Vodka and Vanity

He looked across the hazy bar and saw that smile. That dazzling smile. He knew he had to meet her. He’d seen her there the last few Wednesdays with her friend. Each week, he watched as guy after guy went down in flames after their approach to the small table. A couple of times he had almost thrown caution to the wind and taken the risk himself, but he knew he needed help. Cal looked away for a minute and saw his buddy walking into the bar. Trent was far from his first choice as a wingman, but he was the only person available.

Anne was laughing at Ashley’s joke, and almost shot vodka out of her nose. She grabbed one of the tiny beverage napkins to try to staunch the pain as the two awkward guys sauntered up to the table as like kings. She almost laughed, but the sharp intake of breath stung and brought tears to her eyes.

The shorter one was right there with a napkin, holding it out to her.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice nasally from the alcohol.

When Anne looked over at Ashley, she saw her friend was giggling and shaking hands with the other new arrival… the taller one. Her first thought was that he was the cuter one, but neither of them were classically handsome. He leaned over and whispered something else in her ear, leaning back grinning as she laughed so hard, she snorted, then quickly covered the bottom of her face, blushing in embarrassment.

Fine, she thought, I can play this for a minute… for Ashley.

She shook the newcomer’s hand and smiled at him. He leaned in and said something, but she wasn’t sure exactly what. The music was so loud.

“I said, did you want a drink?”

She shook her head. Not even close to original, was her first thought, but then she saw a waitress standing there.

“Oatmeal Cookie shots… four,” she thought he said.

The waitress sashayed off, leaving them. That’s when she noticed that her friend had disappeared. She quickly looked around.

“Dance floor,” the stranger said, pointing.

Anne looked out onto the floor and watched for a minute. Ashley’s dancing wasn’t Elaine level bad, but it wasn’t good, either. The two had been friends forever, and while Anne was the better dancer, and “the pretty one”, Ashley was the funny, smart one. Good thing, too, Anne thought, watching Ashley spasm a little on the floor. Her suitor didn’t seem to mind.

“So, what do you do?” she asked the guy in front of her.

“Writer,” he said, oddly nodding as he said it. “What about you?”

“Model.”

“Wow, really?” he said, surprise in his voice.

She thought to herself that he shouldn’t have been surprised. She was tall, slender and athletic, and with her long auburn hair, she was highly sought after.

“Yeah… you seem surprised. We’re just normal people, you know. We do normal stuff.”

“No, that’s not it… sorry. I just…” he trailed off.

The waitress showed up with the Oatmeal Cookie shots at the same time as Ashley and the other man walked up to the table. Ashley grabbed one of the shots and sniffed it, then, smiling she threw it back. Her eyes went wide.

“Oh my God, Anne, you have GOT to try one, they are amazing,” she said, her hand absentmindedly stroking the arm of the man next to her.

Anne picked up the shot and smelled it. It smelled like an oatmeal cookie. That was kind of a surprise. She gave it a little sip, then her friend motioned that she needed to swallow it in one gulp. She gave it a try.

“Ok, that is pretty good,” she said as the two guys both downed theirs. “Should we get another round?”

Dutifully, “her guy” raised his hand and motioned the waitress. She slid up next to him and he leaned over and gave her another order. The girl smiled and laughed for a moment before hurrying off.

I guess we can have fun tonight, she thought as she watched her friend soaking up the attention from the guy she had begun to think of as “Wingman.”

A moment later, the waitress brought four completely different drinks out and set them on the table before disappearing.

“This one is Banana Cream Pie,” her guy said, picking one up and dropping it back.

Ashley scooped hers up and shot it before her guy’s glass was on the table. Anne was thinking that Ashley might not be used to this kind of attention. Normally, when they went out together, Anne was diligent about crushing all the men that came to the table. She didn’t want Ashley to feel left out. She tried to be polite, but some of them weren’t very good at taking a hint.

“Wow, ok… how do you know about all these delicious shots?” Anne asked her guy after drinking her shot.

“I bartended for a little while in college… and I have a sweet tooth,” he replied.

She definitely had a buzz now, but it wasn’t severe. And her guy was kind of growing on her, but he also seemed rather shy. Wingman had his arm around Ashley, and she was thoroughly enjoying his company. Anne was hoping that he didn’t hurt her friend’s feelings when it was all done.

Once again, Wingman steered Ashley out onto the dancefloor. She seemed to have loosened up with the alcoholic lubrication they had enjoyed.

“I never told you my name,” she said, leaning close so he could hear her. “I’m Anne.” She took his hand and gave it a firm, polite shake. “My girlfriend’s name is Ashley.”

“Trent,” he replied. “My friend is Cal. He’s a really good guy. I’m glad they are hitting it off.”

“Yeah,” she replied with a grin. “He is a pretty good wingman,” she nodded at him.

He smiled gently and his head nodded back like he was going to laugh, then he just grinned.

“What?” she replied.

“He isn’t the wingman. I am,” he laughed back.

Anne smiled and nodded. She never got the wingman, but she thought it was a novel approach.

The following Tuesday, Anne called her friend to set up their weekly outing.

“Sorry, Anne, Cal and I have a date. We can go next week, though,” Ashley replied.

The week after, they went to Ladies Night again. As Anne and Ashley walked in, Cal already had saved a table for them. Sitting on the table when they arrived were a group of three glasses.

“Where’s Trent?” Anne asked as she leaned on the tall stool.

“I think he had something going on… but he told me to get these drinks. He even gave me the recipe if the bartender didn’t know it,” Cal replied. “He calls it Hard Butter Beer, but there is no beer. They smell magnificent.”

He picked his up, took a sip and smiled and nodded to them that it was good. Ashley picked up hers and mmm’d her approval. Anne sipped the drink and had to admit it was quite unique. She likened it to a vanilla ice cream bathed in whip cream and butterscotch.

Before long, though, Anne felt left out as Ashley and Cal danced and chatted and laughed. For the first time that she could remember, she felt like the third wheel, rather that the center of attention. She tried to smile and carry on, but it didn’t take long for Ashley to pick up on it.

“I can have him call Trent,” she said.

“It’s ok. I’m having fun,” she lied.

When Cal returned from the restroom, Ashley talked quickly in his ear. He pulled out his phone and tapped in a couple of texts as he sat between the two women.

She walked around her apartment, trying to busy herself with mundane tasks, mainly to divert her attention from her phone. She watered her plants and organized her silverware. Then she dusted, paying special attention to the black and white photo of the pear tree that one of the photographers she’d worked with gave her.

This was new territory for Anne. She had never pursued a man. It just never seemed right, or ever needed. There were always men chasing her. But Trent was not playing by the rules. She remembered his number. She texted him, but he hadn’t responded. She then called, but he didn’t answer. And she was running out of things to keep her busy.

As a last resort, she pulled out her tablet. She had a few books around the apartment, but they weren’t really “reading” books. They were mostly coffee table books. She tapped the Books App and started looking for “Trent” as an author name. It took an hour to find the right one.

“Oh, geez. That picture is horrible, Trent Lewis. I need to hook you up with a photographer I know,” she said to the screen, looking at the picture. Her finger absently traced the line of his jaw. She downloaded his first book and started reading.

She had been swallowed up by the world he created. Her heart had raced, then leapt as she read. Every once in a while, she would break away for a minute… grab a drink, or some food, but then she was curled back up on her couch, the tablet now plugged in because the battery had run down.

The battery has never run all the way down, she thought for a moment before being dragged back into the story.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when her buzzer sounded. She only knew she had changed clothes and was lounging on the couch in baggy flannel pants and a hoodie.

“Who is it?” she said into the intercom.

“Ashley,” her friend replied.

She tapped the button to buzz her in, then rushed down the hall. As she passed the mirror, she glanced at her reflection. Luckily, it was only her friend… no make-up, hair in a messy ponytail, wearing her glasses instead of contacts. Then she saw she had bags under her eyes.

She looked into her room and saw he clock. 5:07pm, Sunday. “What the hell, it was Friday a minute ago,” she said out loud.

There was a knock at the door. Ashley.

Ashley walked in, “Look who I ran into on the way over here,” her friend said, excitement pouring out of her voice. Cal and Trent strolled in on her heels, Ashley and Cal holding hands like middle schoolers.

Anne’s stomach dropped. When she looked away from the mirror, Trent was looking straight at her, a smile across his face. She didn’t know whether to dive into her room like an Army Ranger under fire, or to run and jump in his arms to tell him how much she loved being in the world he’d created. And then she thought about just punching him for ghosting on her.

“Hi,” she said demurely, a little wave of her hand, then she tightly hugged herself.

“Hi, yourself,” Trent replied casually. “I didn’t mean to disappear on you… I was going to call back, I swear.”

Anne shook her head, “Don’t, it’s ok.” She walked toward him. She thought for a moment about smacking the smug grin from his lips, then wondered about kissing him. Then punching him.

“Are you reading Crossed?” he asked, seeing her tablet sitting on the side table where she’d left it, the cover shining on the screen.

“Yeah. It’s pretty good.”

“That’s like book six in the series… were you able to pick up on everything?”

“I read the first five.”

“Oh… I didn’t think you’d heard of me,” he said, confused.

“Yeah…” she drawled out, “I started Friday, just after I called you.” She looked back down again. When she looked back up, her friend and Cal were in the kitchen.

“You look gorgeous.”

“I’m a mess,” she replied, blushing.

“But you are you.”

This was Summer Fiction Challenge #8. You might also check out the series entries I did as part of the Hammond Family Saga. They each stand alone, but they also connect.

If you like this story, you should check out my Amazon Author page.