The Sound of Silence: A Dream Daddy story

Chapter Ten

Why. The fuck. Are you so. Fucking. Stupid?

You couldn't stop the steady stream of vitrole from your own mind. You'd just proven, no more than twenty-four hours previously, that you were an absolute fuck-up in social situations. Why on earth had you decided that going out to have a drink with the very man you'd been struggling to avoid since moving would be a good idea? You stared at yourself in the cracked and dirty mirror in the bar restroom, wondering if it might be better for you to just make up an excuse and go home. You had that bottle of vodka, after all, and tomorrow was a work day.

You let out a sigh, bending your head down for an instant before you straightened, determined. You were a goddamn adult and you were going to have a successful social interaction.

Clenching your fists, you stepped out of the restroom and headed back to the seat you'd found at the bar. As you approached, you saw that Robert had arrived and was sitting with none other than Mary. Joseph's Mary. The Mary who had fathered Joseph's children and was currently married to him.

You weren't one to judge, and, as you approached and saw an honest-to-god smile cross Robert's face, you realized you really weren't in a position to judge. Mary's relationship with Joseph was something you'd never even seen before, and, you had to admit, you weren't exactly in a position to be judging anyone's relationships.

Those thoughts crossed your mind in a flash, disappearing within the time it took you to approach the bar. You watched them even as you caught the bartender's attention. There was an intimacy to their interactions that you couldn't fathom. Something between them that meant they were both totally at ease in one another's company.

You ached to feel that sort of intimacy with someone, even as you knew that it was impossible.

You're losing it, asshole. Focus!

You snapped back to attention, turning away from Robert and Mary long enough to order a round. The bartender knew exactly what Robert's usual was, so you just ordered three of those. When the drinks came, you carried them carefully to the booth where Mary was telling an apparently hilarious story.

You slid, uninvited, into the booth opposite Robert and Mary. They greeted you in tandem, and you looked at them askance, not really sure what to make of the knowledge that they were friends. Close friends, by the look of it.

"So anyway," Mary reached for one of the glasses as you pushed them over to their side of the table, taking a sip without breaking stride in her story. "There he is, buck naked in the living room. And I'm thinking, crap, I've got kids in the house."

You watched their faces as Mary told her story, about how some douchey frat-bro had walked her home from the bar and then asked to use her bathroom, only to then strip naked while she was out of the room. You sipped your own drink quietly, adjusting to the flavor of whiskey--not your usual choice, but it was nice. It didn't burn as badly as the shitty vodka you'd been drinking the night before.

Finally, Mary ended her story, and you laughed as she described throwing the guy out before he'd even had a chance to gather up his things. She'd apparently burned them the next day. "Damn, Mary." You choked down the rest of your laughter. "You're seriously cold."

She nearly looked like she'd blushed--or was that just a trick of the light? "I mean, I try."

Beside her, Robert finally took a sip of his own drink, apparently forgotten as he'd listened to Mary talk. He hummed appreciatively, casting a glance in your direction. "Are you trying to whiskey me off my feet?"

Now it was your time to blush.

What in the . . .?

You had no clue what to make of that, so you went with the easiest response. You groaned and rolled your eyes at the pun, sipping your own drink to hide anything else that may have wanted to show on your face.