8
Colin reaches across the table, grabs my wine glass and tops it off.
We’re sitting outside on Lucky Lou’s patio, inhabiting one of the tables closest to Main Street. It’s a location I frequent quite often, especially on a nice day when you can enjoy the weather paired with some solid people watching.
Which is exactly what we’re doing. I tell Colin that Michael and I tend to make up stories about passing strangers.
“What about those two?” Colin points to two twenty-something women crossing the street.
“Ahh, okay. So, they’ve been best friends for the past six years. Met in college at a frat party they were both dragged to by other friends, who immediately abandoned them when they got to the party.”
Colin sips his wine. “Not juicy enough.”
“Give me a second! I’m just laying out the foundation.
So, they become fast friends at the party.
To the extent that, after that semester, they ditch the other friends and live with each other.
Which, in turn, continued after college when they decide to rent a condo together in Rocky Hill. The Cedar Hollow ones.”
“Didn’t those condos flood really badly?”
“Not important to the story. So, it’s like three years post-graduation.
The one in the green, we’ll name her Sophie, gets a job at an insurance company in Hartford.
The one in yellow, Adele, bartends at Chuck’s.
Sophie is part of a new hire group of…underwriters.
Yes, she’s an underwriter. This is when she meets Grant, her co-worker who is her acting mentor on becoming all versed in underwritey things. ”
“Is that a word?”
I take a sip of my wine. “It doesn’t take long but Sophie and Grant bond during post-work happy hours, which occasionally continue at another bar closer to Rocky Hill, which then often results in them back at the condo.
And then they are an item, and Grant starts spending more and more time in the condo. ”
“But, one night, Sophie has to work late at…a conference. Yes, part of her job is doing like college job fairs and talking about openings in a new hiring class for her department. So, Grant goes to Chuck’s to kill some time, and Adele is the bartender on duty.”
“I was wondering when we’d hear more about Adele.”
The girls are now standing at the host stand outside the patio, looking around the packed patio.
It’s probably like an hour wait to get in.
“Adele doesn’t like Grant very much. Grant is very attractive, and also charismatic.
Adele can see why Sophie fell for Grant.
But Adele is jealous because of how much time he takes up of Sophie, how it eats into Adele’s time with her.
Adele can see her slowly losing her best friend. ”
The waiter drops off our buffalo wings. “So. Grant gets wasted at the bar, waiting for Sophie to come back to the condo. Adele, who’s the first bartender off duty that evening, offers to drive him back to the condo.
They get back to the condo just as Sophie is pulling into the parking lot.
Sophie could use a drink from working the conference, Adele could use a drink from having to deal with Grant all night, and Grant could use a drink because, well, he’s drunk and wants to keep drinking. ”
“Speaking of,” Colin, again, tops off our glasses, draining the remainder of the bottle.
“Well, they end up drinking a lot. And, without knowing who initiated it, they find themselves, all three of them, together in Adele’s bedroom.
Grant in the middle, Sophie on his right and Adele on his left.
All in some level of undress. Grant takes turns kissing each of them, his hands running up and down each of their thighs, tugging on the hem of their panties. ”
“I’ve never liked that word. Panties.”
“Until,” I notice the two girls now standing a bit closer, their fingertips barely brushing each other, “Grant isn’t in the bed any longer. It’s just Adele and Sophie, exploring each other while Grant sits in the corner.”
“Of course they had to be lesbians. Poor Grant.”
I laugh. “Grant will be fine. He’s a good-looking guy who makes a moderately decent salary.”
“So that’s it? What happens next?”
“We don’t know. This is actually their first date!”
Colin smirks. “You’re good at that, ya know?”
“At what?”
“Storytelling. You literally just told a love story, on the spot, in a matter of minutes. Barely any pauses, no stumbling. Just looked at two people and put it together.”
“It’s not that hard. I teach literature and have the bookstore. I read…a lot. You pick up on nuance and standard plot devices at some point when you read as many books as I do.”
Colin grabs the waiter’s attention, ordering another bottle of rosé. “So, tell me about owning a bookshop. It seems like it could be a lot of fun.”
“It can be. But, to be fair, I’m more of a silent partner. I mostly help out with baking the treats, but Michael’s really the one running the show. I help out when I can…or when I feel like it.”
“I know you said you’re just friends. Did you guys ever—”
I burst out laughing. “No. Absolutely not. That would be like hooking up with your brother. I love Michael but never like that. And it’s really something my last ex struggled with. He thought Michael was in love with me, and thinks I left him to finally be with Michael.”
“How long were you together?”
“Seemed like an eternity but wasn’t. He was just that awful.”
Colin smirks. “I think we’ve all had one or two of those over the years.”
* * *
The sun went down quite a while ago, as did a third bottle of wine. When the check is dropped at the table, Colin swipes it from my grasp and immediately hands it to the waiter.
“At least let me split it,” I say, swirling the last of the wine in my glass.
“It’s my fault we even had that much to drink, which now I need to figure out how to get home. And what to do with my car.”
The waiter returns with the receipts. Colin quickly signs the slip.
“You could come back to my place for a bit, sober up before heading home. Or Uber, or whatever. It’s not a far walk from here.”
Colin stands and stretches, his shirt riding up to show the hint of a few abs. “Lead the way.”