Page 8 of Liquid Courage
Chapter 4
“Tell me more,” Lisa said, as soon as she and Vivian sat down for lunch the next day. “I want to hear word for word what that bitch said about my Vivi.”
Vivian sighed, her half-wrapped sandwich drying out in the break room at work. The law office may have had state of the air equipment and enough heating and air conditioning to make everyone happy, but a break room was a break room. God only knew the last time this table was truly disinfected. “She said that I lied about my appearance on my profile.” She rubbed her temple. That last beer before bed had done her in, and she woke up with a mild hangover that almost made her call out sick.Yet everyone knows I went out on a date last night. They would think I was drunk on something else.The office had a policy of not asking for details when someone called out sick. If Vivian wanted to burn up her limited sick time on pussy, then she could certainly knock herself out. But the rumors would be ripe! “That I did it on purpose to catfish her. Wait, she didn’t actually use the word catfish, but that’s what she implied.”
“Oh my God.” Lisa, with her acrylic nails waving in the air and golden curls tossing about every time she expressed even a hint of emotion, looked like the old dancing Furby Vivian had as a kid. All the office needed was another Lisa to create a shitstorm of screaming animatronic dolls. “Did I, or did I not, vet your profile last week when you put it up? You look exactly the same!”
“She had a point, though…” Vivian held her sandwich up to her lips, but couldn’t bring herself to take a bite. “I used an old picture, from before I was sick. I should’ve taken a more recent selfie. She said she always puts up a new picture every time she slightly changes her look…”
“That’s insane! How many people out there have profile pictures of their old hairstyles, for fuck’s sake? Do you know how many guys I’ve gone out with who have the exact opposite facial hair as in their pictures? Like every damn time! Sometimes it really sucks, too, ‘cause a lot of guys really can’t pull off the goatee. Yuck.”
“I really did lose a lot of weight, Lisa.”
“Sure you did. But that was months ago. Doesn’t your profile even say you’re getting back into dating after being sick?”
“I took that off, because I thought people would think I was contagious or something.”
“Whatever, Vivi. Forget about that asshole. She was projecting some serious insecurities onto you. It’s all on her.”
“It still really sucks.”
“Of course it does! So we sulk about it, then move on! Come on.” Lisa popped a plastic straw into her can of Diet Coke, fresh from the office vending machine. “Who’s next on the date list? Who else you got lined up for this weekend?”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“Come oooon. Surely, there’s someone out there who wants to bang ya. You know I’m a picky fuck on regular dating apps, and even I can line up at least one date a week.”
Vivian put her untouched sandwich down. “No, what I mean is that I can’t just bounce back like you can after a bad date. You know my self-esteem was all but ruined after being sick. After a date like that? Fuck me.”
That’s what she had almost told Kat the night before.“Fuck me.”Vivian tucked her long hair behind her ear as she remembered those big brown eyes once more. Yeah. Fuck her. Against the wall.
Vivian swallowed. Lisa ignored her.
“There might have been someone else last night.”
Lisa lightly choked on her Diet Coke. “What was that?”
“At the bar. I told you it was a big lesbian hangout. There may have been someone else there who was interested in me. Or at least interested in a hookup.”
“Giiiiirl. Spill.”
Vivian wasn’t comfortable fessing up to going home with the bartender right after her bad date. How desperate did that sound? What should she divulge, if anything at all? “Someone overheard the stuff that woman said and took pity on me. That’s all it was. She pitied me.” That was a better explanation than the other one Vivian had: that Kat wanted to take advantage of her poor emotional state.An easy lay. That was me.
“Did you get a date out of it?”
“No. I bailed before it could go any farther.” That was the truth. “I just wanted to go home and pass out with some Netflix. Hanging out with my sister sounded better than hanging out at a bar by myself.”
“Next time some shit like that happens, just text me and I will be right over.”
Vivian forced a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She thought about Kat for the rest of the day. Hell, she had been thinking of Kat since she woke up that morning with those heavy kisses still on her lips.I could’ve slept with her. I could’ve had sex. I could’ve done that to myself.That was the problem. Vivian thought of it as something being doneto herinstead of a mutual action. She may be a self-proclaimed pillow biter, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be a passive tuna fish in bed. She wanted to give just as good as she got… and she didn’t think she could be that fair with Kat last night.
What would they have done after what happened in the hallway? Go to bed? Where Vivian would lay there and let whatever orgasms came, come? Where Kat would get what she could? Where Vivian would ask for a drink because she hated herself that much?
Everything about last night had been a mistake. But while Vivian worried about her own feelings, she failed to really consider Kat’s, who must have been pretty put out that the woman she brought home from work bailed on her before the main event.
Her boss chastised her for looking too glum in the main office. Clients could see her, didn’t she know? Those clients didn’t want to see a pretty, albeit gloomy woman looking like the sorriest sack of shit in the world. That was about as attractive as Lisa coming to work with no makeup on!
