Fight or Flight

Veronica sat at the bar alone during happy hour, sipping on two-for-one drinks. She’d already finished her first strong Long Island iced tea and was now on her second. After a long and hectic week at work, she deserved buy one, get one free alcoholic beverages.

The bar stool next to her scraped against the floor as a person pulled it. Veronica felt a presence next to her and kept her head down, staring at the light brown color of her drink. The flat screen television hung up in the corner was tuned into the news channel.

"Looks like there's a storm coming, but what better way to spend it than at the bar, right?" A feminine voice said from beside her.

Veronica didn't respond, not even knowing if the person was talking to her. She placed her elbows on the counter, dropping her head into her hands.

"Maybe it'll pass right over us," The voice continued to speak.

Veronica ignored the person, wishing they’d sat somewhere else because the bar was nearly empty for Christ’s sake. The person lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Veronica glanced up into a pair of big, green eyes before focusing on the face of a woman. The woman had fiery, orange hair and red lipstick to match. The stranger smiled at her, despite the worried look in her eyes. Veronica refrained from being rude to the woman.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked, her arched eyebrows coming together.

"I'm fine," Veronica muttered, sipping her iced tea.

The woman was silent for a moment. "Guy troubles?"

Veronica sighed, wondering if the woman was going to continue to pester her. "Eh, something like that."

"I hear you," The woman nodded in agreement. She snapped her fingers to catch the attention of the bartender. "Two shots of tequila, please."

Veronica wondered if the woman was having a bad enough day to order two shots.

"I'm Kathryn," The woman extended her hand to Veronica.

"Veronica," She shook Kathryn's soft, manicured hand.

The bartender placed the two shots in front of Kathryn. Kathryn pushed a shot glass across the counter to Veronica. She looked up at Kathryn in confusion.

"It's on me," Kathryn told her, raising her shot glass. "You look like you need one."

"Thanks," Veronica smiled at the kind stranger, touching her shot glass to Kathryn's. They both threw the shot back simultaneously. Veronica placed the cup onto the counter, gasping at the burning sensation of the alcohol.

"We might need more," Kathryn laughed, ordering a gin and tonic."You wanna talk about it? I'm a great listener."

"Not really," Veronica shook her head. There wasn't much to talk about without going all the way back to the beginning.

"Well, alright," Kathryn shrugged and didn't press any further. "Maybe you're a good listener..."

Here we go, Veronica thought, getting the feeling that this woman was about to talk her ear off.

"There was this guy, right?" Kathryn started telling her story. "I work in an office building and he's a frequent client. He would come to the office just about every other day. He was interested in me, or at least I thought he was interested in me..."

Veronica wondered if she could tune her out while pretending like she was actually listening.

"Long story short, I kept turning him down," She explained. "And when I finally came to my senses and realized that this was a genuinely good guy coming after me, it was too late. He'd already gotten back with his ex-wife."

Ouch, Veronica internally winced at the woman's story. She didn't know what she would do in Kathryn's position.

"I mean, it's okay," Kathryn shrugged her shoulders, but Veronica could tell that she was a little disappointed over it. "I guess that's what I deserved."

"You didn't deserve that," Veronica finally responded to console the woman. "You just... didn't know."

"It just seems like all the good men are either gay or taken and married," Kathryn said half-heartedly. "I'm thirty-three. I'm not looking for a boyfriend, I'm looking for someone to marry, you know?"

Veronica thought about her words. She zoned out while Kathryn continued talking. Could she see herself with Matt forever? Were they even that compatible?

"You're probably tired of me rambling," Kathryn said, laughing to herself. "You've got time for a boyfriend. What are you, twenty-five?"

"Thirty," Veronica corrected her. Saying that word didn't affect her like other women claimed. She still felt like herself and she didn’t feel any older than she was before.

"Well, what I'm saying is that," Kathryn paused, "when you find a good man that's interested, you should take that opportunity before he finds someone else... like his ex-wife." She muttered the last part under her breath, but Veronica still caught it.

"You're right," Veronica nodded her head. She wondered if this woman was sent from above. Veronica got her debit card back from the bartender after closing her tab for the evening. She stuck her card into her wallet before returning the wallet back to her purse. She took the last sip of her drink before standing from the bar stool. She turned to the woman that she'd just met. "Thanks for the advice, Kathryn. And good luck!"

The red-head looked at Veronica with her wide, emerald eyes. Veronica turned to walk away before she heard Kathryn calling out to her.

"You're welcome! I think..."