The One That Got Away, Chapter 3: Surfer Boy

I squinted and rubbed my eyes as the early morning sun peeked through my bedroom window. I sat up and looked drowsily at my alarm clock. It read 8:44AM. My mind instantly jumped to Sasuke. I wonder if he left yet…

I crawled out of bed and headed downstairs, my body on autopilot as I entered the living room. The couch was bare, the cushions plush as if no one has touched them and the throw blanket folded just as it was before Sasuke arrived. I sighed in disappointment; I almost hoped he'd still be here when I woke up. I shoved thoughts of Sasuke as far back as my mind would allow - he wasn't coming back and I could finally put this whole ordeal behind me. At least until I got to work and would have to spill everything about my very interesting night to my best friend.

"He jumped into your car?" my best friend, Ayame, gasped dramatically, her turquoise eyes brightening with shock. "Who just gets into someone's car like that?"

I giggled at her theatrics. Ayame always made everything sound like a soap opera, although having a stranger jump into your car isn't exactly an every day occurrence. "I know right? He made me take him to my house, too!" I continued, imitating her high-pitched tone. That was the only possible way to talk to Ayame - be just as dramatic as she was.

"He stayed at your house?" her lips automatically curled into a sly smile. "Was he good?"

"Ayame!" I gasped. My cheeks felt like they'd been lit on fire. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"Apparently, not the fun kind," she winked suggestively as she grabbed a tray of colored martinis off to an unseen table.

I rolled my eyes at her assumption. How could she think anything would happen between Sasuke and I when we barely knew each other? Although, I should've expected her to ask something like that considering Ayame's had countless one-night stands; they're practically her hobby.

"Scotch on the rocks, please," a man said as he took a seat at the bar.

"I'm not-" I began to explain that I wasn't the bartender, stopping mid-sentence. I could mix nearly every drink on the menu by heart - not that a scotch was hard to make by any means - and figured that I could take care of the bar until today's tender got in. "Coming up,"

I poured the drink and slid it down the glossy surface in under a minute, the man gulping down the tan-ish liquid nearly as fast.

"Another one, please," he sighed, setting out the glass for me.

"Drowning our sorrows?" I smiled warmly. I grabbed the scotch bottle and refilled his glass. "A little early, isn't it?"

He grinned briefly before taking another large gulp from his glass. "Yeah, been a long week,"

"Mm," I hummed in understanding, catching a glimpse of myself in the huge mirror that lined the wall behind me. My red-brown tresses waved around my shoulders in a sort of messy way that somehow looked sexy while my black v-neck displayed just enough cleavage to be interesting. The gray shadow that decorated my chocolatey eyes blended out just enough to intensify their color without looking like I was trying too hard. All in all, I looked hot.

"I haven't seen you at the bar before," he said, sucking down the rest of his drink.

"I usually waitress," I replied just as Ayame returned, sending me a suggestive glance.

"Make a new friend, Sayuri?" she grinned.

"We were just talking," the man chimed in. His eyes glossed over Ayame like a predator eyeing up its prey, hers doing the same. I sighed and rolled my eyes. This always happened whenever Ayame and I are around the opposite sex. Their attention instantly shifts to Ayame as if she has magnets all over her perfectly slender body.

"And what's your name?" he asked seductively.

Ayame smiled her best innocent smile and leaned on the bar. "Ayame, and you are…?"

"Tanjiro," he said almost before she finished her sentence.

I turned and noticed another guy at the other end of the bar motioning to me. Thank God. I thought, slapping on my best sexy smile (that is how you get tips around here, which explains why Ayame is basically rich). "Hey there, what can I get you?"

"Rum and coke," he smiled back. His baby blue eyes seemed to twinkle when he looked at me and his platinum blond hair complimented his tanned skin.

"You don't look like you're from around here," I said as I slid him his drink smoothly. "You look like a surfer boy."

He chuckled at my assumption. "Good guess, I'm from Los Angeles,"

"How'd you end up in a bar in New York?" I wondered, absent-mindedly glancing down the bar at Ayame. She was laughing and sliding her hand along Tanjiro's arm. Looks like she's found her next victim.

Surfer boy obviously noticed. "She your friend?" he asked, slyly switching the subject.

I nodded, blushing furiously at my horrible obviousness. "Yeah, she's always like that," I responded. I figured he was about to ask if she was single or how good she is in bed (as if I'd know), but his next statement surprised me.

"Oh, she's a bit easy, isn't she?"

I laughed at his directness. "I guess you could say that,"

"I've seen her a few times," he smiled, a toothy grin that made me giggle like an idiot. "She's not really my type, though,"

That shocked me. "Really? She's everyone's type,"

"Nah, not mine," he paused a moment to sip at his drink. "I'm Naruto, by the way,"

"Sayuri," I replied sweetly, tossing my hair over my shoulder like I always did.

"Well, Sayuri, thanks for the conversation, but I'd better get going," Naruto said as he polished off his rum and coke. "But if you're interested, a few friends and I are meeting at The Rave tonight and it'd be cool if you'd want to come, too."

I giggled and noded excitedly, sounding like a complete moron as I jotted my number down on a napkin. "Call me with the details?"

"Definitely," he chuckled at my reaction. "And here's for the excellent service," he added, slapping a fifty down on the bar before turning and walking out.