"What's your poison?" The ruggedly handsome bartender asked her. His dark hair, brown eyes and tan skin hinted that he was possibly spanish or italian. How long have I been sitting here zoning out?
"A Jack and Coke, please," Leila exclaimed breathlessly.
She needed to stop living in a fantasy and wake up to her reality. She just had to take her mind off that devilishly handsome man! She rested her head on her hand and looked down at the wooden counter. She took a sip of her drink, her thoughts far away, a glazed look in her eyes. Suddenly someone shook her out of her reverie and she looked up, seeing double and having trouble focusing.
"Excuse me, lovely, but are you going to pay for that or what?" prodded the flirtatious bartender.
"Oh sorry. I must have been daydreaming. How much?" she rushed out, embarrassed.
"Four even," he said.
She handed him the money and apologized again, then proceeded to chug her drink. The bartender thanked her graciously and studied her for long a moment, as if sizing her up.
"Looks like you could use this," he said as he poured her another. "Don't worry, it's on the house. My name is...," he said as he stuck out his hand.
"What? Ray?" She shouted back at him over the music, "It's so loud!"
"I'm Jay," he yelled back, just as the music was switching to a slow song, causing them both to laugh, "Well that is slightly embarrassing."
"Thank you for the drink. Nice to meet you. I'm Leila," she said with a grin, shaking his hand firmly.
He flashed her a smile so brief, that she thought she had imagined it. As he went back to helping his other customers, he left her there to wonder whether or not she really looked that desperate. Maybe he was just being nice... It was very likely, it was part of his job to get people to want to come back. That was probably why he had been so flirty towards her, a stranger.
She put the ice-cold glass up against her cheek. The condensation from it felt so good after working up such a sweat dancing, that she groaned in relief. She closed her eyes and let the coolness of the glass roam over her cheeks, neck and forehead. This was her fifth drink. Saying she was merely drunk would be a vast understatement. She slumped a little more in her chair and lay her head upon the bar, closing her eyes. She promised herself it would only be for a few minutes...
The hair on the back of her neck stood up, alerting her to a change in the atmosphere. This wasn't the first time that she'd had some sort of sixth sense that she couldn't explain. In fact, the majority of her hunches lately had turned out correct and had been growing in frequency. She sat up quickly and surveyed the crowded dance floor. No one was looking at her, but she still had a feeling that someone was watching her.
She turned very slowly and looked around at the bar. No one caught her eye, no one looked suspicious. Then a guy moved to the side and she saw that behind him was a dark haired man leaning against the bar. She gazed at him a moment, finding it hard to see him in the dimly lit room. She drank in his body, his hair, the shape of his jaw.
