I pounded my head on the wall for the seventh time that week. How is it so hard to find a CEO or a PR Manager in this god-damned city?! I groaned out of frustration and peered over at my assistant chef. He looked away guiltily.
Guess I did look pretty crazy right now.
I watched the clock with bated breath and cheered when it finally hit the hour. I waved goodbye to Jason who was still staring at me like I had just murdered his mom in front of him. I ignored it. Phew, I'm glad that Evander is on a playdate today because I need a drink. All this searching is stressing me out.
The glowing sign of my favourite bar greeted me as I turned the corner of another block. I pushed open the door and took a seat at the bar. The bartender nodded to me, indicating for me to give him one second. There was another woman with bright auburn hair not too far from me looking around expectantly. Her face lit up when a man walked in through the door.
"Jack, honey, I've been waiting for you for over an hour!" Oh wow. There are so many warning signs about this that I can't even feel pity for the woman anymore. Firstly, he took her to a date and a ramshackle bar? Don't get me wrong, I love this place, but it's more for the vibe than literally anything else. Secondly, he shows up at least an hour late and hardly even greets this woman who's been excitedly waiting for him?
And lastly, he literally reeks of women's perfume. It smells like he sprayed it on himself because of its pungency! I gave her a judgemental side-eye before ordering my drink. But sadly, they decided to sit right next to me at the bar. Goodbye my lovely peaceful drinking session, I'll miss you…
She was on my right, chattering away about anything and everything. Suddenly, he sighed. Her eyebrows drew together in concern. "What's wrong, honey? Did I do something wrong? You know I love you…" She said, putting a slight drawl on those last words. His head snapped up angrily.
"No, you don't! You don't even know me! We met," he gestured wildly between each other, "two days ago! Two! Dos! You didn't even know that I actually crossdress most of the time because I. Like. Men. I only dated you because I felt bad that that other guy turned you down so cruelly. But you know what?" She whimpered at his furious tone.
"I completely understand why he did! You're a psycho." With that, he stormed out of the bar. Well damn, that was a little bit harsh. I looked towards the girl next to me and noticed that her face was completely covered in tears and snot. Grimacing, I pulled a pack of tissues out of my bag and handed it to her. "Here, use this," I said. She thanked me profusely and wiped away her tears and most of her smudged makeup.
"I don't understand why this always happens to me… That was the third time this month!" Wait, today was only the 10th. How fast does this woman go through men?! Or rather, how fast does she get dumped based on that display that just happened. I eyed her warily. Should I be honest or not?
To hell with that, she needs some serious help. I chose the brutally honest route. Besides, it's not like I'll probably ever see her again. "I can tell you why." She looked up at me with glimmering eyes when I said that. I almost stopped what I was about to say. Almost.
I took in a deep breath. "It's because you say you love them after two days and tolerate it when they treat you like garbage! Also, if you ask out a guy you know absolutely nothing about you're guaranteed to have a bad time. You didn't even know that your ex was gay! You're too much of a hopeless romantic right now to have any success. You need to calm down a little, take a break from dating, then start with something casual." I finished my rant without looking at her. I simply took a sip from my glass and waited for her to speak again.
Instead, I felt a weight fall onto my shoulder. I looked over in alarm. The woman had passed out probably from too many drinks. She was here for over an hour after all just drinking alone.
I placed my glass on the bar and stood up, making sure to keep an arm wrapped around her waist in case she falls. I told the bartender to put mine and her drinks on my evergrowing tab and left. He knew me well enough to know that I'd probably pay next time I came in.
I transferred her purse to my shoulder and tried to locate her phone. I prayed that it was unlocked before realising there was no password. Guess that makes sense. I searched through her apps to find a navigation one. I opened it up and looked at the home address listed. Perfect, it's not too far from here.
A cab soon pulled up and I pushed her in first before climbing in behind her. I showed them the address and then put the phone away back in her purse. I pulled out my own and called Evander.
I felt guilt creep onto me once again. Why am I such a horrible mother lately? Staying out late and abandoning my own child because of my problems. This has to stop soon. Sadly, that just won't be tonight. Evander picked up almost immediately. "Hey, baby? I'm sorry but can you make your playdate with Luca a sleepover? This woman needs help and I have to get her back home."
I expected to hear something back from him, but the only thing I heard was a bunch of voices shouting. What the hell was going on…? "Baby?" I said.
Someone answered almost immediately. But instead of a child's voice answering me, it was a sultry man's. "Yes, honey?" God damn it I want to hang up right now. Instead, I bottled the venom inside and said in the sweetest voice possible, "Can Evander please spend the night at your house tonight? I have something I need to take care of urgently."
A low hum sounded from the phone. "Oh, is that urgent business seeing a man, dear wifey?" I scoffed. "Hardly. A woman passed out dead drunk on me and I'm taking her home right now. I'm going to wait with her until she wakes up to make sure she's okay." He seemed to ponder for a moment. "Is this woman a lesbian?" I scowled into my phone. "No. Would that matter?"
He made an affirmative sound. "Of course it matters. I can't have someone taking advantage of my wifey. Anywaaays, I'll let your son stay if you do one thing." I hesitated. "What thing?" He chuckled at my nervousness. "Just call me hubby once. That's it."
Of course it was something stupid like that. Would I be willing to sacrifice my dignity for Evander? "Be good to him… hubby." I immediately hung up, not wanting to hear his laughter. I'm sorry dignity, but my baby's just too important.