𝗣𝗼𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝗲 𝗔 𝗣𝗼𝗲𝗺

5 Minutes (Short Story)

It was rather odd to be out like this on such a beautiful night. The sky was clear, the full moon at the very tops of the white clouds, covering certain stars. Yet here Daniel sat, in a bar, drinking his feelings away. One could say he drank his sorrows away, typical thing to drink away, but this time it was a lot of doubt and confusion.
He unbuttoned the top of his black shirt, the heat from the his alcohol choice making his throat itch. His own fault for picking fireball whiskey in the first place. Trying new things, he kept telling himself. That was his goal tonight, try new things. So there he sat, a frown over his face as he called over the bartender.
"May I get something sweet?"
"Sure thing."
The door to the bar kept opening and closing, a small bell telling the bartenders and waiters another customer came through the door. Daniel didn't care much to look for who came in, yet that hopeful thought came back afloat from the often drowning thoughts in his head. Try new things.
His brown, honey eyes looked around as the bartender settled a small glass of margarita in front of him. A girl had just sat down five chairs to the right of him, tight black leggings covered by a tied up red flannel around her waist. The girl wore a shirt that spelled "Quit Staring!" printed in bold blue, on the back, but he couldn't see her face due to her long, wavy black hair being in the way. He thanked the bartender before taking a sip of his drink, ice cold hitting his tongue.
He kept looking down at his watch as if he had somewhere else to go. His tanned skin seemed much darker, his watch being harder to read in such dim lighting. He looked back at the girl, now being able to see her face. She had fair skin, her cheeks were freckled, and her eyes were a dark brown, long, black lashes fanning over them. But Daniel was most attracted to her smile, such a bright smile that spoke to her girl friend beside her.
He sadly smiled to himself as he drank away. What he most liked of his ex was their smile. Heartbreak didn't seem as painful until you were sober and thinking someone's else smile was better looking. But he wasn't sober, not completely to say the least. As he crossed his legs and switched which leg was on top, he convinced himself he was over his ex. That tonight was all about trying new things.
"Need somethin'?"
"Can I get an old fashioned on the rocks and uh... the girl with black hair, over there. Buy her another of whatever she is drinking."
Daniel slightly pointed with his finger at the girl and the bartender nodded. He watched as the specialist made the drink, blending ice and juice together. The brown haired man wiped the sweat off his hands on his black jeans as he watched the bartender give the girl her drink. The bartender pointed over at Daniel, the man raising his glass at the girl.
She smiled and nodded as if to thank him. He watched as the girl told something to the bartender, said man coming back shortly after.
"Well?"
"If you guess her favorite color, she'll give you her name."
Daniel turned to the girl, almost in disbelief. Serves him right for trying to win a girl with just a piña colada. Red and black flannel, black leggings, white shirt with blue bold letters...
"Tell her, she does not have a favorite color."
The bartender laughed at him. "Boy, are you trynna get some or not?"
"Trust me."
The bartender laughed his way over to the girl. They exchanged words, Daniel noticing her friend's surprised expression.
He was itching with anticipation but someone just had to sit right in between the bartender and his destination and ask for shots. Daniel still kept calm, even when it seemed forever for him to get to him.
"Jade."
"Excuse me?"
"Her name is Jade. And if you want to get her number, go get it yourself. I got other customers, hun."
The bartender made his way to other customers but Daniel lost his interest in the drink specialist quickly. He drank his cocktail quickly, but not chugging it— he was classy that way. He put down two 20 dollar bills and made his way to the girl.
"Hello Jade."
"Hello stranger buying me drinks."
"Daniel. Sorry, I am not very good with approaching beautiful girls such as yourself."
Her blond friend stood up and whispered something in her ear before walking off somewhere else.
"What makes you different than the rest of the guys that have bought me drinks?"
He scratched the back of his hand, without her noticing as he had his hands behind his back. "Nothing, really."
She smiled and motioned for the chair next to her. "You have five minutes to 'wow' me."
Daniel was quick to sit down, putting his hands together on top of the counter, crossing his legs, before clearing his throat. "How do I wow a girl in five minutes?"
"You tell me."
"Well..." Daniel hummed and smiled as he spoke. "I am 23, single. It is my first time buying a girl a drink. I do not go to bars that often an—"
Jade pretended to snore before laughing to herself. "Please stop talking. Have you ever actually tried to impress a girl before?"
Daniel chuckled running his hand through his hair as a nervous habit. "Not really..."
Jade caught on to the hint and sighed. "Four minutes. Well what do you do for a living?"
He thought about it. Should he really tell her? Would it impress her? "I am a thief."
"A thief? Like... 'Give me all your money or I shoot you?' kind of thief?"
Daniel laughed. "God no, that is what rookies do. Money is worthless compared to diamonds."
Jade's eyes almost believed it for a second but she shook her head. "I'm not falling for it. Three minutes."
"I am serious. Pawn shop robbery on sixth street, four blocks from here, that was me."
"Proof."
"And have the chance to get caught? No can do sweetheart."
She rolled her eyes and tied her hair back with a green scrunchie. "Sorry but I don't like liars. Two minutes."
"The police say that the robber had accomplices, they're wrong. You can not risk the chance of backstabbing. They say the robber went through the back as a disguised employee, they're wrong. Get through cameras and you can spot who works for you or not. The robber came in through the front disguised as a customer. They said the robber couldn't be caught in camera because it was out of frame but really, there was no actual footage of that day since the robber hacked into the system the night before."
The girl had been sipping through her drink. She held up one finger, Daniel reading through her voice 'One minute.'
"They won't catch the robber because they think it was a middle aged, blond man with no job and possibly drove a red pick up truck."
"And you drive?"
"Lambo."
She smirked and looked around to make sure her friend wasn't around. "Why tell a girl all this?"
He took out a pen and grabbed a napkin, sliding them towards her. "Five minutes to wow a girl, right?"