A week had passed since Elixir's holiday party and since meeting Trevor. Trevor and she had immediately pulled away after one of her co-workers came down the bathroom hallway. They ended up exchanging numbers but didn't really connect again the rest of the party.
Alissa had wondered the following day if Sarah knew Trevor only saw her as a friend? She wondered if Sarah would have been okay with her and Trevor.
It had been an asinine day at work. Liberty had scheduled Goldz for the wrong day, and instead of Lisa showing up after the holidays, she showed up the first thing that morning. Not only was Sarah and her unprepared and looking like fools, but they had wasted their client's time. Sarah kept threatening that Liberty should lose her job over this. It was a simple mistake, and with the holidays right around the corner, she would have felt awful if Liberty lost her job now.
She decided to go to Minote, the hotel bar near her apartment. It was her go-to place because the people there were never the same. She loved to people watch. The place had a great wrap-around bar in the center of the dining area with mahogany wood and black leather stools, and shelves upon shelves of all the liquor imaginable. Sometimes, Alissa liked to sit in the far back near the wall of wine. But tonight, she sat at the bar, facing the counter and only spoke to the bartender when ordering.
She hadn't been here since before Halloween. The bartender seemed to be new, or at least she just didn't recognize his face. He had pale, pale skin as if he never saw the sun, dark eyes and hair to match. His gray button-up stretched across his broad shoulders. She noticed he had a fresh stain on his torso, probably from mixing drinks tonight.
A man sat down next to her and ordered a drink. She paid no attention to him as she poked the olive in her martini with a toothpick. The man turned to her, trying to start a conversation.
"Why so in the dumps?" His voice was scratchy like he smoked one too many cigarettes in his life.
Alissa side-glanced at him as she continued to poke and prod the olive. He was a bit overweight, wearing a suit jacket that was too big on him, with tan skin and a brown hairline beginning to recede.
"You're too pretty to be sad," he said.
She grimaced, "It was just a stressful day at work. I would like to decompress in peace, please."
He nodded his head as if understanding. "You look so beautiful," he paused, " I always found it adorable when women wore pantsuits." He looked down at her outfit.
She tried to ignore him, taking large gulps of her drink.
"Come now, don't be that way. I'm just trying to bring out your smile."
She ignored him, staring straight into the clear liquid of her drink.
"How about I show you a good time? Would that bring out your smile, then?"
Her cheeks flushed and her heart rate sped up. The bartender watched as he wiped clean glasses and put them away.
Alissa took a deep breath before turning his way. "Do you have kids?"
She noticed there's no ring on his finger, though, but he was old enough to have kids.
He nodded his head, caught a little off guard by the random question. "Yes."
She smiled, endearingly. "That's so sweet. Boy or girl?"
"My boy is eight and my girl just turned two."
She smiled again, "So, imagine that I'm your daughter twenty years from now and you're some creep trying to fuck her. How does that make you feel?"
The man's face turned to pure shock and he choked. Without saying anything, he stood up and left. Alissa watched him leave right out of the bar and dining area into the lobby of the hotel.
She shook her head in disgust and turned back to her drink. The bartender walked up to her and started chuckling.
"That was brilliant," he said. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that asshole for so long. I thought he'd just order his drink and mind his own business. That's what most of these traveling businessmen do."
She grimaced, "Wouldn't be the first time a creep twice my age tried to harass me."
He nodded his head then went back to putting the clean glasses away.
Alissa downed the last of her drink and decided to finally head home for the night. She had had enough of this bullshit day.
~~~
A/N: If this ever happened to me, I wouldn't have the guts to say what Alissa said, lol. Would you? Please remember to vote and comment! xo