Drew and Katie had been dating since the summer before her junior year in college. Both had a tendency toward over achievement in school, and this was the first long term relationship for either. Katie had long red hair and a short, curvy frame. Drew was very thin, and slightly taller than average. He was always a fan of a simple t-shirt with the name of an obscure band paired with some grotesquely over sized headphones, and she of the ankle-length skirt and sweaters or sweatshirts. He had graduated by now, and her own college career would be over in another month. They were together for a long time. There were fireworks at first, and the relationship was quickly approaching its 3rd anniversary. However, their interest in each other was waning, and frankly they only stayed together because each was too scared of being lonely and the childish hope that an anniversary would suddenly revitalize their interest.
While Katie continued with college, Drew had entered the working world and had an entry-level position punching numbers into a computer for a Fortune 500. He was living at home again and although the drive wasn't long, they didn't see each other as much. He did end up seeing a lot of his new coworkers though, including Tori. Tori was a secretary, and seeing as the only way he could see their boss in person was to talk to her first, the two became friends. She had a similar build to Katie, though a bit thinner and her hair was dark and worn short with highlights, put up in an artsy random arrangement. She was more outgoing than Katie, and although she was ambitious, it didn't keep her from having fun. They had very little in common: a shared attraction to Drew's shaggy hair and thin frame; an intangible "cuteness"; and a place in Drew's fantasies.
Of course, Drew didn't believe that Tori was interested in him, and since he had a girlfriend, he didn't consider dating her to be an option, although it must have been somewhere in his subconscious because he never mentioned Katie. In the meantime, two of them became good friends and as they moved from awkward small talk to deep conversation and real trust, the awkward geek in him was slowly killed and replaced by a functional human being. *** Needless to say, Drew's heart skipped a beat when Tori asked him during the lunch break chit-chat, "So are you doing anything tonight?" Drew was just thinking that because of Katie he had no choice to turn down a dinner with his secret crush when she continued, "I mean, I was asking because a bunch of us are going out for some drinks. It's just a group thing."
"Oh..uh, in that case I can go. I mean, I'd love to go. Not that...it's just I was thinking..."
"Don't worry babe, I'll have you back in one piece. But as long as you don't have plans, we'd all love it if you could come."
Drew responded, "Oh, it would be nice to finally get out a little. Lately, things have gotten kind of boring." Without speaking aloud, he continued unfairly, "it can get boring when you're always fighting with your bitchy girlfriend". Certainly, the relationship wasn't working, but they deserved equal blame.
"Awww, what's wrong?"she asked sincerely. She didn't get an answer. *** The coworkers sauntered into Jimmy's Pub, and Steve, a slightly overweight man with a little bit of muscle definition and dirty blond short hair, ordered a beer for everyone. All told, the group consisted of Rosa, a cute twenty-six year old of Hispanic descent with very large breasts and Jake, a barely older dark-haired, buzz-cut, male complete with six pack who was dating Rosa. They had been dating for some time and were hanging on each other when they walked in. Once Steve returned with the beer, they started things off with some casual office gossip. Eventually, Drew found out that the group first started coming here as a double date destination when Steve and Tina were going out. As their inhibitions faded, the group fell to story telling. Apparently, Steve had once walked in to the storage closet to find Rosa on top of Jake with her skirt hiked up. Rosa's rebuttal story was about the time that they saw a movie together and Tina, while returning to her seat tried to sneak up and lick the back of Steve's neck—only to find out that he had switched seats with Jake. "Don't you smile," Rosa said, and slapped Jake. Jake kissed her.
As fun as it was to listen, Drew definitely felt out of place in the group; he couldn't really contribute. Tina must have heard him, because she inquired, "so what about you babe? Let's hear your deepest, darkest secrets."
"Yeah, we haven't heard anything from the new boyfriend yet," Rosa teased. Caught off guard, all Drew did was blush.
Tina defended his honor saying, "don't be mean to our new friend, you'll scare him away and he won't come back."
"I don't really have any good stories," he began, but after receiving disapproving glances he tried again, "I guess there is one. A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were in class, sitting apart from each other and we each sneaked out to mess around together."
"And...," Rosa said. She was only being playful, but clearly his audience was unimpressed.
"And....we met up and started making out, and then we find a quiet hallway and start going at it a little more. That's when the professor from the class walks out the back door of the lecture hall just a yard away from us."
