The Last of the Twenty: The Setting of the Board

Chapter 31

Chugging down the last of his third beer in twenty minutes, Lance Dalton sat alone at the corner of the bar watching the dance floor, glancing over at the entrance every few minutes. He was looking for strangers in the crowd, specifically good looking female strangers. So far it had been a hard night on him, too many of the women here knew him already, and that was a problem. Any woman that got to know him or make the mistake of dating him quickly got tired of him. Tired of his selfishness, tired of his possessiveness, and tired of him losing job after job due to failed drug tests.

The only thing he found that worked consistently was to find a girl who was either new to town and didn’t know very many people, or better yet, a girl who was in a relationship of some kind that was going through a rough patch. He could swoop in and be the shoulder to cry on; effectively pulling off the good guy routine until he had gotten what he wanted.

“One more Cindy” he yelled to the bartender over the crowd noise, belching loudly as he slammed his empty bottle down.

Rolling her eyes, Cindy took another of his usual out of the cooler and handed it over, checking it into his tab while he took his first gulps. By the end of the night she knew his tab would be high, “You’re not gonna be able to drive home if you keep that up, why don’t you slow down for a change” she asked.

Ignoring her, Lance looked back to the dance floor, Cindy had made it clear long ago that she would never sleep with him, and that made her a waste of time and her opinions useless. Just as she shook her head and started to turn away Lance belched and grinned at her. “I’ll call a cab if I have to, but I’m not going home tonight if you know what I mean, least not alone. Offers still open for you if you want.”

He was leaning over the bar trying to get close enough to sneak in a kiss, even though he knew it would lead to him either getting slapped or punched. Cindy knew his tricks and stood back and out of his reach, rolling her eyes at his offers. “Never in your life, just take it easy tonight so I don’t have to get you thrown out of here again.” She said, walking away before he could reply.

Taking another long swallow of beer, Lance shot her the finger when he was sure her back was turned, turning his attention back to the door. A new group of people were making their way in and he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss any good ones. The first two were a couple he didn’t recognize, the girl kind of cute, he’ll try for her later when her boyfriend goes to the bathroom. He didn’t look big enough to make Lance nervous about hitting on his girlfriend anyways.

Suddenly another girl walked in, this one alone, and all thoughts of lance’s previous target were forgotten. She walked in slowly, stopping to look around the small crowd in the steadily filling bar, and to Lance’s dismay he saw that more than a few guys had taken immediate notice of her. She was slender, with an athletic build and long legs that stuck seductively out of her torn jean skirt. Her skin was light brown, her face framed perfectly by her long and straight jet black hair, but the thing that stood out the most were her eyes. Light grey, almost too bright to be real and outlined with a hint of dark makeup, in the low light of the bar her eyes stood out like gems. Even to what Lance considered his own high standards this girl was just plain gorgeous, but most of all she was alone.

Lance watched as she looked around the room, making her way quietly to the bar while blatantly ignoring every guy who approached her, sitting down alone at the opposite end. Cindy walked over and bent down, a few seconds later getting up to bring her a glass of red wine. The girl took it with a smile and handed over some cash, but put it down on the bar without a sip, watching the door. Lance waited until Cindy was looking his way then waved her over, shaking the empty bottle of beer to signal for another. She grabbed another out of the cooler without looking and plopped it down in front of him.