With a swat to her friend’s arm, Claire finished, “I was going to say formal but thank you for those kind words.” Suzy of course could never be called any of those things. Today, while wearing a black leather mini-skirt with fishnet stockings, mile-high heels, and a hot pink t-shirt with a skull on it, she was as far removed from boring as you could possibly get.
Claire locked up and soon they were on their way to a bar a few blocks away that Suzy liked to hang out at. Claire had never been to this particular place, and she dearly hoped it wasn’t some type of biker bar. Suzy was blessed to fit in wherever she went; unfortunately, the same wasn’t true for Claire.
With a quick prayer of thanks, Claire was relieved to see the bar was actually upscale with what looked to be mainly professionals having a drink after work. They grabbed a couple of seats at the bar as Suzy yelled, “Hey, our phone numbers for anyone who buys us a drink.”
“Suz, are you crazy?” asked a horrified Claire.
By the time she finished her sentence, there were six drinks sitting in front of them. “I haven’t bought a drink in years, why would I start tonight? Don’t sweat it; we will give them fake numbers, unless they’re really hot.”
Claire picked up a drink that looked the most harmless. It was very sweet and tasted of pineapple and strawberry. “You better watch yourself; that baby will knock you on your ass,” advised Suzy.
“It doesn’t taste like alcohol; I think it’s safer than those shots.” Halfway through the first drink, two men approached them and took credit for a couple of the drinks. Claire was surprised to find that she could relax and enjoy flirting and conversation.
The men, Chris and Joe, were surprisingly easy to talk to and having them sit beside the girls discouraged other men from approaching Suzy for the phone number payout she’d promised. Claire realized after the first drink that Suzy was right; it might look harmless but her head was already spinning. Chris and Joe teased her about switching to Iced Tea afterwards, but she told them she had to drive home and couldn’t afford to be face down somewhere along the way.
Around ten, Claire told Suzy she was tired and was ready to leave. Much to her surprise, Suzy insisted on leaving as well. When they stepped outside, Claire said, “Suz, you didn’t have to leave, you were having fun; go back in for awhile.”
“Nah, I’m dragging and I was getting ready to bail anyway.”
“Are you sure? You looked like you were really enjoying Chris.”
“That was just a 'drink you', nothing else," replied Suzy.
“A 'drink you'?” asked Claire.
“Yeah, instead of thank you, when someone buys you a drink and you chat them up afterwards it’s a drink you.”
“Um, ok that must be Suzy language, I’ve never heard of it,” laughed Claire. “Sorry I needed to leave early; I just wanted to have a good night’s sleep before working this weekend.”
“Oh, that’s right; you and hot buns are working. Why, I wonder, are you suddenly working weekends when you never have before?”
“It’s because of the merger with Mericom,” replied Claire.
“You mean stuffed shirt Gray is so uptight that you guys have to work seven days a week to keep up with his demands?” sneered Suzy.
"Suz, I don’t think it’s that; it’s just the extra time being spent on that project is causing Jason’s other work to fall behind. I’m sure Grayson isn’t as bad as you make him out to be,” said Claire.
“Yeah right, the man needs to learn how to loosen up. I bet he doesn’t even own a pair of boxers; briefs all the way no doubt,” said Suzy.
“Um sweetie, how did we get on the subject of Grayson’s underwear choices? It seems to be that you have a very suspect amount of interest in Grayson,” teased Claire.
Suzy stalked ahead of her and grumbled over her shoulder, “I was just making an observation, no need to get your panties in a wad girlfriend.” Claire ran to catch up with her giving Suzy a brief hug as they walked on.
~~~
Claire scanned the area and saw no sign of Billy. She was almost to her front door when she heard a voice behind her and looked around to find that Billy had indeed seen her arrive. “Hey Claire, where is your boyfriend tonight?” asked Billy in a sullen tone.
“Er… He’s out of town tonight, he should be back soon though,” said Claire.
“How come you never mentioned you were dating anyone?” accused Billy.
Claire was starting to get angry as well at the nasty tone in his voice. “Billy, I really think my private life is my business, don’t you?” demanded Claire. Billy’s face reddened as Claire stuck her key in her lock and quickly opened her door.