Gregory was still taken back by the audacity of Rosie and her willingness to without hesitation cast judgement on him. "Who does she think she is? She has never met me, doesn't know me. How can she just make accusations and assumptions about me?" Greg, not being one to let things go stewed about this for the whole drive home and long after as he sat there trying to fill out these papers he had waited so long to acquire. He had waited months for his scheduled day off to finally go get the papers and now, with all the time he needed on his hands, he could do nothing but sit there and stare at them blankly. Stuck on the words Rosie had thrown at him "oh one of those guys, how old is she?" It was so uncalled for, yet so true. "How could she know that?" He wondered.
Left with nothing but his thoughts Greg decided to escape them. He hopped in his sleek black sports car and started driving. He first headed out along the coastline. Trying to appreciate it in all its glory. But the ocean, its seemingly endless view and the emptiness it appeared to offer were not the escape he was looking for. He needed something different, not just a physical place, but a way to shut off this endless flow of emotion he was feeling. His attention was soon turned to a row of local pubs. And the bright neon happy hour sign in front of a place called Carl's caught his attention and seemed like as good as a place as any to escape unnoticed by any one who knew him. Not since college had Greg spent any considerable amount of time at a place like that. Drinking was never really his thing after he graduated college and got married. Greg thought to himself, "I'll just stop for one drink, maybe it will ease a little of this anxiety." Good intentions are often clouded by bad judgment. This would prove to be just that.
Greg sat right up to the bar. The attractive young lady, noticing Greg's car, his expensive suit and his air of confidence wasted no time striking up conversation. "What brings a guy like you to a place like this?" Greg visibly shocked by the question replied "I'm just passing through and stopped for a quick drink." Dive bars like this didn't attract people like Greg. As he looked around it was evident to him he probably did seem out of place. There were only four other people in the establishment, but all of them were wearing neon jackets and still had hard hats on from their day jobs. Probably construction or utility workers he thought to himself.
The bartender introduced herself as Maggie and asked Greg what he would like to start out with to drink. Greg didn't even know what to say. It had been over 10 years since he had a drink, so he said "surprise me!" Maggie came back with a whisky and coke. It tasted a little bitter to Greg, but it was just what he needed. Having not drank for that long, it affected Greg almost immediately. He got the warm relaxed feeling he hoped he would. He felt calm. He wasn't going anywhere for awhile. In fact, he soon wouldn't be able to go anywhere. The feeling was almost too good to be true, there was no place he had to be and no place else he wanted to be at least for now.
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