Page 21 of Heartless

“I love this.”

“What’s that?”

“People watching. You can tell a lot about a person if you watch them for just a few minutes.”

“Yeah, like what?”

“See that blonde over there staring at the guy with narrowed eyes?”

“In the burgundy dress?”

“Yes. She’s flipped her hair and licked her lips several times. She’s trying to show him that she’s interested, but he’s not.”

“Oookay.”

“He is trying to ignore her flirtatious efforts.”

“Why? Because he’s married?” I ask, spotting the ring on the man’s finger.

“No, that has nothing to do with it. His eye has been on their server every time the guy returns to their table, and trust me, he’s returning far more frequently than he should. I’m willing to bet that has nothing to do with the high price tag we pay for our memberships.”

Laughing, I shake my head. The bartender returns with our drinks after a few minutes, and I take a sip of mine.

“This is good. What’s in it?”

“Gin, vodka, cava, sugar, orange juice, and ice.”

“I like it. So, what did you observe about me while you were people-watching?”

She smiles and looks down for a second. When she looks up again and brushes her dark hair back from her face, I notice the mole on the left corner of her mouth as she looks at me full-on with big, beautiful brown eyes.

"You look like you need a friend. I think something very painful has happened in your life recently, and you don’t have anyone you trust with the pain. No one that you can talk to that will truly get what you’re going through.”

“Is that what you think?” I ask.

“Pretty sure.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Just the way that you came to sit here in this space away from everyone else. How you are running your hands through your hair every few minutes, and though you’re looking at the people, you’re looking right through them. Then let’s not forget that I came to sit right beside you, and it took you a couple of minutes before you noticed me.”

Laughing, I say, “That did not happen.”

“It did. You didn’t realize I was here until I said hello.”

“I knew you were here. I was just lost in thoughts.”

“Mm, is that why you jumped when I spoke?” she asks, resting a hand on my arm. I don’t move it away.

I don’t even do the subtle shrug that I usually do when a woman touches me.

I smirk. “Okay, you got me.”

“Well, at least you’re smiling now. Looks like I accomplished my job.”

“Your job is to make people smile?”

“It is. I just have different ways of doing it.”

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