Untangle Me

McGuires's Pub

"Come on, Molly, you never do anything fun! It's only one night, and it wouldn't be the same without you!"

Molly sighed as she rolled her eyes at her coworker and friend. "That's not true, Hannah. I do plenty of fun things.." She muttered as she continued to straighten up her classroom. Due to the rainy weather outside, she'd been forced to keep her toddlers inside, and they'd practically trashed the room out of boredom. Ahh, the life of a preschool teacher...

"Pffft, sure you do. You work and you babysit. And when you're not watching kids, you go home and watch Netflix, am I right? Don't even try to deny it. Besides, what is one night out going to hurt?" Hannah asked. Her brow was raised as she gave Molly a smug smirk. She was right and she knew it.

Molly sighed and opened her mouth to speak, but she was quickly cut off by her friend once more.

"You haven't even had a night out since you broke up with Asher..."

Molly tensed a bit as she turned to look at Hannah. A hard glare was evident in her eyes. "That's not fair." She said firmly. Molly hadn't had the best relationship with Asher, and though it took so long for her to admit it to herself, breaking up with him had been the best thing she'd ever done for herself. But, it still was painful. She'd spent years with him, and it was hard to just let all of that go.

Hannah frowned at the look on her friend's face. She was regretful of her words, or rather, how she'd put them. She knew Asher was a tough subject for Molly and she should have never brought him up. Still, she knew a night out with her friends was exactly what Molly needed, even if she didn't see it. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you, that's all. You're always doing things for others, but you never do anything for yourself. I think a night out is just what you need. "

Molly sighed as she placed the last stray toy on the shelf. She really just wanted to go home and have a relaxing night in, but perhaps there was some truth in what Hannah was saying. "You know what...fine,  I'll go. But just this once, okay? And you have to promise not to harass me about going out again."

A bright grin spread across Hannah's face as she nodded eagerly. "Deal! We're meeting at McGuire's pub at 8:30, don't be late! I swear you're going to have the best time! You won't regret it!"

.....

And so that's how Molly found herself seated at a table with Hannah and Sophie, surrounded by drunk people and loud Irish music. If she was honest, this wasn't her cup of tea and she longed to go home, but she didn't want to disappoint her friends. So, she sipped idly at a glass of wine and took in her surroundings the best she could.

Sophia and Hannah had gotten lost in their own conversation, and though Molly knew they weren't trying to exclude her in any way, she felt like a third wheel and didn't want to butt into the conversation. Using the excuse of getting a second glass of wine, Molly stood from the table and made her way toward the surprisingly less crowded bar and took a seat. She let out a quiet sigh as she pulled out her phone from her pocket and began scrolling through her notifications. She quickly got lost in her own little world until she was interrupted by the feeling of an arm wrapping around her waist.

With a gasp, Molly looked up to see the smiling face of a man about her age, maybe a bit older. "There you are, Sweetheart, I wondering where you'd gotten off to." He said in a thick Australian accent. His bold actions and words earned a look of complete bewilderment from Molly. Who was this man and what the hell did he think he was doing?

"I..." Molly started, but she paused when the man leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"Just play along...The man beside you slipped something into your drink. " He whispered, causing Molly to tense. She did her best not to look at the man beside her or her drink. Instead, she forced a smile and looked up at the oddly familiar man.