Valentine's Day, a crock of a holiday in Evan's mind, invented by the greeting card companies to make a quick buck during a slow time. A small part of him admired the genius in it, but mostly he loathed the idea of a holiday that by design messed with the emotional state of every man and woman in America.
"Well not every man," he thought to himself as he strolled to his local hang out. As in his opinion his emotions were not fussed today. Other than the fact that he was alone on his usual trek to watch the game this year, the holiday had affected him very little. In truth he and his single guy friends had seen the holiday come and go for several years now with little notice.
Sure, they had their little tradition of gathering to watch a game every year had started as a rebellion against the consumer driven holiday. After all, what better way to stick it to the absurd holiday, than watching sports on the 'most romantic day of the year?' It had begun that way, but in truth it was a reason to get together with old college friends they rarely saw.
Over the years though, the group had gotten smaller for various reasons. Fading friendships and pursuit of careers were the culprits of early departures. Lately, however their anti-holiday had fallen siege to the mood of the day. Yes, love had seeped in and dwindled their numbers, until the inevitable finally happened. Evan, the lone man standing, strolled into the local hangout to watch his yearly game on Valentine's Day.
He was not sure why he did it to be honest. Boredom, perhaps, or because it was his tradition and Evan was nothing if not loyal, both to his friends and his ideals, and this had once included both.
Not that he was angry or felt betrayed by the absence of his friends. Quite the contrary, he was happy for them. He chuckled thinking of his best friend who had spent over a month obsessing over what to do today, because it would be his first with his girlfriend of several months. Evan would have felt sorry for him, if his friend was not so happy about it.
"No, they did this the right way, I'm happy for them," he thought to himself as he took a seat at an open table in view of the big screen TV in the place. The place was a mix of a sports bar and restaurant that on weekends turned into a club scene. It was practically dead tonight as apparently the sports bar/club mixture was not big for the happy couples.
"The right way," he thought again and chuckled, what did that mean? Of course he knew the answer, as he knew the rules behind this tradition better than anyone. 'The right way' meant that his buddies were only not here because they had established girlfriends of at least a few months. They had not fallen prey to the pressure of the holiday and arranged some blind date, or asked a girl they barely knew out to avoid being single tonight. That rule was probably the other reason Evan was here tonight as that rule had been his idea.
He ordered his customary beer and burger from the waiter and focused his attention on the game he had come for. It was a good game and the time passed quickly. Every so often, mostly at breaks in the action, Evan would look around the room.
There were at least six or seven others in the place. Most noticeable was a quartet of attractive ladies in the corner drinking and chatting loudly. He smiled watching them over the course of the evening, pleased to see that it was not only single guys that could enjoy themselves on this accursed holiday.
However, another woman sitting at the bar was not having the same luck. She was clearly distraught and it appeared the bartender was attempting to console her. It was single women like her that Evan felt truly sorry for on Valentine's Day. Sure, he felt for those guys who had girlfriends with expensive tastes and expectations too, but at least those guys got something out of the deal, most of the time anyway. No, it was the single women who bought into the hooplah of the holiday, only to find themselves alone, they were the real victims of the consumer holiday. The truth was they needed a man to make their night less than he needed a woman to make his, but society had brainwashed them otherwise so they suffered.
Evan felt sorry for the woman at the bar, but that's all he felt. A part of him reached out and wanted to go over and comfort her, ask her to join him. However, that was against his rules and what's more who said she needed him to save her tonight?
No, she was beautiful, even in her distressed state he could see that, she would survive. Still, Evan found himself looking at her more as the night went on. She was medium height, but slightly tall for a woman he guessed due to her long shapely legs. She had long dark brown hair which fell loose to below her shoulder obscuring the red long sleeve shirt she wore with the pair of form fitting jeans that showed her legs off so well. Her breasts were above average, about a C cup if he were to take a guess. She had a pretty face and even better smile. He had found that out after giving her a quick polite smile when she had caught him looking during a break in the game.
However, their interaction was restricted to that smile exchange. Evan could not seem to bring himself to talk to her. Instead he convinced himself that the girl was too much trouble to bother with and continued watching the game.
The game got good near the end and he soon lost track of the woman sitting at the bar. As the game went to overtime he found she had gone and it was only himself, the bartender and the four ladies in the corner left. A part of him felt regret at not talking to the brunette, but he brushed it off like he always did and he headed for the bathroom to take care of business before the overtime period began.
When he returned he found that the quartet in the corner was leaving. Whether due to the lateness of the hour, a judgment that they were too drunk, or the outside that they too had been watching the game and did not want to stay for overtime he did not know. He admired the four as they left. They ranged in attractiveness, the best being a tall blonde that could have easily been a model. He was amazed, given that they were all mildly attractive, that they were all single tonight. He also chided himself for not noticing all this earlier. Like the brunette he had admired all night, he had let them go without a word to any of them.
Although, he had to admit if he had not wanted to mess with the lone brunette tonight, a pack of good looking girls was certainly out of the question. As a result he was not too upset at the missed opportunity.
As overtime started his attention was again drawn to his game. It was close until the end, but in the end he was pleased to find that his team won. It was as he went to celebrate that he noted that it was just him and a bartender he had not seen too often. As he was sure he would have remembered the attractive woman. She had a definite exotic quality he did not ordinarily find around here. She was of Mediterranean decent Greek, Italian, or something like that. Opening his mouth for the first time, outside of when he ordered food, he asked,
"So? How did you end up with the Valentine's Day shift?"
"Oh," she said not looking up from wiping the counter, "I always working Valentine's Day. It's one of my favorite days to work, such interesting interactions tonight." Evan smiled and said,
"I think you have the wrong kind of place for that stuff tonight. I mean I'd think the fancy restaurants would be big for that." The woman smiled still not looking up and said,
"Maybe for some, but I like it here. See at those restaurants you know what you're going to get, loving couples, nervous first dates, and awkward setups. Its too I don't know, in your face there. I mean if you like that stuff, and I know people that do believe me, but it's too easy. I like to see the raw magic of the night. It's rare, but if you witness it." She sighed, stopped wiping, and looked up at him, "It really makes you feel alive, you know?" Evan was confused and said,
"Not really, what kind of magic are you talking about?" The bartender smiled, giggled, and said,
"Why true love of course Evan. What other magic is there? To see a couple meant to be together meet for that first time," she shivered with joy and said, "There's no bigger rush, well not for me anyway." Evan was starting to get a bit concerned as not only was she acting weird, but how did she know his name.
"I'll take your word for it." then after a pause, "Say how did you know my name?"
"I'm magic," she said mystically and Evan gaped at her. She burst out laughing and after calming down said, "You paid with a credit card Evan J. Grant." She then leaned in and whisper to him, "Bartender's secret, shhh don't tell anyone." Evan nodded chuckling and easing up a bit. She was strange indeed, but seemed harmless. As she went back to cleaning up she said, "Besides, you and your friends come in here every year to watch the game, and like I said I work Valentine's Day. Where are they tonight anyway, odd you're by yourself tonight?"
"Really? I never noticed that."
"Somehow that's not too surprising." The bartender said. Evan was taken aback at the comment and asked,
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked a little offended. She gave him a pitying look and he asked, "No, seriously what?"
"Okay, but you asked for it buddy. You barely noticed those four attractive women in the corner until they were leaving, you completely missed the red-head that stopped in for a drink during the second period, and worst of all you missed that adorable brunette sitting next to me all night..."
"Her I saw! I agree good looking, a bit off emotionally, but still." He stopped noting the bartender's impatient glare and she said,
"Wow! blind and rude, what an attractive combination! On second thought I think I she's better without you after all."
"With me? What are you talking about?" The bartender rolled he eyes,
"Oh come on, I saw that smile you gave her, so I know you felt something. Of course you were so into that game of yours that you missed the fact the she was throwing every come hither sign in the book at you." Evan was struck speechless at this he tried to respond, but finding nothing just sat there.
After a bit he rose and went to leave. He got half way to the door when he heard the bartender say,
"Just a minute buddy, I have one more thing you have continued to miss Evan." Without turning Evan said,
"And what makes you think I want to here it?"
"Oh trust me you'll want to here this one. Now please just sit down." Evan was tempted to simply leave but something pulled him back. He had to know the last secret for some reason. So he returned to the bar and sat in front of the bartender who was pouring two shots. "Smart man." She said smiling as she put the bottle away.
