Episode 332: A Night To Remember

While she’d adored Christmas with her siblings, the thought of sitting at home watching Tansy’s favorite cartoon while Bassie pined for Ava and Justine caressed her husband wasn’t exactly Adria’s idea of a smashing start to the New Year. So she’d told them a friend had invited her to a party, when in fact she’d gone out to this restaurant even though it was a little depressing to know any minute the Maitre D’ would show up to tell her the table for one was ready. But New Year’s Eve was the perfect night to people watch, gain insight for the future characters she planned to play whether her parents approved of acting or not.

They wouldn’t approve of her sitting at the bar either. Not that they needed to worry. Despite rarely getting carded, she didn’t intend on drinking tonight. Alone and still a pang underage, that would be truly depressing.

As the bartender fixed a martini for a woman at the far end of the bar, a man with close-cropped fire engine red hair took the stool beside her. He wore a dark Italian suit, his tie hanging loose, the top buttons open on his shirt. Undoubtedly a financier, she’d grown up surrounded by the type. All they ever did was talk about money. Even though her parents had plenty of it and for now continued to share it with her, the topic was nauseating. There was so much more to life and she wanted to taste every drop of it.

"Look, Miss, um, you are damn likely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever clamped eyes on and I’m a guy alone on New Year’s Eve, so here goes, can I buy you a drink?" His mouth curled, embarrassed and hopeful all at once, slightly crinkling the faint spray of freckles on his nose.

Adria eyed him, although at least thirty, he possessed a boyish sweetness in his expression that made her want to let him down easy. Her heart was still taken.

"I’m sorry but..." She spied him from the corner of her eye, heading for the dining room. Taro looked so handsome, his black hair a little shaggier, a new coat and tie. A perky girl in a body hugging spaghetti strapped dress, linked her arm through his. The perfect couple. At least by his dumbass standards. She was Japanese.

Fury snapped Adria’s attention back to the guy at the bar. "I’ll take a white wine."

Episode 333: Was It Good For You