The Accidental Boyfriend

Gracie’s POV

What am I even doing here? They are the first words to wander through my head as I get dragged through the club by my best friend Annie. She’s got a death grip on my wrist so there is absolutely no way on earth I am going to wriggle out of this. I can’t believe I let her drag me off the couch let alone out the house. She hauls me to the bar and orders two shots. “Gracie, drink,” she orders me as the glasses are placed down in front of us. I shift uncomfortably in my high heels which are already beginning to kill my feet while pulling down the hem of my dress so it covers more of my leg. “Gracie you look fine, leave the dress alone, it’s not too short and drink,” she continues as I stare at her with a reluctant glare.

“I really don’t see how this is necessary,” I retort. I should be at home right now recovering with a cup of tea and a rom-com. “Gracie the asshole left you, AGAIN. But this time he ran off with little-miss-lip-gloss AND he even had the audacity to make out it was your fault!” Annie explains to me making me wince. To be honest I’d rather forget that information. I mean do we really have to talk about this. “But maybe I was asking too much of him. I mean I did…,” I protest.

“No. You are not going down that road. He left you. He’s a low-life, no-good, idiotic, asshole and you are better off without him,” she tells me placing the shot glass in my hand. “Who needs him?” she concludes clinking my glass and drinking her shot. A group of women directly beside us turn and in unison repeat, “who needs him?” with a knowing look on their faces. Oh great we’ve got audience participation now. “Gracie…,” Annie warns. I sigh and roll my eyes.

“Fine… who needs him?” I mumble unconvincingly. Okay I have to admit I feel slightly less like I want to throw myself off a bridge after saying that. “Come on Gracie you can do better than that,” Annie encourages.

“Who needs him?” I state confidentially; the words this time bringing a smile to my lips.

“One more time,” she instructs.

“WHO NEEDS HIM?” I shout and then immediately drink the shot and slam the glass back down on the bar with a satisfying clunk. Annie along with the group of random women cheer and applaud while I order another shot. Annie’s right. Dan is an idiot. I can’t believe I took him back after the first time. But this time he bloody well cheated on me! To add insult to injury she is tacky, tarty and I’m pretty confident she is severely deficient in the brain cells department. Oh and get this apparently it’s all my fault. Apparently I asked for too much too soon. He was the one who begged to have me back saying that I was the love of his life. He wasn’t even a good boyfriend. He was never romantic, he never paid for dinner, he never showed any interest in my life or my friends and he’s not even that good looking when you really look at him. Okay he looks like a male model but sometimes that can be off putting. In my opinion he is so good looking it comes across as smarmy and self indulged which sort of repulses me. Why did I even agree to go out with him in the first place? Why did I take him back after he dumped me the first time round because he couldn’t take the commitment for that matter? I take my second shot from the barman and down it again. “Okay maybe we should slow down on the shots. How about a cocktail?” Annie suggests.

“As long as it’s alcoholic I’m really not that bothered,” I reply.

“That’s the spirit!” she giggles putting an arm around me with a joking smile on her face.

Annie hands me a glass filled with liquid which looks like it’s pretty much radioactive. I eye it suspiciously. “Annie what the hell is this?” I ask her.

“I don’t know the people over there ordered them and I thought they looked pretty cool,” she explains pointing vaguely to the opposite side of the bar. I nod sceptically and take a tiny sip. Oh My God. This is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. Who cares if it looks like it’s just been dropped off from the nearest power plant?  I quickly take another sip of the stuff. “Good order,” I inform Annie pointing to the cocktail. “I know right?” she replies taking another sip of hers. “Okay we got the drinks now let’s dance,” she declares grabbing my arm and leading me to the dance floor. But this time I’m much more co-operative. I have to admit this is much better than being at home in front of the T.V.