Page 68 of Since We're Here
I close my eyes and wait until I can feel her muscles contracting around me, until she yells my name, too loud, but the Irish music covers up the sounds of what we’re doing in here.
A climax as intense as any I’ve had in my life hits me, and with dread, I recognize that I’m falling for Maddie Hart.
18
MADDIE
Friday, March 14
Boyfriend Disaster #6: Jacob the Obsessed Customer
Job Location & Length: The Bank, 1 year
My Age: 25
Todd the Married Manager was such a disaster that I promised myself I wouldn’t hook up with anyone I worked with at The Bank, a lively bar in Hoboken that was open from five in the evening to two in the morning. It was a much-needed change from the soulless chain restaurants.
Enter Jacob, a hot hedge fund manager who would come in with his colleagues every Friday night. He’d plant himself at my end of the bar, allowing only me to pour him drinks and tipping five times the cost of his gin and tonics. I finally gave in and agreed to go out with him. Why would I not? He wasn’t a boss or a coworker or even in the restaurant business. I was making progress. Maturing.
We slept together at his swanky Hoboken apartment after our third date, and then he started coming in on Thursday nights. Then added Wednesdays. Eventually, it was every night I worked. My manager said I shouldn’t date customers, and definitely shouldn’t have a boyfriend sit at the bar for twenty hours a week.
I didn’t like him doing that, either.
Jacob didn’t take my suggestion that he spend less time at The Bank well. He only got more possessive, with constant texting and phone calls. He’d get angry when I served other men, which was a big problem.
When I broke up with him, he didn’t stop showing up. It got so bad that I blocked his number.
And quit.
Breakup Reason: stalker-like obsession
My Distress Level: 3
Lesson Learned: Maybe it’s me, not them. What am I doing wrong?
It’s a sunny day in Dingle, Ireland. I didn’t think that was possible, but the rare warmth beams right into my heart, and I practically skip out of the flat. I pass the entrance to O’Brien’s and pop into Dingle Brew.
“Morning to you, Maddie. Off to the pub?”
“Yup, opening today.” I smile at Maria, the barista behind the counter who I met that first morning in Dingle.
“Lovely.”
“Hey, Maria, can you tell me about something really unique you’ve done in Ireland? So I can add it to my road trip itinerary?”
She chuckles and fills a large to-go cup for me.
“I can do that,” Maria continues. “The Butter Museum. In Cork.” She adds cream and sugar to my coffee before securing the lid and handing it over.
“A butter museum?”
“Yes.”
“Well. Okay, thanks!” I grin as I walk out the door up toward O’Brien’s. A butter museum? Weird.
My phone buzzes as I unlock the heavy front door of the pub.
Reese
