I joined Ava and Jordan in putting up decorations and cranked the music loud at the karaoke machine. My spirits were high, even if I was still trying to figure out what was going on with Becca’s strange mood, and I decided to just let it go and enjoy the night. Whatever was bugging her the night before would likely be over after a couple of drinks and a night of joking and laughing with her friend. Then she could come home with me to make up for time missed out with her being busy with her buddy.
The bar was hopping early, and the raucous crowd were enjoying yet another smash-hit theme night. Ava was running a sports-trivia contest at the stage area, and Matt and I were running food out while tagging with Mason at the bar while Jordan tried to do those and man the kitchen all simultaneously. It was chaos, but fun, and when Becca and Melissa walked in, I felt my heart thump in my chest and my excitement rise even higher.
I tapped Jordan on the shoulder and told him I would switch with him to run the bar for a bit, and he took off. Despite how busy it was, no one was really sitting at the bar, most of them far too enthralled in the trivia game, and the girls found seats easily. Before they were even seated, I was pouring them both one of the specialty drinks of the evening, the Griffey. I sat it in front of them and grinned at Becca, but she didn’t return my gaze. Instead, she stared down at the drink with her eyes wide and then looked at Melissa.
A customer across the bar was waving frantically for my attention, so I forewent further greetings and went to take care of them before coming back. That one customer turned into four, and by the time I had made my way back to the ladies, it had been a few minutes. Predictably, Melissa’s glass was nearly empty, but Becca’s was weirdly still full.
“Hey, beautiful,” I said as I sidled up to them. “What’s up? Don’t like the Griffey? Too much grenadine?”
“Oh,” she said, “I’m just not drinking tonight.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her unbelievingly. “Come on,” I said. “One drink won’t hurt. I’m proud of this one. It’s a special blend of rum…”
“No,” she said emphatically. Her tone was rather harsh for someone just turning down a free drink from her boyfriend. “Sorry, I just really don’t want to drink tonight.”
“Okay,” I said, taken aback. She had never spoken to me with that type of attitude before, and I was wondering what I did to deserve it.
“I’ll have a water,” she said, rather dismissively. My lips curled to one side, and I looked between her and Melissa before ducking down and grabbing a glass to fill with water. When I had her drink ready, I placed it in front of her, and she took a sip through the straw, ignoring the cocktail right beside it. “Thank you,” she said as she swirled the straw for a moment.
“Well, if she won’t drink it, I will,” Melissa said, curling her fingers around the cocktail glass and sliding it slowly toward her. “It’s delicious. Based off the ballplayer?”
“I know,” I said, not moving my gaze from Becca. Something definitely seemed to be bothering her. “And yes, based on the ballplayer. He played in Seattle most of his career. The splash of grenadine represents when he went off to Cincinnati.”
“Neat,” Melissa said, putting a big dent in her drink almost immediately. “Becca, you’re driving.”
“That’s fine,” Becca said, still swirling the straw in her water.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, leaning forward toward her. She finally moved her eyes over to mine, and they bored into me with a combination of what looked like sadness, confusion, and frustration.
“Yeah,” she said. “Why wouldn’t it be? I’m just a little tired is all.”
“Sometimes one of us will go dry so the other can drink more,” Melissa interrupted. “Speaking of, can I have another one of these? They’re amazing.”
“Sure,” I said, not taking my eyes off Becca. Finally, I peeled them away from her and made Melissa’s next drink, putting it on the bar in front of her before hearing my name shouted behind me.
The customers from before on the other side of the bar were getting loud and annoying again, and I left to go take care of them. Several drinks and an appetizer of some of the best-smelling buffalo wings to ever come out of our kitchen later and I was ready to return to Becca.
I put in a ticket for a set of wings for the girls and hoped that the news of impending deliciousness would cheer her up. Secretly, I planned on snagging one or two of them and the curly fries that came with them before they got to her. Yet, when I got there, she and Melissa were deep in a conversation that stopped abruptly when I arrived in front of them.