JASON
Two shots down and three to go, I sit at a bar and try to forget all about Brittany Caldwell.
Her heart really has gone cold. I take the blame for starting that process, but fuck me if she didn’t get exceptionally colder than I ever expected was possible for a woman who can be so sweet, kind, and loving.
To think she left my bed and went straight to another man is a thing I didn’t think she was capable of. My Brittany is no more. I coached her a little too well.
She has become a female version of Casanova, and I am to blame for that.
Some guy sits on the stool next to mine and pulls off his black-framed glasses to clean them. He puts them on and looks me over, then lets out a whistle. “Wow! You look like crap, dude. No offense.”
Without looking at the guy, I say, “Yeah. Who the hell would take offense at that remark, jackass?”
“Okay, then, sorry for saying that.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Ryan, and you are clearly miserable.”
I shake his hand even though I don’t want to. “I’m Jason, and I am pretty displeased with a person I helped create.”
“Kid troubles?” he asks, as he makes a sign at the bartender to bring him one of what I’m having.
“No. I don’t have any kids. Woman trouble.” I take one of the shots that are on the bar in front of me.
The bartender brings him a shot and a couple of beers and puts one in front of me. Ryan smiles. “The beer is on me. Too much whiskey is bad for the soul. So, this woman, tell me about her.”
“Brittany was my first love. We were kids then, and she was innocent and sweet and I fucked her up in ways I didn’t know I could.” I take a drink of the beer and notice the difference in the way it smoothly flows down my throat, as opposed to the harsh feeling of the shots I’ve been taking.
Ryan takes his one shot, then says, “I have me a troublesome Brittany myself. She’s as closed off as they come. It’s a real shame. The woman is smart, gorgeous, and can be very sweet. The problem is, as soon as she realizes she’s showing any humanity, she stops immediately and the next thing you know, she’s gone.”
My head swivels around to look the man over. He’s dark haired and his face is really scarred up. He looks kind of frumpy in an old Spiderman T-shirt and some faded blue jeans. Not her type at all, but I wonder.
“What’s your Brittany’s last name?” I ask.
“Caldwell,” he says, taking the wind completely out of my sails. “She could be the love of my life. If she’d let herself be loved, that is.”
“That’s my Brittany, too,” I tell him, then drink the entire rest of the beer.
His eyebrows go way up high as he asks, “What are the chances of that?”
“From what she told me, pretty good,” I answer as I wave at the bartender to bring me another beer. “The woman has a bunch of guys from what she said.”
“I know one more,” Ryan says. “A real looker that she takes with her anytime she’s going to something where media will be at. A dude named Josh. I’ve met him. I haven’t met any of the others.”
I take out my phone and pull up the picture I got off the internet of them at the awards ceremony earlier and show it to him. “Is this him?”
He looks at it and nods. “Yep, that’s Josh. I met him a few times. I’m her work boyfriend and he’s her awards boyfriend. And which one are you?”
“I’m not anything to her anymore. I wanted to be her one and only. We’d agreed on that last night. Then she got a call around three this afternoon and the next thing I know, I’m seeing her on the television with this dude.” I take another shot and wish I could deliver the alcohol straight into my veins because the pain is not going away.
“Wait! What?” he asks as he looks very confused. “She agreed to be with only you? How the fuck did you even get her to do that?”
“Don’t know,” I slur, as the alcohol is suddenly kicking in. “But don’t worry, she obviously didn’t mean it. She didn’t tell me a thing about going to get that guy and going to get her award.”
“Whoa, buddy,” he says as he places his hand on my shoulder. “You look a little loopy. I think maybe you’ve had enough.”
I nod. “I have. I’ve had way more than I can handle. You see, I’m the guy who messes around on women. They don’t mess around on me. Britt thinks I can be played, but I am the one who plays. I don’t know what the hell to do about this.”
“There isn’t a thing you can do. You said you knew her from your younger days. I don’t know how she was, but I can tell you now she’s not a woman to get serious about. I wish I had better news for you, but I don’t. That woman will be single forever. She’s told me that herself.”
I look into his eyes, which look very big behind his thick glasses. “You sound like you know her well.”
He nods. “I’ve been seeing her, if you can all it that, for a few years.”
“A few years? I saw her for a few years too, back about six years ago. I can’t believe how much she’s changed.” I get off the stool and try to make my way to the bathroom.
After a couple of stumbling attempts to get my balance, I find the do-gooder who has also had sex with the woman I love helping me to the bathroom. “Here, let me help you. I know how hard it is to find out she’s heartless. I stayed drunk for a solid week after I found out. It gets easier. And if this helps you at all, she’s a great lay. Even if she won’t get mentally intimate with you, she’ll fuck the shit out of you.”
And just like that, he’s made me sick.
I barely make it into the men’s room before it all comes up. The trash can catches most of it, thankfully. I look up at the guy who can’t be talking about my Brittany and find him frowning at me.
Moving to the sink, I splash cold water over my face. “You sure we’re talking about the same woman? My Brittany Caldwell is twenty-five, makes book covers for a living. My Brittany is rich. My Brittany …”
He smiles. “Your Brittany, as you seem to want to think of her, is no one’s Brittany. She’ll tell you that herself. And if she hasn’t yet, she will soon. She isn’t a liar or a cheat. She also isn’t into being anyone’s one and only. The sooner you wrap your head around that, the better off you’ll be.”
“But I was on my way to her apartment. I was going to spend the night.” I check my reflection and find myself looking haggard, a thing I never look like.
“You are special. I’ve never been to her apartment. Well, there was that one time, but only for sex. Then she made me leave.” He hands me a handful of paper towels. “Clean up, man. Don’t let her get to you. I know it’s hard, as she is gorgeous and stacked, and I’m sure she treated you real good last night. But that woman isn’t a person to let into your heart. She’s a heartbreaker, buddy.”
I shake my head. “She wasn’t one until I fucked around on her. She was a good girl. And now you make her sound like a real whore.”
“Whore?” he asks, as he looks like he’s thinking about it. He shakes his head. “Nah, I wouldn’t call her that. She’s not into fucking everything that walks. She has her select men. I think she told me there’s five or six of us she makes visits to regularly. Now I guess you’ll be added into the rotation. That’ll mean sex less than once a week for me now. But I can’t complain. When she does give me my hour with her, she makes it count.”
My stomach rolls and I find myself grabbing the trash can again and letting more stuff come out of me. I cannot take listening to this about her.
When I come back up for air, he seems genuinely sorry for me. I wash my face again. “I need to go home. I need to think. That woman may be pregnant with my baby.”
He looks confused, and a little mad. “How is that? She’s adamant about condoms. No condom, no sex, ever!”
“We didn’t use one last night and now she might be pregnant and I may have to figure out how to calm her fast ass down. How am I supposed to do that, Ryan? She sounds so set in her nasty ways. She sounds so not like my girl. What have I done to her?” I stagger over to relieve myself and try to think of how I can make her stop being the woman I helped create.
“I can’t believe she let you do that. The way you’re talking doesn’t even sound like the woman I know. Maybe we are talking about two different women. Brittany is very steady with her actions. She runs everything in her life a certain way.”
“I can’t let her stay on this path, man. I hope you understand, Ryan. I have to get her off this road. I’m going to make her mine again. No matter how hard she fights me, I’m going to make her mine.” I zip up and wash my hands.
The puking has cleared my head a little and I feel ready to deal with the stubborn, cold-hearted creature who is now my old sweet girlfriend. Her once-a-week boy toy watches me leave the men’s room with his mouth hanging open.
Just as I get to the door of the bar to leave, I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn back to see him there. “Hey, I don’t want to lose my once a week with her.”
A laugh comes out of me without me knowing it would. “Ha! Well, you are going to lose that with her. All of you other guys will be losing that. The motherfucker who she went to the fucking awards with is losing her, too. Maybe you two can make a club of the guys she’s been fucking with and have meetings to get over her. I don’t know or care. I’m going to go get my woman and let her know her philandering ways are over. No offense.”
“No offense?” he asks and then I see him take a couple of steps back and he holds up his fists. “Come on. We need to settle this right now. I can share, but you can’t have all of her. We’ll all come after you. You have to know that.”
With a shake of my head, I say, “Why would you even want to fight for a woman who does you like that? You make no sense. Is that hour of time you said she gives you once a week worth me beating your ass?”
“I’ll get in a few punches,” he says, as he seems to be sizing me up. “And the answer is, yes, that one hour a week with her is worth it. That woman can give head like no one I’ve ever met.”
“Sorry you said that,” I tell him, then throw a punch.
My fist connects with his jaw and he’s out right away. I feel awful for doing it but I couldn’t let him talk about the woman I’m going to marry like that.
And then it hits me as I turn around and leave, before I get mobbed by the throng of people who are coming to see why this guy is lying out on the floor.
I’m going to marry Brittany Caldwell!