Page 20 of Liquid Courage
Kat spent the rest of the night working and intermittently flirting with Vivian via text.I don’t know how I can wait until Sunday.Between what almost happened Wednesday night, and what transpiredlastnight, Kat was a wreck of sexual frustration. All it took was the other patrons rubbernecking at her demise every time she received another sexy text for Kat to realize what kind of knob she must have looked like.
At the same time, it was good for business, wasn’t it? A lot of women came to these venues for some kind of hope. Hope that they could be seen as normal for a little while longer. Hope that this was one of the few places they could meet the future love of their life – in reality, anyway. Kat hated dating sites, and so did most of the patrons. Oh, everyone had given it a go, whether it was the first wave of websites or the new, exciting wave of apps that promised them endless tits and ass like the straight boys got. Everyone wanted a perfect mix of sexual hookups and long-term commitment, so the websites fizzled and the apps crashed and burned before they had the chance to take off. Shame, really. Didn’t help that no matter where women went for lesbian dating, it was the same, dwindling pool every time. They weren’t a hip college town where co-eds escaping rural hellscapes finally had the opportunity to explore their sexualities, nor were they a big city with endless potential. They were a midsized city. Rent was cheaper than a lot of other places, but that also meant slimmer pickings in the fields of love.
No wonder Kat burned through everyone so quickly.
No wonder she always had a front row seat to Shari’s bullshit.
Because that’s who wandered in at nine, alone.Alone? She’s alone? No date?Was it a miracle? Had Shari been stood up for once? She rarely came in here alone. She was much more likely to hang out with friends elsewhere or keep her sulky self at home. All for the better. Because Kat was the only bartender on duty, and it was up to her to serve Shari her martini and pretend there were no hard feelings between them – even though Shari had seriously hurt Vivian the other night, andeven thoughKat had her own history with the heartbreaking vixen sitting in front of her.
Harriet stared at them from the other end of the bar.“Wow,”she muttered.
“Thanks.” Shari continued to preen in front of her mirror when Kat put down the martini. Full, dark brown curls shook on Shari’s head when she turned around and spruced up her lipstick. The tight dress she wore reminded Kat of every time they dated in the distant past – and Shari’s current dates she had seen over the past few years.
If someone wanted to talk about a woman who was truly miserable… sheesh. Kat had spent so much time ignoring Sharibecauseshe was clearly miserable. Only a woman like that could rationalize treating people like shit on every date.Not all of her dates end terribly… just the ones she deems a waste of time.A decent person would have simply said good night to Vivian and thanked her for taking the time. Nobody had owed anybody anything beyond a modicum of respect and politeness. Kat had been on total duds for dates. She was pretty sure she never told the women that it was because they were unattractive. Who the fuck did that?
Besides Shari, anyway.
“Can I help you?” Shari snapped her mirror shut and turned toward Kat, who remained on the other side of the bar, staring at this infamous patron as if bat wings and devil horns grew out of her body. “Do I have something on my face?” She opened her mirror again and double-checked something at the corner of her eye. “I knew this pimple would be the death of me.”
Kat rolled her eyes. “Hot date tonight?” Her droll voice almost betrayed the professionalism she attempted to exude. “It’s Friday, after all.”
Shari pursed her lips at her reflection. “No. Just having a drink tonight. Why?” She cast her gaze toward Kat, looking her up and down with the same critical glare she used a few years ago when she said,“You’re too masculine for me. Not that I think you should grow out your hair. God, no. That would look dreadful on you.”“You interested?”
Even if Kat weren’t looking forward to a date with Vivian on Sunday, she still wouldn’t entertain Shari’s delusions. Evenifthey had never dated before. Because Kat had a front row seat to every stunt this woman had pulled, and that was the crap she performed in public.I bet she’s even nastier in private.Nastier than she had been when Kat dated her? Back when Kat didn’t love herself enough to know that Shari was bad news?We all did cringy shit in our twenties.Dating Shari was the tip of Kat’s iceberg.
“I’m interested in knowing if I need to pull up another chair for you.” Kat leaned back as Shari leaned forward. “Because it’s gonna be crowded tonight.” The only reason they had as much seating as they did was because one of the biggest groups in the room hopped off the stools and instead gathered around the pool table. Kat was due to ask if they wanted more drinks soon.
Shari chuckled. “Darn. Thought that maybe I would have a date tonight, after all.”
Kat ignored the implication thatshewould be the date. “Couldn’t line anything up tonight, huh?”
“I am gettingsotired of online dating.” Shari fluffed her hair. Kat couldn’t help but notice that her nails were long and sharp, the perfect detriment… or at least a warning sign that this woman didn’t intend to finger anyone soon.Or maybe she is, and she gets off on tearing up pussy in ways God never intended.When Kat thought about it… yup. Shari had never been great at giving as much as she received. Kat somehow doubted that had changed over the past few years. “Everyone is so fake, you know?” Oh, she was still talking? “Then there’s the fact that there’s hardly any fresh meat around here. I swear, if I actually liked dick, I would try my luck on the straight side, because this whole lesbian thing is a total bummer.”
“Sounds tragic.” Like her personality.
“You know what I mean, huh?”
“I know what you mean,” Kat said with a fake sigh. “So many meh women out there you’re not attracted to.”
“Right? See, you get it.”
Oh my God.Shari had no idea that Kat was making fun of her, huh? This was almost too easy. Kat had to redirect her half-amused energy into cleaning glasses before she snorted all over Shari’s drink.
That drink was half gone when Shari finally looked Kat up and down again and said, as if she had resigned herself to utter desperation, “You got a girlfriend?”
Kat stopped cleaning the glass in her hand. “Nothing serious.” Naturally, she thought of Vivian, but she wasn’t about to call her a real girlfriend yet. “But I am dating someone.”
“Too bad.” Shari batted her fake eyelashes. “All the good ones remain taken.”
That was it. Kat couldn’t take it anymore. Once she heard that ridiculous turn of phrase, she laughed so loudly that half the bar glanced in her direction before going back to their activities.
“What’s so funny?”
Kat had a stitch in her side. “Are you serious?” she asked. “Like, are youserious?”
Shari sneered into her drink. “Sorry if I offended you. Jeez.”
“I’m only confused because you and I used to date way back in the day.”
