I wandered aimlessly. Waiting to smoke my next
cigar
. I already had a buzz going. So I'd hold off as long as possible before stopping in someplace for a
whiskey
. You could make a buzz go long that way. The key was not to get into
beer
too early. Beer made me feel good with a large dinner, but it made me tired when I was looking to wander around. It weighed me down. Fine for a cozy night at home. But tonight wasn't one of those.
An hour ago a girl at the whiskey bar had chatted me up. She had been there alone. Why I asked her. It was unusual for women to be at whiskey bars alone, which was the main reason I frequented them.
"I have dinner plans."
"Boyfriend?"
"Husband."
"So you stopped by a whiskey bar along the way?"
"I always wondered what these places were like."
"Hm."
When I hadn't inquired further, she added that she liked the place. I thought of stringing the conversation along, but I wasn't looking to break anyone's home life. Not tonight.
I wandered along the streets, phone in my pants pocket, my leg consciously yearning for a vibration. Sometimes when Ana was away she'd call me out of the blue. If I went more than 30 minutes without feeling a vibration, I'd grow paranoid that I missed the text or call and take the damn thing out to check with my eyes. Most times, I hadn't missed anything. Simply nobody sought me.
I pulled out a cigarette while waiting for a crosswalk. When I went to light it, I felt a vibration. I kept the
cigarette
in my mouth and took out the phone. It was not Ana. It was Serhiy.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Is that how you greet a friend? Ana must've left you, yes?"
Perfect time to light the cigarette I thought. There was no reply I wanted to give Serhiy, but I wanted to listen to what he had to say.
"Where are you? You sound like you're out and about."
"Yeah."
"Care to do something together this evening? I could use a hand."
"i'm busy."
"Busy? With what? Come on, I know you're bumming around. Come over and have a beer at least. I'll tell you about what I'm up to. I don't want to say over the phone. Okay? Goodbye."
Serhiy never liked talking on the phone. But he sure did talk a lot on them. strange. I did some mental math. 12 minute walk to Serhiy's from here. I could finish this cigarette on my way and then convince him to serve us vodka rather than the shitty beer he always kept in the fridge.
I turned around and ran across the crosswalk that I had just went through. I saw the girl from the whiskey bar earlier. She smiled at me as she walked with her husband by her side. He didn't notice me.