Page 44 of Clichés & Curses

And a part of me was just not ready to say goodnight to Colton just yet.

It was only for a few hours, what harm could it possibly bring me?

Sealing my fate, I said, ‘I would love to.’

We finally finished up our drinks, with Colton offering to pay for us both, even though I insisted I could pay for my own.

‘You can pay for mine next time,’ he said to me with a wink.

The wink caught me completely off guard—so much so, that I didn’t even try to stop him from paying. Colton must have taken my silence as an act of defeat, even though I was trying to calm my racing heart down.

We waved goodbye to Tracy before walking out of the diner. Passing the parking lot, we stood side-by-side on the sidewalk, waiting for the perfect time to cross the road.

‘Come on,’ Colton said, taking my hand in his as we made our way to the bar.

The sound of the music from the bar got louder as we got nearer. I saw a sign hanging beside the entrance that said ‘70s Groove’. There wasn’t a line at the door, but from what I could see on the outside, the bar looked full.

‘I think it’s full,’ I told Colton, expecting him to let go of my hand since I thought we might have to wait outside for a bit.

But instead, he held my hand tighter and said, ‘There’s an empty table,’ before pulling me inside.

As we were walking inside, I tried my best to conceal my disappointment when Colton let go of my hand. But the feeling was only temporary, when he put his hand on my back instead, as he led me to our table.

The table that Colton brought me to was located at the back of the bar, in a slightly elevated area, than the seats in the front that were closer to the stage. As we got closer to our seats, I noticed there was a ‘reserved’ sign placed on the table.

‘Thank you.’ I gave Colton a grateful smile when he pulled out my chair for me.

‘Reserved?’ I asked him once he settled himself on the seat beside me.

A blush appeared on Colton’s face, but that might have just been a trick of my imagination due to the dim lighting of the bar. ‘I texted my aunt when we were at the diner to reserve a table for us before we got here,’ he explained.

‘That’s sweet of you. Thank you,’ I smiled. ‘I saw a sign outside that says “70s Groove”. What does that mean?’

‘Oh, that’s the karaoke theme for the night. Usually, they’ll just let everyone sing any song they like. But on Saturdays, they have a theme,’ he explained.

‘So that means you can only sing songs from the seventies tonight?’

‘Exactly,’ he confirmed.

At that moment, a lady, who looked to be in her forties, stopped by our table.

‘Colton!’ she greeted him, before turning to me and asking, ‘And who do we have here?’

‘Aunt Edna, this is Clara. My partner for a class this semester,’ he introduced me.

‘Clara, you say?’ she asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at Colton. ‘Well, it’s nice to meet you.’

‘It’s nice to meet you too. I love what you’ve done with the place,’ I told her. The insides of the bar were truly an aesthetic of their own. One of the walls was just pure red bricks, and there was another one filled with album covers, ranging from the classics to new ones.

‘Why thank you, this bar is my heart and soul, so I appreciate the love,’ she replied, her tone filled with pride as she looked around the place. ‘Anyway, can I get you anything to drink? It’s on the house.’

I was about to insist on paying, when Colton shot me a look, as if he already knew what I was about to say.

Rescinding back on what I was about to offer, I told his aunt, ‘I’ll have a margarita please.’

‘Just a Sprite for me,’ Colton added.

Giving us a nod, Aunt Edna went her way to get our drinks.

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