It was my sixth week working for Pierson-Franks in Smithfield, doing computer consulting work. Pretty boring, the work itself, but I didn't mind it. I figured the interesting contracts were actually the hard ones, and didn't feel badly about coasting through a few assignments because a couple of my more recent jobs were quite challenging.
I had fallen into the habit of staying over every other weekend, and here I was again. Not traveling back saved me a bit of money, as it was actually cheaper than flying back and forth just for the two days at home. If I could get back to take care of my personal matters twice a month, that was enough. I had become a real road warrior.
Another habit I had developed was ending my Friday with a few drinks and a hamburger down at Smithfield Junction, the local bar.
On Friday of that sixth week, I had worked until about nine o'clock and went in to see a couple of the regulars who I had talked with on occasion. The food was decent, and I could walk to my hotel without worrying about driving after drinking. It was my chance to cut loose, and relax.
While the food was good and the locals were friendly, the real appeal of the tavern was, however, the staff. A few cute girls worked there, and that fact seemed to bring in plenty of single women. Over the years, I had developed a theory that bars with a female staff made female customers feel at-ease.
I had a few interesting conversations with the some of the female customers, as well as the girls on the staff, but never made any progress. While I'd love to get laid, I would have also settled for a couple of dates. Traveling so much has made me successful financially, but not exactly happy with my social life or romantic prospects. On some trips, I found myself downright frustrated with sexual need.
Probably the only drawback to Smithfield Junction was that it closed early. It was located amidst rows of low-density commercial buildings. I figured that it was loaded at lunch, with workers ordering out or sneaking a mid-day drink before getting back to the grind. The evening crowd was pretty scant, and so the place shut-down before midnight.
Jamie was the bartender tonight, and she recognized me. It was comforting to have a bottle ready right when I sat down.
"Hey, Joe!" she greeted me.
"Hi, Jamie."
"The usual?"
"Yeah, I guesso."
"Okay. How's it going? You look tired."
I thought for a bit. "No, I guess I'm not. Just relaxed," I told her.
"Good for you!"
She turned and walked towards the kitchen to enter my order. We had talked a few times before: she was a senior at Smithfield State University, and was figuring on a career in geological engineering. She was three years younger than me, and had lived in Smithfield since her dad retired about six years ago.
My eyes followed Jamie as she went away. She was cute. In her green polo shirt and beige shorts she looked very attractive, in fact. Her legs were toned though not exactly tanned. Her sandy blonde hair was in a neat pony tail behind her neck, and her shorts fit perfectly. I admired her thighs and ass, smooth and thin, round and supple under the fabric.
Alex, one of the more interesting locals pulled up a stool next to me, and he and I chatted a bit. While I ate my burger, I had a few beers and carried on our conversation. We talked mostly about sports. The Smithfield Spartans were in a race with my hometown team, the Algerville Devils, for the national title. We argued about their running games, and the chances each team had.
Karen was one of the waitresses and stopped by to bring Alex drinks every so often. Like Jamie, Karen was also a looker. Her eyes were absolutely haunting, a light grey that sparked from under her curled brown bangs. We had first talked when I brought my laptop in with a stack of papers and spent my Friday evening working instead of unwinding. She hadn't shared much about herself, but seemed very energetic.
Alex and I got into it a bit, excited about the playoffs. And I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back at it, I should have noticed that Jamie began flirting a bit. She asked Alex, "Aren't men cute when they talk about sports?" before starting at me while waiting for Alex to answer. Karen had stopped by just in time to hear her question.
I lauged. "It can get ugly."
She smiled at me and said: "I couldn't imagine that."
Karen agreed, "Not with those two."
But before I could respond, Alex had drawn me back in with a comment about the Devil's running back. We resumed our discussion for a while, but his friends ended up calling him away to leave for another bar, and left me with Karen and Jamie.
I ordered one more beer and went back to the men's room. On the way back to the bar, I bumped into Ellen. She was sometimes the bartender, but was working tables tonight. She was taller than Jamie, and I imagined that she had incredible breasts. She always wore her green polo shirt unbuttoned, and the fabric stretched around her shoulders and chest. Her auburn hair was curly, in ringlets and swirls, compared to Karen's darker wavy locks.
We exchanged some pleasantries before I went back to the bar and got to work on my last beer. I suppose I fell into watching the television behind the bar as I didn't notice the time pass until Jamie stopped by and told me it was past last call.
"Oh, gosh!" I told her, belying my surprise. "I guess I'll get out of your way."
"Actually," she said, "you're welcome to stay. I have a few more things to clean up. Give me your credit card and we can settle the tab. But I'll buy you one more beer, if you like."
"Well, nothing tastes better than free beer," I smiled.
She giggled. "I knew you'd like that." She brought me another one, and then disappeared towards the kitchen again. Her smile was beautiful and her teeth were very white. I thought about what it would be like to sleep with her, to have her in my arms. Then, I got realistic: I'd have to muster-up the courage to ask her out, first. Then my work schedule, and all the problems of being from out of town.
The last customer left his sit-down table towards the back, and was saying goodbye to Karen. She locked the door behind him, and then helped Ellen bus the table. They returned to the front just as Jamie reappeared.
"We're outta here!" they announced in unison.
"Already?" Jaime asked.
"Yeah, we closed out and put our paperwork in Doug's office before that last guy left," said Ellen.
Karen had been looking at me and now looked at Jamie. "Should we catch up with you later?"
Jamie smiled. "Probably. I'll call you and let you know for sure."
"Okay." Ellen and Karen moved to go.