Chapter Seven
Cierra
The pub waspacked as always on a Saturday night. A cacophony of dishes, voices, and music surrounded Sofie and me as we made our way to a small table near the front window and sat down. With the dark woods, leather-cushioned chairs, and large mullioned windows, Tipsy Cow resembled the quintessential English pub, but the flagstone tile floors and sleek stainless steel bar gave it an urban feel.
“It’s crazy full in here,” Sofie said as she scanned the room.
“It’s Saturday. We usually come on Friday or Sunday when it’s not this hectic. Are you looking for that guy who talked our ears off the last time we were here? What was his name?” Even though I knew the menu by heart, I opened it up.
“Colin. He was cute. And I don’t see him.”
“Give it time. As I remember, he came in around ten that night.”
Sofie nodded and picked up the menu.
“Would you like something to drink?” the waitress asked as she put two glasses of water on the table.
After ordering an English pale ale for me and a dark lager for Sofie, I shrugged off my cardigan and placed my purse on the windowsill.
“How was your first week with Mr. Prescott?” Sofie asked.
“Not bad. He seems willing to get in the trenches with us. I know he’s anxious about the Vibra launch, and he wants to learn everything he can about it which is a huge plus.”
“That’s good. It can be dicey with a new boss. I’m not sure how much interaction he’s going to have with the regular staff.”
“I’m not sure about that either, but he is definitely approachable. With Mr. Linder, I always felt intimidated by him, even though he was always nice and pleasant in every interaction I had with him.”
“I know what you mean. Mr. Linder scared the hell out of me, but when he’d come to our department, he was so nice to everyone.”
The waitress brought our drinks and I placed my order for fish and chips while Sofie ordered the special—microbrew-battered halibut with sweet potato chips. It sounded delicious, but the fish and chips were to die for, and that’s what I ended up ordering every time we came here for dinner.
Sofie and I had worked together for the past three years. We became fast friends, and we both admitted it was like we had known each other for years. We hung out a lot, and I’d helped her through a couple of tough breakups. She’d only been through one with me—Jeremy. I’d met him at one of the hundreds of networking parties I attended, and we ended up hooking up right away. Our tryst was hot, intense, explosive, and it ended as quickly as it started. I never had time to fall in love with him since we burned out after only a few months and all that was left was the ash. I didn’t regret it, but I did miss him… or rather, I got used to him being beside me when I woke up, and just having him around in general. I hadn’t thought about him for over a year, but for a split second, I wished he was there beside me with his arm around me. Or maybe the small empty hole inside me was craving romance and intimacy.
“That guy at the bar is really checking you out,” Sofie said, slicing through my thoughts.
I looked over my shoulder. “Which one?”
“The guy wearing the expensive-looking olive sweater.”
I swiveled slightly in my chair and caught his gaze. Darting my eyes away and then back for a couple of brief seconds, I smiled and turned around. “He looks familiar,” I said.
“Who is he?”
“I’m not sure. He just looks familiar.” I drained the last of my beer.
The waitress came back over with two fresh glasses of beer, compliments of the man in the olive sweater. I glanced at him, held up my glass, and mouthed, “Thank you.” A few minutes later, he was standing by our table introducing himself.
“I’m Cory,” he said as he dragged a chair to our table and sat down.
“Cierra, and this is Sofie,” I said, tilting my head toward her. “Thanks for the drink.”
“You’re welcome. You girls are too pretty to not have a gentleman with you.”
“Have we met before?” I asked.
“No. I’m new to the city. Why?” His fingers brushed over my forearm.
“You just look familiar. When did you move here?”
