And two baskets of fries, please!" Lindsay exclaimed to the waiter as he made to turn away. "Man, I really appreciate the drinks, Mar. The rest of my day was killer."
"I think you mean the whole day, unless drinking my pee was the highlight."
Lindsay laughed, trapped. "Let's just say you've given me the opportunity to grow accustomed to it."
It wasn't a total lie. Mar and Lindsay loved to joke about their first pee-drinking session. Though they didn't engage in it much after that evening, their relationship as friends and casual sex partners meant they shared nearly everything, and that included Lindsay's enjoyment of pee games. Lindsay knew that Mar was never shy about peeing afterwards, whether she left the bathroom door open in their living spaces or out in public, like on hikes. And Mariah peed a lot--like, a lot. She just had a small bladder, she would say.
"I mean it, like seriously child-sized. My doctor confirmed it, you know."
"Yea, I know. But for as small as it is, you sure hold a lot in there."
They abruptly stopped talking when their waiter came back with their drink orders, but smiled deviously at each other until he left again.
"And anyway, you promised a description of you-know-who. Is he as cute in real life?"
Talking about cute guys and their dating lives seemed to transport the girls back to when they were new sorority sisters, rooming together for the first time as sophomores. Even though they were a little older, some things still made them feel like teenagers again. Like, for instance, having a schoolgirl crush on a guy they'd only seen in pictures and heard about from his daddy's mouth.
"It's just so weird to have heard so much about him from his dad, and then him being in my office today was like--oh my god, he is real," Mariah was saying. "But to answer your question: yes, he is as cute as he is in pictures."
Her eyes widened, suddenly.
"Linds. He's here."
"What?!"
"I swear to--look, no, don't look yet--okay, now you can."
"Where am I even supposed to be looking?"
Mariah puffed air from her cheeks. "He's at the bar, duh. Oh my god, he's with his dad. Gosh, they really do look alike."
Lindsay stole a quick glance over her right shoulder, just as AJ turned his head again away from the girls.
"It's like he doesn't want people to see him--but he was so warm and friendly in my office this morning."
Lindsay chuckled. "Too bad I didn't have the pleasure of making his acquaintance. Besides, if he's so mysterious, he's probably got something to hide, and who's got time for that anymore?"
"I don't know, but I don't have time to wait for the waiter to come back--will you order for me? I've got to pee so badly."
"Seriously, didn't your doctor offer to like, expand your bladder or something?"
"Can they do that?" Mariah exclaimed as she hopped off the tall chair. "Be right back!"
AJ caught the flash of Mariah's hot pink blazer out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't quite realize that he'd seen it in her office earlier that day. His gaze was wavering from the television screen and from his whiskey sour, resting briefly on the other patrons of Rook's Bar.
Across the room, just close enough for him to see the red polish on her nails, Lindsay was pointing to something on the menu. She was a brunette--not quite the dark chocolate color of Leslie's hair, but lighter; he saw her lips stretch into a smile as the waiter took the menus from her hand.
Those lips, he wondered: were they salty with piss? Then, centering himself, shook the thought from his mind. It probably wasn't her.
But once he saw Mariah sit back down at the table, he knew he had to figure out once and for all. Making his move, though, was going to be a delicate endeavor--after that run-in with Leslie this afternoon, he didn't want to make the same mistake. His mind was already swimming with dirty visions of this girl, and he had to practically pinch himself to stop picturing her brown hair plastered to her head after he let loose a torrent of piss.
As if one cue, AJ's own need to pee surged and his daydream urination was dangerously close to becoming real. Besides, he had planned on revisiting Mariah's office today in his mind when he got home--and would finally let himself go on that dark blue, absorbent carpet in his apartment.
"I am telling you, he has looked over this way, like, twelve times now," Mariah insisted.
"And I am telling you, he's probably looking at you! You'll have plenty of time to get to know him, now that he's your boss and all."
Lindsay was nursing her this-is-the-last-glass of red wine while Mariah bugged out over AJ's supposed glances this way. A few minutes later, Alex, Sr. passed by their table to get to the restroom, and they had to stifle their laughs, burying themselves in the drink menu left on the table.
"Okay, okay, this is it for me too. I've gotta pee again," Mariah said as she lowered herself off the chair again. "Share a cab home?"
"I took the train today, Mar," Lindsay called out behind her. She smiled to herself, and, since she was curious, built up the shot of confidence to sidle up at the bar and pay their tab--waiting until the bartender was in AJ's vicinity, though.
"Cashing out?" the bartender asked her. She nodded and slid her card across the bar top before tossing a sideways smile in AJ's direction.
He had his eyes on her the entire time, and when she grinned, his face felt flushed. Her fingers were tapping out a rhythm on the wood, and he was entranced by the red-lacquered nails. Were those the same fingers he watched pull wet fabric from the cracks between her legs?
Roger, by a miracle, came to his rescue.
"Here you are, Miss Lindsay, card and receipt."
The sound of her name made his pants tighten, tension building underneath. He had to relax--he could still be wrong about her.
Lindsay, as if drawn in by his thoughts, spoke to him without looking directly at him. In fact, if he hadn't been observing her so closely, he probably would have missed the sweet compliment that she tossed over to him.
"You're cuter than in your pictures, you know."
