Take your time

"Excuse me. Can I buy you a drink?"

Angela glared up at the strange man who had come up to her. He didn't look like the usual bar goer looking to pick up chicks, dressed in simple jeans and a dark grey t-shirt. All the same, his intentions were very clear to her. "I don't drink," she spat venomously.

Undeterred, the man sat down next to her. "A bar seems like a bad place to go if you're not someone who drinks," he replied calmly. "Unless of course you're the designated driver, in which case I would think you would be out having fun with your friends, rather than sitting alone at a table off in the corner."

The man's calm demeanor and refusal to take a hint only served to irritate Angela more. She scooted as far away from the man as her seat would let her, backing herself into the wall. Abruptly she realized that if she wanted to run, she had no way of doing so. She was cornered. "What do you want from me?" she demanded, unable to keep the nervousness entirely out of her voice.

The man made no movement to get closer to her after he sat down, but he also didn't take his eyes off of her. "I just want to take some of your time," he said.

Angela blinked and looked at him, confused. "What does that even mean?" she asked.

"This isn't the first time I've seen you in this bar," he began to explain.

"Have you been stalking me, you creep?" Angela accused angrily.

The man shook his head and held his hands up to appease her. "I have not, honestly," he replied. "I don't drink either. My friends know that, so they know they can rely on me to be a designated driver, and frequently ask of me to do so. While they're drinking, I have a habit of letting my eyes wander, and I've seen you several times, sometimes with friends, sometimes over here alone." Angela averted her eyes from the man as he explained himself, not wanting to acknowledge that this was not, in fact, the first time she had been here alone.

"It got me curious," the man continued, "as to why a pretty lady like yourself, who I have not, now that I think about it, seen drinking here, would be doing in a place like this by herself. I've seen you shoot away the drunk assholes who want to get in your pants, so you're not here to get hit on. You don't drink, so you're not here to forget. It's not particularly quiet or peaceful in here. I don't get it."

Angela looked down at her hands and twirled her fingers, unsure of how she wanted to respond. This wasn't the kind of fare she was used to receiving when she was in the bar. Hesitating, she slowly answered him. "I... I don't really know. My friends drag me here sometimes, but I don't drink, and I don't really enjoy it here. But I keep coming back, cause I feel like there must be something that I'm missing. People come here to relax, right? I want to relax, too, but I just don't get it."

The man smiled gently, but just then the bell over the door rang, and he looked up to see a group of ladies entering the bar. He pulled a small piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket, and began writing on it. "Listen. I don't want to impose. I'm not trying to hit on you. I don't want to make you feel like I'm trying to take something from you, or that I'm taking you away from something else. Those are your friends walking in, I recognize them, and they're probably gonna think I'm some creep and chase me away, so I'll go on my way. But take this." The man stood and held out the piece of paper, which Angela slowly took from him. She glanced down at it to see a name and a phone number. She looked back up at him, confused, and he smiled back at her. "I'm not trying to change your mind. I don't have to make you love me. I just want to take your time."

With that, the man left, and was soon replaced by Angela's friends, who gathered around and questioned her about the man who had just been there. Their questions buzzed around her, but she didn't truly hear any of them. She looked down at the paper again, and noticed an address was written on it as well.

"If you want my time," she whispered to herself, standing up from her seat, despite the protests of her friends, "then I'll give it to you." And with that, she followed after him.