Friday, March 17th:
"So, where are we going?" "Let me take care of that. Just be ready by 8."
Cat hung up the phone, after saying good-bye. She was a bit nervous. She was heading out on a blind date—she had never been on one, but after the break-up she just had, Cat wasn't really looking for anything serious.
Cat put on her jeans and her Guinness t-shirt, which seemed to fit the mood for the day. It was St. Patrick's Day, and if anything, she could at least try to enjoy herself getting drunk. Cat looked at herself in her dorm room mirror to finalize her outfit. Her jeans nicely accented her ass, and her Guinness t-shirt looked good over her 36B breasts. Cat kept her chestnut brown hair down and straight, and her emerald eyes were accented by the forest green eye shadow that she wore.
Cat felt butterflies in her stomach as she sat in front of her TV while she waited for her date to show.
Her date's name was Brian. Not quite her type—quite immature for his age, didn't really know where he was headed in life. He wasn't much taller than her when she put on her heels, so that put him at about 5'6". Shaggy jet black hair which he covered with a hat, and a goutee. Well, Cat wasn't really looking for anything serious at the moment, so she might as well go along for the ride.
They entered a bar called Plantation, and boy was it packed, and not just with patrons. It seemed she was going to have to gag her way through the smoke for the night. And the music was all wrong for St. Patrick's Day.
"Who plays rap on St. Patrick's day?" she whispered to Brian. Brian just shrugged. "Can I get some quarters? I am going to find some Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphy."
As Brian handed over the quarters, there was a loud laugh. Cat turned her head to the end of the pool table and saw two guys with two girls. Both guys looked like they belonged in the military by the way their hair was cut. And good god were they sloshed!
Cat was a bit revolted as she headed over to the jukebox. Then, she grabbed her beer and waited patiently for it to be her and Brian's turn at the table.
Two games later, Cat and Brian had beaten down two doubles teams, due to Cat's dumb luck and Brian's skill. Cat had fessed up to Brian earlier that poker was her game and that while she enjoyed pool, she sucked.
"So, what was this about you sucking at pool?" Brian asked with a sly smile as the next team racked up.
"Oh hush!" Cat playfully jabbed Brian in the ribs. Then she glanced over at their opponents. And groaned.
"Tell me those are not our next opponents," she asked, pointing at the two military guys.
"'Fraid so, darlin'," Brian responded, noting the look of disgust on Cat's face.
"Alright, let's get it over with."
The military guys were at least easy to distinguish—one had bright red hair, the other had glasses and a goutee.
Red head looked over at Brian. "Your break."
Brian went to one end of the table and started off the game. For the first few minutes, it wasn't so bad. However, Cat could feel the eyes of the glasses guy on her at all times. Finally, he slid up to her and started talking. But what came out of his mouth made Cat want to smack him.
"You know, you should go for that 9 ball," he said with a smile.
"I know what I am doing, thank you," Cat replied as cold as ice.
"But you aren't even aiming correctly."
That set Cat off like a firecracker. Standing up, with the poise of an ice queen, she looked the guy dead in the eyes, anger flashing in those emerald green eyes. Her face was as hard as stone, set in a mask of the anger that only a woman can dole out. Her full, pink lips were set in a hard line that even when angry, looked extremely sexy.
"Look, dumbass, I know how to play pool. I know I am a girl and I know the idea shocks you, but I know what I am doing. So how about you fuck off."
The guy with glasses looked like he had been hit, but the smile never left his face. However, at the moment, it looked like it was glued on. Holding up his hands in defeat, he backed off. And three to four shots later, his partner, the red head, lost them the game.
"Told you I knew what I was doing," Cat said as she passed by the glasses guy again, grabbing her beer and taking a swig of it. "I may not always get the ball in, but if anything, I know how to block shots and screw people over."
The guy in the glasses just smirked and didn't say a word. That was the last they talked for the night.
Saturday, March 18th:
Cat had decided to go out with Brian again for a second time. But this time, she told him, she would get to pick the place. And where she wanted to go was The Haunt and dance.
Dressed in another pair of tight blue jeans, her favorite sneakers, and a black and gold tube top with a zipper down the front, and a high ponytail on the crown of her head, Cat and Brian arrived at the Haunt around 10pm. As Cat dragged Brian into the bar on the Saturday after St. Patrick's Day, and headed for the coat room, she bumped into someone familiar.
'It can't be,' she thought, blinking several times as the person staring back at her was the guy she had told off the night before from Plantation. She finally walked around him, still pulling Brian along and collected her thoughts as she arrived at the coat room.
But Cat felt so off. She couldn't help like she should apologize for her attitude from the night before. Finally, her feelings gave over to reason and she decided to go over and apologize.
Brian was preoccupied with the pool table, so he didn't notice she left. Cat walked right up to the glasses guy and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey."
"You probably don't remember me, do you?"
"Yes, I do."
"Look, I wanted to apologize for how I acted last night. I just hate it when a guy thinks I do not know what I am doing when it comes to pool or poker or something like that. But I do want to apologize for being such a bitch last night. I am sorry."
"It's ok. Not to worry. What's your name?"
"My friends call me Cat."
"Cat? I am Cal."
"Nice to meet you," Cat said as she firmly shook his hand.
The two of them talked over the rest of the night. Cal was not a bad looking guy—it was hard to tell his actual hair color in the dim light of the bar, but it looked like a dirty blonde or brown. His eyes were deep brown that had a glint in them that said no one should mess with him. His face was very angular, accented nicely by his goutee and glasses. He wasn't tall, about Cat's height, perhaps a few inches taller. And her guess had been right—he was in the military, the 82nd Airborne, just home from his first tour of Iraq. As the night wore on, they continued to talk. At one point, Cat interrupted Cal by dragging him over to the stage and dancing for him. She tried to pull him up and join her, but he declined, stating that he had to be really drunk to dance.
Finally, Cat noticed that Brian was watching, and she suddenly felt uncomfortable. He was signaling that he wanted to go. Cat jumped down from the stage and into Cal's arms.
"Hey, stay with me, and we can go get breakfast together," Cal said into her ear over the thumping music of 'Hollaback Girl.'