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He sighed. “Are those questions? Or are you ordering?”
“I’m ordering. Fully loaded nachos and a Bud Light.” She nodded. “That’s what I want.” She dug in her pocket for her money, pulled it out, and pushed it toward him as he went to get her order.
Ali casually glanced back to where the woman stood, but she was gone. She sighed. That seemed typical, but it was alright because she couldn’t go getting distracted by a stranger with whom she couldn’t continue anything. Besides, the likelihood of that woman being gay was slim. And if she was, she was most likely happily in a relationship.
He gave her the change and then pushed the nachos and beer in her direction before turning to the next customer. She mumbled her thanks, then walked toward the tables. However, the bar had steadily filled, and no empty table was available.
“Such is my life,” she muttered before quickly moving to a tiny pub table. There were no chairs, but it was where she could at least set her food and drink down and not spill them. She wanted to avoid making a complete spectacle of herself. Ali kept her eyes focused on her nachos when she wasn’t sipping her beer.
“This seat taken?”
She jerked to her attention when she heard the woman’s voice. The woman smiled and leaned against the stand that Ali had been occupying alone. “There’s no seats,” Ali said, smirking as she sipped her beer.
The woman giggled and nodded. “You have a point there. Then again, there are no seats left in the bar.” She leaned in close enough for Ali to feel her breath. “Truth is, I don’t much like standing awkwardly in a corner alone. It tends to attract unwanted attention.”
“Oh,” Ali looked down at her nachos awkwardly. She felt like, in an instant, she’d been called out. “I didn’t mean to stare for too long or anything.”
The woman fell back and laughed. “I wasn’t referring to you,” she giggled and shook her head. “I can see how that might have come across that way, but I can assure you that you weren’t giving unwanted attention.” The woman’s cheeks brightened in a red hue. “You know what I mean.” She took a sip of whatever was in her glass. Ali didn’t smell alcohol coming from her direction, so it was most likely water.
Ali blushed and popped a nacho into her mouth. She was glad to see that this woman didn’t find her staring to be offensive. That helped her to feel more comfortable, whether she should or not.
“The name is Ali.” Ali thrust out her hand and waited for the woman to shake. She didn’t disappoint. The woman grinned and immediately accepted Ali’s handshake.
“Johanna,” the woman replied, ending the shake. “My friends call me Jo.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
Ali and Jo talked for what felt like fifteen minutes. After glancing at the watch, Ali noticed it had been over an hour. Time flew by, and Ali didn’t want the evening to end. She had forgotten her nachos and just casually sipped on her beer while keeping a cool interaction with each other. Johanna had seemed to lean into the conversation, and their knees were slightly touching. Ali found it the most flirtatious conversation she had experienced since she had ended things with Maxine.
“These conferences can be a drag,” Jo replied at one point.
Ali laughed. “I thought I was the only one that felt that way.” She continued to grin, feeling all giddy inside, a reaction that instantly startled her.
“Not even,” Jo commented. “But talking to you has already been quite interesting, so maybe these conferences aren’t so bad.” Jo slowly sipped her drink as Ali met her gaze. The moment almost seemed inviting. Ali wouldn’t have objected to taking things outside of the bar. Yet, that was way too pushy. They had just met, and Ali couldn’t fully get a feel of Jo, but she wanted to possibly get to know her better.
Ali opened her mouth.
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” Ali turned to Nolan.
The words she was going to say still hung on the tip of her tongue. She had wanted to take the conversation to the next level, but now that Nolan was there, she retreated from that plan.
“Oh. Hi,” she mumbled. She turned to Jo, who had fallen back. There was definite distance between them now. Ali dropped her gaze and glanced over to Nolan, who was still smiling, unaware of what he had interrupted.
“I’m going to head to bed. It’s been an exhausting day, and I want to crash and sleep until noon.” He placed his hand on Ali’s shoulder, and Ali sighed and glanced at Jo. Since they had organized the conference, both Nolan and Ali had rooms at the hotel, so they didn’t have to drive home.
“Yeah, I should be going, too.” Jo waved. “It was nice to meet you, Ali.” She then glanced at Nolan and gave a curt nod. “Your lecture was inspiring. You both have a good night.” She gave another slight wave, then hurried away from them.
Ali frowned, watching her as she placed her glass back on the bar counter and hurried out of the bar. She groaned and glanced over to Nolan. “Your timing is impeccable.”
He scrunched up his nose. “Sorry. I can run after her if you want me, too. Give you two a bit more time to talk. Who is she?”
Ali brushed his question away with a wave of her hand. “It’s no biggie. Just a woman. Let’s get out of here. She downed the rest of her beer, then left it on the table, and they headed out of the bar. Even though she was just a woman, Ali did catch her mind going back to Jo and wondering where she was from and if they would ever meet again.
Johanna
Light peeked through the window of Johanna Vialdi’s bedroom. She released a groan, letting the warmth of the sun soak into her. There was nothing like waking up on a Saturday morning with the sun shining and nowhere to rush off to. Jo released a sigh and stretched out in her bed.
Her eyes flung open, and she sat up in bed. It wasn’t Saturday, and she had a new job to rush off to.
