"Hello again!" she said with a wave. "It's been a while, huh?"
Being a bartender, I'm usually terrible with names but good with faces, and I can match the face to a drink, but I was drawing a blank. It happened sometimes, so you have to play the game. "Yeah, it has been. Hi. What can I get you tonight?"
"A Jack and Coke," she said, climbing on a stool, and I mean climbing. She was barely 5 foot, with a full figure, not fat but well-endowed.
"Coming right up," I replied as I went about serving her.
"Thanks," she said, sipping her drink. "Diane says hello."
Diane? That girl I dated briefly last year? It must be. "Oh, thanks, how is she?"
"Oh she's good," she answered, idly playing with the stirrer. "She's still working the same place as me. I asked if she wanted to come tonight, but she's busy."
That's right, I picked her up from work one night. Diane wanted to showcase her new boyfriend. I was introduced to a dozen women in five minutes, and this girl must have been one of them.
Things didn't last between us. The only thing we had in common was sex, and that was amazing. But she was into getting stoned, and it didn't matter how. I wasn't into anything beyond a joint or two, so I ended it. She'd come around once in a while, stoned, but I kept my distance.
"I'm sorry," I said honestly, "I met so many people that day, and I forgot your name."
She smiled brightly. "That's okay, I understand, I'm Debi. How've you been Harry?"
"Good, thanks. Still working here," I answered, motioning around the small, almost empty bar. "It pays the bills.
"That's what's most important. I bet you meet a lot of women in this job," she said with a wink. She was cute in a chubby way, puffy cheeks, overly made-up eyes, bright red hair, but definitely playful. And the button-down blue blouse was open enough to show ample cleavage.
I laughed. "Not tonight, I won't"
"Well, you met me, does that count?"
"Of course, it's about quality, not quantity."
Her eyes sparkled and she said, "Well, I'm definitely good quality if you're curious. Diane bragged about you all the time. I was so jealous!"
"About me?" I asked, "Why?"
"Oh, Harry, come on, don't play humble. She said you were the best she ever had."
"That's very flattering but I'm sure she was exaggerating." (Diane probably just wanted to make the other girls jealous, and it worked on Debi anyway.)
I tried to steer away from the topic of Diane, but Debi was my only customer at the bar with a few couples at the tables, and it was late so not much chance of many more people tonight.
"I wanna play some music, can I?" she asked, when it was down to just the two of us.
I said sure and she put money in the big, old juke box. "Come help me, Harry."
I stood beside her scanning the songs on my side while she did the same on her side. After a moment, she reached across to my side, pointing to a song. "How about that one?" Her boob was pressed against my arm and she gave me a wicked smile. "Do you like that, Harry?"
"Yeah, sure."
She leaned further, reading the number to press while she pressed harder on me. I didn't move. I was enjoying playing innocent, and she made sure to move up and down my arm as if unaware of her actions.