Jolene

Jolene wasn’t a huge fan of golf, but she’d been trying to learn. She’d spent the past year playing with her roommate, Olivia, at the local country club because Olivia hated going alone and had managed to con her into coming as well. Olivia, unlike Jolene, had been playing golf since she was in high school. She’d been a record breaker in college, got a sponsorship recently, and was working on going pro. Jolene wasn’t great, but after constantly playing with a girl like Olivia, she’d learned a few tricks and had started going to play alone in her free time.

“Good day on the green, Jo?” Lawrence asked as Jolene was passing through the lobby on her way out.

“It was decent. I’ll have to keep practicing if I want to beat Olivia!” Jolene replied with a large smile.

“You need to find yourself a partner to practice against.” Lawrence told her knowingly. It was hard for Jolene to improve when she was playing alone. But, given that her goal was to impress Olivia with the skills she was learning, she couldn’t very well ask Olivia to practice with her.

“Well, if you know anyone looking for a partner, let me know, okay?” Jolene said brushing her hand through her bangs to get them out of her face. Her auburn hair was a little bit sweaty from being out in the sun all afternoon, but her bangs were still just a little bit too short to reach the pony tail that was perched on the backside of her head.

“I have someone if mind, if you want to meet them now? He just arrived and has been asking me to let him know if anyone needs a partner. His normal partner just had a baby and he hates playing alone.”

“That would be great!” Jolene replied in surprise. She didn’t know why she was surprised though, Lawrence always gave her good news.

“I’ll go get him now. Take a seat. Do you have the time?” Lawrence asked with concern sketched on his face as he realized he might’ve been pulling Jolene away from something else.

“Only thing I had planned was a shower and a glass of wine. I’ve got plenty of time.” Jolene laughed before moving to the small seating area in the lobby. She loved the chairs here because they were so soft but also looked extremely sophisticated – she loved when things looked classy but didn’t sacrifice on comfort.

“Perfect. I’ll be right back. Would you like a glass of water or anything?”

“Water would be great. Thanks Lawrence.” Jolene said before getting comfortable and scrolling through her phone for a few minutes while she waited for Lawrence.

Jolene thought Lawrence was great. He was a stout older gentleman and always was dressed to the nines. Jolene had once run into him at the grocery store and even there was overly dressed on a day-off, no less. He had known Olivia for years because Olivia had been coming here to play since she was 9 – which was the whole reason the duo had been able to get memberships for so cheap. Olivia’s whole family had been members for so long that they cut her a huge discount and Jolene just reaped the benefits of it. Lawrence was glad though that Olivia and Jolene came around so often because he often explained the club needed more young blood.

“Jolene!” Lawrence called as he walked back into the lobby. She slipped her phone into her back pocket as she made her way to where he stood across the lobby escorting an attractive older man who was decorated in tattoos. Lawrence, the doll, really did seem to know Jolene’s type. He probably only pinned it together because Jolene was one of the few younger people who came around who had any tattoos. The older man probably thought anyone with tattoos went with anyone else with tattoos. “This is Zack Baker. He’s been looking for someone to play against every now and again.”

“Hi Zack. I’m Jolene or Jo. Whichever works.” She offered him her hand and smiled coyly when he shook it. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t place it. Most tattooed men looked the same so she didn’t press too hard about it. She was sure it would come to her eventually. Jolene couldn’t help noticing that he had plumper lips that looked absolutely delectable. His hair was coiffed suavely and he had a light stubble on his jawline. His eyes a light green color – similar to her own – and his eyebrows were perfectly shaped, they almost put hers to shame.

“Nice to meet you, Jo. You can call me Zack or Zacky. Most of my friends call me Zacky.” He explained and Lawrence excused himself to go back the counter to check in some customers.

“So Lawrence tells me you’re looking for a partner? Yours had a baby?” Jolene asked as the duo slowly made their way across the room back to the chairs in the corner.

“His wife did. Their second.” He explained. “I normally like to come and play on weekend mornings. Gives me an excuse to wake up and get out of the house.”

“I hear you there. I come on weekend mornings and weekday evenings but I normally play with my roommate in the evenings. She’s kind of professional level though. I need to find someone more on level with me so I can start to get better.” Jolene told him sitting down and making herself comfortable again in her chair.

“Oh damn, that’s intimidating.” Zacky laughed and Jolene shrugged playfully.

“A little bit!” She joked along. “But I’m not that great, which is why I need a partner to help me get better.”

“Well here, I can give you my number and we can meet up next Saturday to play a round?” Zacky asked and she nodded joyfully. She was looking forward to playing with him next weekend.

They joked around a bit more and got to know each other a little bit better before she excused herself to head home. She needed to shower and her sweat had dried leaving her shirt sticking to her back. Normally when meeting such a handsome man for the first time, she preferred looking cuter than she did. It just gave her reason to look extra sharp the following weekend. She didn’t know much about this Zacky character but she was very glad to have the opportunity to get to know him more.