I sat on my barstool watching the table of girls drinking and chatting away. I was not within earshot, so I couldn't hear what they were talking about. Not that it mattered.
There were two blondes, two brunettes, and a redhead. The redhead caught my eye, but I hoped at least one of them was my type. All five of them was gorgeous and I wouldn't be disappointed if any of the was what I was looking for.
As I studied them, not really hiding the attention with which I was examining them, I began to notice things that convinced me the redhead was probably what I was looking for. And even though the bar was not crowded at all, at this point, I was not on their radar and they hadn't really noticed me.
I watched as she drank her drink through the cocktail and after each sip, pull the stirrer out and place it between her lips, or just twirl it. She was just a little more fidgety than the rest of them and several times I caught her looking towards the back door that led to a patio.
Finally, I saw her finish her drink and, so it appeared, politely excuse herself. She grabbed her small purse and stood. She could have been going to the ladies' room, also in the back. But, none of the others seemed to be joining her, so I surmised that was not her destination. My assumptions were confirmed when I saw her make her way through the mostly empty tables and turn towards the door that led outside.
I rose from my perch, tossed a ten on the bar for my drink and followed her, hoping I would not be too late.
As I stepped through the door, I thanked the gods, that I was not too late. She was staring at the screen of her phone and had not started. We were alone.
I took a seat in the shadows and watched. She opened her purse and put her phone away and pulled out her pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Obviously obsessed with her need, she still had not acknowledged my presence, although I was less than twenty feet away. She flipped open the lid of the box, a box I immediately recognized as Virginia Slims Menthol Gold. Heavens! Why did they have to force cigarette makers to change the names of their products? It made purchasing a pack so difficult these days.
I saw the look of disgust when she pinched the filter with her cherry red fingernails and pulled the last slender cigarette out. She tossed the empty box in the trash and finally conscious of me, shook her head, frowning. "Last one." I said nothing in reply. She returned to ignoring me.
I watched, mesmerized, as she placed the filter between her lips, painted a shade matching her nails, and flicked the lighter. She held the flame against the tip and drew in. A look of satisfaction and relaxation spread across her face. How long had it been since her last smoke? Too long, I guessed. She formed a small "o" with her luscious lips and with a long slow exhale, blow a stream of bluish grey smoke up towards the rafters of the roof covering the otherwise open patio. She watched the smoke slowly dissipate. I did, as well.
She wore a black bodycon knit dress, that stopped inches below her lush ass and hugged the curves of her perfectly proportioned breasts, waist and hips. She was braless and the cool evening air had caused the sensitive nipples of the deliciously sized breasts to clearly harden. Her long, curly, red locks framed her freckled face and nose, bespeaking her Irish ancestry. Even in the low light, I could see the shiny nylon covering her legs and make out just the top of the elastic of her stay-up stockings, barley covered by the bottom of her dress. On her feet, she wore 4-inch black stilettos, making her almost as tall as me.
Holding the cigarette between the middle and ring fingers of her left hand, an uncommon technique, she raised it again and took another hit. The orange ember matched the color of her hair. This time she formed a large "O" and let the smoke drift out of her lungs and open mouth, in a tumbling cloud.
She flicked the ash, held the back of her hand towards her face, and stared at the cigarette, studying the glowing ember. Hungrily, she took another puff. This time, the smoke flowed out of her nostrils, as she kept her mouth closed. This provided a rush of nicotine, clearly shown in her emerald eyes, as the mucous membranes absorbed a large dose of the addictive substance.
Was she feeling anything anywhere else, I wondered. I certainly was, without having inhaled a single drag.
Never letting the ash grow to a grotesque length, she flicked the cigarette, often. Nearly five minutes had passed, the common amount of time it took to smoke a VS. She stubbed the remaining bit in an ashtray on one of the tables.
Finally, she looked back at me and spoke for only the second time. "Did you come out here to smoke, too, or what?"
I stood up and approached her. "No. Well, yes. I did come out here to smoke, but mainly, I came out here to watch you smoke."
A grin formed in the corners of her mouth. She understood.
"Well, I guess the show is over." She smiled. "You know, I usually like to have two back to back, but like an idiot, I forgot to grab another pack, as you well know by now."
"That's a shame. I was enjoying the sexy way you smoke."
"Well, you wouldn't happen to have one I could bum?."
Of course I had cigarettes and there was no way I was going to refuse her.
"And, I suppose it doesn't matter which brand." She blurted. "Beggars can be choosers."