Caufield's girl

Chapter Three

As time passes, my tolerance for alcohol gradually weakens. I still sit in silence, drowning my thoughts in another intoxicating beverage of the finest quality. For a moment, my gaze travels to the opaque television, currently streaming the end of some hockey match. I suppose it's the Canadiens against the Bruins, but I don't pay much attention to it, even though I know quite a lot about hockey. My dad loved it, and we always used to watch games together, ever since I was a kid. But since he's gone, it's not the same anymore. For the past two years I wasn't in the hockey mood, so currently I'm not familiar with the majority of the teams' rosters, but I guess I'll slowly get into it again.

But right now, the only thing I manage to comprehend is the fact that the Canadiens lost, and from my observation, the shaking heads of people at the bar tell me that they are not very pleased with the outcome of the game. To be honest, I don't have the faintest idea of who plays for the Canadiens apart from the older players that my dad used to mention back in the day, but right now I don't give a damn because I have other prorities. And one of them is drinking Dylan and my mother out of my system as quickly as possible.

After a while, I decide to use the restroom and freshen up. I gather all my thoughts and decide to head back for drink number four, probably the last one for this night. At least, that's what I thought. As I walk out of the restrooms, I stop for a minute to take my phone out of my purse. I check the time and turn around without keeping my head up, and that's the moment my body meets someone's chest. The chest of someone who's masculine fragrance intoxicates my senses. It takes me a while to take a step back and stand my ground.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Gosh, I thought this night couldn't get any worse." I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind as I look at him for the first time. The dim lighting illuminates his muscular figure. He is not tall, but he is still taller than me, and there is just something about him that I cannot quite decipher. Probably the fact that his presence doesn't irritate me, unlike the rest of mankind. „Yeah, tell me about it." He sighs as he adjusts his tie in order for his suit to look flawless, just like it did before I mindlessly ran into him and messed it up.

I'm such an idiot. This is probably a sign that I should head back before anything else fucks up. „Sorry again, I should probably get going." I turn around and start to walk away, but his voice stops me. „Hey, you wanna get a drink?" I turn around to face him once again, but I'm not certain it's a good idea after today. For once, I decided to let my guard down and tried to risk it with a guy, and it turned out to be a complete disaster.

I'm well aware that my judgement is becoming more and more clouded, but I say to myself that since this whole day is about making bad decisions, why not make one more? I don't think it could get any worse, so I speak before I even have a chance to consider the possible consequences of my reckless thinking. „Well, I think I could use another round." I reply with a lie, as we're already on our way to ruining our livers.

„So, rough night, huh?" he asks me as we sit by the bar sipping on our drinks. „Yeah, you can say that. Of course, if you don't consider your date eye-fucking the waitress right before your eyes an ordinary spectacle, then after that, you realise that you can't even go back to your dorm because your roommate's boyfriend is too busy banging her. So you go and get wasted, and when you think that nothing else could possibly go wrong, you run into some guy and almost knock him out. So yeah, a rough night, or maybe a rough life, would be more suitable. It's one hell of a disaster." I only manage to laugh pathetically, thinking about all the shit I had to encounter over the years, and it doesn't seem to get better. But somehow, I got used to it.

„Well, shit, that sounds really bad." He laughs at the absurdity of my life story as well and takes a sip from his whiskey. That's when I started to inquire about him. „And what about you? Can your bad night beat mine?" He only shakes his head in response. „I don't think that anything could top your exquisite events of inconvenience, but I think that finding your girlfriend under one of your best friends in your own apartment is pretty fucked up too."

„Shit, I'm sorry." I don't know what to say to him. I give him an understanding look, and there's a moment of silence in our conversation. "So what do you do?" I decided to speak up. "I... I do business. And marketing, mostly. Just hell of a boring shit." he replies with a slightly hesitant voice. "Oh, right. The suit. I should've known." I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind.

"So, are you from around here?" he asks as he runs his hand through his hair. "Not really, I've just moved here to start my university. Well, honestly, maybe it's only an excuse to get away from home, my toxic mother, and basically all of my problems, and then finding out that all of those haunt me even here." I give him an answer that he clearly did not expect at all, judging by the surprised look on his face.

"Wow, your story just really keeps getting better and better." He attempts to make a sarcastic remak that I truly appreciate, as well as listening to all of my shit. For a moment, there's another pause in our conversation, so I decide to take a quick glance around my shoulder, and my heart almost stops. „You have to be fucking kidding me." I say this with my wide-eyed gaze. „What happend? Everything alrig..." he asks, but I cut him off by placing my lips on his, catching him by surprise. But it didn't take him long to get the hint, and his hands wandered to my waist and pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss. Our lips were moving in sync until I slowly pulled away and placed a lock of my hair behind my ear.

„I'm so sorry, I've just seen that guy from my „date" walking through the door and looking our way, so I panicked." I give him an apologetic look. My gaze travels back to the direction of the main entrance, and I can already see Dylan's confused expression on his face as he's leaving in pure jelousy, which was the effect that I was hoping for.

"Well, I hope I managed to help. And by the way, you're not a bad kisser." I only manage to blush at his complimentary remark, but it's at this moment that I realise that I should probably call it a night. „Thanks...thanks for everything, but I should probably go. My friend's probably done with the banging for tonight." I try to joke, but right now, even I cringe at my words and the fact that I'm just way too drunk to lead a conversation of any kind.

So I rather gather my things, put on my coat, and try to pay for my long list of Gins and Tonics, but before I even have the chance to pull out my wallet, he's already paying for the both of us. I try to protest in denial of his actions. „You didn't have to do that. And moreover, I owe you. For both of the... inconveniencies." He just shakes his head, leans closer to me, and kisses me on the cheek. "I had a really good time, and I don't think of it as an inconvenience. Thanks for the company... and good luck, stranger." He says it to me calmly.

„Good luck to you too." I say this as I'm already heading out of the bar, knowing this is the first and last time I see him. The stranger smells really good and kisses even better, but I can't like him. I don't like him. Maybe I do, but it doesn't mean anything. I've never truly even loved someone, nor have I had any relationship experience. It's probably just my drunken mind speaking. I should really get some sleep instead of overthinking.