I pick up one of the tumblers from the rack and wipe it down before setting it in the clean section and moving to the next glass as Diane switches seats, moving to the stool Grace was just in.
My eyes flick up to her, and I give her a tight smile. I think about asking her if everything’s alright with Grace, but I keep my mouth shut, just listening to the sounds of the busy bar.
“So what are you doing tonight?” Diane asks, twirling her hair around her finger. She gives me a seductive smile, and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. She knows I’m with Grace. My brows pinch as I think about what to tell her.
Grace.My intentions are to be doing Grace tonight. All night long, if I have any say in the matter.
“Just going home,” I answer her tightly. I decide to stay neutral and I assume it’s because Diane’s drunk that she’s acting like this.
“You need company?” she asks.
“I have Grace for that,” I bite out the response although I try to keep my voice even and make a move to leave, not liking that I’m in this position at all, but she grabs my hand.
“Not anymore,” she says and her answer makes my heart pound. I turn to look at her, not saying a damn thing or changing my expression.
“I mean, she told me it was all fake and she was never really into you like that… it was just for fun,” Diane says in a low voice, her hand at the neck of the bottle, tilting it on the bar top. She whispers, leaning in closer. “I get it. You got what you needed from her, and she went slumming for a minute.” She pulls back to take a swig of her beer.
My heart feels like a knife’s gone through it, slowly twisting and then being pulled out.She was never into me.That’s all I keep thinking.
No fucking way. Of course she was into me. She wouldn’t lie to me. Would she? I move slowly, grabbing a rag from under the bar and wiping down the lacquered wood mindlessly.
“So I was thinking, if you’re looking for something tonight-”
“I’m good,” my words come out hard and maybe harsh. I don’t care though. Diane says something else, but I can’t hear anything over the sound of the blood rushing in my ears as I walk away, right to the back of the bar.
My heart’s hammering, my blood’s boiling. I feel tense and ready to break.
It was fake. Just like my last relationship.
I’m a fucking fool.
Grace
Islip onto the barstool next to Diane, deciding to woman up. I want Charlie, and at the very least I can put my heart on the line. Diane looks at me as I right myself, giving me a half smile.
“Hey,” I say. I should thank her for convincing me to come although I’m sure she really does just want to get wasted. The booze here is way cheaper than anywhere else around.
“Hey yourself.” She sips amber liquid from a rocks glass. Guess she finished her beer already.
Putting my clutch on the bar, I search for Charlie, but the bar’s empty.
“Where’d Charlie go?” I ask Diane. I can still feel the awkward tension between us. I just need to spit it out.
She shrugs. “He’s around. I think the other bartender is here now, though.”
Other bartender?I wonder.
The double doors to the back swing open and grab my attention. Maggie makes an appearance, hauling a big bucket full of ice. She dumps it in the well behind the bar, then hides the bucket. Oh, theother girl. I get what Diane’s saying now.
“You want something to drink?” Maggie asks. “Charlie’s finishing up some stuff in the back.”
I glance down to where my beer was when I left and then over to the two empty bottles in front of Diane. “A glass of white zinfandel pretty please.”
She pours the wine and sets the glass down in front of me, and all the while it’s quiet. My eyes keep flickering back up to the doors. I feel like I need to get these words out now and go tell him, but I can’t force myself to interrupt him.
“Wanna go somewhere else?” Diane asks.
Already? We literally just got here.I take her in before answering. She’s drunk, or well on her way there. I can tell by her almost-slurred speech, her rumpled clothes.
