I felt a hand tap my shoulder, followed by a female's voice:
"Excuse me ... hi."
Prior to my hearing those words, I was busy rubbing my handkerchief over my both lens of my glasses and even as I turned around to gaze at the female's face, all I saw momentarily was a blur -- an outline of a beautiful creature. It was made apparent to me when I returned my glasses to its proper place above my nose; I almost heard myself gasp at the woman's beauty.
"You wouldn't happen to be my date right -- Anthony?"
She even knew my name -- how convenient.
"Why yes ... yes, that so happens to be me." I offered her the stool beside me and she took it. We were in a bar on Wilson Boulevard, a watering hole where I often found myself coming to, even though I was adverse to crowded places and cigarette smoke. Most times I even lied to myself that I came here to drink, when the only alcohol I ever order is a cocktail.
She was well dressed for the evening, wearing a blouse that was cut low enough to show her cleavage, with a wool jacket, a pair of tight skirt and black boots. Her red hair was cut low into a bob. She had a long neck, slender frame with striking green eyes. She was beautiful, though I figure that was something she was well aware of. I couldn't help but notice a couple of male eyes turn to look at us as we took a sip off our drink.
"I'm Shawna," she introduced herself.
"A pleasure knowing you, Shawna," I shook her hand. At that moment I couldn't help but catch a whiff of her perfume -- light musky it was, yet totally vanilla-like. We ordered for our drinks and went on sizing each other up. "Ever been here before, Shawna?"
She cast her eyes around the bar and shook her head. "Can't say that I have. There seems to be more of men in here. I looked around for females and noticed only few."
"You that perceptive?" I inquired amusingly.
"It helps when you live in a city such as this."
"It's a gentlemen's bar, at least that's what I heard them calling it the first time I dropped by."
"Whatever qualifies one as a gentleman," she asked me. "I'm curious to know."
"Well, it depends from whichever angle you want to look at it. Some see it as one who's well-to-do, outstanding, flamboyant ...devilishly handsome too. For others, it's more or less the aura one carries with him no matter where he is, even if he's taking a piss."
She arched an eyebrow and smiled. "That's a rather off-kilter way of defining things, wouldn't you say?"
"Sorry if my words --"
"No, no, no, they're fine. Just that, you don't look like the sort who'd say something like that. You look so straight."
I shrugged and reached for my cocktail. "I am straight. But right now I don't know ... maybe it's got something to do with you."
"Fascinating. Do all the ladies find you this charming?" she asked.
"Not really. Usually they ignore me and I too choose to ignore them, I think it's fairly balanced that way."
"That's a rather unfair statement."
"I wish I could offer another but I've long ran out of bullets."
A brief quiet moment passed between us, and then: "So tell me, how many ladies do you often bring or meet down here?"
"To tell the truth, no one. You're the first."
A smile. "I'm flattered, except I don't believe you. Are you married?"
I looked at her. "Would it matter if I said yes?"