1 Chapter 1: A Strange Girl

Lucas readies himself for what he refers to as 'therapy' but which other people might refer to as 'bad habits" as he takes his customary seat in the bar's back corner and his friends take their customary places at the table. He does this as his friends sit in the same order they always do.

The weekly Tuesday night trips to the bar that Lucas takes with his friends have developed into something of a ritual for the group of him.

This includes all of the pitchers and shots, as well as the proclivity toward having a bit of a headache on Wednesday morning at work.

However, he is usually sensible enough not to get too excessive, and to try to drink some water before he go to bed, and this prevents it from being a drawback.

It's all good; he's been to college, he understands how this works, and he knows how to avoid the kinds of screw-ups that leave him shambling around groaning the next day and hoping that people really believe his sunglasses are a cool new fashion thing he's trying rather than the means by which he's staving off having to expose himself to too much light. It's all good.

Lucas groans as he leans back in his seat and rests his head against the wall behind him. He says, "I need this," and he really does need it.

"This day was pure torment. At work, we recently got a new boss, and she's really pushing the idea that she needs to micromanage everyone in order to make herself look good in definitions of increasing productivity. As a result, everyone in my department has the impression that we're being watched very closely by hawks." Lucas complained as usual.

The final person to take a seat is Lucas's friend Timmy, who arrives with a pitcher of beer that he had just gotten from the bar.

He makes a joke about how 'the solution to bad bosses is usually found at the bottom of pitchers,' and then he begins pouring everything into the plastic cups that came with it. "I think some primitive wizard said that the treatment to bad bosses is usually found at the bottom of pitchers," he says.

"So start drinking and let's make some magic." Jimmy is the steady member of the group, the one who maintains a responsible demeanour despite the fact that he is nearing the age of thirty and has spent the past 10 years at college without making any real headway.

While Lucas is drinking the beer, he can't help but shrug his shoulders.

Groaning, he said, "Fuck, it's worth a try," and then began drinking the inexpensive beer that he had packed in a pitcher.

Jimmy has terrible taste in beer, but he tries to look past this in order to cope with his anger in a way that is considered to be 'productive.'

These trips to the pub are very necessary for him to keep his sanity now that he's been working at his desk job for such a long time.

He has experienced life with new superiors before, so he is aware of how things will play out. He is aware that she will lose interest in a week, but for the time being, he will chug, refill, and chug once more.

The very least that can be expected of him is to drink away his frustrations in order to cope with them.

It's not that being with that pair doesn't help, of course, and being with his pals is a great way to pick yourself up, but as the pitcher empties, everyone starts to go to other locations.

He is left sitting awkwardly at the table, looking around and wondering where everyone went, but he also does not want to get up and leave his pitcher unguarded.

It is only natural for them to circle in and out as the night goes, as one of them spots a girl they want to sleep with or something like that.

However, this time they all vanish within twenty minutes, and they don't appear to be coming back. This leaves him sitting awkwardly at the table.

A voice from behind Lucas asks, "Did your friends go missing?," which throws him for a loop, causing him to gasp and quickly shift his head over because he did not expect anyone to be talking to him. "Did your friends go missing?" the voice asks.

And as he catches sight of the woman who is asking him, he suddenly wonders whether she isn't talking to someone else after all, for in front of him is a stunningly beautiful woman who is smiling broadly and has everything in the correct place.

She is tall, lanky, and has a slim waist in addition to a large pair of breasts that she is flaunting in a top that exposes plenty of cleavage while also being so short that she is only half an inch away from showing under breast. In addition, she is wearing a pair of jeans that are able to cling to her body in such a way that they highlight every aspect of her figure. The leather jacket that she is wearing only goes halfway up her body.

There is something captivating about her eyes, one of which is emerald and the other of which is blue, and her long blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail at the crown of her head. And with a grin on her face, she is looking directly at him.

Lucas uttered, "Uh," in a tone that suggested he was a little taken aback and had no idea what to make of what had just been spoken, but he blurted out, "Yeah, I think so." The last thing he wants is to feel awkward or unsure of what to say when he's around this girl, whoever she might be.

At a place like this bar, it's not common for girls as attractive as she is to approach guys, especially guys like him, and strike up a discussion with them. I have no idea where they have gone.

She adds, "Hm, that's weird," while also waggling her brow and smiling as though she is aware of something that he is not.

"Well, wouldn't mind some company, would you?" Before he has even had a chance to respond, she has already pulled up the seat across from him, and she smiles even larger as she takes her seat and looks directly at him.

"Just so you know, my name is Christine." She gestures toward him by extending her hand and, before he can give his own name, she interrupts him by saying, "What's your name?"

"I just moved here recently. I just arrived here today from Los Angeles, and I thought that this would be a nice spot to meet people because it's so new. And up to this point, it's been..." She gives the impression of looking over her shoulder at someone in particular before shrugging it off and saying, "Oh well. But you seem fine. Where do you suppose all of your friends have gone, then?"

It is a bit disorienting to keep up with her pace as she moves from one topic to another so quickly, something that is not at all helped by the beer that he has been drinking, but rather than worrying too much about it, he just sticks with the simple points and goes with the most recent thing that she said.

"I really have no idea. Perhaps should have gone to use the restroom. Perhaps to try and pick up a girl whom they had seen. It's strange because they don't typically all leave at the same time." He looked around one more time, but it appeared that his friends were nowhere to be found. "But hey, Christine. I hope you like it here."

She waved her hand in the direction of a waitress and said, "Psh, don't worry about them."

"Could we get some leg spreaders? " she requests, before turning to him with a smile and saying, "I guarantee that the drinks will be on me. Do you like leg spreaders?" She continued by leaning in even more and saying, "The drink, or the kind of girl."