“What am I going to wear?” Justine thought to herself, it had been months since she was able to go out, and have a good time. Since her break up with Mike, she spent her life working as much as possible. It was Friday night, and Terry had called her, and asked her to join herself, and Donna. They were going to the Brass Knob, a local bar, to hear a new band that was rocking the clubs in the area. Justine was thrilled at the thought of finally going out. The break up with Mike had been a painful one. Perhaps she thought, just perhaps she could meet someone to help her take her mind off the break up that still tended to hurt.
Looking in her closet, Justine found several options. The first was a pastel pink tank top that tied at the neck, along with a pair of faded denim shorts. The second was a pantsuit, it was flattering, but it seemed a bit dressy. As soon as she saw the little black dress in the back of the closet, she knew it was the outfit for the night. It was not too dressy, yet not to revealing as the tank, and shorts would have been. It was a short black dress, made of satin. It had a low plunging neckline that flattered Justine’s bust-line and showed off her waist and her flat belly yet also allowed her to show off her best feature, her long well shaped legs. The dress was short, but not to short, it came to her mid thigh in length. Setting off the dress, Justine chose a pair of black silk pantyhose, and a plain pair of black high heels. She chose to keep her jewelry simple. A pair of silver hoop earrings, a plain silver-herringbone necklace, and her watches complimented, not took away from, her attire. Her hair, what to do with her hair she wondered. Justine’s hair was naturally curly, and hung down the middle of her back. She wanted to look sexy yet sophisticated tonight. The Brass Knob was not a high-class establishment, nor was it a low-end hole in the wall bar. She decided to wear her hair in a French knot, allowing curls to fall around her face to soften the look. Her dark hair, along with her dark dress, seemed to make her blue eyes stand out even more. Just as Justine had stepped back into her bedroom, she heard the doorbell ring. “Who could that be” she thought, Donna and Terry were meeting her at the bar.
She turned out her bedroom light and descended the stairs heading for the front door. Peeking through the peephole in the front door, Justine sighed, and opened the door. Looking at the man that stood before her, he was tall about 6’3 or so, Dark hair, the speckles of gray on his side burns set off his gray-blue eyes. Well built, Mike looked fantastic in a pair of blue jeans, and his black T-shirt that seemed to accentuate his broad shoulders, showing his chest tapering down to a slim waist. It was easy to see that Mike was an extremely attractive man. He almost looked pathetic though, looking down at the ground when she opened the door, Justine noticed the dozen long stemmed red roses, and the bottle of wine.
“Hi Mike, I am surprised to see you tonight,” Justine said.
Mike looked up with what at first began as a smile, but one that quickly faded as he looked at Justine dressed up.
“ I am sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?” Mike inquired.
“ Well, yes actually you did, I am on my way out.” Justine quipped back sarcastically.
“You should have called Mike, we have talked about this before.” She bitterly added.
After Mike had walked out on Justine two months ago, he had tried several times to win her back, his effort was to be applauded Justine thought to herself, but it was a little, a lot too late. Had he not decided that Sara was the woman he wanted to be with, and left her for this young girl, perhaps he would have stood a chance? Justine could not believe that after five years Mike would just leave her for a much younger woman. Justine being thirty-two years old, and Sara being only twenty-two, seemed to stick in Justine's craw. There were times that Justine actually felt sorry for Mike, perhaps it was because he was knocking on forty years old, she occasionally thought. Mid-life crises perhaps? It mattered not Justine thought, she felt betrayed. She still loved Mike, but felt that she would never again be able to trust him.
“Oh, I am sorry, I realize I should have called, but today being our anniversary, I thought I would surprise you.” Mike added quickly, seeing Justine’s irritation with him. “How dare you?” Justine added. “You walked out on me two months ago, and have done nothing but try to come back, why don’t you take that bottle of wine, and those roses back to Sara,” Justine growled through her clenched teeth.
“How dare I what Justine, How dare I realize that I made the biggest mistake of my life?” Mike asked.
Justine remained silent, knowing that this was a battle that she could not win.
“How dare I realize with in a week of the time I left you, that Sara was just a play toy, an ego boost?” Mike continued.
“After all we shared, how can you not allow me at least the opportunity to prove that I Love you, that I know I was wrong, and that I know I lost the love of my life?” Mike almost pleaded. Justine was truly feeling that old pain, the same one she felt the day Mike announced that he was in love with another woman.
“Listen Mike, I don’t have time to get into this with you. I am meeting Terry and Donna in 10 minutes I am not going to be late as it is. Why don’t you call me tomorrow, and perhaps we can discuss this, I just don’t have time right now.” Justine cut him off as easily as she could.
Walking back into the hallway of the apartment, Justine grabbed her purse that was laying on the stand, along with her car keys, and headed back towards the door.
“Are you still here?” Justine asked coldly.
Sitting the bottle of wine and the dozen roses down on the patio Mike turned around and looked at Justine.
“Sure we can discuss this tomorrow, I wont stop until you at least allow me one more chance Justine, I love you, and I want you back, and I will do what ever it takes to win you back.” Mike proclaimed as he turned and walked back to his car.
Justine just stood there on the patio, watching him as he put his car in reverse, and pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the end of the block.
“God, talk about the nerve of that man.” She thought to herself as she saw his lights signal his left turn. Going over and over the situation that had transpired in her mind, The nerve of that man she kept thinking. He is the one that walked out; he is the one that felt a younger woman was what he wanted. Tears began to roll down from her eyes. Five years, was thrown away, five years of her life was lost, wasted on a man who could not be faithful.
NO! I won’t do this again. I won’t torture myself, I won’t think of this again, not tonight. Tonight I am going to forget what this has done to me. I am going to have a good time, enjoy myself, and put the past out of my mind, and start to think about my future. Who knows she thought to herself, perhaps I will meet my Mr. Right tonight. Her self pep talk, had worked wonders, she was smiling as she pulled into the Brass knob parking lot. It was busy, it was almost 10:30pm, and the band had already started playing. She was late, as usual.
Entering the door, a tall heavy-set man met her at the door. “Evening’ ma’am,” he said in his southern draw. Handing the man the ten-dollar cover charge Justine could feel his eyes on her ass as she walked past him, and began searching for Terry and Donna. The room was large, tables surrounded a large dance floor, with two bars, one at either end of the building. The room was smoke filled. Justine looked around, it was almost impossible to see much, other than bodies that were seemingly intertwined, lines formed at the bars, people stood so closely that for the most part, the bodies all seemed to become one, chests touching the back of the person in front of them. Justine could not believe the amount of people there.
“How in the hell am I going to find them, damn I wish I had not been late.” She said out loud as she walked towards the bar.
She stood looking around scanning faces and tables as she waited inline, with what seemed like the rest of the people in the bar, to get a drink. Justine could have sworn she felt the man behind her grab her ass as she stood there. Not wanting to cause a scene, she pretended as if she had not felt it. Yet, it happened again, she quickly turned around to see the face of an extremely handsome man looking back at her with a huge grin.
“Excuse me she said, but do you mind keeping your hands off my ass.” Justine looked him in the eyes as she spoke to him.
She was surprised at his reaction. His eyes seemed to twinkle at her statement, a twinkle of pure orneriness. A quality that Justine liked in her men. Most importantly to Justine was that they were feisty, even ornery.
“My Apologies Mam, but my hand just seems to have a mind of its own tonight.” The man said to her.
Justine laughed at his carefree attitude towards the situation, sticking out her hand to shake his she introduced herself.
“The ass that your hand seemed to enjoy belongs to Justine, and who does the hand belong to?” She inquired spontaneously.
“Eric” the man replied as he took her hand, and lightly brushed her hand to his lips.
