Mitch and Noah

Noah~Bar

Noah went over the words that Grace had drilled into him, feeling slightly silly, and slightly excited, as the dramatic side of him took over.

While she had promised it would be on the weekend that they would be doing the charade, it had been moved up to the next day, and so he stressed to remember everything and garner his courageous side as they headed to the restaurant.

"I'll drop you off here, I'm supposed to meet him in 10 minutes, so maybe wait an extra 10 to show up?"

"Got it."

Grace looked stunning in a body-hugging black dress that Noah suspected wasn't going to help the situation for whomever the poor sod was that they were having fun at the expense of.

Pulling out his phone, Noah climbed from Grace's Sedan and walked towards the neighboring thrift shop that was looking like it may already be closed by the dim lighting inside.

He stopped at the doors, confirming that it had closed half an hour earlier, and Noah reminisced on his times in bigger cities, the kind of places that stayed open all night long.

It didn't take long before Noah received a text, and he chuckled that she had not even had the patience to wait for the time allotted by herself before wanting to book it.

Walking into the restaurant, he scanned from the host station, finally setting eyes on Grace in a far corner booth. They proceeded to lock eyes and the look she gave him was not what he had expected.

Looking at his phone, Noah could see that he should have read the message before coming in.

~He's not as bad as I had thought he might be, actually, he's kinda cute. Maybe I won't need you after all.

Noah smiled at Grace and turned before panicking as he realized she was his ride, and he had the worst sense of direction known to man. He would have to spend some of his almost nonexistent cash on an uber home it seemed, and he decided to give her a hard time about it later, should she decide to come home for the evening.

Glancing back at Grace's flushed face as she hungrily took in the man Noah could only see the back of sitting opposite her, he didn't count on it.

Walking out of the restaurant, Noah looked around for signs of life, not wanting the night to end just yet with all the effort he'd spent in looking and smelling like a million bucks.

He spotted what looked like a bar down the road, and he cheered internally, clutching his bank card in his pocket as he calculated the money available minus the Uber ride fee that would be added later.

He had never been a big drinker, but he loved to talk with drunk people, especially the funny ones with exaggerated stories that went on for days.

It was one of his favorite things to do; Hear of other's lives and attempt to understand why people did what they did.

Maybe because he felt like he'd already lived so many lives of his own in the short amount of time he had been on the planet, or maybe just because he was a nosey know it all that wanted to know everything about everyone.

Whatever the case, it brought him joy, and he thrived on all things that did that.

Heading into the bar, he took in the familiar smell of cigarettes, bodies, and mixed perfumes, the underlining smell of peanuts shaking it up a little for his nostrils and he took it all in before settling on the oldest, happiest, drunkest looking guy at the bar.

It was a man who looked to be in his late 50's and he was singing along to a Madonna song that Noah kind of knew but didn't love.

As he first went and ordered a couple of the same bottles of beer that were emptily strewn about the mans table, Noah turned on his best friendly smile as he headed over with his offering. It was the easiest way to get someone to trust him quickly. Offer free booze and ask them what their story is. It was 100% effective so far in all the times Noah had ever done it.