Why Did It Have To Be You?

Prologue

I hear the bell on the door to the bar cling as I suck the olives off of my drink's stir stick. I am working on my third drink of the night, sitting all alone at a run down bar that is just around the corner from my apartment.

It must look a little ridiculous to the few people that are here that I am wearing a birthday crown and have on a tight, short dress while most of the occupants are in ripped jeans, stained t-shirts, and ball caps. Oh well. I am finding it hard to care what anyone thinks about me as the alcohol from my third drink is starting to make my brain a little more foggy and a lot more confident.

I wonder if anyone would care if I danced on a table? It is my birthday after all.

The confidence doesn't last long though, and soon I am back to wallowing as I begin remembering why I am here all alone on my 21st birthday.

I don't usually spend that much time feeling sorry for myself, but I am making an exception just for tonight since I can finally legally drink my sorrows away. Or at least try to drink them away.

My two best friends Ally and Jessica are both out of town this week for a work conference. They both work together at a marketing company and are constantly flying all around for business trips and "work" conferences. Seems more like vacationing to me with all the partying and events they attend. I can’t complain too much though because I often benefit from their jobs

when they give me all the extra goodies they got for free from the companies they represent.

I knew about their trip ahead of time, so we planned to celebrate my birthday this weekend. I’ve known Ally since freshman year of college, and I know she is going to make the party unforgettable. I think her exact words were “You are getting so trashed this weekend!”

She pretty much lives to party and find the next hot guy to take home. The first time we met in our shared college dorm room, she already had three guys’ numbers that she met while moving in. Although I’m not quite as adventurous and outgoing as she is, we compliment each other well, and I couldn't imagine what my life would be like without her.

Ally met Jessica when she started working at the same marketing firm as her. They became fast friends, and now the three of us are all besties.

My sisters both sent me happy birthday texts, but that is about the extent of our usual conversations. We text each other on birthdays and occasionally send a funny meme to each other, usually related to our childhood and growing up.

I don't not get along with them, but we aren't close either. Lauren and McKenna are super close, and I have always been the odd one out. They are both outgoing and social. Not that I was a lonely geek growing up or anything. I just like to stick to a smaller group of friends rather than making a new friend every weekend. Our personalities just never quite meshed together well. We usually see each other on holidays and special events but other than that, they are more like acquaintances than family. Plus, they are a couple hours away, and it's a Tuesday night, so even if we were super close friends, I don’t think they’d make the drive out just to get a few drinks.

Having my party postponed isn't the reason for my pity party though. I am not one of those people who has to celebrate on the exact day. Hey, you want to do Christmas in January? Thanksgiving in October? I am all for it just as long as I get to celebrate at some point. The reason I am letting myself mope and drown my sorrows tonight is that I was supposed to be with my boyfriend right now. We weren't going to do anything crazy, but I was going to get all dressed up with this skin tight dress and birthday crown and we were going to hit up a few of the bars downtown. Instead, I am sitting all alone at a bar that looks like it was made for alcoholics. I don’t think there is even a jukebox. Just tables and liqueur. Oh and I guess their bar food isn’t bad.

I blow at some hair that has fallen in front of my face and sigh. I am still trying to figure out why he didn’t call me this morning. We could have worked things out like we usually do.

He stormed off last night after yet another fight about Maddison. I like to think of myself as an open minded and modern girlfriend, but when your boyfriend is close friends with his ex, it is not easy. Sure they have known each other since middle school and she was having a bad night after her boyfriend dumped her, but why does it always have to be Brian to come to the rescue? Doesn't she have any girl friends to cry with? I sometimes think she makes up these "tragedies" just so she can get him alone with her. I didn’t even remember that she was dating anyone. Couldn’t have been for too long because she was single last month when we all went over to Brian’s friend Jason’s house.

The last thing Brian said to me before leaving my apartment was "She's one of my best friends and she needs me. Why can't you understand that?"

I was angry he was choosing her over me, but we've had this fight before and so I tried not to dwell on it.

When my birthday rolled around the next day and I still hadn’t heard from him, I began to feel more angry. It is my birthday for crying out loud. That has to be more important than some ex-girlfriend/best friend's problems. The more I thought about it the more upset I got.

When 7 o'clock came around, which is when we were supposed to meet for dinner, and he still hadn't called or texted. I turned off my phone, put on my sexiest dress, and headed to the only bar within walking distance since I didn't have anyone to drive me home. If he wants to ignore me on my birthday over something I should be upset with him about, then I guess we don’t need to be in a relationship anymore. I think. Maybe. I don’t know.

Anyway, that's how I ended up in this dive bar with an empty plate of chicken wings and a buzz that is getting stronger by the minute.

I look down and see my third drink only has a few sips left and I get the bright idea that I need to do some birthday shots. I call over to the bartender. "What's your favorite shot?"

He purses his lips to think a second and I interrupt him before he even answers. "Wait! Give me your most girly shot and most manly shot!"

He chuckles at that. "Coming right up."

As he turns, I add on "Within a reasonable budget. I don’t want some old fancy whisky that cost fifty dollars a shot.” I must not be too drunk if I can still be budget conscious.

He turns and winks at me. "Got it."

As I am waiting for my birthday shots, I hear footsteps coming up to the bar from whoever just walked in. Looking around, it seems like most of these guys came straight from work without showering.

I hope this new person doesn't try to sit next to me. I don’t need some smelly guy ruining my perfectly good spot at this bar. I take a glance to my left and my straw falls from my mouth.

He is definitely not what I was expecting.

The first thing I notice about this new mystery man is how tall he is with his fancy navy blue suit that fits him like a glove. Think Ryan Gosling in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Not one of those big, bulky suits most business guys wear. No. His suit forms to every curve of his body and man what a body it is.