Jess turns to the bar and flags down the pretty blonde bartender.
Freeze leans in closer and nods to Jess. “Is she always like this?”
“What you see is what you get,” I say.
“And what about you, Blanche the observer?”
“What about me?” I ask cursing my lameness.
“What are you like?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper quietly.
He tilts his head. “Odd answer.”
“Honest answer.”
“Well, you can’t leave me hanging with that.”
Jesse slaps down two shots of Tequila. “Drink up, bitch. We’re getting you back to your happy place.”
She hands me a wedge of lemon and slides over a salt shaker. I dash the salt between my thumb and pointer finger. I suck on the lemon, lick the salt, and throw the liquid courage down the hatch, eager to escape Freeze’s beautiful question filled gaze. The Tequila goes down the hatchet smoothly and warms me from the inside out.
Jesse claps. “Now we’re talking. I got two Buds coming to chase them. I’m the designated driver tonight.”
“Lucky me,” I say as I lick the remaining salt from my lips.
“I like a woman who can hold her liquor,” Freeze says.
“Oh honey, I’m Tennessee raised, it’s pretty much a requirement.”
He laughs. “Noted.”
“Is he bothering you ladies?” the blonde to Jess’s left asks.
I hold my breath. Please don’t let my first night in God knows how long turn into a bar brawl.
“You hurt my feelings with your assumptions. These are my new friends, Blanche and Jesslynn.” It was a small thing, introducing me first, but there was something in his tone that felt territorial.
“Nice to meet you all, I’m Mark. You never know around this bar. I’m a bartender here, so I try to keep an eye on things.”
“I got you, man,” Freeze says.
“It’s nice to meet you, ladies,” Mark says.
“Nice to meet you,” Jesse and I chime, polite as punch.
“Tell me, Mark. Do you play pool?” Jess asks.
“I do. You up for a game?”
“I am.” She grabs her bottle of beer and winks at me. “I’ll be just across the way if you need anything.” I shake my head and laugh. Jesslynn has never been married because she likes to keep her options open, and fully embrace the experience life has to offer her. A business woman who never lacks for dates or traveling companions, she’s never had a problem bucking tradition.
“Before the alcohol started flowing you were saying something about changes?” Freeze says.
I take a long draw off my bottle and nod as I toy with the label. I finally find a man who listens, and it’s the wrong time in my life. “Yes, I’m coming out of a marriage and figuring everything out, starting over fresh.”
“Oh, yeah? I am too.”