The Lover; Septiplier

0.8

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Jack: Saturday, 18 June
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Sometimes I really do think I'm an asshole. Not as much as Videl, but an asshole nonetheless. I left Mark in a coffee shop yesterday probably confused and more importantly: upset. I had to do something to make up for it, or at the very least make sure that I didn't scare him off.

I didn't mean to be so harsh, I simply didn't want to commit to anything. More than anything, I was afraid of making myself vulnerable to him again. 

So, I decided to ask if he wanted to go out for a drink. 

To which he agreed. 

I met him at a bar -- not the one I worked at -- and he was dressed in a way I wasn't really expecting. He had on a black button-up shirt and a pair of blue jeans and a loosened red tie. His hair was slicked back more than normal and he flashed me a smile. 

"You make me look bad," I chuckled as we sat at the bat together. 

He shrugged. "I had a meeting earlier today, so I dressed up." 

I did not mind it one bit. 

I watched Mark roll up the sleeves of his shirt as two beers were slid in front of us. We clinked them together, and I took a sip of the drink. I assumed Mark did too, he was all smiles at the moment, and I was surprised that he was so easily navigating everything.

"Hey," I said and grabbed his attention. "I, uh, wanted to apologize for yesterday. I didn't mean to come off as harsh as I did. I had no intentions of hurting your feelings whatsoever."

"Oh no, it's fine," Mark nodded. "I-I get it." Then we sat in silence until Mark spoke again. "How's work?"

I shrugged. "Easy. I mostly just flirt with bar patrons until they buy me expensive drinks. Every time someone buys me a drink I get a cut of it."

"You must have to have a lot of people buy drinks for you in order to make any sort of money." 

"I don't know, it seems for the most part I make the same amount every week. I think there's something else to it," I said. "Why were you in there in the first place?"

"My coworkers like that bar," Mark explained. "I mean, you're right when you say it's expensive. Apparently they think everything is really high quality. For the most part though I think they're there for the.. uh.. entertainment."

"Hale is good at what he does." I chuckled and Mark went wide eyed. "I mean, he makes a lot of money. He's always showing me all the tips he gets. It's kinda weird."

"What is?"

"Well," I breathed. "Everyone there is more fit, better looking, more confident. They all seem like registered sex gods, and yet there I am. Looking like a thumb."

"You don't look like a thumb." Mark laughed. "You're pretty cute."

"Yeah, 'pretty cute,' doesn't make you money in this kind of work." I sighed. "They all radiate sex, and I look like a.. A gamer who lives in their ma's house still." The thought made Mark chuckle a little bit. "And like I drink a lot of alcohol and eat a lot of high calorie food."

"I mean, isn't that what you do?" Mark asked.

"Well yes, but so do they and they all look great."

"Do you know why that is?" Mark asked. 

"I don't know."

"Cause they work out," Mark laughed. "If you want to be in shape you have to put in the effort." Before I could answer though, Mark continued. "I like you the way you are though."