"Where's Seth?" Jenny asks, scanning the room and not finding him anywhere.
The crowd hasn't thinned yet, since it's only a little past eleven-thirty.
"He left a while ago."
I take a swig of my drink only to find it's empty. I'm bloated and burpy and full of regret for drinking beer instead of gin. Judging by the swirling sensation in my head, the tequila was also a bad idea.
"I thought you guys came together?" she says looking confused.
I'm not sure how she knows this, but maybe Seth texted her or she saw us walk in earlier.
"He was ready to leave, and I wanted to stay. I'll get a ride home with someone else, it's fine."
Luisa leans over Jenny and looks me directly in the eye. "What's going on with you two?"
"Luisa..." Jenny says with a warning tone.
It's clear they know Seth and I kissed, or at least they know something happened between us.
"Nothing is going on," I say innocently and receive two hard stares for trying to bullshit them. I sigh, not having enough willpower at this point to hide the truth. "I think we found out there's a thin line between lust and hate."
Jenny laughs, but Luisa looks concerned.
"We don't want to see him get hurt," she says.
I shake my head in confusion. Maybe it's the alcohol I've consumed or the noise in here, but I can't possibly have heard her correctly.
"I think you have the wrong idea about what's going on."
"It's none of our business anyway." Jenny looks over my shoulder at something. "I think Rhett is looking for you."
Rhett walks toward me from the other end of the bar with a beer in each of his hands.
"Hey, I got this for you, but then I couldn't find you," he says, extending one of the bottles toward me.
I guess this beer will be my last one of the evening. I thank him and set the bottle on the bar, and the four of us strike up a conversation that I'm fairly sure I won't remember tomorrow.
* * *
I half-listen to Luisa,Jenny and Rhett, but mostly I'm ruminating about Seth's departure. Having sex with him when I'm drunk is the worst idea ever so it's a relief that the temptation is gone. Still, I can't stop thinking about him and, at one particularly desperate point, consider knocking on his cabin door when I get home. A drunken booty call, really? I can't possibly have sunk that low.
After I play the longest and worst pool game of my life with Rhett, he offers to take me home. I don't plan on drinking anything else, and it's close to closing time, but something stops me from accepting his offer: I don't want Seth to hear that Rhett and I left the bar together. It's ridiculous, but what Luisa said got to me. If there's a chance that leaving with Rhett will hurt Seth, I don't want to do it, and no one is more surprised by this turn of events than I am. Annoying Seth should delight and entertain me. But it doesn't.
Because I've told Rhett that I want to stay and have one more beer, I have to make good on that lie. I wave goodbye to him and attempt to climb on an empty barstool that feels much taller and wobblier than it did a few hours ago. After several attempts, I'm finally on my perch. The drunk middle-aged guy who hit on me last time I was at Ricky's is slouched on the stool next to mine.
"Let me buy you a drink, little lady." His eyes float from my face down to my chest.
I narrow my eyes at him and scowl. "Your name is Frank, right? Frank, I'm going to be totally honest here. You don't have a shot with me and neither one of us needs anything else to drink. Now please be quiet while I order a beer and pay for it myself."
As I flag down the bartender, Frank gives a low whistle.
"Sounds like you've had a bad night. Want to talk about it?"
"Not particularly."
Then I forget all about my (third) last drink of the night and begin railing about men, love, the New York City public school system and anything else that comes to my mind. Frank is an enthusiastic audience, and although he takes up for the male sex from time to time, he's generally sympathetic.
I don't even notice the bartender ringing the bell for last call so it's a surprise when she announces to Frank and me that it's time to close up. Her exact words are that he and I need to vacate the premises immediately.
