"Colin, man you're hopeless!" Charles exclaimed, shaking his head in disgust. "Can't you tell she was totally in to you?" he continued as he picked up another nacho from the plate and washed it down with a swig of the beer. Colin just looked at Charles and their other friend, Dean, with a look of skepticism. The three friends were regulars at the family run pub-style restaurant, showing up every Friday and Saturday night for the last year or so. Jerry's as it was called, had been in the neighborhood longer than any of them had been alive. Jerry had already passed on, and now ownership was in the hands of his son Tom. The "she" that Charles was referring to was Rebecca, Tom's daughter who was helping out while she was home for summer break.
Colin looked past Charles towards Rebecca. He had to admit that she was something to look at. About 5' 8", fit, very well endowed curves that had all the males in the place trying to get her to notice them. Her long black hair fell just above the curve of her butt, which only served to draw the male eye even more. He looked back at his friends and just shook his head.
The three of them looked as different as day and night. Charles was the tallest at 6' 6", his Scandinavian descent obvious in his blond hair, blue eyes and big muscles. He would have fit in easily in a Viking raid, crossing the seas on a longship with his piercing blue eyes staring out of his helm. Dean was about the same height as Charles, though polar opposites in coloring. His coffee and cream skin, honey colored eyes and dark hair were in direct contrast to Charles. Dean wasn't as muscular as Charles, but he was just as strong, with the endurance of a long distance runner, which is what he was.
And then there's me
Colin thought to himself. He wasn't as tall as his friends, though standing at 6' 2" he was by no means short. He had wavy brown hair and brown eyes, and while he tried to take care of himself he was by no means an athlete like his friends were. In all, his best feature, in his opinion, was his smile and his intelligence. Though he'd found the hard way that being book smart did not necessarily correlate to being smart when it came to relationships.
"Charles, shut up man, are you crazy?" Colin asked. "I know there's no way she'd be interested in me, not with all the other guys here, you two included. I'm just your average joe. We were just being polite. You know, making small talk."
"No Colin, I think Charles has a point," replied Dean. "That was way more than just polite small talk. The girl was doing everything she could to get you to try to ask her out."
"Nah, I don't think so" insisted Colin, though the seed of doubt and hope had been planted. Could Rebecca really be interested in going out with him? Or were his friends just bull-shitting him?
"You should go up to the bar and ask her out" said Charles. He was like a dog with a bone once he got an idea into his head. Charles knew that Colin didn't have much experience with women or much faith in himself, but he was sure that Rebecca had been sending Colin the go ahead.
They continued talking and joking, ribbing Colin and working him up so that he'd finally take the bull by the horns and go ask Rebecca out. After about a half hour Colin caved in and said he'd try to ask her out. It was done more in an attempt to shut his friends up than with any real belief that she was interested in going on a date with him.
Working up his courage, Colin walked up to the bar where Rebecca was working. She smiled brightly as she saw him walking towards the bar. She stood right in front of him and leaned over, her arms crossed under her breasts, emphasizing her ample curves. The low cut shirt was stretched tight, almost making Colin forget what he wanted to say.
"Hey Rebecca, could you get me another round of beers?" he asked before he completely lost his nerve. Or devolved into a blithering idiot he thought, struggling to keep his eyes on her face. He may consider himself a gentleman, but there is only so much temptation one can endure.
"Sure Colin, no problem. But you didn't have to come all the way over here to ask for them. It's slow enough that you could have just signaled me from your table" she replied as she turned away from him to get the beers.
Ok, it's now or never
thought Colin to himself.
Come on man, what have you got to lose, other than your pride if she turns you down?
He cleared his throat and gave a quick look at the lighter he held in his hand.
Here goes nothing!
"Rebecca, wait a minute" he said just as she was going to open the beer bottles. She looked at him askance, not sure of why he'd stopped her. "I want to make a bet. I bet you I can open the bottles with a lighter." As he said it, he held up the lighter that he had in his hand, which looked like an ordinary silver Zippo lighter.
"A lighter? I don't think that's possible" she answered with obvious amusement in her voice. She put the unopened bottles on top of the bar. "But out of curiosity, what are the terms of your bet? Like, what do I get when I win?"
"If you win you get to pick your reward. But if I win, then you'll go out on a date with me. Is it a deal?"
"Anything? Are you sure about that?"
"Totally sure. So are you willing to make the bet with me?"
Rebecca laughed out loud. "Sure, why not? You'll have to give me time to think of what I want as my reward though."
Colin just smiled at her and reached for the first bottle. Little did she know that the lighter had a small button on it, that when pressed released a bottle opener much like the one found on a Swiss army knife. He smiled and then easily opened the three bottles while she looked on, half in disbelief and amusement.
"Oh no fair!" she exclaimed, trying not to laugh out loud at his ingenuity. "That's cheating!"
"No it's not," Colin replied with a smile. "I used the lighter like I said I would. You can't go back on your word now."
After a few more joking protests, Rebecca agreed to meet Colin for dinner and a movie the next week. Feeling triumphant, he took the beers back to the table and let his friends know about his success in asking her out. The rest of the night Colin and Rebecca joked and flirted with each other until closing time came around and the guys were forced to go home.
The week flew by for Colin, who was extremely anxious to see Rebecca again. They had agreed to meet at the restaurant he had suggested. It was a casual date, so he was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved button down shirt. He got to the restaurant first and was waiting for her at the bar when she showed up. Dressed in tight jeans and a white off-the shoulder peasant style blouse she looked fantastic. Her long black hair flowed freely down her back and the gold earrings shone in contrast to it. Red high heels and a matching purse completed her outfit. Colin couldn´t stop staring.
He stood up and welcomed her, telling her she looked wonderful. Rebecca smiled up at him and thanked him for the compliment. They then proceeded to go to their table and order dinner. As they waited they talked and flirted. Colin thought that the date couldn't have gone any better up to that point. Then all of a sudden Rebecca's face turned pale as she looked past him at someone walking into the dining area.
"Hey are you -" he started to ask, just to be interrupted by Rebecca apologizing.
"I'm so sorry for this," she said as whomever she was looking at pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.
Colin looked over in surprise as an older, more worn and VERY drunk version of Rebecca sat down next to him. She leaned over and looked at him intently through bleary, blood-shot eyes. Colin could smell the alcohol on her breath and it was overpowering. The way she was staring at him was starting to creep him out.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Rebecca asked, weariness and resignation in her voice.
"This is your mom?" Colin said, not quite believing what his eyes were telling him.
"Yes Colin, she is. She and my dad split up years ago. That's why she's never at Jerry's."
Colin looked back at Rebecca and saw that her face was bright red, though with anger or embarrassment he couldn't really say. He was completely at a loss as to what to do with Rebecca's mom there. Before he could think of something to say, the woman started talking to him.
"Young man," she said, "I'm here to make sure your intentions towards my daughter are good." She slurred her words so bad that it was almost impossible to understand her. "When are you going to marry her?"
"Wait, what?!" Colin exclaimed at the same time Rebecca let her face drop into her hands, hiding behind them. "Who said anything about marriage? This is just a date!"
