Call Me? - Patley One Shot

        Hayley had gone out in hopes of meeting someone just for tonight. Donning a tight, strapless blue dress and her favorite pair of black heels, she felt like tonight just might go her way, too. There was a bar not too far from her hotel room that she'd heard about from a friend and it sounded like just the kind of place Hayley would want to go tonight.

        Patrick had been dragged out tonight by Pete, a close friend of his, who he'd lost track of earlier in the night. He wasn't even sure his friend was still in the building or if he'd left with a girl by now. Either way, Patrick was uncomfortable standing awkwardly to one side of the establishment, beer in hand, occasionally shifting his weight between feet.

        When Hayley walked in, immediately making her way over to the bar, Patrick couldn't help but notice. She was gorgeous but dressed to kill, the last of the two keeping him rooted to his current spot. Of course, he wasn't the only guy that had taken notice. It wasn't long before someone had bought her a drink and taken the stool next to her.

        His attention was quickly torn from the girl at the bar when he heard someone standing in front of him speaking. "Hey cutie. What brings you here tonight?" the tall blonde in front of him asked, a flirtatious smile playing on her lips. She wasn't exactly the type of girl Patrick was into with her fake tan and pounds of makeup but he couldn't be rude.

        "Oh, hi. Um, a friend of mine actually dragged me out here tonight," he replied with a forced smile. "What about you?"

        She laughed a little too loudly at that, her voice shrill and irritating, before saying, "Oh my god, really? Me too."

        "Looks like we've got something in common then," he told her, keeping his tone friendly.

        The longer the two talked, the more obvious it became to Patrick that the woman had had a little too much to drink. Even intoxicated, she managed to keep him locked in the conversation with no escape route revealing itself.

        All the while, Hayley sat at the bar next to some guy named Ryan who'd bought her a drink and wouldn't stop talking about himself. All she could do was politely nod, interjecting a few "Oh really?"s or "I'm sorry"s when needed. By the time she had escaped with the excuse that she had to use the washroom, she'd heard his life story.

        Patrick was only about half focused on his current conversation by then, spotting the woman who'd been sitting at the bar walking in his general direction.

        "Hey, who's your new friend?" she asked Patrick, shooting him a look that said play along, I'm helping you. She stood next to the other woman, looking her up and down as if inspecting her.

        "Lacee, right?" he said, glancing back over at her for confirmation that he was right.

        She nodded, looking at the woman who had just walked up with disgust before asking, "And who're you?"

        "I'm a friend of his," she explained shortly, venom in her words. If this woman was going to be nasty, she'd be nasty right back.

        "Oh, is that so?" Lacee asked as if she were doubting her. Patrick stood back, just watching the two women.

        "Yep, known him since we were kids," she replied, glancing over at Patrick as if to ask him to back her up.

        He got the message, saying, "Yeah, we grew up right across the street from each other." He was a bad liar, Hayley could tell, but the other woman wasn't sober enough to notice.