"I told him that I felt like more people should be like sunflowers. He told me that I was lucky I was pretty because I sure as hell wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. I was like what the fuck does that mean and he and his friends just laughed in my face. Fuck him and his booooys. Yeah so that's why I'm getting a sunflower tattoo."
Listen, you aren't seeing me at my best. I'm probably three shots of whisky ahead of the guy next to me. Since I haven't finished the vodka tonic he bought me (gross) I'm not going to count that.
"You don't recognize me do you?" he asked.
I blinked a few times to steady my vision and narrowed my eyes at him. He looks vaguely familiar. Adorable in a floppy haired boy sort of way. Much younger. Gorgeous brown eyes and the hint of last summer still on his skin. I thought real long and hard about his question. Ran through like a million different places we could have encountered each other.
"You the cute barista at the Starbucks on third?" I finally responded.
"You're Zoe's mom, right? She's dating my best friend." When the lightbulb doesn't go on behind my eyes he sighs disappointedly. "We were all at your place last weekend.."
Fuck. You know what, fuck isn't a good enough word. I recently learned a new curse word. Merde. It's French for shit.
I lifted my drink in a mock cheers at him. "You must have a pretty good fake id. Tom the bartender usually has a better eye."
Alarm flashes in his eyes. "Shit."
Told you merde sounds better. I motion for him to free up the seat next to me. The longer he occupies it the more of a cockblock he's going to be. I don't have many nights off from working behind the bar and I plan to use my time a bit more wisely.
"My name's Joe." He persists. Annoying.
I stare at him. This conversation won't continue. He has to know that. He has connections to my daughter and even though I'm sure he's close to his 21st birthday he ain't there yet. Those are pretty much my only two real lines in the sand. Sure, there's others but for this current situation those two matter most.
"Zoe, uh, she actually told me where you work. And they told me since you weren't there chances are you'd be here. I, uh, came to find you."
"Persistent little fucker, aren't you?" I down the rest of my drink and yell to Tom to surprise me with my next shot.
"What?" He looks like a fish out of water. Drowning. Can fish drown? Well, he was most definitely drowning. But then a more mature hard look crosses his face. "I found your onlyfans."
"Yeah? And?" I laugh out loud. Seriously.
"I just thought maybe we could have a conversation. I would hate for something like that to accidentally slip to Zoe."
I legitimately snorted about that. "Get lost."
He stomped off frustrated and returned to the other side of the bar. I ordered another drink and went back to scrolling through tinder on my phone. I didn't bother glancing up when I heard footsteps approaching. Fuckbird was going to get my mean side if he had dared return. A warm body sat in the stool next to me.
"Hey." The voice was deep and markedly older. "I think we got off on the wrong foot."
"Do I know you?" I asked without looking up.
"No, but I'm hoping to change that. I understand your time is worth something and I would be glad to compensate you. Just hear me out." He motions for the bartender. "2 more of what she's drinking."