AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It isn’t easy.
2
Autumn
I hate leaving Rowan behind, but I haven’t dated in a year. It is time to get back on the market. Pinkston’s is packed, but I find a decent parking space up front. It’s been years since I was there last. As always, overrun with college kids. The bar is a single-story square building, packed to the rafters with kitschy items like an antique wooden tricycle and old-fashioned neon signs. It is raucous and fun, if you’re twenty with a fake ID.
At twenty-eight, it is less fun.
I walk in and spot Bill right away. He’s in the corner, wearing a red ball cap and a flannel over a tee and jeans. There’s a crowd of young people between me and him, so I have to maneuver around the young and the drunk to reach my date. The floor is sticky, and the music is way, way too loud.
He stands for a hug when I walk up to the table. Between the music and being bumped into by a stranger, the hug is awkward. Bill smiles though, and heiscute, so I try not to get up in my head about any of it. He says, “I am so glad we could do this.”
“Yeah, same here,” I lie. Maybe it’s not a lie, I don’t know. I’m just not feeling the venue. It’s so juvenile.Am I being judgmental?
The server comes by for my order, but Bill says, “Don’t worry. I know what to order. For me, a Jack and Coke. For her, a Long Island Iced Tea.”
Did that really just happen?I’ve never had a guy order for me before. So, I shake my head at the server and tell her, “I’d like a Riesling, thank you.”
She nods and leaves.
“You’re gonna regret that. They make a great Long Island here.” He says it in such a way that I know he thinks he’s being friendly and doesn’t see how condescending his comment is.
“I know what I like, thanks.”
He keeps smiling. “Guess I’m just used to college girls. They never know what they want.”
“Is that who you usually date?”
“Oh, yeah. But I’ve been getting some shit from my buddies about it, so I thought I’d try a date with an older woman.”
I hate the sound of that.
“Older? I’m eight years younger than you.”
“Older than my usual dating age, I mean. Not older than me.” He laughs at the thought.
“Why not?”
“I don’t want kids. Everyone knows that once a woman hits thirty, her biological clock starts ticking.”
Our drinks come, and I have never been so happy to see a glass of wine in my life. I drink half of it in one shot.
The rest of the evening doesn’t go much better. He talks nonstop about his trip to Ibiza and how many girls he slept with while he was partying the days away, not bothering to ask me a single thing about myself. He doesn’t even stop for leading questions. I settle back in my seat the way that an audience member would during a lecture going on too long and he doesn’t even notice.
When the server comes back, I order another glass and my check.
“You leaving?”
“Well, you don’t seem to be very interested in what I have to say and I’m done listening.”
“What are you talking about?” He looks genuinely shocked.
“You haven’t stopped talking about yourself and other girls this whole time. You’re clearly not interested.”
“I am.”
“Well, I’m not.”
