There she was, again. This had to be four weeks in a row, each Friday, late, when the crowd was dying down. She came down the bar, and sat on the last stool, the one I had to pass when getting more beer or ice.
She smiled. "Gin and Tonic, please."
I glanced at the door, expecting him to be right behind. Might as well take his order at the same time. She watched me and said, "He's not coming, if that's what you were waiting for."
Now I smiled. "Oh, okay. Flying solo tonight?"
Her look turned sour. "Yeah, this bird has flown that coop."
I didn't want to get into it, so I mixed her drink and helped another customer.
I didn't know either of them, but anyone could see they were mismatched. He was mean, and got meaner as he drank. I'd seen the type and would not be surprised in the least if he knocked her around.
He still wore his hair slicked back like it was 1956 instead of 2010. He wore a dirty work shirt with Gus over the pocket, buttons open to show his chest hair, as if growing that was a talent. He was my age, 35 or so.
She was a lady. Not that tall, but her long neck made her elegant-looking. She always wore a chain, or beads, to high-light that. Her salt and pepper hair was in a long pageboy, framing her pale skin. The pale blue eyes and red lips stood out against the white background. She always seemed overly-dressed for our neighborhood establishment, as opposed to his pseudo-grunge. Tonight she wore a red satin button-down blouse and black skirt. I guessed she was 45 to 50.
The crowd grew lighter, and whenever our eyes made contact, she smiled. I knew I was wasting my time, that she would probably be back with him next week, but we made idle chat on and off. Then she brought him up again.
"Mitch, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Like I could say no, right?
"What did you think of Gus?"
I hate that. Why do people ask me things like that! "He seems nice, I don't really know him."
"He doesn't like you."
I was surprised. "Oh, okay. He said that, huh?"
"Yes, he says he can tell that you don't like him much, either."
Very observant, I thought. Maybe he wasn't so dumb. "Well, I'm sorry he feels that way."
"I think he's jealous," she said.
"Of me?"
"Yes, he has no people skills and he sees how comfortable you are, talking with strangers, especially women. He hates that. Plus he thinks every man is out to steal me away from him, like I was his property."
"Well, it's my job to be sociable. I'm not this outgoing, usually. And I avoid being too friendly to women when they come in with a man for that same reason, men get jealous."
"Is that why you look away when I smile at you?" she asked, calmly, and I looked to see her smiling even then.