I adore Nathan, perhaps by spending so much time with him, I'm holding myself back from meeting someone in my future.
Shit.
If I do want to meet someone and eventually have kids, I need to do something different to what I'm doing now.
I am in a rut.
Happy, but stagnant just the same.
Brooke and Jolie raise their eyebrows. "So, you do agree that what we're doing isn't working?"
"I do," I concede. "You're right, something has to change or we're going to end up single forever."
"So, are we in?" Jolie asks.
"One date?" I ask. "That's it? No strings?"
"A proper date. Sit down meal and all the trimmings. At least four hours. A kiss at the end of it," Jolie replies.
"Can we leave the boys out of it and make it an exotic girls weekend away instead?" I ask. "I don't want them to know about this." Nathan will never let me live it down if he finds out.
"Of course." Brooke smiles. "This is just the motivation I needed to wear my cute red dress tonight."
"We start tonight?" I gasp.
"No time like the present." Brooke clinks her wine glass against ours. "To operation rut-breaker."
"Whoever gets the first date gets to pick where we go for our weekend away," Jolie says.
"That's going to be me." I smile, and for the first time in a long time, excitement sweeps through me.
What can I wear tonight? I want to pick where we're going away so I need to win this bet. I want to look sexy as fuck.
"You know what?" Jolie says. "I'm going to the bar right now and I'm going to talk to someone."
"You are?" I frown in surprise.
"Yep, fuck this. I'm going to make conversation and everything."
We all giggle, and she looks around as she searches for her unsuspecting target. "See that guy over there?"
We look over to see a cute guy sitting at the bar alone. "Yeah."
"I'm going to go talk to him."
"What, now?" I frown.
"Right now."
She drains her glass, and she slams it down on the table. "Wish me luck, bitches."
"Good luck." We laugh.
She marches over and sits on the stool next to him. His eyes light up when he sees her, and he smiles. When he says something, she laughs on cue.
I smile at Brooke. "And that's how it's done."
"Apparently."
We watch her for a moment as she talks and laughs, and my focus comes back to Brooke. "Do you really think I'm holding myself back from meeting someone by spending so much time with Nathan?"
"Yeah." She sighs. "I do, which really sucks because he loves you more than anyone. I mean, why the fuck is he gay, anyway? He's the perfect male specimen."
"I know." I sigh sadly.
I glance over to the bar to see Jolie and the guy staring at his phone. "What is she doing over there? Are they watching something?" I frown.
"Like what?"
Jolie looks over and bursts out laughing before she raises her glass to us.
"What is she doing?"
Brooke laughs. "Who fucking knows?" She sips her drink. "Oh, tell me about your interview."
"It was so bizarre. We were going through the interview, and I had this feeling that there was something going on with him. You know when you get the feeling?"
"Uh-huh."
"Shots," the waiter says as he puts four shots down in front of us.
"I'm sorry, what?" I frown. "I think you have the wrong table."
"These are from your friend at the bar." He gestures to Jolie, and we look over to see her tipping her head back and doing one, too. She laughs out loud when she stares back at the guy's phone.
"Thank you," we say to the waiter before he disappears through the club.
"What is she doing?" I frown.
"I don't know but she obviously wants to get drunk."
I giggle and pick up my first shot. "Who am I to argue?" I tip my head back and drain the shot glass. "Ugh, tequila." I scrunch up my face in disgust. "She's trying to kill us." I splutter.
Brooke laughs and tips her head back. She immediately picks up her second shot and does it again. "Go on… the interview?"
"Oh." I tip my head back and take the second shot. "Oh God, that's bad." I wince.
"So, we go through the interview, and then the guy says that he's not sure he can work with me."
"Why not?" Brooke frowns.
We hear a loud laugh from the bar. We look up to see Jolie's head is tipped back and she's really laughing.
"That guy must be really fucking funny." Brooke frowns.
"Either that or he's just roofied her drink." I glance at the four empty shot glasses on our table. "And ours. Anyway, so the interviewer then tells me that he isn't sure if he can work with me because he's attracted to me."
"What?"
"I know." I shrug. "Bizarre. Right?"
"Drinks, ladies." The waiter puts down another four shots in front of us.
"What in the world?" Brooke grumbles.
Jolie laughs from the bar and raises her shot glass at us. She tips her head back to drain it, and then goes back to looking at his phone.
"What the hell are they watching on his phone?" I frown.
"God knows." Brooke downs her shot. "This is working, though. I'm feeling buzzed already. So, you got the job. When do you start?"
"A week from Monday."
"So soon?"
"I know."
"What are you going to do about Dr. Flirty Boss?"
"I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe I misheard him?"
Jolie falls into the seat beside us. "Hey." She laughs.
"What are you doing?"
She giggles and gestures to the guy she was talking to. He's currently carrying a tray of eight shots. He sits down at the table with us. "Girls, this is Santiago." She introduces him.
"Hi." We smile. He's hot!
"Hello," he says with a foreign accent. "Hello, beautiful ladies."
Jolie's eyes dance with delight as she tips her head back and downs another shot. "We've been watching some movies on his phone, and I thought it was only fair I shared those with my friends."
Brooke and I frown at each other. Huh?
"Ah, ladies." Santiago smiles. "Let me introduce myself." He clicks something on his phone.
"Drink!" Jolie orders. "You're going to need it."
We all take our next shot, and I am feeling very inebriated here. Santiago holds his phone up, and we all look at it. It takes a moment for my eyes to focus, and then I slap my hand over my mouth.
It's him! Santiago is having sex with a woman.
Brooke's horrified eyes stare at the screen, and I burst out laughing at her expression.
He's really giving it to this girl, while her legs are up over his shoulders. He pulls out and turns to face the camera. He's hung like a fucking horse.
I burst out laughing. "What the hell?"
Jolie laughs hard. "Right?"
The video switches to him on a beach, where he's banging two girls who are both on their knees in front of him. He's giving hard, deep thrusts, and he even slaps one of them on the behind.