“Um. I couldn’t help but notice.” she gestured at my left hand “Do you usually wear a ring?”
I reached over to grab my unadorned ring finger recalling the wedding band I had removed earlier in the day. Before I could say anything Tracy continued “I know what it usually means when guys go out without their wedding rings, and I just wanted to let you know that your business is your business.”
“Oh. Um. No.” I practically stammered. “I just”
“It’s OK,” Tracy smiled. “I won’t tell anyone.” She gave me a smile that brought the thoughts I thought I had suppressed roaring back to the front of my mind before she took a long, slow drink, her rosebud lips wrapping around the straw not helping with the images racing through my head.
“Um. Thanks.” I managed, noticing that she had stayed close to me even though the booth was empty. “I don’t get out much these days,” I confessed, “it’s nice to be out of the house”
Tracy smiled again, “It’s nice to be out of the lab, these chemicals are a lot more fun than the ones I usually work with” a gesture at her emptying hurricane glass highlighting the toned muscles of her bare arm. I laughed, “It gets better after you graduate, I promise. Well, mostly.”
“Mostly?” the quirk in Tracy’s eyebrow did nothing but accentuate her attractiveness
“I think what I really miss is being young and handsome. But I don’t miss not having money for drinks.” I smiled over at her, hoping I was coming across as dashing and not creepy.
“You aren’t so old, and you’re definitely still handsome” I thought I saw a slight blush spread across Tracy’s features as she looked away from me slightly with these words.
“That means a lot coming from a brilliant young lady like yourself” the blush that was definitely spreading across Tracy’s cheeks accentuated her freckles and made my heart beat a little faster, and the smile that widened across her face made it beat a lot faster.
“Thanks. And thanks for listening to us. Most guys don’t even bother with our names before leering, it gets a bit boring. I mean, I don’t really blame them” She gestured at her friend at the bar, and the obvious stares she was getting in her cherry red dress and ridiculous black heels. “Especially with how ‘Amy’ Amy is, but it’s nice to get to talk for a bit to someone that actually gets what we do, and it’s nice to not feel like I’m a consolation prize for people that didn’t get to talk to her.”
“I smile at her. “I know how you feel, Pete was always the dashing one of us, and I spent most nights out with him being wingmanned by the friends of people that wanted to get him all to themselves.”
Tracy’s laugh was like a cold glass of water after a long workout. “No way. You’re too cute for them to not have wanted you for you.”
“I could say the same for you.” I responded, feeling my face flush red as I saw hers do the same. We both looked bashfully away, attention being paid mostly to our dwindling drinks.
A sudden yelp from the direction of the bar broke us out of whatever thoughts we were thinking, turning we saw Amy pulling away from a pair of cocky young men, Pete advancing on them like a stormcloud. His enraged should cut across the din “What the fuck do you think you’re playing at, sunshine?!” Tracy and I slid out of the booth and made a beeline for the bar, noticing Amy’s distressed face and hand holding her dress up as Pete menaced the young men who were starting to puff up again, initial shock at being called out starting to wear off. It didn’t take me long to notice the logos of a local sports team on their shirts, and not much longer to notice that it seemed half the bar were wearing the same logo.