Jeff had continued to come by the bar, and I was getting a little tired of him always following me with his eyes. He was nice enough, but still trying to impress me and get me to pay more attention to him.
It was on my second date with Steve when I encountered Jeff. We were leaving and he was just coming into the restaurant. His expression showed surprise, and then his eyes narrowed in kind of a hurt way. We said hello, and as I was getting into the car, I looked back. Jeff was standing in the doorway watching us.
The following Saturday night, Jeff showed up around midnight as he usually did. After I got him a beer, he asked, “So, are you dating again?”
Damn. It really wasn’t his business. I didn’t want to be rude, but I also didn’t want to go out with him. I didn’t know him at all. In all the time he’d been coming in, he hadn’t talked about himself at all. Of course, I hadn’t asked, either. I hadn’t wanted him to think I might be interested.
“Oh, the other night?” I said. “Steve and I are old friends. He used to date my roommate.”
There. That should take care of it. Nice and short and uninformative.
“I was just wondering,” he said. “I would enjoy getting to know you better.”
Guyspeak for ‘I want to get in your pants’. Most girls who are decent looking get tired of being hit on all the time. Working in a bar meant getting hit on all day, every day. I usually didn’t think about it. You get used to just brushing it off, and most guys really don’t expect to score with a server anyway. I sometimes think they feel obligated to try in order to keep up their man card, and then they drop it. I have regulars that I flirt like crazy with, but neither of us expects anything to happen.
“Jeff, I think it would be nice to get to know you, too,” I said. “But right now, I’m still learning the manager’s position, I’m understaffed, and I work all the time. I rarely even have time for my closest friends.” The part about being understaffed was a lie. I’d found another part-time bartender, another part-time cook, and I was actually able to take two nights a week off. As to my friends, Dar and Sheila and I had gone out drinking and dancing a couple of nights before.
He cocked his head and forced a smile. “Okay, Ashley. I can take a hint.”
No comments:
Post a Comment