As I arrived at Cheers after work, I surveyed the parking lot and found that it was pretty packed. I locked the car and quickly walked inside to find Madyson. The bar was full, more men than women, but a handful of females were weaved in amongst the crowd. I stood on my tiptoes and looked down the bar until I spotted Madyson. I pushed my way through the people in the busy bar until I reached the counter that she was standing behind.
“Hey Mad.” I said, calling her by her nickname and trying to raise my voice loud enough so she could hear over the loud bar.
“Hey!” She said, raising her voice also. She turned around, grabbing a new glass and filling it up. She turned back around to face me and slid the glass on the counter towards me. Her lips, which were always bright red with red lipstick, curled up into a grin. She knew me so well. I took a long sip of the delicious combination of Cherry Coke and vodka, which she knew was my favorite drink. Although I was only 19, it was easy to drink here because Madyson bartended, and I never had more than a few.
“Thanks.” I said, smiling gratefully at my best friend. She nodded, satisfied with herself by knowing me so well. With that, I sat at the counter enjoying my drink as Madyson made herself her favorite drink of orange juice and vodka. She helped the other bar-goers, we chatted in between, and soon enough her shift was over.
“That was actually pretty relaxing.” I said as we got into our car. Madyson walked to work almost everyday, and if I wasn’t there to pick her up, she walked home too. Our apartment was only a block away, and she claimed she didn’t mind walking, but I always got kind of nervous with her walking alone so late at night.
“Yeah. Thanks for coming. Sometimes standing there all night serving perverted pigs alone gets old.” I glanced over at her and laughed, knowing although it was a joke, she meant it. She chuckled a bit too, and pulled out her phone, exhausted from work. I tried to keep my focus only on driving, knowing if I thought about anything else my mind would wander to Harry. And as much as I tried to force my mind to be satisfied by watching red lights turn to green, my mind, as I knew it would, wandered to Harry. It still made me grin when I thought about how he had bought that album today. And it still made me blush with embarrassment when I remembered when I had tripped and fallen the day before. And it still made me smile with excitement when I knew he would come into the shop on Monday. Or I hoped. The bad thing was, today’s Friday, which means two days of not seeing him. It never bothered me before; the thought of him coming in on Monday was always enough to get me through the weekend, but back then we hadn’t talked. And back then his schedule was never off. The things I didn’t know about Harry made me frown, because really, I knew about nothing. The things I did know about Harry made me smile, even though they were all random and almost useless. And although I knew almost nothing important about him, I knew his presence more than anything. The way his fingers moved when he brushed away locks of curly hair, the way his dark pink lips moved when he spoke, and most importantly, the look of genuine worry when he asked me if I was alright. I got a chill remembering when our hands touched for the first, and so far, last time. I could feel a blush adorning my usually pale cheeks, and I tried to wipe the grin off my face before Madyson asked what was up. As we turned into our apartment parking lot, I saw Madyson glance at me curiously, but she didn’t say a word. I was happy, because I didn’t really feel like explaining. Plus, I really didn’t know how to explain it at that point. I didn’t even know my feelings towards him. Do I like him? I blushed with the thought. How could I like a person I didn’t even know? I frowned, remembering yet again, I barely knew the boy. As soon as we entered our small apartment, I collapsed on my bed, exhausted from thoughts, and ready to go to bed.
“Night.” Madyson said, flipping off the light.
“Night Mad.” I said, almost half asleep at that point. The last thought in my head before I fell asleep that night was, “I wonder what his schedule is for Saturdays.”
