mark and Jim in a booth at the back, near the tables. She threw her shoulders back and swayed through the crowd, doing her best Mae West, "Well hello there boys, got room for one more?"
Jim jumped up, "Jen, you made it!" He said hugging her. He stepped aside so she could slide into the booth next to Mark, tucking her case behind her feet. "Hey ya want anything to drink?"
Jenni closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Tequila, double shot."
"Whoo hoo! one of us is gettin' laid tonight!" The short, wiry guy across the booth declared with a grin.
"Hey, Jen, you remember Kev, and this is Ben," Mark indicated the cute, well built blond guy sitting across from her.
"Um, hi. Kevin Mathews, Myra's ex?" Kevin grimaced and nodded. Jenni smiled and turned on the charm, "Soo Ben, Where are you from?" She said with her head cocked to one side and her eyes twinkling.
Ben was a good looking guy who knew he was good looking. He was used to getting hit on and being choosy. He smiled back and sized her up cut by cut: nice rack of prime rib, decent rump roast. "I work with Jim. I'm his boss."
"Oh whatever." Jim said as he returned with Jenni's drink and a chair, "He's been there two months longer, so he thinks he has seniority. Don't believe anything he says, Jen. He's scum."
She laughed, "Look who's talking, Mr. Call out another girls name."
"Hey, that's better than Miss Oops, I forgot I slept with you ten years ago in high school."
Jenni giggled, "Man I'm really sorry about that. But there were a lot of guys in high school. And it was ten years ago."
"Yea, but how many of them are you still friends with?"
"Come on, Jim, if I remembered sleeping with you, we probably wouldn't be friends."
He frowned and shrugged. "So what's up with the tequila?"
"Dick head at work." She downed the shot, and shuddered. "He's always nitpicking, saying I need to put forth more effort, use my brain. Prove my value to the company. I think he'd fire me if the other execs weren't eating out of my hand."
"You do use the dippy blond thing a little too much." said Mark.
"The dippy blond thing works for me," she said, turning to face him. "Besides, I do my job well enough. Everyone else loves me. He's the only one who doesn't."
"And little Jenni has to be loved, by everyone." Mark shook his head, "You are still seeing that shrink, right?"
Jim put his hand up, "Stop right there. We are not here to sort out Jenni's issues. We are here to get drunk and play pool."
"Amen. Get me another drink and rack'em up" She flagged the waitress and ordered. Jim got the triangle out. "Hey, we've got too many people."
"Pete and Tony are coming. They're bringing a friend." Mark began, "Kev was tired of sitting every other round out, so we figured we'd find two more peeps and get two tables."
Pete and Tony meandered around the bar looking for their friend and then joined the group at the back booth. They looked like mobsters in their expensive sports coats, and might have been if fate hadn't smiled on them with scholarships. Instead they were executives.
"Hey, who brought the dame?" Tony asked, shrugging out of his jacket and taking Jim's chair.
"Aw, come on Tone," Jenni pouted, "I just want to have a little fun with the boys."
"If you were here to have fun, you'd've left the ace bandage at home and worn something low cut," he waved at her obviously bound, but still ample chest. "You're here to play pool."
"What do you care?" Asked Mark, "You're married. You don't need to ogle Jenni's jugs all night."
"The rest of us are single." shot Pete, "And ogling is the most action I've seen in, well, way too long."
"Sorry to disappoint, Petey, but I can't play with them loose. They get in the way."
"Hey, there are lots of girls here. I'm sure I'll get lucky. Or at least drunk enough not to care." He waved to the tall, slouching guy who had just walked in, "Hey Mitch! Back here!"
Jenni looked up, and spotted Pete's friend, non other Mitch Johnson, the dick head from work. She slunked down in the booth.
"Hey Pete!" They shook-slapped hands and gave each other a one armed hug. "Good to see ya' man."
"Same here, same here." He looked at the gang, "You know Kev, and this is Ben, Jim's boss, and ..."
"Jenni Peters?" He said in disbelief.
"Oh good, you've met," Pete shrugged.
"Yeah"
"Wonderful," Jim smiled, "Are we gonna stand around talkin' or play?"
"I'm gonna get a drink." Mitch looked around, "Anyone else?"
"Beer," came the chorus.
"Tequila. Lots of Tequila," Jenni moaned.
"Brand or well?" He asked with eyebrows furrowed.
She looked at him, and wanted to run and hide. "Whatever gets me drunk."
Mitch turned and headed for the bar. He couldn't believe that twit and him had friends in common. He couldn't believe she had friends that were male. The rumor around the office was she would sleep with anything, and she looked the part. She wore too much make up, too tight shirts and too short skirts. She was the ultimate office bimbo. Although he had to admit, she looked okay with her face cleaned off, almost sweet. He ordered drinks and started a tab. Suddenly getting thoroughly shit faced sounded appealing.
The rest of the night seemed to go pretty smooth. They played pool and got drunk. They got really drunk. Maybe a little too drunk. Around last call they started calling cabs, and Mitch sort of remembered walking back to his bachelor pad.
Jenni woke up, her head throbbing and her body aching. She looked around at the sun filled room, and tried to remember how she got there. She sat up and shook her head. There was a pajama top conveniently laid out on a bench at the foot of the bed. She could smell food cooking, and here a radio. She put the shirt on, wondering what kind of weirdo she'd hooked up with the night before.
She wandered out of the bedroom and followed her nose to the kitchen, sizing up her new acquaintance from the back. Tall, broad shoulders, big tattoo. So far, so good. She breathed deep, "So, what's for breakfast?"
"Omelets. There's juice in the fridge, and glasses in the cabinet above the sink." Mitch turned around and pointed. Jenni stood there, too stunned to speak. "You okay?"
"Got any Vodka to go with the juice?" She finally answered.
"It's a little early for that. Besides, eggs are a much better cure for a hangover." He put the omelet halves on two plates and brought them to the bar.
"It's not the hangover I'm trying to cure."
"Aw come on, it's not that bad. I could be ugly. Or worse."