Chance Meeting
"What a waste of a Saturday night." I practically growl to my dark and empty house. My first date in over a decade, and it was downright shitty. I can practically hear my ex-husband laughing at my turn of events.
I knew this guy wasn't going to be a love match, but I was at least hoping for a good time. Who am I kidding? I was hoping for a good lay. It's been close to a year for me and the last time was with a distant husband who was ready to leave anyway, so it hadn't been something to write home about. This new guy tonight had gone from okay to tolerable to 'if I don't get the fuck out of here in the next thirty seconds I'm going to lose my fucking mind' in about the first hour of meeting him.
I had gotten out of there as politely as I could possibly manage without bald faced lying to the guy. Of course a couple of not-so-friendly names were thrown in my direction, but at least I don't have to choke down one more obvious made up story of how amazing he is at everything.
I take off the new dress that somehow feels tainted now and exchange it for some black shorts and a tank-top. The clock is telling me that its pathetically early to call it a night. So I decide to drink my troubles away for a bit. I decide that is probably slightly less pathetic. Putting on some sandals and getting the keys to my car I make my way to one of the drinking holes downtown.
Being a small town we have about seven churches and three bars to pick from. One restaurant that isn't Bob Evans and a Walmart. Those are our sources of entertainment. I make my way to my favorite bar. It's tailored more towards people having a beer and less towards people getting drunk; plus they typically have live music on Saturdays so I can at least pretend that was the reason for my going there tonight.
The bar is pretty full of people. Laughter and loud music fill the air and I'm immediately at ease. I've always liked the feel of this place. I walk straight up to the bar and order a drink just hoping to salvage a bit of my evening. The bartender is friendly enough, but his attention is on a pack of 20 somethings who are bar hopping on a party bus and wrapped in pink with tiny penis necklaces draped all over them. Bachelorette party: the perfect cover for a woman trying to not be noticed. They are certainly where most eyes are drawn currently and I can't help myself as well.
One of the girls has found her way on stage and is singing off tune with the lead of the band. Her dress is just a touch too short for the dance she's performing and she's making quite the fool of herself, but all in good fun. I've been there before. Can't say I'm judging and I can't say I'm jealous. Two more of the pink company have sauntered up to the bar laughing too loudly and asking for blowjob shots. The bartender plays their game and flirts along with them while he prepares a tray of the ridiculous drink, and a few more innocent patrons look their way to watch the situation unfold. I laugh to myself at the scene and enjoy my drink from my hidden little corner.
A tap on the shoulder has me turn to the left. Seeing no one there I turn to my right and a familiar face smiles back. "Ben! Oh my gosh how are you?!" Leaves my mouth at the sight of my old friend. We worked together for years and had become that one friend at work that you lean on when you just want to scream at your boss or finally tell off his annoying ass secretary. Ben always made me laugh, and we bonded over a lot over the course of about six years. He had found himself a new job five years ago, and we had slowly dwindled our relationship down to a 'Happy Birthday!' text exchange over the years.
"Hey, Anne! Damn it's been a while." is given back to me along with that smile that had haunted my fantasies a time or two. He was always good-looking to me. Tall, dark hair, light eyes, and a dimple in his cheek when he smiled that was absolutely devastating. He had been married when we first started working together and I was engaged, so we had never become romantic. We would flirt, but nothing over-the-top. I just enjoyed his friendship. I always had the impression he enjoyed mine as well.
"I thought you moved onto bigger and better things." I said to him trying to poke around without just coming out and asking why the hell he was here. He gave that not-real smile people give when they try to laugh away bad things in their lives.
"Well I had moved, but after the divorce I wanted to get back to my roots. I've been back in town for a couple of months. You still at-" A loud crash of glass hitting the floor disrupted the merriment of the bar. One of the pretty-in-pinks starts to profusely apologize to the bartender for dropping her blowjob shot to the ground. The tolerance of their drunkenness is starting to wear thin on the people around them. The band must have picked up the tone too because their playing was suddenly a lot louder.
Ben grabs my attention again and starts saying something, but I can't make it out with all of the extra noise. When I yell, "What?" for the third time he just smiles and grabs my drink. He nods his head to the side gesturing me to follow him. We walk to the back of the bar where a door leads to the porch outside. The warm night air feels good out here and the loud music is muffled so we can hear each other better. He turns to me once we reach a table outside and hands me my drink.