Page 21 of September

“Oh, I guess I’ll take a…”

Juliet didn’t know what to order. She wanted to seem cool, but she usually only drank beer, if she drank at all. Was beer cool? It looked like Gwen had a beer. Maybe a beer was a good choice.

“Martini,” she blurted out like an idiot instead.

Why had she done that? She didn’t drink martinis. She didn’t know anything about martinis.

“Gin? Vodka?” the woman asked.

“Oh. Vodka,” she replied, thinking that she could stand vodka more than gin, at least.

“Dry?”

“Yes,” she said, not remembering what dry meant in this context. “And dirty, with three olives.”

“You really like olives, huh?” the woman asked.

“I do, yeah,” she said, unsure if that was really true.

“Can I get a beer?” Molly asked. “The one she’s got.” She pointed to Gwen’s beer.

Juliet was regretting not saying what Molly had just said and ordering herself a beer, which was something a normal person would’ve done instead of ordering a more expensive drink that she didn’t want.

“Candace, can I get a burger?” Gwen asked.

“Sure. Your usual?”

“Please,” Gwen said.

“Logan, want anything before you go? For Rory?”

“No, she’ll eat with the kids,” Logan replied. “And I’ll have something at home when I get there.”

“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“That’s Candace,” Gwen told her. “She owns the place. And Logan bartends here.”

“Oh, cool,” Juliet replied.

“Do you want to sit down?” Gwen offered. “They’ll be at the bar for a while.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks,” Molly answered for them both.

Molly then motioned for Juliet to slide into the booth, which would put her across from Gwen. Juliet didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so she slid into the booth and sat down. Molly moved in after her and sat across from Logan.

“So, any occasion or just checking out a new bar?” Gwen asked.

“I asked her to come out with me,” Molly replied.

Gwen nodded and looked toward the bar.

“What’s the occasion for you?” Juliet asked.

“None. Elisa asked me to come out with them tonight. She just wanted to buy me a drink for helping my niece, like I mentioned earlier.”

“Sorry. How do you all know each other?” Logan asked.

“We met today, actually,” Juliet answered. “Gwen is going to be taking care of my dog for me when I’m out of town for work.”