When I got in the car I noticed right away we did not dress alike tonight—for once.
I could tell she was not in the mood to look all glamorous. She was still feeling crappy from last night. She was just wearing shorts and a cute tank top. She did put a little effort into doing her hair and makeup though.
“Where you wanna go tonight?” she asked.
“Let’s just go to the peg spot until we figure out where we want to go.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The peg spot was our favorite little hole in the wall corner bar. That’s not it’s real name. We just call it that because one night when we were deciding where to go, Peyton text me saying the ‘peg’ spot when she meant to say the ‘reg’, as in regular spot. Like everything else it stuck and that was our name for it now.
When we got to the bar there were maybe about five people inside. It wasn’t a big bar, there were a few tables in the back and a small rectangular bar in the center. They also had another small bar outside.
We headed down the stairs to the outside bar where the bartender we knew was working tonight. There were a few more people outside. We found some open seats by the bar, sat down, and got comfy. It never did get too crowded here and that’s another reason we liked it. It was a good place to come with friends if you wanted to be out and just chill.
Once we got settled in our seats we ordered our drinks. I ordered my normal beer, and Peyton ordered a soda. She was afraid to even attempt to drink any kind of alcohol. I asked her if she remembered anything from last night.
“It’s kinda of a blur. What I do remember I’m trying to forget,” she said.
“Eh, you weren’t that bad, I’ve seen worse,” I said trying not to laugh.
“Thanks, I guess?” she said wearily.
The bartender, Kyle, came over and started talking to Peyton. I got my phone out to check my messages. There was only one from Landon asking where I was at. I told him and he said he was going to the club tonight and to meet him over there. I let him know that that was probably what we’d end up doing.
After my second beer I mustered up some courage to tell Peyton about Logan. I could tell Peyton anything. She didn’t judge for the fact that she knew her own relationships weren’t any better. I took a deep breath and told her everything that happened last night, from Logan suggesting about us being together, to not being able to stop thinking about Cole.
“Wait, so let me get this straight. You and Logan are together now, openly?” she asked looking at me like I had something foreign growing out of my head.
“Well kind of, I think, I don’t know.” I really didn’t know. I mean, we never finished talking about it. He was too busy taking off my clothes. Logan wasn’t very bright and he couldn’t do more than one thing at a time.
“What do you mean you don’t know? Did you talk to him today?”
I checked my phone again. I knew I had no messages, I would have heard my phone beep if I did, but I didn’t want to look at Peyton when I told her that no, I didn’t talk to him today. I didn’t even have to tell her, she already knew.
“Look I know you don’t want to hear this, but, I think he’s playing you for a fool.” She didn’t say it harshly, but with a sincere look of concern in her eye.
I didn’t want to believe she was right, but deep down a part of me knew she was.
“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings I’m just trying to be honest. You need to forget about Logan and move on. That boy is nothing but bad news.”
I didn’t say anything.
Peyton, I guess, thought this would be the perfect opportunity to bring up Cole. “You know I don’t think it was a coincidence that you were thinking about Cole last night,” she said giving me a ‘you know what I mean’ look.
“Ok, here we go. What are you talking about?” I said trying not to sound too annoyed.
“It’s Fate,” she said.
“I don’t believe in fate.”
“Well you should, because yours is happening right now.”
“What?” I said looking at her like she was nuts. Peyton believed in all that lovey dovey nonsense. That certain people are destined to be too together, fate, soul mates, and fairytale endings. I, on the other hand, was realistic. I didn’t believe in any of that stuff. Maybe it would be different if I hadn’t lost my mom at a young age and had to see my dad suffer her loss, or even actually seen one couple that lived happily ever after. To me it was all make believe and Hollywood glamor.
“Look Tay, I’m trying to say there’s life outside of Logan.”
I tried not to roll my eyes.
“Think about it. This hot guy, who you just happen to not be able to stop thinking about, likes you, and still gave you his number even after Logan acted like a dick.”
“That’s not fate. Besides he’s probably just looking to put another notch on his bed post.”
“Not all guys are like that. I have a good feeling he’s one of the good ones. And it is fate. Its fate that we happen to be there early enough last night for him to see you and come talk to you.”
“Once again not fate, we were there early because it was Nate’s birthday and they told us to meet them there around that time.”
“You’re hopeless,” she groaned.
“And you’re annoying.” She hit me in the leg and I laughed.
“Let’s change the subject, I’m done with this conversation,” I said taking a sip from my beer. She knew she hit a sore spot and left the topic alone for now.
We didn’t talk about much after that. Peyton was too busy flirting with Kyle. I ordered another drink when my phone beeped to let me know I had a text. I checked to see who it was.
“Who is it?” Peyton asked.
“Alex, she says she’s on her way to meet Kelly, Nate, and Landon at the club.”
Alex was one of the stylists we worked with at the salon. She started there about a month ago. She was very shy, so Peyton and I decided to take her under our wings. We found out once you got a few drinks in her, she’d open up, and soon she was just like us. Alex is absolutely beautiful. She has long, straight, brown hair with a few caramel highlights—thanks to me. She was average height, slim body, and big boobs. She looked like a Barbie doll. All the boys and girls wanted to play with her. She was very down to earth and sweet which was the perfect addition to our little circle of friends. I tried hooking her and Landon up together, but he was going through his ‘I don’t want to be tied down’ phase and she couldn’t put up with his childish antics. Nothing serious ever came out of it so they were able to remain friends.
“You better finish up your drink so we can go. You know they’re going to be blowing up our phones wondering why we’re not there,” Peyton said as she dropped a five on the bar to pay for her soda that only cost two dollars. We were always good tippers. When you worked in a business where you get tipped you know how it feels to get stiffed. We tend to over compensate sometimes though.
When I finished my beer we headed over to the club. By the time we got there, there was a line out the door to get in. We never worried about waiting in line—like I said we were regulars—they always let us right in.
We walked right up to the door and the bouncer waved us in. From the complaints I heard behind us, we had pissed some people off. I laughed at their comments and kept walking.
The bar was packed to capacity. Definitely some heavy drinking was in order to be able to handle this crowd tonight. We managed to make our way to the bar and I knew it would be hard to find our friends in this mess. Even we had to wait a little to get our drinks. When it’s this busy I don’t have much pull, even for a regular.
Finally, when we got to order our drinks, I pulled out my money to pay the bartender. When he came back he said don’t worry about it my tab was covered for the night. Confused, I asked by who and why? Peyton hit me and said, “Who cares free drinks. Don’t ask why take’em and go.”
The bartender laughed at Peyton and then pointed across
the bar and said, “That guy over there said whatever you guys want is on him the whole night.”
I looked to see who he was pointing at and of course, it was Cole. He saw me, flashed a smile, and raised his glass to me. I ignored him. Wow this guy really didn’t give up and seemed to have a hard time understanding I wasn’t interested. I decided that I was going to tell him to stop this little charade, I’m not interested, and just because he buys me drinks, doesn’t mean he’s going to get in my pants. I was also going to tell him I was with Logan now and I don’t think he’d appreciate some creep hitting on his girlfriend. So it would be in his best interest to leave me alone.
“Yeah, that’s what I’d tell him,” I thought to myself. I’ll walk right up to him and tell him enough is enough, find some other poor, lonely girl to harass.
With my head held high, I took a deep breath, grabbed Peyton’s arm, and walked—more like stomped—my way over to Cole. We practically had to fight our way through all the people. Ugh! I really hated when it was this crowded.
As we pushed through the crowd, one of the shot girls just happened to pass by. I took two shots of the tray when she wasn’t looking. I needed them to deal with this crowd and Cole. Peyton gave me a look and I just shrugged.
When we finally reached Cole, I tapped him on the shoulder, and was ready to let him have it. Only, when he turned around and flashed that big, sexy, smile at me, I froze.
“Hello Tatum, how are you?” Cole said.
I totally lost my train of thought and stared at him blankly. It wasn’t until Peyton cleared her throat and said hi to Cole, that I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. “Look, I only came over here to tell you, thanks for the drinks, but I can buy my own,” I said trying to stare him down as meanly as I could.
“I have no doubt you can buy your drinks I…” I cut him off before he could say anymore.
“And I have a boyfriend, so don’t waste your time.”
He looked at me questioningly, trying to figure out if the boyfriend line was just that, a line. “I guess you don’t waste any time, do you?” he said.
“Excuse me?” Now he’s insulting me, wow, this guy really knew how to pick up a chick.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, last night you didn’t have a boyfriend, and now you do.” I was getting a little irritated now. Not sure if it was because I got caught in the mini-lie or because nothing seemed to get rid of this guy.
“Well, yeah, then he wasn’t, now he is,” I stammered. It didn’t help me sound very convincing.
“The guy from last night?” Cole asked seeming to want to see how far I’d take this.
“Yes and his name is Logan,” I said with a harsher tone to my voice.
Cole just smiled, stood up, and said, “I apologize if I offended you. That wasn’t my intention. You don’t have to worry I won’t bother you again, and please, drinks are still on me tonight,” Before I could argue he continued. “Think of it as a parting gift, my apology.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to give him any reason to think he got to me.
Before he walked away, he leaned down, and whispered in my ear, “It was a pleasure meeting you Tatum and I don’t think I’m wasting my time.” Then he turned and walked away.
He barely even touched me, but the closeness of him still made me shiver and the sweet scent of his cologne lingered in the air. He smelled so good. Not like most guys who smell like they bathed in cologne, I hate that, I always get a headache. His was soft, intoxicating, it made me want to be close to him and just breathe in his scent all night. I shook my head and came back to reality.
I stood there for a moment until I realized what he had said as his words played over in my mind, It was a pleasure meeting you Tatum and I don’t think I’m wasting my time. I had the feeling he wasn’t going to give up. What was I going to have to do to get through to this guy?
“Fine,” I said to myself. I’ll make him regret paying for my tab, so I ordered two shots and another beer. Maybe he’d think I was an alcoholic and change his mind about wanting to date me. Little did he know I could keep up with most guys when it came to drinking.
“Whoa, glad I’m driving tonight,” I heard Peyton say as I downed the shots, “What did he say to you?”
“Nothing important, come on let’s go outside and get some air.”
From the look on my face she knew not to ask any more questions. She followed me silently outside to the patio. That’s where we found our friends.
Alex, Kelly, Nate, and Landon were sitting at a nearby table and we walked over to join them. I gave everyone a hug and kiss hello and sat down next to Landon. He just squeezed my shoulder and smiled.
“So what happened last night with that guy Cole?” Kelly asked enthusiastically.
I rolled my eyes at her and said, “Nothing, I sent him away.”
“Oh why? I liked him.”
“Please, then you can have him, I’m not interested.”
“Who’s Cole?” Landon asked.
“Well he’s this…” Kelly started, but I cut her off right away.
“No one, let’s talk about something else,” I snapped.
“What crawled up your butt?” Landon asked, looking at me like I lost my mind.
I didn’t mean to snap at Kelly, I just did not want to talk about Cole. “Sorry Kelly,” I said.
She gave me an empathetic smile. “It’s okay.”
“Tatum’s just in a bad mood cause…”
“Shut up Peyton!” I yelled, giving her a look that said keep your mouth shut.
“Oh, that time of the month huh,” Landon said and everyone just laughed.
“Oh my god you guys, you know what…” I was beginning to say until I saw Logan standing on the other side of the patio. Noticing my hesitation, Peyton looked in the direction I was and realized why I had stopped talking. “I’ll be right back,” I said getting up from the table not allowing them to get a word in.
Logan was surrounded by girls on the other side of the patio. I thought I’d walk over to him and surprise him.
When I reached him, I stood right in the middle of all the girls, right in front of him. “Hi,” I said raising my eyebrows at him wondering what the hell he was doing.
“Hheeyy,” he said drawing out the word. “Can we talk?”
He pulled me over to a corner where there were less people. Confused, I followed and waited to hear what he had to say.
“Um, look, Tatum,” he hesitated for a second, but I could see in his face I was not going to like what he was going to say. “Last night, what I said, I wasn’t really thinking straight.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, I had a little too much to drink, and you were looking so good last night,” he smiled at me, looking as if he was remembering the way I looked from last night. “And I said some things I shouldn’t have said.”
“Like what exactly?” I already knew, but I wanted to hear him say it.
“You know, why mess up what we have,” he said lightly tapping my chin with his fingers.
“And what is that Logan, what is it that we have?” I said with a set jaw and arms crossed.
“Fun.”
Peyton was right. I was just too blind to see it. I couldn’t find the words to speak. Not that it would have made a difference.
He leaned down, grabbed my hands, and tried to look all sweet and innocent. “We’re good right?”
I looked at him, disgusted, pulled my hands out of his and walked away. I walked past all my friends and straight to the bar. I heard Peyton call my name, but I ignored her.
Once inside and at the bar I told the bartender to grab the tequila and keep it coming. By the time I downed my third shot, Peyton had found me and stopped me from taking my fourth. “I know I said I’d drive tonight, but I didn’t volunteer to clean up puke.”
“I’m fine,” I said more or less telling myself than her.
“Downing shots of tequila tells me you’re not
fine, give me that.” She took the other shot out of my hand as I reached for it. “What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said.
“Okay that’s fine, but how about we lay off the tequila for a bit.” I could see the concern in her eyes so I didn’t argue. “Let’s go back outside,” she suggested.
“No,” I snapped.
“Don’t worry he’s not out there anymore,” she reassured me.
I stared at the shot of tequila in her hand and thought maybe some air would be a good idea. She put the shot back down on the bar and made a gesture to the bartender saying not to serve me anymore shots.
When we were back outside, I didn’t bother to look whether Logan was still there or not. I went right over to Landon, sat on his lap, and laid my head on his shoulder. Landon just put his arms around me and gave me a squeeze. He could always tell when something was wrong with me. He never pushed the issue though. He knew I’d talk when I was ready.
I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t noticed at first Nate talking to Cole. Seriously, why won’t this guy go away? “What’s he doing here?” I asked Peyton.
“Nate saw him and started talking to him.”
I looked over and Cole was looking back at me. This time he didn’t smile. He had an, ‘I’m sorry look on his face,’ as if he was there to witness Logan and my conversation. I just looked away. The last thing I wanted was pity from him.
Landon patted me on my side and I lifted my head to look at him. “I have to take a whiz,” he said. I stood so he could get up. “Anybody need anything while I’m up?” Landon asked.
I turned to Peyton mouthing the words, “can I?”
She rolled her eyes at me and said, “Fine, but I don’t want to hear any complaints tomorrow.”
She and I knew tequila wasn’t my friend, but when I was having a bad day it always made me feel better, at least for the moment. I told Landon to grab me a beer and two shots of tequila. He was hesitant, but Peyton nodded at him letting him know it was okay.
After my fifth or was it my sixth shot of tequila—I lost count—I was feeling good. It was a good thing Landon was holding onto me or I’d probably fall off his lap.
The Hairdresser Diaries Page 5