Ok, what the hell am I doing here?

Yeah, yeah… we have talked about this a bunch of times - texts, phone calls, laying in bed giggling about it but now here I am sitting in this little corner booth by myself trying to pull off this casual act. I don’t know if either of us know what to fully expect but we have established the rules to the game, code words, secret looks and signals to bail out if it gets past comfortable.

A public place like this is safe and it’s not like the Crowne Plaza is exactly a dump. A bit nicer than the average business class hotel, lots of rooms and floors and a fairly newly renovated place. The bar and lounge is actually pretty nice, being converted from an older 50’s style restaurant into a warm, cozier ‘after work’ wind down sort of place. It’s not the kind of place where you would find anything too extreme - on the outside at least. No overly loud music, no hipsters or rednecks or just general asshole-like behavior. No, the vibe here is all about settling down after the day, conversation, playing the role of Mr Big Business Man or Woman (mostly men) in Orlando for a Convention/Work/etc. Everyone is wearing a mask of their own design.

So, here I am. So what is my mask? Well, let’s see… objective #1 is to fit the scene without drawing attention to myself. Well, not too much at least. At some point I have to make the right splash to justify getting her attention. Still, for this to work, there can’t be any sort of connection so not staring constantly or making eye contact will be hard. Especially, if another player joins the game by sitting down beside her. What then?

Stick to the plan, that’s what.

Where IS she?

It’s already 7:18 and she was supposed to arrive around 7:00. Remembering one of the rules we set for ourselves was no texts or calls past noon. Whose idea was that anyway? Seemed like a good idea at the time… to make it feel more like we were separate individuals and not deeply in love. Ok, so no texting to “see where you are” type of stuff. This was supposed to play out like a real event, right? You are supposed to be Mr Joe Nobody in a random bar on a random evening after working all day and just winding down with a couple drinks like everyone else there. Local? Out of town? Who knows, not that big of a deal anyway. Just one of the guys hanging out there. Shoot the shit with the bartender a little then retreat to your little quiet corner to catch a few emails and tidy up the day before (supposedly) heading up to my room for the night.

7:46

Ok, now I’m starting to think ‘fuck this’ and text or call her to be sure she’s ok. Abort the mission and return to home base. We can always regroup and do this again in a week or two. Besides, it’s not all that busy here anyway so what kind of prospects do we have? At the bar is one couple, clearly locked into some kind of machine-gun jabbering conversation; two other guys, both look to be late 40’s early 50’s and then there’s me. The bartender is a cool guy but, like the rest of the world, is constantly using his smartphone between taking care of customers so he’s a little distracted. At one table is a business woman who appears to be either very pissed or frustrated with something she’s working on. Laptop out, papers all over the table and she wouldn’t know it if a bomb went off. Just under 30 I’m guessing. Probably a couple years out of college, maybe a year or two on the job at a law firm or similar where they have laid a ton of shit on her to see how fast and easily she can climb the ladder. A few more tables have a random scattering of men and two other women. Everyone looks out of place but still oddly at home. The life of the business traveler - no idea about the city you are in but the hotel bars all look the same, huh?

7:59

By now I am convinced she chickened out. Can’t blame her if she did. After all, she’s the one about to put on an improv Academy Award performance to a stranger (or two or three or…?) trying to impress her at this place.

They all have the same plan, of course. A few drinks, some smooth bullshit and then up to the room. A few hours with an amazing woman in a strange town then move on, NSA. My role here will be relatively small - until I am ultimately the victor, sweeping her out of there with me while the others have all failed.

So, I’m actually a little affected by the two Bacardi mojitos and matching Patron shots I’ve had in the last hour to keep me calm and appearing normal. Nestled in my corner table/booth, reading the latest Entrepreneur on my iPad, I blend in pretty well.

Oh. My. God. In the few seconds that I was not eyeing the door for her arrival, I catch a glimpse of motion at the bar. This absolutely stunning woman is just taking her seat about 35 feet away from me. She is sitting toward the left side of the bar but I can see her perfectly as she takes her seat. Shoulder length red hair, fair complexion, paralyzing red lipstick. Blink twice. Yes, she really is as incredible as you always say. The dimness to the room and the ambient overhead pinpoint lighting reflects off her shiny hair as it highlights the striking dress hugging those familiar curves of the shape you are in love with.

It takes me a moment or two to regain my wits fully then I notice she wore the sexiest, hottest of all her black dresses. Partly open in the back and cut fairly low in the front to reveal in intensely teasing view of her soooo desirable cleavage. The shortness of the hem let her long milky-white legs lead down to spiked heels with thin straps. I don’t remember ever seeing those before? A few glimmers and sparkles flicker off her rings, watch, bracelet.

The bartender comes over to her in a minute or so and I knew what she was saying even before I read her lips, “Captain and Coke”. I laugh to myself a little and think, ‘that’s my girl”. I can’t take my eyes off her! Is she really mine? Am I really hers? My head is spinning. I go over to the far end of the bar, opposite her, and order another round. I think I will need this.

I had expected her to give me a nod or something or just any sort of acknowledgment to say ‘ok, I’m here, let’s have fun’ or something. But nope, nothing. I might as well have been just anybody else in there. But, isn’t that the way it was supposed to work anyway? Wow, what is that? Do I feel rejected? Alone? Jealous? Scared? Nervous? Hot? Excited? Intense? Yes to all eight of those, and probably then some more.

She’s just sitting there, sipping her drink, toying with her new iPhone when I start looking around. A few people have left and more have come in, a little busier now. I’m noticing glances from some of the people in the room have turned a bit more focused. Here we go…

The bartender seems like a really good guy. We chatted a bit but I don’t see him being one of the leering types. But, something caught my eye. It’s only been about 20 minutes since she sat down at the bar and had her drink 15 minutes tops. I can see she’s not even half way through it when he brings over another one. I didn’t think much of it at first but then again, I don’t remember him checking to see if she was ready for another one yet or not. Before I could process it, the bartender turned his glance over my way and made me freeze for a second but his eyes passed my table and stopped for a second at one a few tables over from me. A quick nod from the man sitting there to the bartender and then she caught on. “Send a fresh one to the lady, on me” I could hear him telling the bartender in my mind. He had already cast his bait, knowing someone as gorgeous as her would be drawing attention immediately so get the first shot over the bow early.

That’s when it all became real. There was a surge of adrenaline, heat, jealousy, intensity, love, primal sexual energy and a million other things course through me all at once. But remember. Keep. Your. Fucking. Cool. Jack.

End Part 1