Page 159 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
Maurice shook his head.
“Sorry, man, hot date with Nikki.” Of course. According to Maurice, the two had been together every night this week. He made it seem so easy to have a relationship with a co-worker. I was starting to think that Tiffany and I weren’t ever going to reach their level.
“No worries,” I told him. “Have fun!”
He waved goodbye and left, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I wondered if Tiffany had left for the day. Maybe I could catch her and ask her to grab some drinks. I quickly decided not to. I didn’t want to come across as too desperate, even though I obviously was.
I stayed in my office for another twenty minutes, begging for mental clarity that never appeared. I needed to get these articles done, but my mind would not stop thinking about Tiffany. I was overanalyzing everything from our dinner, to our kiss, to the lack of communication afterwards. What went wrong?
Who knows, maybe nothing went wrong? Maybe she was just busy, too? Perhaps she was under pressure here at work and didn’t have time to chat? There were a thousand possibilities, but I needed to know what was going through her mind.
“Fuck it,” I said, turning off my lights and leaving my work behind. The work would be there when I came back on Monday. I walked by Tiffany’s office, but as I had assumed, it was dark. She was gone for the weekend.
I got in my car and pondered what to do next. Austin was already at my mom’s house for the evening. According to my mom, she had a bunch of fun Christmas crafts to keep him busy for the night. My mother was a fantastic grandmother and a godsend in my life.
Since I knew Austin was in good hands and it was early, I decided to head to a bar down by the beach. My best friend, Allen Matteson, worked there part-time. By part-time, I meant only Friday nights which was the bar’s College Night. Although he was thirty, his age did not stop him from going after younger girls. He told me he actually preferred it. College girls never wanted commitment and neither did Allen.
His other job was being a lifeguard. He also took that job just for the scenery. By scenery, I didn’t mean the Atlantic Ocean. He paid more attention to the women on the beach than what was going on in the water. He was one of those guys who was never going to grow up. An eternal bachelor. Up until I met Tiffany, I thought maybe my life was headed that way too. However, there was something about her that drew me to her. She was different.
I walked inside the bar. As I predicted, it was rather quiet for an early Friday evening. Sure enough, Allen was behind the bar already, beer in hand.
“Cayden fucking Lewis!” He raised his beer bottle toward me. The few patrons in the bar turned to look at me. I felt embarrassed and suddenly extremely overdressed. I had forgotten what a dump this place was. I should have gone home to change before coming here.
“Hey, buddy,” I said, pulling up a seat at the bar. It had been a while since I had visited him at this bar. Work was getting the best of me lately.
“What’s going on, man?” Allen asked. He placed a cold beer in front of me. I nearly gulped it down all at once. Allen looked at me, his eyes wide with surprise.
“A girl,” I said. He shook his head.
“Cayden Lewis is stressing over a female? You need to start explaining,” he demanded, turning to grab another beer. I told him the entire story of Tiffany and me, which only took about five minutes. As I explained our short history, I started to realize that I sounded like a complete psychopath. I was majorly sweating a girl who, despite our kiss Wednesday night, seemed very uninterested in a relationship.
“We are in Miami, Cayden Lewis,” Allen said. I wasn’t sure why he used my full name, but it was something he had always done since we met two years ago.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Miami is no place for a relationship!” he exclaimed, handing me my second beer. “This city is hot, hot, hot! Women walk around in next to nothing. They don’t want relationships. They want to be wine, dined, and fucked. And then they want to go out the next day and do it again with someone else. Monogamy has no place in the Magic City!”
I shook my head. I should have known better to expect Allen to understand where I was coming from. Even though he was my best friend, he acted like a twenty-year-old. He had no intentions of committing. He had once told me the word “commitment” made him break out in hives.
“You just need to fuck her brains out and get her out of your system,” he told me nonchalantly. I shook my head.
“It isn’t like that, Allen. She is different.”
He rolled his eyes.
“That’s a bunch of bullshit,” he said. “These girls are all the same.”
“Nah,” I said. “She really is different. I don’t want a one-night stand with this one. I want a relationship.”
Allen laughed and ignored the words coming out of my mouth.
“Did you join Tinder yet? The girls on there would go crazy for you, Cayden! Good looks, fast car, nice job. Join that shit right now and I guarantee you’ll have a hot chick in your bedroom tonight.”
I was tempted for half a minute. I could find a girl for a one-night stand, just to get Tiffany off my mind. Unfortunately for my dick, I wasn’t that type of guy.
“I’m not sure,” I told Allen, but he wasn’t listening. A gorgeous, young blonde had entered the bar. She approached us and sat down next to me.
“Good evening, gorgeous,” Allen said. “What can I get you?”
