A game for while we wait

She watches his reflection. He steals a look at her. All heat and appreciation. She’d take a little longer turning around.

He looked cuter than she thought he would. Dressed better. Hair freshly cut. He tried even if he’d deny it.

“Your drinks,” Lou, the bartender, says with some small annoyance.

She picks the next round off the bar. Her bracelet clinked off the glass.

“Is that all he can afford?” a voice laughs from her right, “Ma, I promise I could do better.”

She summons some tears and lets her eyes fall to her bracelet. A simple chain adorned with beads, shells and one coiled piece of painted pasta.

“My daughter made this for me,” she tells the bald lump of muscle at the bar, “Before she got sick.”

He mumbles an apology.

Lou sighs behind the bar. Luthor’s eyebrows raise in the mirror. She brings the drinks back to the table.

“That’s a crazy lie to get rid of guys,” he laughs. He doesn't pick up his glass until after she sits.

“I could have a daughter. You just met me. How would you know?”

His teeth flash. Playful.

“So you lied on your profile?”

“I could have.”

She crosses her arms. His eyes wander. She points up at her face. He blushes.

“So do you have kids, Ray?” he asks.

“Nope,” she lies.

“Then who did give you the bracelet?”

She turns it on her wrist.

“What if I made it?”

His eyes shine. Crooked smile fighting at his lips.

“I’m sure you worked very hard on it.”

She breaks into laughter and throws an ice cube at him. He catches it, and puts it in his glass.

“What do you do again?” she asks. Back to standard questions.

“I contract as an Industrial Site Tester.” he answers, knowing she knows, “I prepare sites for inspections and make sure standards are upheld.”

“How?”

“Usually by monitoring the employees to see if they’re skipping any steps or disobeying.”

“Isn’t it hard to tell when people know they're being monitored?”

He thinks she’s humoring him. She actually just likes to hear him speak.

“Yeah, it is.” he grins, playful questioning in his eyes, “It’s my job to figure out how to test people without revealing they’re being tested.”

“Oh, like how?”

He glances over at the bar. Pride flashes across his face.

“Setting up something to fail. Something essential."

"And when it does?" she smiles letting her eyes fall. He points up at his face. She throws another ice cube. He dodges this one.

"You hope they notice," he starts. She grins behind her cup. "And then when and if they do, you hope they do the right thing: stop the task, fix the problem, ask for help."

Her eyes glance over at the bar.

“And if they don’t notice?” she asks.

Electricity plays between them as he turns his cup on the table. Waiting.

“I really hope they notice.”

A call sounds from over their shoulder and Lou answers the bar phone. Luther's eyes sparkle.

“Lute. Ray.”

Lou interrupts. Out from behind the bar, cordless phone in hand.

“It’s the babysitter. She said the monitor is out of batteries?”

"So" Luther smiles, stands up and grabs the phone. "Turns out you do have a kid, afterall."

"Sorry for catfishing you," she calls after him.

He doesn't take his eyes off of her as he finishes the call. Neither does she. Once he finishes, he calls back to Lou.

"Let me settle up up Lou. They passed the test."

Before Lou can leave, she grabs his hand.

“That guy’s gonna make me delete all my dating profiles, Lou,” she breaths.

Lou exhales and frowns.

“You know I don’t like when you include me in the fantasy.”

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originally written for an NYC Midnight challenge with the prompts: passing a test, a bar, romantic comedy

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reflection: Never really figured out a thematic throughline