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It had been a while since I had this many drinks. I prided myself on my constitution, my alcohol limit. But for the last several months, I had been avoiding alcohol to cut weight and reduce inhibitors. Going on casual fasts and clean eating kicks helped me keep my shape, and I enjoyed the effects of it. Plus, when I added alcohol back in, it was an easier job to get me to the tipsy place than it would have been before.
But this was kind of silly.
As far as I knew, I had one shot and three beers, just asking for whatever Lena suggested. It had been dark and heavy and delicious, and I was more than happy to put back a few of them. But as I stood to motion to Lena, who was heading across the bar, I realized I probably only had one left in me before I was going to have to tap out. Thank goodness my driver was there.
As Lena passed, nodding at me in recognition, Julia appeared behind her. Her lipstick glistened in the low light, and when her eyes came around to mine, they arrested me to the spot. She was so gorgeous.
Then as quickly as she appeared, she disappeared in the mass of bodies near the bar. I could just make her out behind a large man, who resembled several donuts stacked on top of each other, wearing a red ballcap, only because her hair flipped behind her, and I could just make out the light blue tank top she wore.
She had chosen pants for the evening. That was something that stuck out at me. While her sister was wearing what barely constituted as a skirt, Julia was wearing tight black pants. They gave a hint of the shape of her ass as she walked away, but otherwise were much more demure than her sister’s look. I wondered if that was a normal thing between them when they worked the bar, but while Julia seemed natural and lively with customers, Lena was clearly faking it.
“So, how do you know the girls?” Rosa asked, breaking my concentration.
“Hmm?” I asked.
“The girls,” she said, grinning. “I assume you know one of them. Is it Jules? I hadn’t seen you around before, and you don’t look like Lena’s type. But Julia went off to New York, so…”
She left that suggestion hanging, allowed to be filled with whatever perceptions people might have about me and the type of person I was. Granted, they were being friendly, but was that friendliness because I was new, or because I was to be watched? I wasn’t rightly sure. It might be both. They may not trust me, but they had no reason not to, either, and if I was a friend of one of the girls, that might go a long way toward deciding which one.
“I know Julia,” I said, then corrected, “Jules.”
“Oh,” Slim said. “You don’t sound like you’re from New York.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I’m from Boston. Well, born in Westfield, but then we moved to Boston rather soon after that.”
“Oh, Westfield, I know where that is. Right outside of Springfield.”
“Eeyup,” I said, doing my best to imitate the sound I had grown up with and kicked out of my system before I was a teenager.
“So, how do you know Jules?” Rosa said, clearly angling for some gossip. She wasn’t asking how I knew her. She was asking if I was dating her. Which, after the situation that led to me driving her home yesterday, I honestly wasn’t sure what was true.
“We work together,” I said. “When she’s not here, of course.”
“Journalism?” Slim asked. “I knew she was trying to work for the Globe at one point.”
“No,” I said. “Corporate crap. Nothing fun like that.”
Slim and Rosa nodded sagely. I found that often times people didn’t really care what you did for a living once they were able to put it into the kind of box they understood. Corporate crap was one such box. It contained the smorgasbord of all corporate jobs, and involved suits, ties, and middle manager bosses. Keeping it vague was important for fitting in, and the less they knew about the specifics of my job the better. Especially that I was the CEO and worth billions. That tended to divide people into two camps. Those who want nothing to do with you anymore, and those who were just bursting at the seams to sell you on some investment.
“Ah, well, she’ll drop that crap job soon enough,” Slim said. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’ll be up at the Globe in no time. Just you watch.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” I said. “We’re all there just collecting paychecks. I know she has bigger aspirations.”
“Well, she had to do something to make money and help out here, didn’t she?” Rosa said. “That foul insurance company refused to pay for anything.”
“Really?” I asked. “Why?”
Again, a shiftiness as if she knew something she wasn’t telling me.
“They had some bullshit reasons,” she said diplomatically. “It doesn’t matter. Lena ended up working at two other places to make money, including Angelo’s down the street, just to make enough money to help her Ma get this place back up. Jules showing up when she did is the only reason this place is open now. I thought they were going to have to close it for good.”
“Not Colleen,” Slim said. “She’d never let this place close. Not unless it’s over her dead body.”
An awkward silence filled the space between us.
“Oh, man, I didn’t even think,” Slim said.
“It’s all right,” Rosa said, patting his arm. “As long as the girls didn’t hear.”
