The liquid in my glass peeks up me with it’s rank whiskey scent and it’s tempting golden bronze shimmer. The time is creeping up on midnight and I’m slightly drunker than the norm for this hour. Despite my argument to stay in, my roommate Lynn lays on the pressure pretty thick.
“Dana,” she snaps a finger between my fixated eyes and the spot on the wall they’re staring at. “Pay attention.”
“Ugh.”
I may be growling, but trust me, it’s in a fun loving way. I accept the shot of Jagermeister that she eagerly slides across the counter at me. It’s swallowed in one gulp and chased by the last lingering drop of watered down jack and pepsi in my other hand. I shudder, gag, hold my breath to stop the forming puke at the base of my neck, and then giggle a little. That was a close one.
“Wow, Lynn, you’re like a nat,” I tease.
“Well my God. My kids are with their dad, and I don’t have to work tonight. We don’t even have to go to our bar we can drive to different one.”
I mull her proposition over carefully. There isn’t many other bars around. We’d have to make the thirty minute drive to the county over, and even there the options are limited. It’s a wednesday night, meaning there’ll be karaoke at the tiny little hotel bar inside the Holliday Inn. There’s usually a decent crowd at karaoke night. No matter how stiff my intentions are to stay in that day I always manage to have a good time. The bulkley beaded purple and silver watch on my wrist reads 11:50 P.M. and last call is always at 2:00 A.M. This means if I kill another thirty minutes then we’ll only have an hour to drink at the bar once we get there. It also means Lynn will be slightly irritated and on the pissy side for the majority of the ride over, so it’ll give me something to poke fun at.
“I don’t know, Lynn. Just not sure I’m feeling it.”
I’m lying, I know full well I’ll go.
“So what should we do?” She pushes, “Have a couple more shots, stare each other, and then pass out by midnight? I’m bored as shit, don’t be an asshole.”
I can’t help but to laugh at her. She smirks an unintentional grin and then lowers her brows on purpose making an awkward effort to glower.
“You can go if you want. Don’t let me hold you back.” I insist.
“Are you shitting me right now?”
“Nope.” I say, as I make my way to the fridge to grab another beer. “I’ve had enough as it is. I don’t think I can handle much more alcohol tonight. I’ll just stay home and finish off this last beer before bed.”
It’s working, only a few more minutes of making her wait and I’ll go. Soon she’ll be good and irritated and I’ll be drunk enough not to spend any money at the bar. The stool I plop myself back down on sits directly across from her, so I have a very close view of her body’s growing need of a tantrum. Flexed arms are folded across her chest and there is a slight vibration in her hips. It doesn’t matter that her legs are hidden by the wrap around kitchen bar between us, it’s clear that she’s tapping her foot like a five year old. I chuckle while she shakes her head and pours another shot. This time she keeps it to herself, no sharing her bottle, and no more pushy words (yet) I slowly take another very small sip of my beer. Wait for it… wait for it… Then she snaps under pressure.
“Damn it, Dana. Please!” She unsuccessfully tries to keep control of her raising voice. “Please don’t make me go by myself. You can’t even tell me no without laughing. You’re just wasting time to be dick!”
The jig is up, I guess she has me all figured out. I take another slow sip before my reluctant agreement to go.
“Okay, okay. Just let me finish this one beer first.”
The ride is as expected. The first half is full of loud music and stiff torsos, both of us staring blankly ahead. The second half we’re finally able to joke about our late start on the night and share a few completely inappropriate memories and jokes to lighten the mood. By the time the slow moving wheels of Lynn’s car very cautiously find a space in the hotel parking lot we are both laughing to the near point of peeing our pants. Then it hits. My stomach completely flips before I can even step out of the car. A whoosh of drunken nausea works it’s way from my head to my toes, and leaves the seat to swirl beneath me.
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DESCRIPTION:
The Time Wasters Series are several compiled short story adventures based on true stories. This book contains the first three in the series. They’re all titled Super Short prelude because they ARE just that – super short stories that lead up to big life concepts or events. Designed to help pass short spouts of time, most of the Time Wasters stories range from 8 to 15 pages. Each mini-book in the series actually contains an entire story that will draw you in, make you laugh, and then allow you to move on with your life. If you want to read, but don’t have the time or are in no mood for a Novel Commitment, then a Time Waster is just what you need.
In Love or Low Places: Dana is young wild careless and free, that is until her entire world is turned upside down by a man she meets at karaoke night. Is there really such thing as love at first sight? You be the judge.
In Sabotage by Hook and Dog: Dani convinces her husband, brother-in-law and friend to go on a fishing adventure, only to have a disastrous turn of events completely take over.
In Trampling Beast: While spending time on her cousin’s farm, Diedra finds herself making an effort to help guide an escaping animal back to its rightful place. What started out as a slight fear quickly forms into a lifelong phobia of this particular farm animal.
Didi Oviatt -Author 