Riona parked her car in the designated parking for the bar where she was meeting her friends. They, Claire, Silia and her, had been coming to this place for close to 4 years so they knew the bartender and owner of the place. They always had a table reserved for Thursdays and recently as they had been busy they had notified when they needed one by phone. Today D was going to be around as well as it was bound to be interesting.
Ri was early, she needed to have a word with the bartender. They had become fast friends as soon as She and her friends had become regulars and coming earlier gave her a chance to talk to him and make a plan without the interference of her friends. It also helped that it wouldn't be as busy at this hour seeing as they would have just opened.
She went into the premises and straight to the bar where Ben was facing the cabinets with drinks. He glimpsed her in the mirror and smiled.
"Hey Benny," she greeted him as she made herself comfortable on a bar stool right in front of him.
"Hey Sweets," he turned around, still wiping a glass. He put the glass down, flipped the towel over his shoulder and leaned on the bar. His smile could stop traffic. If only her heart was available. She would have given it to him.
"How have you been?" She asked as she eyed his selection.
"I missed you something fierce," Ben said, leaning in further.
"You did?" Ri leaned forward too, "That is just too sweet."
"What do you want sweetheart?" Ben asked softly, looking at her lips.
"You for a change." She answered flirtatiously
"Finally!" He leaned in and pecked her cheek lightly before standing upright again, "What do you need me for sweets?
"I need a date," Ri replied, "and start a tab for tequila. The girls will be here soon."
"A date, huh." He reached for a tequila bottle and four shot glasses and put them on the bar. "What for?"
"A gala I have to attend. Black tie of course. The parents will be in attendance."
"That is a big favour. It will cost you."
"How much?" Ri arranged the wares and started figuring out how to get them to their table safely.
"A kiss," he resumed cleaning glasses.
"What?!" Ri was actually shocked
"And not your garden variety kiss. One with actually passion"
"Benny…"
"That isn't such a steep price to pay for a whole evening of snobbery and the occasional insult… you do know I will get insulted."
"Benny I do not know whether I can give…"
"I wont ask for anything else Sweets. Just one kiss. It aint too much to ask." He looked at her with sincerity. Ri thought about for a minute, fidgeting with a shot glass in the process. Meanwhile her friends had arrived, judging by the amount of noise they came in making.
"Think about it?" Ben told her softly, "I will get the drinks and stuff to you. Go join your friends." At this point her friends called hi to Ben which he replied with a wave. It wasn't like Ri didn't know that Ben felt something for her, she had made it clear she wasn't on the market and she had thought leaving it at that would take care of it. Ben had never mentioned it again and he never pushed. What had changed.
She made her way to the table her friends were seated at and a waitress arrived a short while later with the tequila, limes and salt plus the shot glasses.
"A toast," Silia called after the first shot had been poured. Ri decided to put the thoughts aside and enjoy the return of her friend,
"To the return of the bad bitch…. D we missed you." Silia said with her shot glass in the air.
"Thank God we are bosses cause this is going to linger." Claire muttered as she raised her glass
"Don't be a coward Claire. I will even get Ri drunk tonight so you have no way to escape" D said looking over the rim of her glass.
Ri just sighed and raised her glass as well. After a moment and some clinking of shot glasses they tossed them back and slammed the glasses on the table. The grabbed for the limes and sucked on them before they all in unison sighed away the burn of tequila.
"So, onto other news," D begun
"The night has just begun," Ri complained. She was sure she knew where this was going.
"We still need to discuss this before you decide to conk out." Silia said, pouring a second round of shots.
"Alright," Ri said, resigned.
"So you plan on getting out of this how?" Claire asked as she reached for her shot and the salt.
"I am sure between the four of us we can come up with things that put men of that stature off," Ri replied, twirling her shot glass.
"Like…" D prompted
"A loud woman, lack of discretion, scanty dressing… meanwhile I need a dress for the gala, one with a very long slit, may be two even." He friends chuckled at that. It was not like she hadn't already been wearing risqué fashion to the galas. They had a feeling this time she was really invested.
"Do you have a date to the gala?" Silia asked.
"She sure does," Ben replied as he dropped off their snacks for the evening.
"Thanks Benny!" Silia said as she smiled at him. Riona just looked at him confused. They hadn't agreed since she was thinking about the price.
"I do?" she asked. Ben just winked on his way back to the bar.
"Couldn't you have given that man a chance before your parents decided to botch this for you?" Claire asked, downing a shot and grabbing for a snack.
"You know I can't" Ri said sullenly
"Can't or won't?" D asked as she too downed a shot. Ri sighed. It seemed she would need to get over whatever hang ups she had because it was either accept her parents proposal or find someone to keep them off her back. Ben fit the bill but she felt like she would just be using him. And then there was the BeeMan…
The girls spent that night discussing a plan of action for Riona, talking about D and her future plans and generally having fun. They didn't get too drunk but knowing D it was just a warm up to be continued another Thursday.