This is my first story on here. I like a story with a long build-up; I hope you enjoy it too! I would love to hear your reactions and if you'd like to read more about Riley and Rowan. Happy reading!
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"Excuse me... This is from the stud over there at the bar." The bartender had a little chuckle as she put a bright green cocktail in front of Riley. "Enjoy!"
Riley's friends exploded in a combination of cheers and wolf whistles. Riley hastily told them to shut up. She was dumbstruck and slightly mortified. This had never happened to her before. She was usually the last person to be offered a drink by a stranger. What was she supposed to do with that? Embarrassed, she looked over in the indicated direction and saw a tall, dark-haired figure raising a tumbler at her. She quickly looked away, unsure of herself.
"Well? Give him a cheers back then!" Her friend Sarah reprimanded.
Of course, Sarah would know what to with this kind of attention; she got it all the time. Riley picked up the glass and briefly raised it at the stranger. She forced out a smile, and turned back to her friends. It was flattering of course, but she didn't really want to be put in the spotlight like that. She already felt like the odd one out in her current company. Ever since she broke up with her boyfriend four months ago, she'd been the fifth wheel within their happily coupled-up friend group. Everyone tried their best to include her and make her feel part of the gang, but the fact remained that they used to hang out with three couples, and now there were two, plus an often grumpy 29 year old single.
With great difficulty, her friends had convinced her to come out tonight, even though she had a great Netflix line-up planned. Halfheartedly giving in, she had not even bothered to make herself look pretty. She had simply thrown on a pair of jeans and t-shirt and taken a brush through her half-long blond hair. All she wanted to do was blend into the background and forget she was 'the single one'. Her friends were having none of that, scrutinising the stranger who had dragged her out of her comfort zone without any scruples.
"Look at that, Ri, a secret admirer!" Oliver sounded genuinely excited for her.
"Not so secret, honey, he's right there... He sure is handsome, though," Jenny said dreamily. Oliver's girlfriend had a soft spot for dark-haired, dark-eyed, exotic-looking men.
"Yeah, he's just your type, hey babe? Maybe if Ri doesn't want him, you can have him," Oliver retorted jokingly, pushing a strand of light-blond hair out of his blue eyes. It was a running joke in their group how different Oliver was from Jenny's usual taste in guys. But the two were madly in love and, in jest, it was Ollie's pride and glory that he could make her love her blond guy.
"So, are you going over there?" Finn jumped the gun, as usual.
"And do what, exactly?" Riley snapped back, sounding more bitchy than she intended.
"I dunno, talk to him? Thank him for the drink? Maybe more..." Finn continued unperturbed. "It's about time you got back on the horse. It's been months!" This was of course unthinkable for someone with Finn's appetite, but Riley hadn't even thought about it and was definitely not planning on jumping some stranger.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, sweetie," Jenny reassured her, "just enjoy the free drink. What is it anyway?"
Riley shrugged and tasted the green concoction. It was a combination of sweet and sour and surprisingly tasty: easy to drink, uncomplicated, and yet different from other cocktails she knew. She tried to pinpoint the ingredients but couldn't get beyond lime and probably lots of sugar.
"It's good," she said simply, seeing the expectant faces of her friends, "a bit unusual but good."
"At least he has good choice in drinks then. That's a big plus in a man." Knowing Sarah, she was probably trying to not so subtly steer the conversation back to the possibility of him becoming Riley's man, at least for the night.
"I'll say!" Oliver was looking at her admirer again. "That's a very good whiskey."
The bartender was refilling the stranger's tumbler and Oliver had clearly recognised the bottle, being a whiskey enthusiast.
"Hey, if you don't want him, I might go over there!" He joked.
"Get in line, babe!" Jenny playfully nudged her boyfriend.
While everyone laughed and joked, Riley took the opportunity to study her admirer a bit more closely. He had dark hair, very short on the sides and longer at the top, from where it fell in thick straight locks over his forehead and partly obscured his eyes. He was wearing a dark leather biker jacket with a light-coloured shirt visible between the undone zipper. Unfortunately, that was all Riley could see, as the bar obstructed the rest and he was a little bit too far away to distinguish more details. She had to admit that it was a cool look, and it suited the handsome features of the stranger.
She felt a pang of guilt for thinking this way. It had only been four months; she had barely gotten over Dan. But then again, their relationship had fizzled out a while before that, and they had split amicably. Surely, she'd deserved to move on then? So what if she felt attracted to a stranger in a bar? There was nothing wrong with that, was there?
Thankfully, her friends' conversation had moved on and Riley had some time to sip her cocktail and contemplate. She found that her gaze kept wandering in the direction of the bar; she hoped no one would notice. The stranger did not pay any attention to her and was chatting to the bartender. It was like he'd already forgotten that he'd bought her a drink not fifteen minutes earlier. Riley wanted him to look over at her. But what would she do if he did? Grin stupidly again? And then what? Maybe she should go over and talk to him after all. He was clearly interested in her, otherwise he wouldn't have send her a drink. So she had nothing to lose, really. Except, she would never hear the end of it from her friends. But the same was true if she didn't go over...
"Do you think he'll come over here?" Riley was dragged from her reverie by Finn's question. Although there had been a break in their attention for the stranger, he clearly wasn't off her friends' radars either.
"I mean, I would," Finn continued, "if I'd bought a girl a drink, I'd want to at least talk to her."
The others murmured their agreement. Riley tried to keep the panic from showing on her face. Oh god, what if he did come over? She'd have to talk to him with all her friends watching and probably behaving inappropriately. She could not let that happen.
"I might go and say 'thank you' quickly..." Riley tried to sound casual, "I guess that would be the kind thing to do."
"You go, girl!" Sarah burst out, and Ollie and Finn fist-bumped each other.
"Go get him, and tell us all about it later. We'll want to know aaaall the details!" Jenny clearly wanted to live vicariously through Riley.
"I'm just going to thank him for the drink, nothing more," Riley tried feebly, but her friends were all beaming with excitement and clearly did not believe her. Riley huffed and turned away. She took a deep breath and, the remainder of her cocktail in hand, made her way towards the bar.
"Erm... hi." Great start, Ri, very eloquent. The handsome stranger and the bartender had interrupted their conversation when Riley came over, and now the bartender quickly made herself scarce towards the other side of the bar. There were clearly some glasses in dire need of cleaning.
"Hi there." The stranger's voice was slightly husky but softer and quieter than expected. Riley was now close enough to take in the angular jaw line, smooth skin, and brown eyes with dark eye-lashes. The stranger pushed a lock of dark brown hair aside and revealed two identical black rings in the helix of the right ear. As the realisation dawned on Riley, the stranger cracked a broad grin.
"Not what you expected?"
Certainly not. Riley had come over to talk to a handsome man and found herself facing a... handsome woman, she guessed she could say. She was certainly striking, with powerful features and a confident gaze. She was a bit older than Riley, probably in her mid-thirties. She was at the age where people had usually figured out who they were and were unapologetically secure in their self-image; 'this is who I am, take it or leave it,' her body language said.
The total picture oozed masculinity and Riley could not fault herself for mistaking her for a man from across the room. Yet, now that she was closer, she could see the finer feminine details of her skin, her lips, her elegant neck, her long slender fingers. Riley realised she still hadn't said anything and remained lost for words as she started stammering.
"Erm, I came over to thank you for the drink... so erm... thank you."
"You're very welcome." The woman was still smiling at her, looking amused. Riley's head was swimming. She had just accepted a drink from a woman, but not in the 'buy a drink for a friend' kind of way. This woman was clearly interested in women in a different way; Riley had seen enough lesbians to recognise the signs.
So, did this mean she was interested in Riley? Of course; Riley reprimanded herself for being stupid. Why else would she buy a drink for a stranger in a bar? And Riley had accepted, and had now come over to chat. She had given all the signs of being interested too, while clearly she was not. She was not gay. She had only come over because she thought the stranger was a guy. She had messed up and felt that she had to at least set the situation straight. She felt flattered but did not want to get the woman's hopes up.
"I... Thank you, really. I appreciate it, you buying me a drink, I mean..."
"Yeah, you mentioned that. Really, you're welcome." The woman's amusement increased as Riley struggled through her words.
"Yeah, I know... I just want to say... I'm not... I'm flattered, but I'm straight..."
The woman laughed. "Oh, don't worry, I'm very accepting of straight people. I have a lot of straight friends, actually... What's your name, straight girl?"
"I'm Riley." She felt a bit stupid for her comment now, but she still thought it was better to make such things clear from the start. She could have been smoother about it, though, that much was true.
"Nice to meet you, Riley, I'm Rowan." That was a cool name, Riley thought, it really fit her. Rowan offered her hand and Riley could see a tattoo covering the back of it, starting from the second knuckle and disappearing into the sleeve of her jacket. She shook it.
"Nice to meet you too... I should probably get back to my friends, though."
"Really, already? They seem to be handling your absence well enough." Of course, Rowan was right: the two couples were chatting away happily. They probably had been peeking over at first but, now that the first introduction had been made seemingly successfully, they had eased off the ogling until new developments occurred.
"This stool is killing my back. Let go sit over there. It's a bit more comfortable. Unless you're really going to run away already?" Rowan gave her a challenging look and pointed at a two-person table a bit further back. It was less centre-stage and further away from her friends' table, so at least Riley wouldn't feel like she was being watched. She did not want to lead her admirer on, but she was fascinated by this confident, unusual woman.
