Tuesday 17 May 2016

Maybe they're together



This is a phrase the Writers Connect team used for a prompt some months ago, and I typically forgot to type it up. Until now.

Roger applied the mustache evenly, sticking down the edges. He'd practiced the accent and mannerisms in the mirror, preparing himself for meeting her.

He'd noticed her in the bar over the course of the last few weeks, but he'd bottled it every time he'd tried to talk to her. That's when the guy with the 'tache showed up, and he'd had her attention ever since. Maybe they were together. Maybe facial hair was what she went for.

The idea that she'd recognise him, and that she'd latch on that he'd wanted to approach her, made him sick with worry. If she recognised him, he could never look at her again, with a 'tache on or not.

The doorman swung the door open for him. At least he hadn't latched on. Or so it seemed.

Roger ordered a beer. He couldn't see her. The guy she was apparently with was sat at the end of the bar, t-shirt tighter than a paint job. Gym hadn't worked for Roger so far.

There she was, coming out of the glass room. She flirted with the guy again, shoving him playfully, then went behind the bar. Time to strike, Roger thought.

JD and coke please.”

She started to pour in silence.

How are- um.” His eyes shot to the other end of the bar as the front door swung open. A man in a pink t-shirt walked in. The guy in the tight t-shirt- the one he thought he was competing against- pranced to the entrance to meet Pink T-shirt Guy.

The girl put the drink in front of him. “No, he's not my boyfriend, before you ask.”

I see that now,” said Roger. “That obvious, then? What I was thinking?”

Yeah,” she said. And I knew you were a JD guy.”

So, that's as far as I got. She'd latched on that he was a Jack Daniels drinker, and that he thought she was with the guy, but he didn't realise that said guy was gay and- more importantly- she didn't recognise Roger behind the 'tache. Or does she? Does he reveal himself or play along? Does he have to wear the 'tache every time he goes in there, or if he actually gets her to meet with him? We'll never know. The possibilities...

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