Robin sat at the bar, sipping her strong green cocktail, trying not to let her loneliness show as she sat in silence with a book in front of her. She sat silently unaware of the eye watching her as she tried to hide the pain of being thrown to the side once more. It had become normal for her, but it was still humiliating to know that another woman lay in her husband's arms, somewhere she knew not where. She had even walked into her own home to find him on the sofa, naked and not alone. She was his trophy and nothing more.
She felt someone sit on the seat next to her and sighed, resigned to her tranquil reading becoming no more. She waited quietly but the stranger said nothing. She turned another page, wondering if she should be glad of their apparent understanding or suspicious of their silence. Maybe they had just taken that barstool because it was the closest to the door? The others were free so why had they sat next to her? Should she stop reading? Or continue and wait for them to speak?
Another few pages passed, taking her to the end of her chapter. She finished her drink just as she did. She looked up to order a coffee, only to realise the stranger was still there and had in fact finished his fifth pint since joining her. Was he drunk? Or could he just hold his drink? She noticed the hot coffee sitting in front of her, next to his sixth pint, and turned her head to face the stranger in curiosity. Had he ordered it for her? How could he know she'd wanted coffee? Maybe he just wanted to sober up?
Robin blinked, trying to take in the man in front of her. He was clearly only a few inches shorter than her, which was rare enough, but he was clearly much younger. Another strange young man with a thing for 'lonely-looking older woman'? He just sat silently draining the dregs of his fifth pint before calmly reaching for the fresh one, seemingly not even noticing her looking at him, but how could he? The tall young man was missing at least one eye she noticed; his left eye. She was sitting on his left. If he'd wanted to sit and watch her read, he'd clearly chosen the wrong side to sit on.
"What's wrong? I thought you fancied a coffee?"
Robin blinked a few more times, surprised at his sudden questions. He'd sat silently for over half an hour and, when he'd finally spoken, it had been to ask her about her not wanting her coffee. How had he even known? He couldn't read minds - there was no such thing! Did he maybe know her? She couldn't remember him, but she had had a few one night stands in her moments of bitterness. Even if she knew her husband did not care, she'd always felt better after her night of giving him the treatment he gave her, but she always felt worse within herself. She could not help but feel unclean, even if the 'justice' made her feel better.
"You deaf? I didn't spike it, if that's what you're wondering."
"I'm sorry; I was just a little surprised." Robin smiled sweetly. "How had you known that I wished for a coffee? Surely the assumption would have been that I'd want another cocktail?"
"Huh? You were reading and suddenly came out with 'I quite fancy a coffee', so I got you one since you just kept reading. You can drop the fake smile by the way."
"Oh, thank you for the coffee, but what makes you believe my smile is fake? A complete stranger just bought me a coffee without me even realising I had asked." Robin continued to smile, a curious glint in her eye as she watched the green haired man that had yet to even look at her.
"I'm not an idiot? Everything about you suggests you're used to dealing with idiots and you're way of speaking suggests you're used to lying to said idiots. I'm not an idiot. Now, why are you here? The tan line on your finger suggests that there's normally a ring there, but you're here drinking and reading a book. You didn't flinch when I sat next to you, but you seemed to resign yourself to dealing with 'other idiot'. Are you married with problems, or divorced with nothing to do?" He asked, still looking into his pint rather than at her.
