“Three Fancies for my three fancy ladies,” he says proudly as he places the drinks one by one on our table along with a bowl of mixed nuts.
“Thanks, Benny, you’re our favorite bartender too,” quips Jasmine trying to cover the unease settling around us after my outburst.
“Thanks, these drinks look amazing,” I add a little less enthusiastically.
“And taste amazing,” chimes in Lily as she takes a sip.
Benny takes a bow and smiles, before returning to the bar, leaving us to pick up our conversation.
After a few moments of silence covered by us sipping our cocktails, I ask quietly and a lot more calmly, “What makes you think I’m not over him?”
“Oh, honey, we're your best friends. We see the way you keep men at a distance. You've been that way ever since we met you,” Lily explains gently as if speaking to a young child.
“Someone caused that pain," Jasmine chimes in.
Lily looks back up. "Cass, it's obvious from what you've told us Luke broke your heart. Jas and I just want to see you happy. It’s time to move on. You either need closure so you can find someone new or...” Lily pauses.
“Or what?” I ask, curious as to what Lily thinks would come next.
“Or see if there is anything left between you and Luke,” Jasmine interrupts, not one to shy away from the tough talk.
Maybe they can see things clearer from the outside and they could be right, I might not be completely over him.
As I silently sip my drink, I toss this revelation around in my head. I guess unresolved feelings for Luke could simply be hiding under the surface. I just hope scratching the surface doesn't open up the old wound.
The girls have certainly given me something to think about. When I get Luke's number I don’t know if I'll be brave enough to call him as I sure as hell don’t want to give him the opportunity to hurt me again.
Lily tries to lighten the mood. “Hey, you don’t have to make any decisions tonight. Let’s enjoy our cocktails, maybe have another, and we can talk about something else a bit happier.“
Lily makes a good point, and I appreciate her effort to cheer me up.
Allowing a smile to stretch across my lips, I agree, “You’re right. I don’t have to decide anything tonight or tomorrow.”
“Of course, you don’t. In fact, you don’t ever have to call him,” Jasmine says, and I don’t miss the glare Lily shoots in her direction. Jasmine shrugs it off and continues, “Come on, it’s Friday night, girls, it’s supposed to be happy hour, not sad hour.”
Absolutely, I’m not going to let thoughts of Luke completely ruin my Friday night drinks. I clink my cocktail glass to my friend's glasses and make a determined effort to enjoy our Friday night catchup.
Jasmine is right, I don’t ever have to call him. Keeping this thought front of mind makes the cool, sweet cocktail taste even better.
Chapter 6
Luke
TheIrishpubacrossthe road from the office, is busy tonight. I guess a typical Friday night for them, as usually Blake and I only come here mid-week, when it’s much quieter.
Maneuvering our way through the crowd near the front door, I see a group of people from our office sitting at a table on the other side of the room. Shit, one of the disadvantages of being tall is we're hard to miss and sure enough they've seen us. Now we're going to have to join them.
At least the asshole from this morning isn’t with them. Blake heads in their direction as they wave us over while I move toward the bar to grab us a couple of beers.
I take my time ordering the beers, all the while wishing we'd gone to another bar a bit farther from the office. I’m not in the mood for social chit-chat. Not that I ever am, but particularly not tonight. I guess it's too late to bail, as leaving now will only prove I’m the “icehole”they call me.
While I wait for the beers to be poured, my gaze wanders to Blake, comfortably talking and laughing with different members of staff. How does he do that so easily? He saw the same shit I did in Afghanistan, but you'd never know. He laughs at something Bob from finance says and smiles down at Bec. He seems to be enjoying himself with these people, which is a talent I wish I had.
I’d like to feel comfortable again mixing with people from the office or clients or pretty much any person outside my close friend group. I don’t want to be considered aniceholeanymore. What I'd really like is to be the fun easy going guy I used to be.
Shit, I can’t believe I’ve even started calling myself “icehole.”
I pick up the beers and reluctantly make my way over to join Blake, telling myself with each step that I need to make an effort tonight. It’s time I tried to connect with these people who work for us, at least that's a start.
