Take Flight - Josie's journey #Wattys2017

Chapter 11: New friends

I was the first one to arrive at the restaurant, so I decided to sit down at the bar and order a drink. It was a classy bar with dimmed lights and a counter made of mahogany. Bottle after bottle of stimulating liquids were arranged on glass shelves, directly illuminated with lights beneath them. Red or black leather covered the bar stools. Sitting there made me feel self-conscious. I was the only woman, surrounded by men of all ages. Most of them seemed to be Italian. I knew they were observing me. I could feel their eyes resting on my body. My legs were crossed and I was sitting with my back straight, chest out.

Slowly I took a sip of my Margarita and looked at the barkeeper. He was polishing glasses behind the counter, observing me through his brown eyes. Desire was flickering in them as his eyes wandered from my neck down to my cleavage. When our eyes met, they seemed darker than before. He was shamelessly staring and clearly objectifying me but I enjoyed every second of it. My mouth twitched into a tempting smile and I winked at him. Slowly he put the glass down on the counter and threw the towel away, walking over to me. The way he smiled was sensual, he knew what he was doing. He ran his finger's through his dark hair, a move I was sure made women swoon. Of course he was used to flirting with women, I probably wasn't the first one tonight and definitely wouldn't be the last one. He was good looking, his chest well-defined beneath his white shirt. He'd reached me now, the counter being the only distance between us.

"Josie?"

I heard a disembodied voice behind me, speaking in a low tone. It was a woman talking and she sounded uncertain. As if she couldn't believe that I would flirt with a barkeeper. I didn't mind the interruption, this had simply been a test. For the past four years, I hadn't been flirting with anyone but Dom. Maybe, I'd forgotten how it worked. Apparently, I hadn't.

With a smile, I grabbed my drink, winked at the barkeeper and turned around to find Steph standing there.

"Oh, hi Steph!"

She just kept staring at my outfit. Finally, she looked up and for the first time since we'd met this morning, she smiled at me.

"Wow, you look great!" She said with an approving nod. "Didn't expect you to be such a chick."

Her comment made me giggle. She was dressed up herself but that wasn't really a surprise. She was wearing a glittery dress that was so short, I doubted she could bend over without showing her butt. Its colour, however, matched her grey eyes perfectly. Her black heels were so high, simply looking at them made my ankles hurt. If she tripped, we could take her straight to the closest hospital. In a city like Rome, where most of the paths were cobblestone pavements, definitely not the best choice.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself."

My imprudent answer had slipped from my mouth before I'd thought about it. For a moment I was scared that she'd snap again, not noting the sarcasm. But when she giggled and linked arms with me, I knew I was safe.

Her change in behaviour surprised me but I wasn't one to question it. If she liked me all of a sudden, I was happy to accept that.

"So, umm, where are the others?"

As we walked through the entrance hall, there was no one to be seen. It seemed strange that they'd sent Steph looking for me, instead of Mim. Maybe they weren't coming?

"They already went ahead to get a table, apparently it will be packed tonight. Since we didn't see you outside, I thought you might be waiting for us at the bar."

We were now walking through the restaurant and I could spot Mim's blonde hair in the back corner. As we approached them, Steph made our pace slow down.