Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology) (14 page)

I passed the time by watching the bride. She
seemed more terrified than excited, constantly playing with her
light brown hair. I hoped when, or if, I got married I’d at least
be excited. Fear isn’t a fun emotion.

“Fun night, huh?” A girl sat down on the
garden bench next to me. Her reddish-brown hair was pulled up into
a bun with several tendrils falling around her face. I wasn’t sure
if the tendrils were intentional, but it worked for her. If I
hadn’t recognized her, I might have complimented her, but I was in
no mood for small talk with the girl I’d seen Colin with at the ice
cream shop back at the beach.

“Tons of fun,” I said as politely as
possible, returning my gaze to the bride. Hopefully, she’d take the
hint. The wedding weekend just got better.

“You’re Maddy, aren’t you?”

I turned to look at her again. “Yeah, how’d
you know?”

She smiled so sweetly I felt a little bit of
my jealousy slipping away. “My brother said he was bringing you,
and you’re the only one here I don’t recognize who fits the
description.”

“Brother? You’re Colin’s sister?”

“I’m one of them. Our sister Kim couldn’t
make it.”

“So that means you’re Carly?” Relief flooded
me. Relief I shouldn’t have felt considering the newness of our
relationship.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her
knees. “So he has mentioned me.”

“Yeah, he has.”

“So? How are things with you guys? Colin’s
not the most talkative.”

“Oh. They’re going fine.” I left it as vague
as possible. Discussing our relationship with his little sister
didn’t seem like the best idea. I was also surprised Colin hadn’t
mentioned that his sister had been in town. I’d never asked him
about the mystery girl, but why blame it all on work?

She sat back again. “Fine? That’s a little
disappointing.”

“Things are going well.”

“I know he’s not the most romantic guy ever,
but I can tell he’s really into you. He wouldn’t have invited you
here if he wasn’t.”

“To be honest, I was surprised he did.” It
was often the girl pushing the guy to go to a wedding. Colin seemed
intent on having me there though.

Carly moved her tiny lavender purse from her
lap to the bench beside her. “I’m not.”

“Why not? You said he doesn’t talk about me
much.”

“No. I said he isn’t talkative. You’re a
large portion of what he does talk about anymore.”

“We haven’t been dating long.” Talk about an
understatement.

“Really?” She pulled out her bun, shaking out
her hair. Her long tresses fell down her back perfectly, reminding
me of a shampoo commercial.

“Yeah, a few weeks.”

“Oh. He started talking about you when I came
to visit for Labor Day.”

“Seriously? We’d only gone on two dates and
then he never called me.”

“That’s so Colin.”

“Is he usually hot and cold with girls?”

She didn’t hesitate with her answer. “No.
He’s usually cold.”

“You’re not making a great case for him.”

“What?” She appeared legitimately upset at
the thought. “What does that have to do with him being a good guy
for you?”

“Guys don’t suddenly change. The last thing I
want is a guy who gets bored.”

“It’s not that he gets bored, but that he
isn’t that into relationships. He’s more concerned with work and
life.”

“How is that any different? Any better?”

“Because he never would have invited any of
his other girlfriends to something like this.”

“Girlfriend? I don’t think we’re on those
terms yet.”

She laughed. “You have a great sense of
humor.”

I decided not to correct her. There was no
need to make things any more awkward than they already were.

She quickly changed the topic. “Do you want
to get out of here? They’re going to be a while, and this is
seriously boring.”

I glanced over at Colin. He was laughing and
having a good time with his cousin and friends. “Sure, I’m guessing
Colin won’t mind.”

“Are you kidding? He’ll be relieved you found
something fun to do.” She grabbed my arm, and we walked back
through the gardens toward the main hotel. No one seemed to notice
our departure.

Styled as a French Tudor mansion, the hotel
stood out on the landscape. I wondered when the building was
constructed. Had it always been a hotel? Then I shook myself. We
were on the search for alcohol, not architectural history.

Carly held open the door, and we walked into
the lobby. The bar was off to one side and nearly empty. We easily
found two stools.

“I never know what to order.” Carly tapped
her foot on the leg of the stool.

“Well, what do you like?” I couldn’t deny a
spark of excitement that came over me at her comment.

“That’s the problem. I like fruity, sweet
drinks, but I feel weird ordering them.” She glanced at the
cocktail menu, but I could tell she wasn’t paying attention to the
list.

“You don’t have to feel weird. You should
order what you like.” If she knew half the weird drinks people
ordered from me, she wouldn’t be so concerned. I decided not to
tell her about the sixty-year-old guy who ordered a blow job shot
from me the night before. I wasn’t sure who it was more awkward
for.

She set down the menu. “I want to pick
something more sophisticated.”

“Sophisticated but still a little on the
sweet side? Are you into tart?”

“I like tart. Do you have a suggestion? Is it
possible to have both sophisticated and sweet?” She looked hopeful.
She was kind of naive for twenty-one, but who was I to pass
judgment?

“Sure…do you ever drink cosmos?”

“One of my friends gets them out a lot. Are
they good?”

“I think you’ll like it.”

“Is that what you’re going to get?” She
tapped her French-manicured fingernails on the bar top.

“No, but that shouldn’t stop you.”

“Oh? What are you getting?”

“Probably just a Jack and Coke.” Normally I’d
hold off on the Coke, but I wanted the sugar.

“I always thought that was a guy drink.” She
flipped through the menu again.

I laughed. “A lot of men drink it, but I
wouldn’t call it a guy’s drink.”

“Maybe I’ll get one too then.”

“You sure? I think you should try a cosmo. I
have a feeling it’s perfect for you.” I wanted to steer her away
from the overly sweet drinks, and if prepared well, the lime juice
usually did a good job of masking the vodka taste.

“All right. I’ll trust you on it.”

After a few minutes we were able to get the
bartender’s attention away from a football game he was watching on
his phone. Despite his preoccupation with the game, he was quick to
get our drinks once we ordered them. He was a guy in his
mid-thirties with a deep tan, and a slight accent I couldn’t place,
but it was from somewhere up north. He smiled as he set down the
drinks—a cosmo for Carly and my Jack and Coke. “Are you here for
the wedding?”

I sipped my drink, trying to relax.
“Yeah.”

“Are you girls in the wedding party?”

“No, but her date is.” I didn’t miss the way
Carly emphasized “date.” It’s like she was afraid I was going to
leave her brother for this guy.

“Oh, yeah? That’s never fun.”

I nodded. “Definitely not.”

As soon as the bartender walked off, Carly
jumped back in to conversation. “What did you think of your room? I
heard Colin got a suite.”

“It’s nice.” I thought about the two-room
suite. Colin made a big deal emphasizing how I got the bed and he’d
sleep on the pull-out couch. I didn’t get it. We’d have to sleep
together eventually, right? Apparently I was his girlfriend
already, didn’t that imply sex?

“I made sure my room is super far from yours.
I don’t want to hear you guys.”

I coughed on my drink. “I wouldn’t worry
about that.”

“Why not? This is an old place. The walls are
thin.”

I looked at her half-full glass. Was she this
open when she wasn’t even drunk yet? “This is your brother we’re
talking about…”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t want a room next
to yours.”

I figured telling his sister we hadn’t even
slept together yet would be kind of weird, so I only smiled.

“I wish I had a date. I never have a date to
these things.”

“He’d just be bored.”

“No, he wouldn’t be if he were hanging out
with us.”

She seemed so convinced about it that I
wondered if she had anyone in mind. “Are you dating anyone?”

“Nope. I can’t seem to keep a decent
relationship alive.”

“You’re still young.”

“You’re only a year older than me.”

“Yeah, and I’m single.”

“Umm, no, you’re not.”

“Oh yeah. Right.” The response had come out
automatically. “Like I said, Colin and I are new, we haven’t
crossed into real relationship territory.”

“Does he know that? I get the feeling that
you guys are on different pages.”

“I don’t see why we would be.”

“Well, he doesn’t think you guys are just
hooking up if that’s what you think it is.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s not it.” That would involve
us having sex.

“Wait a second.” She grinned. “He hasn’t
sealed the deal yet, has he?”

“Sealed the deal?”

“Yeah. That’s why you told me not to worry
about having a room near yours. And that’s why you don’t consider
you guys serious. You’re the kind of girl who only considers a
relationship serious if you’re having sex.” With that statement,
our conversation went from strange to horribly uncomfortable.

“Can we not talk about this?”

“Why? It’s just girl talk.”

“Yeah, and we don’t even know each
other.”

“We will. You’re going to keep dating my
brother.”

“So you’re suddenly confident?”

“Not suddenly.” She finished off her cosmo.
“You were right. I love this.”

I smiled. “Good.” I loved when I matched a
drink right. After striking out on Lyle’s so often, I was starting
to doubt myself.

We ordered another round of drinks, and
thankfully the conversation moved far away from my nonexistent sex
life with Colin. We talked about how ready she was to be done with
college, and how she had no idea what she wanted to do. It turned
out we had more in common than I thought.

“Do you like bartending?” Carly attempted to
retrieve the last few drops from her third cosmo.

I nursed my second drink. “It’s entertaining
and better than anything else I could be doing.”

“Maybe I should try something like that.
How’d you even know how to do it?”

“I took a bartending class with my friend
senior year. I did it as a joke, but I realized it was more
interesting than I thought. I originally planned to waitress at the
restaurant I work at, but I make more money bartending.”

“Cool.” She tilted a little and almost fell
off her stool. She steadied herself at the last second.

“Are you okay?”

Carly was drunk, and we only had twenty
minutes before the rehearsal dinner.

“I’m great.”

“You seem a little out of it.” Great. I was
going to meet Colin’s parents after getting their daughter
sloshed.

“Want to skip dinner?” She put a hand on my
shoulder.

“I don’t think we should.” I tried to imagine
explaining that one to Colin.

“Come on, do you want to suffer through it?
We can blame it on me. Say I’m sick.”

“And where do I come in? You’re twenty-one
years old. You don’t need me to take care of you.”

“I don’t? I can’t even walk straight.” As if
to prove her point, she got up. She grabbed my arm.

“You’ll be fine once you get to your
room.”

“So do you want to go to this dinner,
then?”

“Not particularly, but I suspect Colin wants
me there.”

“All right, I need to find some food and
sober up. There’s a great burger place down the block. Want to take
me?”

“I don’t have a car.”

“You can drive mine.” She pulled a set of car
keys from her tight black skirt. I wasn’t quite sure how they even
fit in the pocket.

We’d obviously be late for the dinner, but I
couldn’t exactly leave Colin’s sister hung out to dry. Thankfully,
I’d never even hit the midpoint in my second drink and could still
drive.

I quickly texted Colin, hoping the rehearsal
was over and I wouldn’t be interrupting.

Carly and I are going to be a little late
for the dinner. See you there.

Carly? You’re with my sister?

Yeah. I have to drive, so I’ll see you
soon.

Drive? Who’s car? Where are you going?

Long story. Talk soon.

“Did you just check in with my brother?”

“I wanted him to know where we were.”

She smiled. “You’re sweet and thoughtful.
Colin’s lucky to have found you.”

I smiled back and unlocked her Camry. I
wasn’t a fan of driving other people’s cars. Every car drove
differently, and it always took a while to adjust everything.
Getting used to a new car was even worse when it was dark—and after
two hours at the bar, the sun was gone. Carly and I were around the
same height, so I didn’t have to do much to adjust the mirrors or
anything.

I pulled out of the spot.

Carly pointed to the exit. “Just turn right
out of here.”

I followed Carly’s instructions, and five
minutes later, we were pulling into the parking lot of what looked
to be a hole in the wall. “Are you sure this is what you want?” I
struggled to read the peeling letters from the old sign. I made out
an ‘r’ and a ‘y.’ I gathered the place was called Roy’s.

“Definitely. I’d take it over the fancy food
they’re serving at the rehearsal dinner any day.”

I started to like Carly more. There was
something so real about her that was refreshing. The fact that she
talked about her brother’s sex life aside, we could probably end up
becoming good friends.