ยซ1ยป
It was a night out, and that was all Paul wanted after his twenty years of marriage had fallen apart overnight. So he had left his hotel room and walked over to the nearby pub and found a quiet booth. And he was glad that it was a quiet place. Most bars and pubs had a hundred screens blaring sports and news and he wanted quiet more than he wanted the blended whiskey and cold beer that now sat before him. He sighed in contentment and sat back with his book in hand and no expectations aside from getting pleasantly drunk before he walked back over to his hotel room and crashed out for the night. And he had every intention of waking up whenever he felt like waking up instead of when Janice told him he should wake up.
And when the drinks were gone he ordered more, not caring about the cost and thoroughly enjoying having a second and then a third without his wife bitching at the side of his head and scowling as he drank them. No... Janice wasn't his wife anymore... his ex-wife! That brought him more pleasure than he would have ever admitted, even when drunk. His marriage had started on a good note; he had met this sexy, adventurous, fun young woman and he hadn't wanted the fun to end, so he had made his girlfriend into his wife. The fun had begun to fade almost immediately and after five years together, in an attempt to save their flagging marriage, he had made his wife into a mommy. It hadn't saved their marriage and they had spent the last fifteen years trying to raise two boys while slowly growing to hate one another.
But then last month everything had changed. His grandfather had passed away and had left him a considerable sum of money and he had sat down with Janice and they had made the best decision they had made in years. They had taken off their wedding rings and smashed them with a hammer. After that the paperwork had been a mere formality. He had given her two thirds of the money his grandfather had left him and let her have custody of the boys and he had taken what he wanted from their home and moved out. It was sort of sad to him that everything in the world he had wanted had all fit in his car, but he hadn't been able to think of a single thing that he wanted that was still in that house.
So now he was seated in a pub with his fourth pint as he looked at the list of drinks and waited for the double-cheeseburger he had ordered to arrive when a shadow fell across his table. Thinking it was the waitress returning with his food he looked up and froze. It wasn't the waitress, it was someone he knew; Grace, the young intern from work... or his ex-work.
Grace who liked to flirt with him and tease him and mess around and make him smile... Grace who wasn't even half his age... Grace who always smelled so good when he was near her... Grace who was absolutely adorable in her midriff-baring tank top and yoga pants with her smile beaming at him, hands on her hips and her blue eyes sparkling.
"Hey Paul! I've never seen you in here before." She said and he couldn't help but smile, she was just so infectiously happy and he had to admit that she looked... she looked warm.
"Hey Grace, how are ya?" He asked with a smile, half drunk and more relaxed than he had been in years.
"I'm pissed." She said, still smiling. "You never said goodbye, I had to find out that you quit through an E-mail."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that... I just couldn't be at that place anymore." He said with a shrug. "And as soon as I didn't have to be there I left."
"Well, you-know-who has been bitching to everyone about how you screwed the company." She said, talking about his ex-boss, who he didn't even want to think about at the moment. "He's talking about getting lawyers involved to force you to come back again."
"I'd kick his fucking teeth in if he tried it." Paul said, shifting a bit and gesturing to the booth. "Come sit down, let me buy you a drink or something and we can catch up."
"What would your wife think of it?" She asked, still standing but clearly considering it.
"I quit my marriage the same day I quit my job." He said, showing her his hand, now devoid of the ring he had worn for two decades. "Papers were finalized yesterday."
"Shit... I'm sorry to hear that, man." She said as she slid into the booth next to him, surprising him with a hug that bathed him in her scent. God... she smelled so good and she was even warmer than she looked.
"Well, I'm not and neither is Jan. I think this has been coming for a long time now and we just finally had the funds to do it." He shrugged and reached for his mug as he saw the waitress approaching with his food. "I'll miss my boys, but I'm already happier than I've been in years."
The waitress set the food down and took his empty glasses. "Another beer?" She asked and he nodded.
"Yeah, and I'll try the Glen Scotia 25... make it a double, and one for her too." He said with a gesture at Grace. "You want anything else? A beer or something to eat?"
"You buyin?" She asked and when he nodded she grinned. "Then hell yeah! That burger looks so good, and a beer, whatever's on tap."
"Sure thing." The waitress nodded and moved away and Grace relaxed back in the booth, looking at him curiously.
"What's up?" he asked as he picked at his fries, one eyebrow raised.
"Nothin." She said with a shrug. "Just didn't figure you for someone who drank whisky older than I am. That stuff's like thirty dollars a pour and you just ordered four of them."