The Choice (a Painful Past)

115

"Yeah, I'd like to meet him." She replied. "He sounds like a good guy."

"He is." I said, smiling. "He's a really good guy. I wish that you guys could meet him too."

The subject got changed when someone that they knew walked over to the table, with Bryon, and sat down to talk. Bryon slid me my new drink without saying a word.

I let my mind drift and my eyes wander, while I sipped my drink. More people had shown up, since we had arrived, so the club was getting pretty packed. God, I wanted a cigarette, or a blunt. Something to calm my nerves and my mind.

Bryon was a cop, but he didn't give a shit about me smoking weed. I wondered if I could excuse myself and go out back to smoke the blunt that I had in my purse. I just needed a few hits.

I knew that I shouldn't because I was drinking, and I could already feel the effects of the tequila swimming around in my system. Smoking weed would only make it worse, and possibly get me sick. It probably wasn't a good idea.

My drink was almost gone, and Denise and Bryon were still talking to their friend, so I grabbed my glass and tapped Denise on the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get another drink." I said, when she looked at me.

"Damn, you done already? Want me to come with?" She asked, moving like she was about to get up.

"No, it's okay. I'm a big girl. I can do it. Do you guys need a refill or anything?" I asked.

"You sure?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Alright then. Yeah, you can get us another drink, if you want." She replied.

I nodded and started to push my way through all of the people to make it to the bar. I had finished the drink that Bryon had brought to the table pretty fast, and I could already feel my head getting swimmy and my body losing a little coordination. I managed to stay on my feet through all of the surging bodies, and squeezed myself in between a couple of people, who were standing at the front of the bar.

I felt like I was suffocating, with all of these people around me, but I was determined to not let it get to me.

I couldn't keep hiding from people...right? The urge to duck back through all of these people and head outside hit me hard. So hard, that my feet actually started moving back through the crowd.

I stopped myself and took a deep breath. The air was stifling in here.

"Hey, are you okay?" A deep voice broke through my mini meltdown, and I looked up to see the prettiest pair of amber eyes looking down at me.

The guy was tall, probably 6 feet to my 5" 7', with blonde tinted, dark brown hair, and a jawline that could cut glass.

I forgot how to talk for a moment. Instead, I stood there, staring at this gorgeous man, with my mouth hanging open, like an idiot.

"Are you okay?" He asked again, narrowing his eyes in concern.

"Erhm, uh, yuh-yes." I stammered out. "Sorry."

He smiled and my stomach got a funny feeling in it. Like I wanted to throw up, but in a good way. I know that how weird that sounds, but it's the only way that I could describe it.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked.

I noticed that my arm was hot, like with warmth searing through it in a certain spot. I looked down and saw that his hand was placed there, keeping me steady.

Was I drunk? Or just crazy?

"Uh, I don't know?" I replied, squinting my eyes at him, as I thought about that question. "For getting in your way, I guess."

"You aren't in my way. A pretty girl is never in my way." He responded, as he winked at me.

I felt my face flush to an astronomical heat value.

"Are you trying to get a drink?" He asked.

I nodded and swallowed hard.

Was he flirting with me?

Or was I just being stupid because I didn't know how to talk to guys? Maybe he was just being nice. Yeah, he was probably just being nice, because I knew that I had to look completely out of place and lost.

That's exactly how I felt. Besides, guys didn't flirt with me.

Why would they?

"Let me help you out." He offered. "What are you getting?"

I cleared my throat, then told him my order, along with Bryon and Denise's. He smiled again, then turned and flagged down the bartender, as she was on her way back to the register. It seemed so easy, when he did it.

I knew that I would've just been standing there for hours, probably, until she noticed me.

A few minutes later, the nice guy was helping me carry the drinks back over to my table. Bryon and Denise's friends had left, so they were on the dance floor, swaying to a semi-slow song. I set my drink down on the table, and the guy followed suit, setting Bryon and Denise's down next to mine.

"All of these for you?" He asked, jokingly.

"Ha." I choked out, nervously. "No. My friends are dancing. Thank you for your help."

"It's no problem at all." He replied, still watching me with those twinkling amber eyes.

I stood there, awkwardly, unsure of what I was supposed to do.

Why was he still here? I had already thanked him.

Would it be rude of me to sit down? I had no clue.

Would he take it as an invitation for him to sit down at our table too?

Why was this so complicated? After another minute of awkward silence, I was about to sit down.

Just as I braced my hand on the table, to slide into my chair, he spoke.

"So, um, my name is Brandon." He said, holding his hand out to me.

I smiled and slid my palm into his much larger one.

"Callie." I replied.

"Nice to meet you, Callie. Would you like to dance?"

"Oh!" I said, in surprise. "Um, no."

I watched his face fall, so words started falling from my mouth, just to try and let him know that it wasn't because of him. It was because I sucked at dancing.

"I don't dance." I said, hurriedly. "I suck at it. Um, I only dance when I'm really drunk because my brain decides that it doesn't care that I look like a fool. So, thank you, but no, thank you."

The smile returned to his face, and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

"That's okay. Do you mind if I sit here with you then? We can just talk?" He replied.

"Um, sure?" I replied.