This was the seventh time she had seen him look over to her from across the bar for the past ten minutes. She even noticed the way his friend's eyes shifted ever so slightly towards her position every couple of minutes as they encouraged him to work up the nerve to walk over to her and start a conversation, most likely to hit on her.

Hailey looked back at her drink, a glass of whiskey. Usually she would be drinking at home, but tonight she just felt the need to go out and get some fresh air, interact with people that weren't her coworkers.

As she took another sip, she could feel his eyes on her once more. Hailey wasn't certain whether she wanted anyone's attention tonight, truly content to have a drink or two and then make her way back home.

It appears that the man in question had made up his mind seeing as he was walking towards her. She could tell by his swagger as he moved and the slight smirk on his face that the alcohol and maybe some ego boosting from his friends have given him the confidence he needs.

"Hey there beautiful, my name's Brad. You seemed a little lonely over here, I figured I would come and keep you company." He announced, taking the barstool and pulling it closer towards her. She didn't really appreciate the invasion of her space, but she figured maybe a little conversation couldn't hurt right?

"Oh, you did, did you?"

"Well a gorgeous girl like you, sitting all alone at a bar always looking around, thought you might be looking for someone to spend the night with."

At that, Hailey took a closer look at him, he was taller than her, a bit over average height that she could tell while he was walking over, but when he was close enough that she could see his face, she saw dirty blond hair that was well groomed. He clearly liked and took care of his appearance and made sure his best features were on display, those being his nice hair and big bright smile.

Most likely to reel girls in, Hailey thought to herself.

"How presumptuous of you, and here I was thinking that I was just looking around the bar, seeing if anyone I knew was here."

She didn't know anyone here, she just needed an excuse to look around, because as a woman, you always needed to know where the exits were as well as having a good exit strategy, just in case. She knew enough about people and more specifically men, that you couldn't take someone's looks at face value, that's how she's gotten skilled at reading people and predicting their actions, and she didn't like the vibes he was giving off, that he would react violently if she said or did the wrong thing, that, however, she learned from past experience.

"Listen, how bout I buy you a drink, maybe you'll loosen up a bit and we can talk about how good you look tonight and what we might do later on."

As he said this, she could feel another pair of eyes on her, coming from over the counter.

"That's very kind of you, but I think I'm just gonna finish my drink and head home."

"Are you kidding me? I just offered you a drink and a great way to spend the night and you're rejecting me?"

"Well I'm not at all obligated to say yes, just because you think you're giving me this amazing service of paying for one drink, doesn't mean I owe you sex or attention, it just means that's your only way to get women to respond to you. And by my standards that's a weak game you got there, I would definitely recommend talking to someone about your views on women, I have a friend who would be able to help you understand where your delusion that women owe you something comes from. But for now, I would like to finish my drink in peace."

She finishes her mini rant and turns back towards her glass, not bothering to spare him a glance. Hailey can practically feel his confusion mixed with anger, beside her, but she doesn't turn, making the point that she is done with their conversation.

"You seriously think you can talk to me like that?"

He questions as he roughly grabs her elbow, yanking her to look at him. She sees the fury in his eyes, it's not something she hasn't seen before, just something she wishes she could forget.

"Listen here, biー"

"Dude she said no, you're done."

Hailey wasn't surprised to see that it was the bartender who spoke, she glanced over at him and saw disgust as he looked toward Brad, the guy who was currently grabbing her arm with a vice-like grip. Luckily, she was familiar with getting men to release their hold on her. She jerked her free hand up and jammed her wrist up into his nose, hard. He quickly let go of her, his hands moving to cup his nose and attempt to stop the bleeding.

"You bitch, what the hell!" He yelled as he stumbled back a bit, droplets of blood falling to the ground as he did.

Their little scene had drawn a few eyes from around the bar, Brad noticed that as well and stepped back, then walked out the door, presumably to deal with his bleeding, and likely broken, nose.

She watched him leave and then turned to the bartender.

"I'm sorry about jumping in there, you totally had it handled, I apologize."

Hailey could see actual sincerity in his eyes, she really believed him.

"No, it's okay, I just didn't feel like playing the passive girl who lets herself get walked over tonight."

"Oh, I completely understand that, I just don't tolerate guys harassing women by buying them a drink and thinking that they have a right to you, in some weird way."

"Well, I appreciate it. Sorry I got blood on your floor."

She looked to him over the bar, pointing to the small drops of blood on the ground.

"That's totally fine. Not the first time that's happened, I'm sure it won't be the last. Although it was pretty entertaining, I have to admit. The part where you said he has a weak game and that you recommend he talks to someone about his views on women. Genius. It's straight to the point and clearly explains how wrong he was."

"I'm glad you think so, he didn't seem too happy with it."

"Screw him, he needs to sort himself out and stop harassing the women in here."

"Has he done this before? In here?"

"Yeah every once in a while, he comes in and sets his sights on a woman, and once he gets a few drinks in him, he goes for it. You just happened to be the only woman who effectively stopped his mouth from spouting that shit, both verbally and physically, it was pretty impressive, I must say."

"Well thanks."

"For what?"

"For not swooping in and taking control, only to pretend to play the dashing hero that deserves a reward."

"Do guys actually do that?"

"It's happened to me at least twice."

"Shit. Well you don't owe me anything, I'm just glad a woman finally told him off, it never seems to work when I do it. Anyways, it's nice to meet you, what's your name?" He asks, offering his hand to Hailey, to shake. She thinks this is the first time in a long time that someone has been this sincere and yet expected nothing from her. The least she can do is give him her name, she figures.

"It's Hailey, and you are?"

"My name is Jay."