I can pinpoint the exact day that things between us changed. We were both working as waiters in a steak restaurant, me to help pay for college, and him as a second job to make rent. I'm a 24 year old grad student working on a masters in computer engineering. Jared is 26, tall, dark and lanky. I'd been working at the restaurant for almost a year and he'd just been hired the month before. I was still showing him the ropes so to speak and we'd chat when business was slow. I get along pretty well with all of the staff; I'm easy going and I don't get stressed out when it gets busy. I tend to be a calming presence and keep my sense of humor even when everyone else is running circles around each other.
Jared and I get on pretty well. I make him laugh and he tells me stories. We gossip about the customers and complain about the boss. In short, we were friendly but that was it. But one day, that changed.
It started when he poked me in the side. "Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not ticklish anymore," I retorted. He raised his eyebrows and went, "oh?"
"Nope, my sister tickled it all out of me when I was a kid. She used to tackle me onto the ground and tickle me until I started screaming and my mom would yell at me from upstairs to be quiet. Eventually I became immune to tickling."
"Really?" he said skeptically and tried again.
I just stared at him until he gave up and said, "wow, you really aren't ticklish."
"Nope. Well, except in one spot." I commented while refilling a ketchup bottle.
"Where?" He asked.
I looked at him like he was nuts and said, "well I'm not going to
tell
you. And if you did touch me there I'd have to slap you."
He looked intrigued. "Where? Tell me."
I just ignored him and continued refilling the ketchup.
"Come on Cara, tell me. If not I'm going to have to find it myself," he said.
"Then prepare to be slapped," I reiterated.
He wouldn't let it go and kept guessing but I wouldn't answer him which just intrigued him even more.
At some point during the night I noticed that he kept scratching his shoulder and making faces. I asked him what was up with his shoulder and he told me that he'd gotten a new tattoo. I'd noticed the tattoo he has on the back of his hand on the web between his thumb and index finger (I've got a thing for tattoos even though I don't have any myself) so I asked him how many tattoos he had.
"This my... fifth? Sixth?" He answered.
"Can I see it?" I asked excitedly.
We went into the back room and he instructed me either to pull up the back of his shirt or to pull down the collar. I tentatively tugged on it, afraid to irritate the sensitive skin but he lifted the back of it all the way up and showed me the large dragon on his upper left back and about three or four other tattoos lower down.
"Wow, how long did that one take?" I asked as he pulled down his shirt and fixed his tie.
"A few hours," he replied. "Can you fix my collar in the back?"
I folded it down and we went back out to the front. There were still relatively few customers so he went back to asking me where I was ticklish.
"I haven't had nearly enough alcohol to tell you all my secrets," I told him. "That would require at least 4 drinks."
"After 4 drinks you'd tell me?" He asked.
"Actually, after 4 drinks I'd probably be on the floor."
"Oh. Well it doesn't help me much if you're that far gone," he said.
"Oh, I'd tell you anything you wanted to know. I'd just do it from the floor."
"Excellent, we're going out for drinks Friday night," he declared.
"Okay, I guess. But my last bus home is at 12:30," I warned. I live too far away from the clubs and bars to make taking a cab back home financially viable.
"12:30?!" He exclaimed. "The clubs don't get going until midnight! There's no way you can get back home later than that?"
"Not really."
He thought for a minute. "You can crash at my place Friday night if you want."
"Ashley won't mind if I crash on your couch?" I asked. He rented a room in one of our former waitress' and her boyfriend's apartment. I wasn't sure how they'd react to finding me drooling on their couch in the morning stinking of everyone else's cigarettes.
"You can sleep on the couch, on the roof, in my bed if you want. She won't care," he replied with a glint in his eye.
"Okay," I said, ignoring the last part of his comment. I really didn't want to get into anything I wasn't ready for.
I'll admit I'm not much of a drinker, and in fact I've never been drunk, but it had been a long, stressful week and I was ready to unwind. I was actually looking forward to getting out of the library for once and letting my hair down. I rarely ever get dressed up and wasn't planning on going all out for this little excursion but Jared sent me a text message a few days later asking me what I was going to wear and telling me he couldn't wait to see me in heels. I laughed when I read it wondering why he thought I would even own a pair of heels. I most certainly don't own anything sexy and the feminist in me revolts at the idea of putting myself on display for men's pleasure. I rolled my eyes and decided I'd compromise by wearing boots with a small heel and putting on some eyeliner. Maybe I'd even straighten my hair for the night.
Friday night finally came around and I got as dressed up as I get (I wore jeans and a short sleeved shirt with a wide neck that showed my shoulders with a tank top underneath to cover my bra straps. Under a sweater. Under a coat and scarf. Hey, it was freezing out.). I'm a fairly average looking person, maybe moderately attractive but eyeliner highlights my unusual blue eyes and when my shoulder length brown curly hair is straightened it highlights my cheekbones and full mouth.
We met at the club where he used to work as a bartender and consequently gets free drinks. It was pretty loud and our few attempts at conversation were fairly unsuccessful. He asked me if I dance and I shook my head. I'm not very coordinated and I can never be sure where all of my limbs are at any given time. He took my hand anyway and dragged me up to an area where people were swaying and shaking their hips. At this point I'd had two cocktails (and some of whatever was in his cup when I got impatient waiting for him to come back with my second drink) and I didn't really mind just watching other people dance. I was happy enough sipping my tequila sunrise and he went off to mingle with the bartenders and other customers. I was leaning against the bar and was surprised when the guy next to me set a shot of what he was drinking next to me and nodded at me. I just stared at it for a few seconds and when he raised his eyebrows questioningly at me I thanked him and accepted it. A few minutes later a guy sidled up to me and asked me why I was alone.
"Well, I'm sort of half alone." I said as Jared came back to check on me. "I'm with him, but he's just a friend." We continued to chat for a few minutes until the conversation ran dry.
I'm unused to this kind of attention and was having a hard time digesting it. The next time I saw Jared the guy who'd gotten me a drink was talking to him. They looked over at me and the guy looked like he was asking Jared if I was up for grabs. They were too far away for me to hear but after three drinks I didn't care too much.
At some point Jared came back with another drink for me and I guess I must have looked really relaxed because he asked me if I wanted to sit down. I figured that was probably a good idea so we made our way over to the bar and I hopped up on a stool (I even made it on the first try). He put his hand on my lower thigh and asked me again where I was ticklish. I just stared at my drink watching the ice cubes float around under the surface and pointedly ignored him.
"Come on," he wheedled. "I just got you three drinks, now you have to tell me."