Not Scared Anymore

Chapter 24 - Kevin

At 9:15pm, Kevin found himself surrounded by a clump of screaming women doing shots. They had arrived to the bar five minutes before that, and Carly made the rounds hugging everyone before a shot was thrust into her hand. Kevin cheered once with them all and then tried to find an escape. He saw a gap and backed out of it, then moved halfway down the bar to get himself a beer.

Stephanie sidled up beside him a few minutes later.

"Are your ears bleeding yet?"

"Not quite. But that was a lot. I just needed a few minutes to breathe and hear myself think."

"Yeah, I get that. Her coworkers are very enthusiastic, and this was a big thing for Carly. They'll party hard tonight."

"I don't think I will even try to keep up."

"If you want to be a functioning human tomorrow, that's for the best."

"Cheers to that," he clinked her glass and took a swig of beer. "We should probably rejoin them at some point though."

"Actually, if we don't get back over there soon, we will miss the actual celebration part and it will just be dancing."

Kevin was confused and began to protest, "there's barely any music playing, and hardly a dancefloor." 

"You think that will stop a group like that? You've got a lot to learn, my friend." She turned on her heel and sashayed towards the table the rest of the group had commandeered. Kevin shook his head, and followed.

At the table, Denise was telling a wildly animated story about a co-worker responding to her reaction to Drew's text. "He honestly just about turned purple. He had these huge bug eyes staring at me, as if I had grown a second alien head on top of my own!" The group was laughing loudly, and Carly started hiccupping.

Seated across from Stephanie, he could see to the main entrance, and he thought he saw someone familiar walk into the bar. He was too far away for Kevin to tell for sure, but he thought it was the guy he and Stephanie had run into at the Thai place. The guy glanced around and then headed to a booth in the corner. Kevin watched him meet with a small group and order a beer. He couldn't shake the bad feeling he got from seeing him walk in, but tried to focus on the group he was with.

An hour later, Carly, Drew and her co-workers had made their own dancefloor, and Denise, Stephanie and Kevin were left sitting around the table. Kevin excused himself to go to the men's room.

On his return to the table he noticed a man had approached the table. Now he was sure it was the guy from the Thai restaurant. He couldn't see Stephanie's face, but Denise looked fed up and was shaking her head slightly. Kevin got a little closer and was about to interrupt when what he heard stopped him in his tracks.

"Come with me. I'll give you a ride home. I just want to chat, but its so crowded in here."

"No, David. Just leave me alone. What about the people you're with?"

"No, they're leaving soon. I just thought I would do you a favour and give you a ride. No need to take the subway or rideshare that way."

"No David, I'm not interested. Please just leave me alone."

"I'm just trying to be nice."

"And I'm just trying to have a fun night with my friends. Goodbye."

Kevin watched her get up and join the other girls on the dance floor. Denise spoke to David next, "whatever this play is, it is not going to work. She is not interested in you so just leave her alone. I don't want to keep hearing stories about you showing up everywhere. Go. Home." David stood a little bit taller and stalked away, nostrils flaring slightly.