Birthday Blues
Caitlin sighed as she put her purse in one of the little lockers at the hangar. It was the Friday, the before her birthday and she hadn't really made any plans to celebrate.
"The big three-o," she said to herself. "Kind of depressing to be thirty and still single with no prospects. Ugh, why do I suddenly sound like my mother?"
"Caitlin, is everything alright back there?" Dom called out to her. "This engine out here isn't going to fix itself you know."
"I'm coming," she yelled as she came out into the hangar and joined him. "Where's Hawke?"
"He took the day off," Dom growled. "Not that I'm thrilled about it but apparently he had some kind of hot date."
"Oh," she replied softly.
"But hey," he continued, taking note of the sad look on her face. "My buddy Sal and I are heading out to the Blue Moon tonight for drinks if you'd like to come along. He had a fall out with his old lady and I figured he needed a night out."
Caitlin perked up. "Thanks Dom," she replied. "I think I'll take you up on that."
Don smiled. "We'll be up there around eight," he told her. Do you need a ride or would you rather meet us there?"
"I'll meet you there," she replied. "I want to do a little shopping after work."
"Sure thing kid," he replied. "Now, let's get back to work."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Caitlin sat at her bathroom vanity and put on her make-up. She sighed as she looked in the mirror at herself. "I've become too boring and predictable," she said to herself. "I need to get out there tonight and have fun….let loose for once. You only turn thirty once."
When she was done, she slipped on the new short mini skirt she had bought on her earlier shopping spree along with a low neck blouse that she use to wear when she was in college.
"If I want to get noticed," she said out loud to herself. "This is the outfit to do it."
Caitlin hadn't mentioned her upcoming birthday to Dom and or Hawke and she realized at the beginning of the week that neither of them had remembered it. At first it bothered her but then she decided that she really didn't want them giving her any kind of special attention because of it.
She smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror again. She liked that her hair had grown long and flowed to the top of her shoulders. She felt sexy. She felt like a woman. Caitlin loved being one of the guys at work but she couldn't help wanting to feel feminine sometimes.
"It's going to be a fun night," she thought to herself as she grabbed her purse and car keys headed out of the door.
When Caitlin got to the bar, she found Dom and Sal sitting at one of the small round tables in the very back of the establishment. To one side of them was a dance floor and along the front were two long bars.
"Mama Mia, you sure pretty tonight," Dom said to her with a smile. "What's the occasion?"
Caitlin smiled back at him. "I just felt like dressing up a bit tonight is all," she replied. "I just saw the sign up front that it's karaoke night tonight. I might just get up there and sing."
Dom chuckled. "Sounds good," he replied. "Here, have a seat and join us."
"Let me go and get a drink first," she told him as she headed over to the bar.
Dom and Sal watched her as she made her way through the crowd to the bar. "I think your friend is looking to meet someone tonight," Sal told Dom. "Beautiful woman like that…..I can't say I blame her. She shouldn't be alone."
Dom sighed. "She's a really good girl Sal," he replied. "She deserves to find a nice guy."
As the music cranked up and one by one the patrons started participating in karaoke, Caitlin found herself drinking one drink after another. She sat and chatted with Dom and Sal for awhile before men started asking her to dance.
After an hour of drinking and dancing, she finally sat back down with them to take a break.
"Wow, you've really had your share of attention tonight," Dom said with a wink.
Caitlin smiled. "I'm having a lot of fun…"
"Oh look who's joining us," Dom interrupted her and pointed to the doorway.
Caitlin turned to see Hawke coming towards them with a tall, bleach blonde woman holding onto his arm.
"Hey String," Dom called out. "Glad you were able to make it. I didn't think you were coming."
Hawke sighed. "Well, our concert plans fell through," he replied. "It was canceled so Amy and I figured we'd hang out here for awhile."
Caitlin stood up and greeted the woman as Hawke introduced them.
"It was nice meeting you," Caitlin told her before turning to Dom. "I'm going to go and get another drink."
Caitlin went back over to the bar and bought herself a shot of alcohol and a mixed drink. She downed the shot first and then took a sip of her drink before heading back to the dance floor with one of the men she'd danced with earlier.
Hawke watched her as she danced with several different men and then joined one of them for karaoke.
"Looks like Caitlin is having a good time," said Hawke. "I don't think I've ever seen her like this before."
Dom sighed slightly "Well, I'm keeping an eye on her," he replied. "I've never seen her drink so much so I just want to make sure she's okay."
"She's a big girl," Hawke told him. "But, I don't think it'd hurt to keep an eye on her."