People Change

“Oh, damn,” Sydney grumbled, peering down the neck of her beer bottle at the emptiness inside. She sighed and looked up to see that everyone else sat around the large booth were running out of alcohol to consume as well. “Hey, I’ll get us more drinks. What does everyone want?”

“Don’t let those drunken assholes hit on you,” Brian muttered in Sydney’s ear, pressing a quick kiss to her jaw line as she made to stand up. Sydney shrugged, leaning down to peck Brian quickly on the lips.

“I can handle myself,” she assured him before turning around and making her way through the dancing crowd clogging up Johnny’s Bar.

Everyone—all the guys and all their girlfriends—were hanging out at Johnny’s Bar one Saturday night a couple of weeks after the encounter between Brian and Jimmy. Sydney and Brian had been spending a lot of time together—more than they had been when they were still just friends, which was saying something, because they spent a lot of time together when they were even just friends. Sydney was content with her relationship with Brian. He brought her random tulips and dropped by the bakery at lunch at least three times a week for them to go eat together somewhere. In the evenings, they hung out at Brian’s place watching movies and eating junk food. Sometimes, they’d go on a moonlit stroll along the beach. Sydney had every confidence in Brian that he wouldn’t let his faithfulness waver.

Sydney ordered the drinks from the bartender, a pretty female with her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun. As she stood with money in hand, one elbow leaning against the bar and checking herself in the mirror across from the bar, a heavy arm slipped around her waist. One glance told her it wasn’t Brian’s or anyone she knew—it was clean of all tattoos or ink. She glanced at the guy standing beside her. Obviously, he was a drunk planning to hit on her with his questionable pick-up line and intent on getting her number.

As the bartender put the tray of drinks down in front of Sydney, she casually shoved the arm away from her waist with an elbow, wanting to ignore the drunk rather than confront him. She picked up the tray of drinks and turned around to head back towards her table.

The man’s hand clenched around her upper arm, jerking her arm back. The tray came with her arm, all the drinks splashing against her front before dropping to the floor to shatter into a million sparkling shards of glass. Sydney gasped as the cold liquid and ice dripped down her front and stained her white jeans. Wrenching her arm out of the guy’s hand and shooting him a death glare that even the devil would shrink away from, Sydney turned and asked the bartender for a towel. She nodded, sending a warning glance at the drunk as she handed Sydney a clean towel.

Sydney dabbed at her chest and shirt, knowing the guys would call her klutz and Stilt Chick again when she came back with alcohol all down her front. It would be good-natured now, however, instead of cruel and intentional like back in high school. Sydney ignored the drunk still as the bartender got her new drinks free of charge. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of Sydney noticing him, no matter what he did.

As the bartender busied herself with getting Sydney’s drinks, the drunk mumbled something unintelligible. Sydney continued to ignore him, glancing at him with another icy glare every time he tried to speak to her.

“Listen, I think you’re really beautiful and I never have any luck with the ladies...” he was saying, obviously playing the pity card, trying to get Sydney to have a pity dance with him. Sydney wasn’t feeling like a sympathetic woman tonight, though. She continued to ignore him, zoning out his words as she continued to dab at her pants and shirt.

The idiot drunk wouldn’t give it a break, however. As Sydney made to pick up the tray of drinks again, he grabbed her elbow and, with surprising strength, began to drag her backwards towards the dance floor. Sydney sputtered in protest, stumbling against a leg of one of the bar stools. She stumbled, trying to work up either enough strength to pull away from the drunk or enough power to raise her voice enough to stop him with her voice. But before she fell, an arm slid smoothly against her stomach, lifting her back into a straightened position and simultaneously pulling her elbow out of the drunk’s hand.

The drunk whirled around, obviously perturbed that Sydney kept denying him, but stopped upon seeing Brian standing next to Sydney, one hand still holding onto her arm, the other one already clenching into a fist. The drunk backed off at the look Brian gave him, a mixture between uncontrolled rage and get-out-of-here-punk. He turned and slunk away back through the crowd, probably to bother some other chick who obviously wasn’t interested.

“I liked your outfit, too,” Brian pouted as he turned and grabbed the tray of drinks. Sydney took it gently from him, since his other arm had wound around her waist. She looked down at her soiled shirt and pants with a sigh, wondering if the stains would come out or not.

“What made you come over?” Sydney asked as they inched their way towards the table through the crowd.

“You were taking a long time,” Brian answered simply. “I’m glad I came now. Some guys never know when to take a hint.”

“Like you?” Sydney said, raising her eyebrows at Brian. He smiled guiltily, turning his head and pressing a kiss to Sydney’s cheek. Standing up, with her heels on, Sydney was just a little bit taller than Brian. It amused her to no end, and poor Johnny had to practically look straight up at her to look her in the eye.

“Well, mine was for a good cause,” Brian replied, trying to clean his slate on the matter. “That guy just wanted to get laid.”

“And you don’t?”

“Well, mine was for more than sex,” Brian said. “And besides, I’m not pushing the sex thing with you. If you don’t want to, then I’ve still got—”

“Stop your sentence right there,” Sydney interrupted as they finally reached the table. “I don’t want to know.”

Brian smirked and kissed Sydney again as she put the tray down. Everyone grabbed their specified beverage as Brian and Sydney sat back down.