Liam and Mick sat beside each other at the bar with half-empty beer steins in front of them. The place was rahter crowded, even for a Friday night. There was hardly an empty seat in the room, and Liam and Mick had to almost yell to be heard over the din of conversation and loud music.
During one of the rare lulls in background noise, the door to the pub opened. Liam and Mick turned to see who the newcomer was, and Liam almost spit out the swallow of beer he’d just taken.
Terri, a strikingly pretty redheaded young lady, walked in and headed their way.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine,” Liam said, quoting Humphrey Bogart’s famous line from Casablanca.
“I know, right?” Mick replied. “What are you going to do, Liam?”
“She’s my ex-girlfriend, Mick, ” Liam said, watching her weave her way through the crowd towards them. He tried to sound tough, but didn’t quite pull it off as he added, “She broke my heart. What do you think I’m going to do?”
“I know what you probably should do,” Mick said as he watched Liam watch Terri with a look of longing in his eyes. “And I know what you’re probably going to do instead.”
Terri walked past them and took a seat at one of the few empty tables in the back, and a few moments later Liam got up and walked over to her. Mick watched as Liam talked to her for a moment, then sat down across from her at the table. They talked for a few minutes, then got up and slipped out the back door.
“And I was right,” Mick said, shaking his head sadly. “He just never seems to learn.”
Mick sighed and turned back around to finish his beer.
This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, “joint”:
Jeanne Owens, author 