AVERY
My eyes scanned the crowd. Again.
I couldn’t count the number of times I had stretched, looking through the crowd, hoping that I would see the handsome stranger. He was nowhere to be found. To say I felt disappointed would be putting me mildly.
I had even gone an extra mile and worn a short fitted leather skirt that accented my wide ass and hips, paired with a long sleeved t-shirt. I had left the first two top buttons undone to give a peek, not that I had that much on show, anyway.
A guy came up to the bar, his tongue damn near falling out of his mouth. I could almost see saliva trickling out. He reminded me of an excited dog. One who had seen a new toy and was excited to start playing with it.
His eyes were fixed on the space between the two buttons I had popped-my cleavage to be exact. I suddenly felt the need to cover it up. I hadn’t popped them for him and he didn’t have the right to look at them. The fact that I hadn’t seen the stranger in the bar all through was another thing that increased my ire and made me want to snap at the customer.
Holding back all the vile words I wanted to yell at hi, I asked, “What can I get you?”
“A cup of you would do.”
I chose to ignore him. Else, I could get sent out of work today and miss seeing the man. So instead, I tried again.
“What drink can I get you?”
When he still didnt lift his eyes from my boobs, I snapped my fingers in front of his face and that had his eyes flying up to mine. He had the decency to look ashamed that I had downright caught him staring. But of course he didn’t apologise. Why? Cause he was still an asshole.
He wasn’t ashamed of the fact that he had been staring at my boobs. He was ashamed of the fact that I had caught him staring.
“Just soda. Thats all.” He said.
I turned away to fix his drink and when I gave it to him, collected the money and gave him his change, he lingered for a bit, seeming undecided. I could tell he definitely wanted to ask for my number or something, but after a while of taking absent-minded sips of his drink, he dropped his change in the tip bar and turned away.
Good. Now back to hunting for the handsome stranger.
Where was he anyway? It was exactly a week since he had come to the bar, and today was the exact same day he had come. Friday. Since he hadn’t come all through the week, I figured that since he had come on Friday last week, then there was a possibility that he might come today. He dandy look like he was from around here. Maybe he had been passing and decided to stop by for a quick drink.
What if he doesn’t live around here?
But that was odd. He hadn’t asked for a particular drink that day. He had simply asked me to give him whichever one I wanted to.
I had my fingers crossed that he would show. Even Mariah was hoping he would.
And that was when it happened.
Almost as if I had conjured him with my thoughts, he appeared off to the side of the crowd. Just like he had that day. At the exact same spot. What was it with him and being in the dark?
And just like that day, his eyes met mine and our gazes locked. We seemed to know just when to look at each other and we seemed to have made a pact to always hold the other’s eye. Because why did we always lock gazes even when we weren’t having conversations?
The crowd seemed to part for him as he made his way to the bar-to me. My breaths quickened and my chest rose and fell with the rapidness of it. In no time, he had crossed the floor in that his sensual prowl and was sitting on a stool. The same one he had occupied that night.
God. How was this man so beautiful?
How was it even possible for him to look the good?
It was almost unfair that no other man here could compare. That not a single one of them could hold a candle to his exquisite beauty. It was when I heard someone cough beside me that I realised I had been staring at him since he Tok his seat. Staring at him like a loon. But I guessed I was excused because he was staring right back. And it made me feel fidgety and a little bit uncomfortable due to how intense his grey eyes were, but damn if I didn’t love it. There was something empowering in knowing that such a good-looking man could keep his eyes off me.
“What can I get you?” I asked him. My voice came out small and shaky. I hoped he didn’t take note of that.
“Same as last time.” He didn’t waste time to answer, unlike last time and my knees became weak at the sound of his voice.
Damn, I had missed it so much. That rich, husky timber It made me think of bedrooms and the things that happened behind closed doors. Things that I wanted to do with him.
I shook my head hard, clearing it, and focused on getting his drink. I reached up to the top shelf to get it and I thought I heard him hiss in a breath. I almost dropped the bottle in a haste to know what had happened and when I turned around, he had this glazed look in his eyes and he was running the fingers of his right hand over his lips.
His eyes were trained on the lower half of me. That was when it clicked.
He had been staring at my ass and he liked what he saw.
Trying to control my excitement, I poured his drink and fell my face going hot. Shit. I hoped the blush wasn’t noticeable.
He collected his drink and raised it to his mouth to take a swallow and all the while, his eyes didn’t live me. Why was this not freaking me out? Probably because I liked it too much.
We were both silent, watching each other. He didn’t look like he was going to start a conversation anytime soon, and if I left it to him, last Friday night would repeat itself. He would finish his drink, pay and leave.
That was when I remembered the money he had placed under his glass for the drink I poured. I could use that as an excuse to start conversation.
“I saw the money and the note you left underneath you glass that day.” He didn’t say anything, just kept on watching me with a strange look on his face, almost as if he was trying to figure me out, “Thank you.” I said finally.
He waved his left hand in a ‘don’t-mention-it’ gesture. But I wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily. I wanted to talk to him. I had promised Mariah that I would.
“Are you from around here?”
He shook his head slowly, placing his tumbler on the bar top. “Are you?”
“Yeah. Born and raised.”
He nodded, taking that in.
“So what exactly brought you here?” I pressed, “Business?”
“No.”
“Vacation?”
“Sort of.” He said.
This state was hardly a place a person could vacation, but at the end of the day, it was also a foreign state to anyone who had never been here before.
“Thats nice.” I said and he nodded. But he didn’t say anything more.
Damn it, this man was so difficult. What was I going to talk about now?
“So what do you do?” When I realised that my question probably sounded forceful, I amended, “If you don’t mind me asking.”
He didn’t say anything for a long while and I thought that maybe I had asked too much. Why would I ask someone I just met what they did for a living? I mean, he was obviously rich as hell so he had to have a high paying job, but that didn’t mean I deserved to know. It sounded like something a cop would ask.
Or a gold-digger.
Oh, God. What if he thought that was what I was?
I opened my mouth to tell him not to answer when he shocked me by saying, “You have the most beautiful eyes.”