AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I look around the room. I've done enough work for today. My mind is too wound up anyway. I need to go somewhere and chill out and relax. The best place to do that is at my favorite bar on Staten Island, Bourbon Street. Then I guess that is where I will go. A drink will do me some good and clear my head.
I put away my tools, leave the house, and drive to the bar. I can't go home yet. I'm not ready to face Mia. I walk into the bar and look around. It's noisy, which isn't surprising since there is a decent sized crowd here tonight. I look around for an empty spot and suddenly freeze. I see Ken sitting by himself. He sticks out like a sore thumb.
I did not want to run into Mia’s father right now. Currently, he has his head down, but from his table, he has a perfect view of me standing by the door. So I try to slowly walk backward, hoping to make a quick getaway.
Ken looks up to take a sip of his beer. As he does, his eyes dart in my direction. Crap, he knows I'm here. My friend puts the beer down and waves to me. Reluctantly I wave back.
“Isaac, come join me!” he shouts over the noise of the crowd. I can't walk out now, so I order a beer and join him at the table. “How you been?” Ken asks. He seems in a pretty good mood tonight.
I'm torn. I don't want to spoil his mood, but at the same time, I need to talk about my feelings for Mia. I take a long drink of beer, buying myself some time. “Things are going pretty good. Just finished another day of working on the house. How about you?” I inquire casually.
“I'm good, but man, you work too much. You need to take some time and have fun,” Ken replies. It's obvious this isn't his first beer tonight.
“Well, I enjoy life when I can. I mean, I did meet a girl.” Nervously I fidget with my beer bottle.
“Well, all right, man. It's about time. Anyone familiar?” Ken asks.
I can feel the blood draining out of my face as I decide to lie. “Nah, just a girl I met when I was passing through someplace. We hadn't talked in a while but kept in contact. Now she is staying with me for a bit,” I offer. I’ll keep Mia’s name out of the conversation.
“Wow. I’ve never known you to keep a chick around. So, how do you like it?” Ken asks curiously.
“To be honest, it's pretty great. Having her around has helped me out a great deal,” I answer.
“How so? You mean workwise?” he asks, confused.
“No, like the way I feel. Before she came to stay, I never realized how lonely I was. I would just work, go home, sleep and eat. Now I'm actually enjoying things.”
I see the shocked expression on Ken's face. “Wow. Now that is some big news. I mean, I could see you were lonely when we first met. You just had this quiet sadness about you. I thought you liked it that way because you always kept to yourself,” Ken admits.
We drink some more of our beer. “It’s funny. I thought I liked living that way too. But now, I'm not so sure,” I reply.
I leave my beer on the table, pull my phone out of my jacket pocket, and check for missed calls or text messages. Mia has been home for hours. I wonder what she is thinking. I set the phone down, wait a few seconds then check again.
Ken chuckles beside me. I look up. “From the way you're glued to your phone, I would say your answer is pretty clear,” he replies as he finishes his beer.
He orders us some more. I set the phone down and finish mine with a sigh.
“I think you like having a woman around. You just don't want to admit it to yourself because you're so used to being on your own. You should keep in touch with this girl. She seems to be what you need,” Ken says. After that, he frowns, stops talking, and gets distracted by a wrestling match on TV.
I consider his words and advice in silence. I do love being around Mia. I don't want to lose these feelings that I have with her. The big issue that I need to consider is our ages. She's a college girl with her whole life ahead of her. I'm just some old guy. What the heck would she want with someone like me?
I reach for another beer and take a long drink. I need to stop thinking, or I'll get a headache, so I spend the rest of the night drinking and watching the matches on TV with Ken at the bar.
