Too Fine

hitup hot bartndr

Becca walked in to the Adventure Club bar and restaurant trying to decide between the Polynesian Pulled Pork egg rolls or the fettuccine Alfredo. She knew Jen was already waiting with Becca's drink because she texted Becca five minutes earlier that she had "hitup hot bartndr" for their usual drinks, which for Becca was a vodka tonic. She was looking forward to it, and was glad that the place was not too busy. It had been a rare "off" day for her yoga classes, half empty due to spring break, and the people who did show were sniffling and snorting because of the high pollen count. The whole city was covered in a thick layer of yellow, turning red cars orange and blue cars green, and even Becca could feel the drag of air that was more plant spores than oxygen.

She felt wrung out and it was only Tuesday.

The Adventure Club was a fairly nice bar with a broad, well-used patio located in the heart of the up-and-coming "College Town" area, overlooking the student outdoor intramural fields. The neighborhood had formerly been a downtrodden warehouse and after-hours club scene, but with the city promoting the nearby Railroad Square arts district, investment money had flowed in to build a never ending flood of apartment buildings, restaurants, and bars.

It was designed to cater mostly to the college population, so during the weekend and games days places like the Adventure Club were wall-to-wall with barely-legal undergraduate students partying hard. But during the week, the clientele was more a mix of students, graduate students, professors, local businesspeople, and university staff giving it an upscale, business casual environment. Jen worked at the university so it was convenient for her after work, and it wasn't too far from downtown for Becca. The only one who had to travel to get there was Melissa, who texted that she was very predictably stuck in traffic, coming in from her home in the Killearn subdivision, north of the city proper.

Becca ducked around the waiters and waitresses to get to the back end of the large, U-shaped bar. It was a nice way to stay indoors but still get the full view of the broad, green intramural fields in the evening sunset.

"Mph! Becca!" Jen swallowed some of her beer and raised the glass as Becca walked up. As expected, her own vodka tonic was on the bar. She dumped her tote bag on the floor and gratefully grabbed the drink, taking an unwise gulp that burned like fire down her throat.

"Perfect," she gasped, sitting down.

Jen laughed. "Damn, girl, that kind of day?"

"Not terrible, not good." She took another sip of the cool, sharp drink.

"Well check out hottie bartender, he will take all your blues away," Jen said, her voice pitched low as she looked over the bar. Jen followed her gaze to settle her eyes on the backside of a tall man reaching up to place a bottle high on an upper shelf that ran down the middle. He was long-waisted and well muscled, the curve of his ass gently filling out his jeans. The lines of his back sloped up perfectly to broad shoulders, all well defined by the too-tight staff tee-shirt he was wearing. Jen laughed. "Yeah, he's like all perfection wrapped up together, huh?"

"Damn," Becca whispered.

The bartender turned around and caught her gaze. "Becca!" Andrew bounced over.

Becca could feel Jen's eyes boring holes into her head.

"Andrew! Hi! Uh, I didn't know you worked here?" Becca tried to smile, but it felt too much like flirting so stopped, but figured that just looked weird so smiled again.

"I didn't! Just started last week. Only working Tuesdays and Thursdays, my schedule is pretty wacky so I fit in what I can. Maybe holidays if it works out."

"Oh. That's good." Becca nodded, remembering that was what normal people did. It was hard to think straight with that much pure god-like beauty smiling at you, she decided.