And Now the Tables Do Turn

After slamming the door of her apartment as hard as I could, I walked toward my car, cursing under my breath with every step. I gripped my keys tightly, the metal edges digging into my hand. I kicked my tire angrily once I got to my car before unlocking only the driver’s side door.

"I need a drink," I told myself, running a hand through my hair. Knowing I had nothing at my apartment, and rather than crash the party that was surely going on in Em and Kennedy’s bedroom, I opted for the closet bar.

At the bar, I sighed as I pulled open the heavy door. I stepped into the dark, smoky room, taking a seat at the bar.

“Just give me something strong," I muttered to the bartender, flashing him my ID. He nodded, turning his back to me as he poured my drink. He slid it across the counter to me and I took a sip. I set my phone on the bar, alongside my wallet and my keys.

I looked around the bar. It was almost two in the morning, yet there were several people in the establishment. A few guys were playing pool in the corner and I watched them for a moment.

My gaze returned to the wood grain of the bar. My eyes flickered to my phone and I stared at it. I wanted to call Spencer. I’d only been away from her for less than twenty minutes, but I missed her presence. I wanted to fight for her, I did, but I knew that John would win.

The second I picked up my phone to dial her number, the doors flung open. A girl stormed in, her heels clicking angrily on the floor. She was cursing under her breath and she dropped her bag on the bar a few seats down from me.

In her fury and in my heartbroken state, she took my breath away. I found myself staring at her as she settled onto the stool, leaning her elbows onto the bar. The loose curls of auburn hair fell forward as she dropped her head to her hands. Her phone, presumably in her bag, rang loudly and she jumped. Pushed her hair back, she searched through her bag for the still ringing phone.

She found it, rolling her eyes as she brought it to her ear. "Hello?" she said, she voice tight and irritated.

I tore my eyes away from her and redirected my attention to my drink, still trying to listen to her conversation.

"I'm at the bar down the street...no, don't fucking come get me, I just need some time," she paused, her lips pursed as she listened to what the other person was saying. "Mason, just leave it alone right now. It’s late, and Dad’s only been gone for eight months. She shouldn’t be getting remarried so soon. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if she was screwing that guys before Dad even died.”

I took a drink, raising my eyebrows. The rest of her conversation consisted of her cussing out the person on the other end of the line and talking about how much of a “dirty tramp” her step-mother is. She finally hung up her phone, and raked a hand through her hair, taking a shaky breath. She dropped her phone back into her bag with a long sigh. She turned her head towards me and realized that I was watching her before I could turn my head. We made eye contact for a splint second before she looked away, seeming surprised. She let her hair fall over her face again and I downed the rest of my drink quickly.

I shoved my things in my pockets, sliding off the stool and walking a few paces down the bar to sit closer to the girl. Rather that completely invade her personal space, I sat down, leaving a seat between us. She looked over at me again, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she looked at me, her eyebrows raised.

“Can I help you?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing together with uncertainty.

Now that I actually looked at her, she was very attractive. Her hair was mostly brown, but there was a definite red sheen to it. Her eyes were a light brown, accented by gold and green flecks, and freckles dotted across the moderately tan skin of her cheeks and nose. She was dressed casually, in a thin tank and high-waisted shorts. Her tank top was so thin that her navy bra was very visible. For lack of a better term, she was extremely busty, and her waist was slim.

I simply stared at her for a moment, processing her question. She started to look a bit freaked out before I snapped out of it.

“Uhm, sorry about that,” I said with a nervous laugh, offering a smile. She simply blinked at me, taking her bottom lip between her teeth in a way that drove me crazy. “I just kind of over heard your conversation and it seems like you could use a drink.”

“Hence why I’m at a bar,” she stated, giving me an obvious smile.

I laughed again, looking away quickly. “I’m sorry; I’m usually not this bad at this.”

“This bad at what: hitting on a girl at a bar?”

God dammit, this girl was good. She smirked, knowing she’d stumped me.

"Touché," I told her with a nod of respect. "I'm Josh." I extended my hand to her.

She blinked, looking from me, to my hand, and back. She gave me a rather fake smile. "And I'm not interested." She paused, pressing her lips together. "I'm sorry, it's just right now, I'm trying to deal some family drama, and I don't need some guy hitting on me right now. I don't even know why I'm here; I don't even drink regularly."

"Yeah, no, I get it," I assured her. "I don't know, just you walked in and I felt like I needed to talk to you, all cornyness aside."

"You're sweet, in kind of a creepy way," she said with a genuine smile, giggling a bit. I smiled, looking away as a bit of a blush flared on my cheeks. "You said you're name was Josh, right?"

"Yeah, Josh," I said, extending my hand to her again.

"I'm Cori." She smiled again, taking my hand.

I nodded once. “What’s your drink of choice?” I asked her, looking her over again.

“Usually,” she started, her eyes flickering to her phone, “I’m an appletini kind of girl, but tonight, Jack’s calling my name.”

We had a nice conversation. I learned that her favorite color was yellow and that she wanted to teach English Lit. She wasn’t entirely impressed when I told her I was in a band. She kind of just shrugged, her glass already against her lips. I managed to catch a faint smile on her lips though.

At first, she was a bit expressionless, but once she opened up and trusted that I wasn’t going to pop a roofie in her drink the second she blinked, she started to smile more. By the time four o’clock closed in on us and the bar prepared to close, I called Em as she drummed her fingers against the bar. I had had twice as much to drink as she had, and while I was hardly drunk, I didn’t trust myself to drive. Em agreed to pick me up, after I begged her for three minutes.

I slid enough money across the bar to pay for both of our drink, much to Cori’s protest.

“I have enough money to pay for myself, I assure you,” she said, fishing for her wallet in her bag.

“Well, how about a trade?” I suggested. She looked at me, eyebrows raised. “I pay for your drinks, I get your number and next time, you can pay.”

She smiled, laughing quietly. “Let’s leave it up to serendipity,” she said, starting for the door.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I said loudly, staring at her ass as she walked away.

“I’ll see you around Josh,” she told me, turning quickly to smile at me before pulling open the front door of the bar before disappearing.

I woke up the next morning to Em hitting me with a pillow. I groaned, rolling away and swatting a hand at her.

Rather than taking me back to my own apartment early that morning, she had taken me back to hers. She had left me in the kitchen before she returned to bed where Kennedy was waiting up. I had took a few drinks of Jack from their pantry before stumbling towards the spare room. I was used to staying in the spare room with Spencer and I cringed when I remembered where I was.

“Why were you out last night?” Em asked me, sitting cross-legged on the empty space of the bed.

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it, Em,” I told her, rubbing my eyes.

“Well too bad, I do, and you’re at my house, so my rules.”

“God, are you always this bitchy in the mornings?” I questioned, pushing myself up into a sitting position.

“Only when my drunk brother calls me at four in the morning and begs me to come pick him up from some bar because he’s too drunk to drive himself home. Now, spill,” she argued, hitting me with the pillow again.

I sighed, sucking my teeth. “I told Spencer that I loved her, she went ape shit, I left, and I went to the bar. End of story.”

“Why the hell would you say that?! God, did Mom drop you on your head when you were a baby, or what?”

“I don’t know, okay?! It was just in the heat of the moment, it slipped out. I apologized, but she just kept yelling.”

“You make very bad choices in your life,” Em told me, frowning. I scowled at her. “Look, I’m sorry, but this whole thing should have never happened. I knew that both of you would end up getting hurt, and from the sounds of it, she’s torn up about it too.”

“Wait, you talked to her?”

“Yeah, she called me last night, crying her eyes out, and cursing the Montgomery family name,” Em said with a shrug, playing with the edges of the top blanket.

“Then what was the point of me telling you all of this?” I asked her, rolling my eyes.

“I wanted to hear both sides of the story. You’re my brother, and she’s one of my best friends, so it’s hard to stay neutral in this kind of situation,” she explained, fighting to make eye contact with me.

A smile tugged at corners of my mouth. “Thanks Em. And thanks for coming to get me last night.”

She gave me a wink. “No problem. You’re my brother, and I love you,” she said, grabbing me and kissing my cheek before I could fight it.

“That’s disgusting.” I told her, wiping my cheek dramatically. She laughed, standing up and heading for the door.

“Not as disgusting as what me and Kenny are going to do once you leave,” she told me, slipping out the door before I could voice my disgust.

The next day, John had convinced me to run a few errands with him.

Since everything started with Spencer, I had avoided John a bit. I had to admit that I did miss him, but I felt awkward, knowing that for the last month, I had been sleeping with his girlfriend. While Spencer and I were over, it was still strange.

We did a few errands for his parents, grabbed some lunch, then John said he wanted my opinion on something before he bought it. He had driven, and he parked on the street outside a local jewelry store.

“Spencer’s birthday is in a month, and I found this necklace for her that I think she’ll really like,” John explained as we left the car. I sinking feeling filled my stomach and my mouth went dry. Of course, this would be about Spencer. Every time John said her name, my stomach clenched and I felt guilty.

We entered the cool air of the store and goosebumps rose on my skin. While John looked at the display cases, I stared out the window at the street. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I looked down to fish it out. When I looked up again, I caught a glimpse of familiar auburn curls and I did a double take. I wasn’t sure if it was her, but the hair was too similar to risk it.

I heard John say something to me, but the fact that the girl from the bar had possibly just crossed my path again was buzzing in my mind.

“Jobe!” John said behind me as I rushed for the door.

By the time I got outside, she was a few yards away, and with a friend. From the body type, it seemed like her. The bag dangling from her elbow looked the same too. I took the chance.

“Cori!” I said loudly, several people turning due to the volume of my voice. She whipped around, alarmed and grimaced when she saw me. She said something to her friend, and rolled her eyes before walking towards me.

“Do you really have to scream my name in the middle of a crowded street?” she demanded, approaching me.

“Actually, yes. I can do it again, if you’d like.” I started to open my mouth to scream her name again when she pressed her hand against my mouth. I smiled against the skin of her palm. Once she removed her hand, I smiled at her. “How’s this for serendipity?”

She only rolled her eyes again, as though cursing the fact that she had even said that when we met. Her olive and black stripped shirt was baggy on her thin frame and her shorts had holes in them. She was wearing tan ankle boots and her eyelashes were longer than I remembered. Her hair was still curly, pulled back into a ponytail.

“So, now that we meet again, and that we’re both completely sober, can I get your number now? I’d like to take you out for dinner or something,” I offered. She looked surprised.

She smiled quickly, looking a bit amused. “You don’t really know me,” she informed me, shaking her head slightly.

“Well, that’s the whole point of a date...to get to know each other,” I commented and she pursed her full, red painted lips. “When are you free?” I questioned.

She sighed quietly, looking up in thought. “Tomorrow night? Seven or so?” she said after a moment’s thought.

I gave her a wide smile and she fought to hold back one of her own. I reached for my phone to get her number and glanced toward the shop where John was watching us, an exasperated look on his face. I held up a single finger to him, signalling that it’d just be another minute.

Cori gave me her number, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she did. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” she asked.

“Most definitely.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it,” she said quickly before turning and walking back to her friend who had waited for her. She walked as if she knew I was staring at her ass, which I was.

The next time John mentioned Spencer, it stung a little less, knowing that I had a date the next day.