“Rum and coke, please” she tells the bartender and slides onto a bar stool.

He asks for her ID, which she gives him. He raises an eyebrow at her, questioningly, earning an eye roll from her in response. “Yes, that’s me. Different time in my life,” she answers his unasked question.

She drums her fingers on the surface and looks around, absentmindedly, letting out a long sigh. This program had just started today and she already wants to be anywhere but here.

“Old-fashioned, please,” comes a voice from behind her. He walks up to the bar next to her and gives her a smile, sliding into the stool next to her. “Drinking alone?” he asks, as the bartender brings them both their drinks and goes back to minding the other customers.

She shrugs and offers a half-heartedly smile. “What are you going here, James?”

“I could ask you the same thing. We have an early day tomorrow. Why are you still up?” he counters.

She shrugs again and down half her drink. “Jet lag?”

“There’s only an hour difference between here and the city. Try again,” he snorts, ungentlemanly.

“I couldn’t sleep. Things on my mind. You know, that kinda thing,” she says, half giving into his persistent questioning.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He cocks his head to the side and looks at her thoughtfully.

“You might have to spend a little more than that,” she replies and finishes the rest of her drink while he takes a long swig of his.

“How about another drink? Something stronger maybe?” he asks. She considers it for a moment, but didn’t want to wake up with a hangover in the morning.

“I’ll take a raincheck on that.” She motions to the bartender, pays for the drink, and stands up. “Good night, James. I’ll see you in the morning. Apparently, they want us to take a ride out to Bumbf*ck Nowhere for an event.”

He groans. “Really? I thought we were staying here all week. Damn.”

She laughs and turns towards the exit to the elevators.

“Good night, Jess. And I will find out what you’re hiding. You’ve been like this since last week at our other event,” he calls out from behind her.

“Good luck with that,” she replies over her shoulder and disappears around the corner.

He turns back to his drink and lets out a short chuckle.

“Girlfriend?” asks someone in front of his. He looks up and sees the bartender looking at him with sympathetic, yet amused eyes.

James shakes his head. “She has a boyfriend.”

The bartender nods in understanding and gestures to the drink. “On the house.”

Shocked and grateful, he thanks the bartender and heads back to his room. ‘She has a boyfriend…‘ that thought lingering in his mind.

[Inspired by: The lobby bar at one of the hotels I stayed at for a company event I was invited to a few years ago.]

~*~*~*~

Author’s Note –

One of my first dialogue scenes. A little playful banter and one of my favorite lines I ever wrote – “Penny for your thoughts? You’ll have to spend a little more than that.”

Also, I will never order a rum and coke ever again. It was actually the first drink I ever ordered at a bar and, what I thought was, a “safe” drink. My current go to bar order is either a Titos and soda or a glass of Chardonnay. My go to bar order in college (about a year after this scene was written) was a vodka tonic with a splash of sour. Tastes like lemonade haha.

Thank you for reading.

– xox, Jay.Lee