Gregory’s walked the line steadily between dive and family restaurant. It was well kept with red wallpaper and split into a restaurant on the right hand side and the bar on the left. They were equal in size given that it was the largest bar in town as opposed to the true dive bar and the higher end bar up on the hill. The walls were a deep red and the floors were a dark brown. In the restaurant there were booths and tables and it served American bar food. That food could also be brought into the bar if you wanted to experience it standing up for the most part. Unsurprisingly the bar on the left hand side was far stickier than the right no matter how much they cleaned.

A young woman stepped into the room wearing a short dark blue dress and black heels. She had tanned skin and her hair was long, curly and blonde. She stopped at the hostess’ stand and then made a left into the bar. The reaction was one of wonder as the woman walked into the bar. She was stunning. People got a good look at her and if they were sensible went back to their drinks. Three men started talking about which one of them would approach her when she walked across the bar to man sitting in one of the booths. The man was looking at his phone.

“Hi,” she said to him and he looked up from his phone.

He was a handsome young man about her age of twenty-six with stubble dotting his face and his hair a light brown. He looked at her through a pair of thick glasses. He was dressed simply in a buttoned down shirt and jeans.

“Oh, hello,” he said.

“I was wondering if you wanted to share a drink?” she said.

The man looked at her and went to run his hand through his hair. He had been sitting with his right side facing her so when he brought up his left hand up, she saw the flash of a gold ring on his hand.

“Uh, I’m willing to have one platonically,” he said. “I’m married.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’m just new in town and I thought you looked cute. I’ll leave you be.”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m more than willing to make a new friend.”

She slid into the booth opposite him. The waitress, a young white woman named Samantha walked up to her and the blonde woman ordered a Manhattan.

“So, what’s your name?” the man asked her.

“Bianca,” she replied. “Yours?”

“David,” he said and offered his hand for a friendly shake.

The two shook jovially and Bianca let out a sigh.

“Of course the first guy I hit on as a single lady would be married,” Bianca sighed.

“I want to say that I’m flattered but I’m so married and happy that nothing would ever happen,” David said.

“Is your wife at home?”

“Yeah, she’s getting off of work a bit later than me plus she’s pregnant so it takes a bit of time for her to get here.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your date night.”

“Well, it’s not interrupted yet, I wouldn’t even call it a date night. We don’t have kids yet, so it’s just us being social while we still can.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“We’re often joined by friends who happen to come to the bar. Let me just call her.”

David’s wife was getting changed when she got the call from him. She had been staring at her stomach in the mirror, running her hands over it. She smiled at the prospect of her future daughter. Her black hair was tied in a loose ponytail. She had started dressing even more so for comfort than before. She unabashedly stuck her feet into a pair dark blue crocs to finish getting ready.

She looked at her phone and saw the call coming in from her husband.

“Hey, honey, I’ll be there in a little bit, just gotta waddle my way down the street,” she said.

“Hey, Marissa,” David replied. “I made a new friend named Bianca. She just wants to make sure that she’s good to hang out with us.”

“Why would she worry about that?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll be there in a bit. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

She started her waddle and as she did, she got a text from her friend, Ajanta.

Ajanta Looks like David is stepping out on you.

She knew that Ajanta was half joking. She had always liked David but she had always been protective of Marissa. She had included a picture that it seemed like Ajanta had taken in secret. Marissa had to note that Bianca was hot as hell. She also knew her husband.

Marissa: Yeah, I know. He told me that they were having a drink together. Want to join us?

Ajanta: Sure, I’m already here and I want to see what her deal is.

Marissa shrugged and kept walking.

David saw Marissa come into the bar and him and Bianca stood up when they saw her. Ajanta joined up with her as she stepped in, giving her a quick hug and the two walked to the table. Ajanta was an Indian woman with long black hair and an athletic figure.

“Hello,” Marissa said to Bianca. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too, please sit down,” Bianca said. “Wait, I’m sorry, it makes more sense for me to get in first so that you can look at your husband.”

“Oh, I’d like that to do that.”

“Let me get in the booth and you can get off your feet. Those are cute crocs.”

“Thanks,” Marissa said noting that she sounded sincere when she said it.

Bianca pushed farther into the booth and Marissa slid in next to her. Ajanta followed on the opposite side before David sat next to her. They ordered their drinks and Marissa ordered food. Some mozzarella sticks and chicken wings.

“How far along are you?” Bianca asked.

“I’m about six months,” Marissa answered.

“Entering the home stretch.”

“My stretch marks be stretching.”

“So, Bianca,” Ajanta intercut. “What brings you to town?”

“I just moved here,” Bianca responded. “I, uh, got divorced.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine. He was… he was cheating on me.”

“Sounds like a scumbag,” Marissa said.

“He was. He kept some pretty garbage opinions hidden for a long time. Along with his affairs.”

“Multiple?” Ajanta asked.

“Yeah,” Bianca sighed.

“Where did he find the time?”

“Oh, that was the other thing, he had quit his job and was pretending to work and taking money from his parents.”

“What a loser.”

“Yeah, I know how to pick ’em.”

“You can’t tell what a dude is going to be like after years,” David said. “You just try and hope for the best.”

“Thanks,” Bianca said.

“What’re you going to do while you’re here?” Ajanta asked.

“I’m a lawyer, I got a job at one of the local firms. But I’ve been talking about myself for a while. What about the rest of you?”

They started talking about their various professions for a long time and the drinks started flowing among them. Marissa kept to her water but chomped down on her food when it arrived. By the time she was done, everyone else was a little bit tipsy. David got up and left for the bathroom. The women watched him leave.

“I have to admit something to you,” Bianca slurred.

“What’s up?” Marissa asked.

“I have to admit that I talked to your husband because I wanted to hit on him.”

“I knew it!” Ajanta said pointing.

“I’m sorry. But he was like I’m so in love with my wife. I just wanted to be honest because you’ve been so nice to me. And now that I know he’s married, it’s hands off.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Marissa said. “I know he’s hot to trot.”

“Yeah,” Ajanta said. “I thought you were scummy too. I sent Marissa a text, being all like, look at this Jezabel with your husband. But you’re so sweet.”

“My name’s not Jezabel, it’s Bianca,” Bianca said.

“Sorry.”

“But you don’t have to worry about that. I get it. A lot of people think that I’m making moves on their men.”

“It’s probably because of how hot you are.”

“You are very beautiful,” Marissa said. “You’ve raised the average hotness of this town by several points.”

“You two are so pretty too,” Bianca said. “Like your tummy is the only fat part of you.”

“Thanks, I do yoga and go for runs. Well, I used to do those things but the little one gets in the way. When I’m healed up do you want to join me?”

“I can?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“We can be friends? Even though I hit on your husband?”

“Sure, you haven’t been weird and I feel like the fact your inhibitions are down and your main focus is telling me that you’re not going to hit on my man means a lot.”

“Yeah, let’s be friends,” Ajanta said.

“I’m so happy. Thank you,” Bianca said.

The three women tried to hug each other but the table got in the way. When David got back, he saw the strange tableau before him. He offered to take a picture of the girls and picked up his phone off the table. The girls smiled as he snapped several pics of them.

At that point, they decided to call it a night as it was getting late. Marissa and David walked their friends back to the house and then Marissa drove them home. She sang along to “Shiny, Happy People” on her way home.