Julia tilted the glass toward the ceiling, emptying the last of her second martini into her mouth. She felt the sting of the gin slide down her throat and settle in her stomach. She grimaced as the searing warmth made its way through her body. Her head spun a little as let out a long breath, smelling the alcohol coming off her own tongue. Her perfect, angular, angelic features were shaded by the blooming red of two drinks. She twirled her silky brown hair in a perfectly-manicured finger as a voice rang out.
"Julia fucking Chase?!"
Julia slowly turned to look to her left, her reaction dulled by the two drinks she had finished. A black-haired man made his way into her vision. She first noticed his T-shirt and jeans. He seemed terribly underdressed for this swanky hotel bar.
She re-directed her attention to his expectant face. She suddenly realized who he was. Tim! Her college boyfriend. What she knew as his long, flowing hair had been trimmed to a boring, professional cut.
"Hey, Tim!"
Her voice was a little slurred. She shook her head to try and clear the cobwebs as he leaned over to give her a side hug in her sitting position. She felt his right hand slip innocently along her side and near her hip.
"Wow, it's really been forever." Tim said, as he pulled out the chair at the half booth she was sitting at.
"Yeah, it really has," Julia replied. She paused.
"So... what's up? What are you doing here?" She continued.
"Just wanted to get that blowjob!" Tim put his palms out.
Shockingly, she still remembered what he was referencing. Julia remembered the second semester of her freshman year, when a 19-year old girl from the Chicago suburbs was still stinging from getting dumped by the 21-year old junior from New York. He had called her on Thursday night, as he often did. She knew a slightly drunk Tim asking for "head" was probably on the other line. Of course, it wasn't. But he still said "I'll wait for that blowjob!" as he hung up on a devastated freshman.
Tim had been her orientation mentor (a job he did only to fulfill the school's service requirement) and had used the position masterfully in getting Julia into his apartment. She looked up to the older engineering major, who seemed to know everything about everything at the elite university. A child of Jewish immigrants, Julia was not accustomed to the lofty air of the Ivy League school she had found herself attending. The Northeastern upper crust was a foreign society to her and Tim knew it. He had helped her a lot in acclimating. He had also helped himself...
Julia shook out of her reminiscence and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well, so, how did the whole 'start-up' thing turn out?"
She figured that not indulging his crude joke was the best way out. Men, and Tim especially, would always see it as an opening if she responded to their sexual remarks or innuendo.
He laughed.
"You don't care about some shit from ten years ago."
She smiled. He was right. Ten years ago, she still wanted to be a lawyer. Now, she was a former money girl at a consulting firm and a current money girl at a PE firm.
"Yeah, you're right. What are you up to now?"
"Oh, same shit. I wanted to ask why you're drunk in a bar alone?"
"I'm not drunk!" Julia exclaimed.
Tim grinned and tilted his head at the empty martini glass.
"I'm sure that wasn't the first one. That's a lot of gin. Vermouth too, I suppose."
"Well, it's been a tough year. I was on the team of a bunch of flopped IPOs."
Tim's eyes widened in surprise.
"Did you really turn over to the dark side?"
"Yeah, well, loans had to be paid and not all of us have daddy's buddies to turn to."
"Woah there, tiger," Tim replied, "I seem to recall being a great-"
Tim was interrupted by Julia's elbow slipping out from under her arm. She had been holding up her head, which nearly hit the table as she flailed.
"Oh shit," Tim exclaimed. He quickly went around the table to steady her and move the glass. A waiter rushed over.
"I'm so sorry, sir, I meant to grab that." He picked up the glass, along with the napkin and the cocktail pick.
"No, it's fine, she's just -- y'know." Tim smiled as he mimed a drunken hand. The waiter smiled and walked off.
"Okay, that -- I'm fine," Julia protested, "I literally just slipped."
"Sure thing, drunk princess." Tim's right arm had wrapped around her right shoulder. His left hand was gripped around her left arm. Julia felt his knuckles press against her breast. She smiled inwardly. The classic high school boy's move. They always thought they were slick, not realizing that girls could feel it when something touched their boobs. She didn't resist or protest though. Whatever affection she had for him in college apparently stuck, at least a bit.
"You need to get home." Tim interrupted her musings.
"I'm on the 24th floor -- only in New York for a few days."
Julia silently started to wonder whether he still lived in New York. How had he stumbled into her so coincidentally? Did he even know she lived in San Francisco? A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she thought about their college days. So many people had come and gone. Their lives had surely changed so much. But here they were, together again, somehow.
"Ah, couldn't get away from home, huh?" Tim laughed, "Hey, Chicago's a great town."
She didn't correct him as he lifted her up and began walking toward the elevator bank.
"I don't need your help, like actually."
"Come on, what would it look like if you fell down on my watch?"
Tim's left hand stayed gripped against her arm and pressed against her breast. His right hand had slipped to her waist, cradling her just far enough from her ass that it was still polite.
