Operation One Night Stand (16 page)

“I can see that.
Nice drink choice by the way.”
I nodded to my empty glass.

“You like that?
I have plenty more where that came from, in case, you know, you need someone to help you pick up your target.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

It was official.
I was going to die of embarrassment.

“So Brian.”
Thankfully Sarah realized I was sinking and rescued me.
“What do you do when you aren’t tending bar and passing along liquid sexual innuendo to our girl Caroline?”

“You know, I’m trying to give up sexual innuendos.
But it’s hard.
So hard.”

Thankfully my mouth was not full of cheesy meat when I laughed.

“If you leave the sexual innuendo door open, even the slightest bit, I’ll come crashing through like the Kool-Aid man,” Melody quipped.

“Then remind me to always keep the door locked!”
Brian laughed.

“You’re pretty funny, Bartender Brian.
It’s a scientific fact that dirty talk and sexual innuendo are the strongest foundations of friendship.”
Melody was definitely on board.
Anyone expert in dirty banter was tops in her mind.

“Then I’m the best friend one could ever have.
Having the ability to turn any thought into a sexual innuendo is a mark of the truly talented.”

“Who knew,” Sarah asked, “the bartender was not only hot but fully entertaining?”

“I just work here.
I took it over when my dad died and left it to me.
It’s been mine about a year now.”

“So you’re Murphy.”

“Yep.
Brian Murphy, at your service.
Look, the bar’s heating up again.
Need anything, let me know.
I’ll stop back later.
Oh, yeah, I’ll be sending a few friends back here, too.
It’s my only reserved station.
You ladies don’t mind, do you?”
He looked at me when he asked.

“No.
Not at all.
The more the merrier.”
Melody looked happy.
She was probably hoping a guy would come back here and rescue her from Nick the Dick the Guitar-Playing Douche.

As if on cue, three guys walked to the back table.

“Shouldn’t you be working?”
A tall man with easy blue eyes and ruffled red hair high-fived Brian.

“I’ll send some pitchers over.
Sit, the ladies don’t mind.”

Another one of Brian’s friends, this one with dark eyes, stubble, and short dark hair, smiled.

“You must be Caroline.
I’m Dan, this is Drew,” he said, pointing at the redhead, “and this is Berk.”

Berk wore a cardigan, tight white T-shirt, black jeans, and superthick black plastic frames.
I liked him already.

“Nice to meet you.
How do you know
I’m
Caroline?”
I teased.

“Ryan and Brian talk so much about you, I feel like I could pick you out in a lineup.
Stand up for a minute.”

I stood.

“Turn around.”

I turned around.

Dan lifted my sweater a little bit.
“Yup.
It’s you.”

I stiffened and turned to face Brian.
“So you’ve been talking about me?”

Brian smiled.
“Well, I kept going on and on about your personality, then I realized how much of a bonus that ass was.”

Sarah snickered.

“We keep telling her she has a great ass but she doesn’t believe us.”

Dan put his arm around my shoulders.
“Well, if you need reminding, just let me know.
I feel it’s a public service I provide.”

“And what kind of public service is that?”
Melody’s eyes were shining.
Maybe Dan would be the one to untie her from Nick.

“Well, pretty lady,” Dan walked around the table and grabbed Melody’s hand, “I think it’s my duty, as a man, to point out the best features of all the beautiful women I meet.”

Gag me.
Sarah and I rolled our eyes at each other but it seemed Melody was taking it all in.

“That’s quite a service you provide.”

“And may I say, you fill out that sweater very nicely.”

I prayed that Melody wasn’t falling for his lines.
I cringed as she ran her fingers down into her cleavage and Dan stared like he’d never seen tits before.

Then she leaned in closer to him and said, “You know, New Year’s is coming up.
I think you should save your resolution till next year.
You should try out being a douche for another twelve months.”

The entire table erupted in laughter.
Dan was left with a smirk.
Brian clapped him on the back and took off for the bar but not before whispering in my ear, “See you later.”

Dan clutched his hand to his chest and fell into the seat next to Melody.
“Touché.”

Berk stole fries off my plate while discussing the latest in financial reports.
Melody was interested in his thoughts considering she worked in that industry.
I guessed Dan did as well, since he followed along.

I had no idea what he was talking about.
Sarah didn’t look quite as bored as I was.
She was deep in conversation with Drew the Ginger-Haired Wonder.
Something about him was very familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

By the time the second batch of wine and three pitchers were empty, it was a quarter to nine.

“Be right back.”
I grabbed my purse and headed for the restroom.
Unfortunately for me, I bumped into Betsy the Whore and spilled her drink all down her what-might-pass-for-a-dress-if-she-were-a-middle-schooler.
I noticed she was with a group of her similarly dressed slut-whore friends.

“Oh.
It’s you.”
I started to shrug past her but she put her hand on my arm.

“I’m really sorry, Caroline.”

“I don’t really care, Betsy.”

“I think you do.
I think you’re upset because your boyfriend liked me better.
I’m really sorry about that.”
She pouted her lips.
I visualized punching her in the face.

“Oh!
That’s right.
You fucked my ex.
I just ate half a burger.
Want those leftovers, too?”

I noticed Brian watching the exchange.
I also noticed Steven standing off to the side, looking on with interest.

“You’re funny, Caroline.
Too bad you weren’t good enough for Steve.”

Steve?
Who the fuck was
Steve
?
He hated that.

“You know, when you are dead you don’t know that you are dead.
It is difficult only for others.
It’s the same with stupidity.”

“Poor Caroline.”
Betsy had the audacity to laugh along with her friends.
Instead of visualizing punching her in the face, I visualized ripping her hair out.

I reached over and took Steven’s drink out of his hand, probably a gin and tonic—I was hoping for something with color—poured it over Betsy’s head, and walked away.

I didn’t look back and instead of heading for the bathroom, I made my way to the bar.

“Caroline, you’re going to scare my customers away.”

“I need a drink.”
My hands were shaking.
Brian placed his hands over mine to still the vibration.

“Who was that?”
He nodded toward Betsy and her supersluts.

“Oh her?
That’s Betsy the cock-juggling thunder-cunt.”

His laugh boomed in my ear.
“Well, then.
Maybe she’s just the type of customer I don’t want in my bar.
Plus, any girl who can quote a Blade movie is okay in my book.”

He placed two shot glasses on the bar and filled each with Jack.
“Bottoms up.”

“Another,” I said as I slammed the glass down.
He filled it up.
Three shots later, I really had to pee.

“I have to go to the bathroom.”
There was a slur in my words that wasn’t there ten minutes ago.

“You okay?”
I pulled my hand away as he tried to place his on it again.
I was so pent up I wasn’t sure that physical contact was a good idea.

“Yeah.
Are you?”
My tone had more bite in it than intended.

“I’m good.”
Brian stood and backed up.
“Ryan’s here.”
He nodded toward the door.

I didn’t know what I felt.
Was I happy Ryan showed up?
Was I annoyed?
Was I frustrated about Brian?
Steven?
Betsy?

Ryan walked over and kissed me on the cheek before shaking hands with Brian.

“Be right back.
I have to pee.”

I left the two of them at the bar and felt both sets of eyes watching me as I walked away.

I
stared in the mirror, hands clutching either side of the sink to stop them from shaking.
Why did I care so much?
What the hell was it that left me feeling raw and exposed every single time I thought of Steven and Betsy?
Leaning my head against the mirror, I stared down at the water flowing from the faucet and wondered why I couldn’t be more like the flowing stream.
It was never in one place for longer than a millisecond, new fresh water followed in constant movement.
Until it was frozen.
Ice didn’t move much.
Doomed to view the same scenery until, mercifully, it melted and moved away.
Maybe that’s what it was.
Maybe I was frozen in time.
Maybe I was melting little by little, moment by moment, until I was free.
Maybe it would just take longer than two months and a one night stand.

“You okay?”
Melody walked into the small bathroom.

“Yeah.
I’m fine.
I will be fine.”

“I saw what happened.
You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”
I pulled a few paper towels from the dispenser, wet them, and patted my face.

Melody pulled a compact out of her purse and handed it to me.
“Okay.
You don’t have to.”

Opening the small metal tin, I used the pad to swipe the redness from my face.
“Who the hell does she think she is?”

Mel leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest.

I continued swiping away the evidence of tears and dark circles.
“I mean, fuck her, right?
She’s the one who fucked up.
Not me.
And where the fuck does she get off calling him Steve?
He hates that.
He always preferred to be called Steven.”

Reaching into her bag, Melody produced a small tube of cream blush and some mascara.
I took the items and continued to fix my face.

“He fucking broke me.
He fucking hid me away, and I allowed it.”

Mel stepped to the sink and handed me nude lip gloss.
I painted my lips until they were too shiny.

“How the hell did I allow that?
How the hell didn’t I
see
?”
I blotted my lips with a square of toilet paper and turned to face my friend.

“How am I supposed to become the new me if I don’t know how I became the old me?”

She pursed her lips, thinking of what to say.
Mel could be crass and over the top but when it came down to it, she was thoughtful when it came to what really mattered.

“I think,” she began, “that maybe you didn’t really know who you were then, either.
I think you were sheltered—”

“I wasn’t—”

“Let me finish.
I think that maybe you were more sheltered than you think you were.
And that’s not a bad thing.”

“I can see that.
But I don’t think I should have to apologize for growing up in a great family.
I shouldn’t have to be ashamed of having parents and a brother who love me.”
My stomach dropped and I felt anger beginning to bubble up.

“Oh goodness no!
Please don’t misunderstand me.”
She reached out and placed her hand on my arm.
“I think that you began to see what was out there and maybe you pulled away from his shadow a bit.
I don’t think he liked that.
And I think Betsy is more than willing to allow a sugar daddy to take care of her.
You, on the other hand, whether you realized it or not, wanted more.
You still want more.”

I turned back to face the mirror.
Melody was right.
Both she and Sarah have been right about all this mess.
I hated that I needed the push but I was grateful for it.
Every day I felt more independent, more in control of what I want.

“I think you flipped today because you hadn’t had the opportunity to flip before this.
Of course it’s still raw.
You were together for five years.
And he broke your heart.
You have every right to react.
Just don’t let it consume you.
React and move on.”

“React and move on,” I repeated.

“Yes.
Now.
You have a superhot guy waiting out there for you.
A great night of fun and debauchery.
Are you going to let trivial people like Betsy and Steven ruin that for you?”

“No.”

“That’s my girl.”

“No,” I said with more force.
“Absolutely not.
I am starting over.
I am taking control of my life.
Fuck them.”

“Exactly!”

“Thank you.”

“Oh sweetie, no thanks needed.”

I hugged Melody tighter than I thought possible.
She was wrong.
I didn’t just have a brother.
I had two sisters as well, and who cared if they weren’t blood?
They were sisters to me—more even, just the same.