Page 16 of Sexting My Ex's Dad
The neon lightsof the bar shimmer before me, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across Anastasia’s eager face. We step inside, instantly enveloped by the thrum of music and loud voices.
I’m not much of a ‘bar girl’, but now that I’m here, I don’t think it would kill me to have a little bit of fun. And if I end up findinga hot guy to post on social media to make Owen feel the same way I did…then that would be a win-win.
“Come on, let’s get our drinks!” Anastasia urges, pulling me towards the bar. She really is a force to be reckoned with. The bartender greets us with a friendly nod, waiting patiently as we scan the menu.
“Red wine,” I order finally.
“Red wine?” Anastasia repeats with her eyebrows furrowed before she shakes her head and turns her gaze to the waiters. “Two frozen daiquiris please.”
The waiter nods and walks away while I frown at Anastasia. “I didn’t want a cocktail. I don’t want to get blackout drunk.”
Anastasia just laughs, not taking me seriously in the slightest. “There’s not a point in coming to the bar if you don’t want to get drunk. You may as well get your money’s worth.”
How could I have forgotten that my best friend is no stranger to having fun — usually too much. She wastheparty girl in college…and high school, honestly even middle school if I’m being honest.
“How much money do you think I’ll be spending tonight?” I ask.
“Stella, you make bank now. Stop trying to count your pennies and just have fun.”
I let out a quiet sigh and nod. She’s right. I can have one night of fun where I’m not watching the dollar signs.
The waiter comes by shortly after with our pink fruity drinks. The glasses are bigger than I thought they’d be.
“Cheers to forgetting Owen and having some fun,” she says, clinking her glass against mine. I smile back, drinking some of my cocktail. It’s sweet and bitter at the same time, so cold that it almost numbs my mouth, however I don’t care because I can feel it calming me already.
Anastasia was right. This is exactly what I needed.
Anastasia finishes hers off in the matter of a couple minutes and gestures to the dance floor. “Do you want to know what I see when I look out at all those people?”
I try to catch up, getting warmer with each drink I take. “What do you see?”
“A sea of men who can’t wait to meet you.”
I hum, my gaze drifting over the sea of faces.
“I don’t know that I should rush into anything.” The idea of moving on sounds nice, but actually doing it is something else. Owen is the only man that I’d ever been with. I don’t know what other men are like.
“Owen did,” Anastasia points out.
Yeah he did…with the first bimbo he laid his eyes on. “Don’t remind me.”
“Let’s dance,” Anastasia declares, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the dance floor. “It’ll loosen you up.”
“But my drink!” I exclaim. I’d almost been done.
“You can get another one.”
I feel nervous standing there, but Anastasia doesn’t and immediately begins to move her hips and shimmy, drawing theeyes of the men nearby. That’s something I’ve always envied about her. She does whatever she wants to do when she wants to and doesn’t care what other people have to say about it.
This time I don’t want to be a bystander. I want to have fun too.
I dance with her, not quite as smooth as her, but I don’t care. I run my hands through my hair and shake my waist. I may not have the biggest butt in the world, but what I do have, I shake.
As we lose ourselves in the rhythm of the music, I can’t help but feel like I’m leaving Owen behind.
He wouldn’t recognize this Stella, and something about that thought makes me happy.
“Stella,” Anastasia yells over the music. “You know you don’t have to jump into anything serious right away, right? You could just have fun and enjoy being single for a while.”
