Chenford-The Bar

3

Tim walked back towards the bar. It had been 22 minutes, but the line for the bathroom was hellish. He sighed and then saw the sight that was unfolding across the way from him. A guy, some stranger, and Lucy. They were laughing. She was laughing.

Tim got a weird sensation in his chest. Like someone had knocked the wind out of him. His jaw clenched. He looked at where he had been sitting not too long ago, now taken by a guy who apparently was the funniest man in the world.

He made his way through the crowd of people back to his seat. He didn't know why seeing some guy with Lucy made him so angry, but he chalked it up to being protective of her and shoved any other possibility down.

She has a boyfriend anyway. Tim thought. Chris.
Tim never liked Chris. Not for any other reason than that, he just didn't care for him. If he made Lucy happy, then fine.

Tim made it back to the bar where Lucy was talking to the guy about some new T.V. show that had just come out. "Hey." Tim said in a low tone, directing it toward Lucy. Lucy looked up and smiled. "Oh hey, you finally made it back."

She was definitely tipsier than when he had left. He nodded at her silently and grabbed his beer that he had left, reaching across the guy sitting in what once was his chair.

He turned his attention to the guy, looking him up and down, giving a squinted stare and an almost disapproving look. Lucy noticed what Tim was doing and shook her head slightly. "Hey man, how you doing?" Lewis asked.

Tim sipped the lukewarm beer and smiled. "Great." He responded. He rested his hand on the back of the stool Lucy was sitting in and continued staring at Lewis. Lucy looked at Tim, and cocked her head with a 'why the fuck are you doing this right now' look on her face.

Tim looked down at her and smiled. Lucy knew it wasn't a real smile. He wasn't smiling with his teeth like he does when it's genuine. She knew he was messing with her. She sighed and looked over at Lewis, who, for good reason, was deeply uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Well, it was great meeting you, Lucy," Lewis said, getting up with a fresh drink he had just ordered. "Yeah, maybe I'll see you around." Lucy smiled. Lewis nodded at Tim and got up from the stool. Tim nodded back and was getting ready to take his seat back as Lewis wandered away when Lucy grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him down to eye level.

"What the fu-" He looked at Lucy. She was pissed. He knew she'd get mad but didn't think it was a huge deal. "What is your problem?" She asked him in an almost accusatory tone. "You have a boyfriend, Lucy. You shouldn't be flirting with random guys at the bar." Tim was desperately trying to divert the subject to something other than him.

"Excuse me? Since when did you get to decide that? I know I have a boyfriend, Tim, it's not like I was going to do anything. It was a harmless conversation." She was staring at him. She hadn't realized, in her inebriated state, that she had dragged him too close for either of their comfort. She observed his face.

Tim looked at her and sighed, "I'm sorry, Lucy. I didn't mean to be overbearing, I was just worried. You're not in a state to be talking to strangers." He said, in a soft tone. Lucy had only heard his soft tone a couple times in her life, Caleb and the day she visited him in the hospital after his spinal surgery.

He noticed that she had been staring at his face for way longer than needed and tried his best to get his face as far as her grip on his collar would let him. "Sorry." She let him go and he stood up. "It's alright, you had the right to be angry." He sat down on his stool and called over the bartender, asking for his tab.