Two Drinks

Today has been a long day. Spending all my time writing reports and none of it getting any real work done. Now I’m gonna be behind on my other tasks for the whole week.

“Yo, Trav,” I hear from behind me, “what are you doing after work today?”

I spin around in my chair to see my friend Jack leaning on my desk. He’s always trying to get me to do stuff with him, regardless of what I have going on.

“I’m not doing anything,” I groan, “but I’m behind on my tasks.”

“Great,” Jack says, lighting up, “me and some other guys were going to this bar, a couple of blocks away. I was thinking you should join us. How about it?”

This again. I don’t even drink that much. I much prefer wines and sugary drinks to beer or vodka. But, I haven’t done much at all this week and I don’t have anything else to do.

“Yeah, sure,” I sigh, “but I can’t stay out all night.”

Jack lets out a small cheer and pumps his fist. “Awesome, meet us in front of the building right after work. I’ll text you the address.”

Jacks bounces away, looking as if he just won the lottery. I don’t think I go out that rarely. Whatever, I just have to finish my work.

I grab my coat and bag before walking out of the office. It’s slightly chilly outside, so I have my coat on by the time I make it out. I see Jack and two other guys I don’t normally talk to standing a couple of yards away from the entrance, talking and laughing. Walking up to them, I feel a bit nervous, especially since I’m interrupting their fun conversation.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Oh,” Jack says as he sees me, “we were just talking about how Marrissa’s birthday is next week and what happened last year. Anyways, you ready to go? You should already have the address, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll take my own car. See y’all there.”

With that, we all split up and end up in our own vehicles. Mine is a yellow Jeep. It’s a couple of years old, but I’d wanted one since I was in high school. I finally got one second-hand a couple of years ago.

I drive to the place Jack told me to, using my phone’s GPS to navigate. The bar is small but looks clean. I get out and walk in, leaving my bag in the car.

The place is nice, with TV screens in the corners and a pool table. There are a couple of other guys in there, drinking with their friends. Looks like the others aren’t here yet, so I go and sit at the end of the bar.

I’m sitting there for only a moment before the bartender comes over.

“What’ll you have?” She says, looking at me. I stare for a moment before remembering why I’m here.

“Oh, I’ll have a strawberry daiquiri,” I say quickly, before pulling out my phone and checking my emails.

“So, what brings you here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” She inquires, as she grabs ingredients from under the bar, beginning to make my drink.

“I’m meeting up with some friends from work.”

“Where do you work?”

“I work for Caro Corp. a ’couple blocks away.” I clench my teeth, feeling a bit nervous. I’m not a big fan of small talk.

“Cool. Here you go. One strawberry daiquiri.” She pours my drink into a stemmed glass and pushes it a bit forward for me before walking away to serve another customer.

Weirdly enough, as soon as she leaves, I kinda wish I had talked to her a bit longer. Before I can think about that for long though, Jack and the other guys enter. Jack sees me and walks over, planting himself on the stool next to me.

“What’s up? How long were you waiting?” He asks.

“Not long. Just long enough to get a drink.”

“Cool. So what do you think? Cool, right?”

“I guess. It’s like every other bar we go to. I don’t see anything special.”

“What makes it special is that we’re hanging out! You need to be a bit more excited about this kind of stuff!”

“Honestly, I don’t know why you invite me to these things. I’m not that great at conversation.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a buzzkill! I’m just trying to get you to have some fun.”

“Well, I don’t really need your help. I have plenty of fun on my own.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Jack gets up and stomps away. That sucked. I wish I hadn’t done that. He’s just trying to help.

I’m about to get up when the bartender comes back.

“That could’ve gone better.”

“No kidding,” I respond, “I feel like a jerk.” I sit back down, facing away from the bar, staring at my feet.

“Nah, he could’ve tried to understand. Seems like he just wants to drag you along.”

“No, Jack’s just trying to help in the only way he knows how.” Why am I telling her this? It’s none of her business.

“Whatever, dude. Do you want another drink?”

“Sure, same thing.” I finally turn around to face her.

“Where ’ya from?”

“I’m from Texas.”

“So you came in on a horse?” She pours the drink in front of me.

“No, I’ve never even ridden one. I lived in the city, actually.” I take a drink from the glass.

“Really?”

“Yeah, believe it or not, I don’t know a single cowboy!”

She laughs, leaning on the bar with her elbow.

“Y’know, despite saying so to your friend, you seem alright at conversations. Are you sure you’re not comfortable here?”

I spin around on the stool, feeling my face heat up when she says that. It’s true. Once I start talking, I can’t really shut up.

“I’m gonna go talk to him,” I say, looking away from her.

“Alright. See you later.”

I get up and walk over to the booth Jack sat down in. He’s nursing his beer with a scowl on his face.

“Hey,” I say, sitting down, “Sorry about how I acted. I don’t really have an excuse, I’m just terrible.”

“Whatever,” he mumbles.

“I understand that you’re just trying to help me.”

He turns to look at me. “Yeah, I am! I don’t get why you’re so stubborn! I always ask if you wanna go out or get lunch, but you always say no.”

“I’m just nervous around other people. It has nothing to do with you.”

“But I’m your friend! You shouldn’t be nervous around me.”

“I’m less nervous around you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s way easier to talk to you! And you’re great at listening, too!”

“Dang, man.” He pauses. “I’m sorry I’m always forcing you to come to bars and parties.”

“It’s fine. They’re usually a lot of fun.”

“Alright, man. I’m gonna go hang out with the other guys. You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

He gets up and sits next to the guys from work. I’m only alone for a minute before the bartender sits down across from me.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at the bar,” I ask, “it’s kinda your job.”

“Nah,” she says, brushing me off, “I’m on break.”

“Okay,” I say, pausing for a moment, “how about a game of pool?”

“Ooh, pool! Alright! What are we playing for?”

“We’re making bets? Okay, hmm,” I say, pausing for emphasis, “how about, if I win, I get two drinks free!”

“Alright, and if I win, I get a big tip!”

“Seems fair.”

I grab the triangle, setting up the balls randomly. I place the cue ball in from of it and grab a cue from the rack.

“How about you break it?”

“Okay, fine,” she says, smirking, “but that may be a mistake, you know?”

“How could that be a mistake?”

She giggles, “I’m just trying to psych you out, dude!”

We play for a bit, her getting stripes, me getting solids. It’s been a while since I last played, so she’s always a couple of balls ahead of me. Soon she makes it to the end, only having to hit the 8-ball to win.

“I’m pretty far behind,” I say, chuckling, “you could easily win.”

“I know, but I wanna watch you squirm!”

It’s my turn, I get the seven in the pocket. “Ha! Look at that! If you don’t hurry, I could catch up.”

“Fat chance! You’ll never beat me.” She takes her shot, hitting the 8-ball, but missing her shot by an inch.

“Wow,” I remark, sarcastically, “you’ve really got me cornered!”

I hit the cue ball, but miss completely and pocket it instead.

“Oops, guess I win.” She moves the ball directly in front of the 8-ball, easily pocketing it.

“Okay, okay, I guess you win.”

“Damn right, I do!”

“Alright, fine. What’s your name by the way? I never got it.”

“It’s Kassidy, but my friends call me Kaz. What’s yours?”

“My name’s Travis. I don’t really have a nickname.”

“Nice to meet you, Travis. This was a lot of fun, but I’m kinda pushing my break. See you some other time, maybe for a rematch?”

“Sure.”

“Great! See you later.”

I get my stuff and leave, but not before giving Kassidy a tip. I feel pretty good about this. I’m actually a bit excited to come back.