As she gets settled, I notice that Wes is ignoring us, scouring the bar for his next victim. With the place filling up, Wes is on the lookout for a potential hook up. He’s always like this when we go out, and he rarely fails once he sets his eyes on someone he likes. There is already a cute blond at the bar that he keeps making eye contact with, so he’ll probably be ignoring us for the rest of our time here—which makes me even more appreciative that Ellie is willing to hang out.
I make a mental note that this is my last beer. I’m still sober since this is only my third one in three hours, but I like to be safe.
Ellie is so close that our knees are touching under the table, and it’s taking everything in me not to move closer. She is definitely tipsy, and I just want to make her feel safe. She doesn’t need any other men in her life making her uncomfortable for being her.
I turn my attention to Ellie who is trying to use her straw to fish out the cherry at the bottom of her glass. “So, El. I didn’t know Nick worked here. How long has he been a bartender?”
She smiles at me, giving up on the cherry. “He just started bartending when I met him in undergrad. He’s so good at it! Sometimes he does the cool flippy bottle thing!”
“Wait, are you in grad school?” My brain momentarily short circuits at this new information. I always assumed that when she was talking about her school work that she was in undergrad.
“Yep!” She pops the ‘p’, and her enthusiasm is leading me to believe she might be drunker than she’s letting on. “I’m getting my Master’s in English, but I honestly don’t know what I want to do. Maybe I’ll just stay in academia forever, so I don’t have to figure it out.” She hiccups. “Oo, maybe I can just keep working at The Brew forever!”
I can’t tell if she’s joking or if that is actually what she is intending to do when she graduates, but I’m not here to judge her.
“Are you being serious, Ellie? Is that what you want?” I look at her and notice that she is starting to mope. Her nosescrunches up, and all of her focus is once again on that cherry in her cup.
“Okay, close your eyes.” She questions me for a second, but eventually shuts them. I see her start to lean, so I put my hands on her shoulders to keep them steady. “You just got to work. You put away your things and sit down in front of your computer. You open up your most recent email, and it’s your boss emailing you about a new project. A project that you’ve been wanting for a long time. One that you’ve been pining for. Hoping that you get it and not your bitchy coworker,Taylor.” The more I watch her, the more peaceful she looks, and after another moment, the side of her lips turn up. “What is the project that you see? What doyouwant to do, El?”
She sits there for almost a minute with her eyes closed, and I get worried for a second that she might have fallen asleep. A smirk emerges on her face, and I know that it worked. My old college roommate told me about how he had someone do the same thing to him when he couldn’t figure out which college to apply to, and it apparently worked wonders.
“I think I want to be a book editor.” She says plainly and opens her eyes. Without another word, her expression falls again. “But I can’t do that. It would be so much work, and the pay isn’t that great.”
I can’t help but think about how adorable she looks when she’s upset—her brow furrows and her lips get all pouty. “Well, would you rather be paid well or doing a job that makes you happy?”
“That’s the issue!” She practically yells and immediately covers her mouth. As she sits there seeming embarrassed, herexpression quickly changes when she looks over at Wes, who is now leaning on the bar.
Ellie and I were so focused that we didn’t even notice him slipping away to find the blond at the bar. Every time I think I know his type, he switches it up. He constantly tells me that it’s not about looks, but he always flirts with the hottest person at the bar. Tonight, it is a very tall, dirty blond who looks like he works construction based on his rugged exterior.
When I look back at Ellie, she appears more than surprised with her eyes wide and her mouth in the cutest ‘o’.
“Wow, I didn’t realize that Wes was into guys. At happy hour, he was practically drooling at a pretty redhead with huge boobs. Is he bi?” Ellie puts the question out there. I’m sure she wouldn’t be so blunt if she wasn’t drinking, but I can tell it’s genuine curiosity.
“He’s actually pansexual. I can’t take him anywhere without him finding someone heconnects with.” I laugh as we watch Wes put the moves on this poor guy.
“That’s so great! Nick wanted me to trek out to D.C. for Pride, but I hate crowds.”
Her comment leads me to question my earlier thoughts about Nick and her being an item, but I don’t feel like now is the appropriate time to ask.
“Damn, he works fast,” Ellie jokes.
I turn back towards the bar to see them making out. It’s crazy how some people feel perfectly comfortable doing that in front of so many people, and I am getting the feeling that I will not be the one taking Wes home tonight.
Unsurprisingly, I find myself having a lot of fun talking to Ellie.
She is so funny and smart, and I can’t stop myself from hanging on to every word she says. The one thing I find myself confused about when we talk is if she is flirting or joking. She has upped the PDA since Wes abandoned us, and I’m stuck here on the receiving end of mixed signals.
I’ve been keeping my eye on Wes since him and his mystery man made their way over to a booth. Thankfully, they stopped sucking face, but they can’t keep their hands off of each other. This wouldn’t be the first bar that Wes has been kicked out of due to his dabbling in exhibitionism. I’d like us to come back again, so hopefully, he can keep it in his pants until they get out of here.
As I turn my attention back to Ellie, I see her shifting on the wooden chair, trying to get comfortable.
“This chair is hurting my ass,” she jokes, but I can tell that it is really bothering her.
Thinking back to how she snuggled deep into the couch in my living room and how she talks about being wrapped up in blankets, the one thing that Ellie seems to hate is being uncomfortable. My mouth works faster than my brain, and I know it is a bad idea before it leaves my lips. I want to be good, but I can’t help myself. “If it would make you happy, you can sit on my lap?”
She’s so pretty as her face blushes bright pink at the offer, and I hate how amused I am at her reaction.
“Oh god, no. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
