JENNIE
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I've realized my nervous habit is tapping my foot, mainly because I keep catching myself doing it in between sips of white wine as I sit at the bar of The Brick Store Pub, waiting for my date to arrive. All around me, there are people in motion; waiters carrying trays of beer and food out to the tables, customers heading to the bathroom or upstairs to the Belgian beer bar with the chefs peeking their heads out of the back to check out the crowd.
With stylish deep-red sailor pants and a cream-colored blouse, I really tried to look cute. I debated on keeping the third button undone to add a little bit of sexy but opted to keep it modest. After another sip of Zinfandel, I suck my teeth, a habit that reappears when I feel like I'm at a disadvantage. I haven't dated in how long?
At least I made it on time.
It's 7:48, exactly eighteen minutes past when Suho and I agreed to meet. I'm officially nervous now and I keep checking my phone to see if he's messaged. I'm sure it's just traffic. I drum my fingers against the arched bar top, shaped like a large horseshoe and stop myself from tapping my foot again. The red stilettos are too pretty to ding up over a date that never happened. I contemplate ordering a second glass after finishing the wine… or maybe a drink I've been eyeing since I've been here for something like twenty-seven minutes. Not that I'm counting.
Right as I'm about to wave to the bartender, my hand rising, Suho appears. I do a double take while he grins at me. His eyes are level with mine, and I'm five foot four. There's no way he's six feet tall, as it says on his dating profile.
He's also paunchy and balding a little. His photos must have been REALLY old, like they were probably taken in college.
He's still cute though. I remind myself and force any hint of my thoughts off my face. Those pictures did not prepare me though.
Deep breaths. We're doing this!
I swallow and extend my hand to him as he walks up, reminding myself that looks aren't everything. Even though my photos are recent.
"Hi. I'm Jennie," I say, managing a smile although my mouth feels dry. Oh my goodness my heart is racing with nerves out of nowhere.
"Hey," he says, ignoring my offer of a handshake. Instead, he crushes me to his body, hugging me forcefully. Oh, he's a hugger. My inner voice sounds as shocked as I feel. The nervous laugh that leaves me probably gives that away. When he pulls back, his hands still on my shoulders, I'm a little out of breath. "I'm Suho," he says with a grin, patting my shoulders before finally releasing me.
He's wearing khaki shorts and a blue button-up, with fancy sunglasses peeking out of the pocket. He tosses his car keys on the bar, making sure the Porsche insignia is visible. From the look on his face to the air around him, this guy is cocky. I'm so shocked that my mouth is even hanging open a little, but I honestly can't help it.
Alarm bells are going off in my head, telling me to get out, right now. He is nothing like the person I've been talking to.
"How about a drink?" Suho suggests. I could use about a dozen right now to settle down, but my legs feel like Jell-O.
I picture Lisa, my stool, a cool glass of something she whipped up for me.
Oh, my gosh, I blink away my crazy. Pining after Lisa is literally insane.
"Um, okay," I say, reaching for the menu so I can order the special I wanted and pretend like I'm not hung up on someone so unavailable.
"No no," he says playfully. "I'll pick something you'll love. I'm kind of a craft beer aficionado." He grabs the menu, taking a seat at the bar before turning back to me with a charming smile and saying, "And I'm really good at guessing what people like."
"Oh. Well okay."
I try to talk myself out of the obnoxious first impression I got, after all, Lisa makes me surprise drinks all the time. And there I go again… what is wrong with me?
The drink I was eyeing up was something called a Burial Shadow Clock, but maybe he'll know that. Or maybe he'll introduce me to something I didn't know I liked. That thought eases me and I find myself smiling. I take another peek at Suho but find myself comparing his smooth jaw to Lisa's one and suddenly I need that drink right this second.
I let out a bit of the tension in my body and take a seat next to him. Staying positive is my main goal. Suho's not quite how I thought he'd be, but I'm sure the same is true for him.
He skims the menu, then calls the bartender over, ordering two stouts. The bartender asks him whether it'll be cash or card, and Suho looks to me.
"What'll it be?" he asks.
"Oh! Uhh… Visa, please." My cheeks heat with embarrassment.
I turn and get my wallet from my purse, fumbling to get my credit card to start a tab. I already paid for the first glass and stare at the empty glass, wishing it was full again. The tight smile stays on my face as I hand it to the same bartender as before. It's only when the man side-eyes Suho that I realize he's not reaching for his card. Suho taps his hands on the bar top and looks past the bartender to the television screens behind him.
The bartender gives me a dubious look, then goes to run the card. Shake off the unease. It's fine. I'll get the drinks and I bet he'll get dinner. Maybe that's the way it works normally? Or maybe… maybe he's thinking something else, I don't know.
Shifting uncomfortably on the stool, I try to shake it off. I'm a little more than put out that Suho assumed I could pay for his beer as I watch the bartender pour it, but unsure how to say so. I glance at him, biting down on my lip, and he smirks.
"I like to let the woman pick up the first tab," he says. "Not that I can't buy a drink. It's just, you know, figure out if they're gold diggers, you know?"
Gold digger? One drink. No dinner with this guy unless things change around tremendously. Making myself that promise I glance between the second pint the bartender is filling and my date.
Suho stares at me expectantly, like he really wants a response to his comment. My lips curl down into a partial frown as I offer, "We could have split the check."
"Yeah, but I want a woman who earns, you know what I mean? A woman who knows how to be aggressive about what she wants."
I'm a little flabbergasted at that, and I know it shows on my face. Luckily the bartender shows up at that moment, setting two dark beers down in front of us.
This has got to be new-date-jitters. I couldn't have been so wrong about this guy.
"Oh," I say, looking at the beer's dark chocolate color. It reminds me a bit of chocolate milk for some reason. I don't normally drink beer, but when I do, I'm a pale ale kind of girl. Feeling my stress level climb higher and higher, I purse my lips a little and wonder what I'm doing here.
"What's wrong?" Suho asks, drawing my attention to him.
Oh so much is wrong, but I stick with the polite answer, "I don't usually care for dark beer much, but I'm excited to give it a try." A small smile slips onto my face when he grins at my statement.
"You will," he nods, picking up his pint glass for a toast. "What should we toast to?"
"How about to new experiences?"
"No, no," he corrects me. "To us."
He clinks his glass against mine, and it spills a tiny bit of the beer over my hand onto the bar top. I can practically hear him guzzling still after I take a sip of the beer, ignoring the spilled beer and simply laughing it off. Two small square napkins is enough to clean it up anyway. The bitter taste in my mouth sits on my tongue. Yup, nope, I don't like dark beer.
Sitting easily on the stool as I take another sip of the beer. It's indeed like chocolate milk… if chocolate milk is rancid and bitter.
I take yet another sip, thinking that maybe I just need to close my eyes and let it wash over my tongue…
Nope. I sit my beer down and push it away, relegating it to the far edge of the bar.
"Not to your liking?" Suho asks.
"Not so much," I say, reaching for the menu. "You can have it if you want?"
Suho grabs the menu again before I can get to it. "Let me choose again."
Railroaded isn't something I'm used to feeling, but that's exactly how I feel now and I can't help the frown that I know is revealed in my expression.
I stare at this man and I don't know what to do. I'm not used to being such a shrew on dates, not that I've really been on many, but that's exactly how I feel. Then again I've never been treated like this. My lips part to say as much, but he's already waving the bartender down and ordering another beer.
"I like Belgian wheat beers, if that helps," I say to the bartender, as soon as Suho's done talking. I didn't even listen to what he said.
"Just bring her what I asked for," Suho says pointedly.
The bartender senses the tension between me and Suho, so he just backs off and pours another beer. On my tab, I presume.
"So, first date formalities," Suho says, as though none of that ever happened.
I have been on so many shitty dates in college. They didn't really matter though as I wasn't actually looking for a forever Mr. Right. Just a Mr. Right now. I watch Suho as he talks and realize this one is probably the worst start to any interaction with any individual I've ever had. Including some of my worst clients. Probably.
"Let's see… I'm in finance, but I won't even begin to explain it. It's nothing you would understand. I'm from Atlanta, but left for college and then came back." Suho doesn't look at me as he recites what's probably a rehearsed introduction, motioning with his hands in between drinking the beer. "I went to Westminster, of course. Followed by Columbia and Yale, for business school. Came back to help my father run his firm. I've been everywhere. You name it, I've been there. I spend my weekends on my boat. And you?"
He finally looks up at me. I take a breath, my fingers tangling in my lap. Everywhere? He's been everywhere? Irritation claws at me.
"Well… I'm from Atlanta, too. I went to Decatur High School—"
"A public school?" he interrupts.
I wait a moment to answer him, my body heat rising. "Yes. I also went to Brenau University—"
"You went where?" he asks, his nose wrinkling.
"Brenau? It's a women's college—"
"Oh, a girls school," he says, tapping his hand on the bar top and leaning back some on his stool. I smile thinly.
"It's actually a private college." It's where I went before Rhode Island School of Design. Both are damn good institutions, and I'm proud of the fact I was accepted to them.
He actually rolls his eyes as he takes another drink of the beer, the one I paid for, and says, "Yeah, okay."
I seriously need to get out of here.
He takes a moment to savor his beer. I stand, shouldering my purse. Anger is just simmering beneath the surface. I've never been treated so poorly in my life.
"Where are you going?" he asks, surprised.
"I'm going to go ahead and leave," I say.
"Wait— you can't just leave like this, in the middle of our date!" He has the nerve to raise his voice loud enough to get the attention of the men around us.
I wave my arm frantically at the bartender, not because he doesn't see but more than likely because of the nerves racing through me. "I'd like to close out."
A night with Irene would have actually been better than this.
The bartender must see my frustration from where he's pouring drinks down the bar because he says, "You're all set, it's on the house."
"Thanks!" I call to him and wish it came out less shaky. He's literally my hero right now for not making me wait another second with the jackass who has already turned his back to me to ask a woman a few seats down if she wants a drink he just paid for.
I don't even bother to correct him; he isn't getting another second from me.
Rushing to get inside my car, I pull out of the parking lot, feeling completely sick over what just happened. Did that even happen? That was real, wasn't it?
Disbelief consumes me as I blow out a breath and my car hits the interstate. I'm almost on autopilot driving through evening traffic while my mind is elsewhere, trying to forget what a miserable first date that was. I settle into my seat and try to calm down as I look at the time on the dashboard.
I don't want to go home and be alone after that bullshit. I know there's only one place I want to be right now, and only one person's smile I want to see…
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