“Here you are, sir. I will notify Mr. Williams that you’re here.”
“Thank you, Philip.” Henry pulled a hundred out of his pocket and palmed it to him. He loved to take care of Philip since he had put up with his drunkenness more times than he would care to admit. And, as he pocketed the cash, Philip knew it would be another one of those nights.
“Thank you, sir.” Philip shuffled off.
Henry sat back in the posh chair and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He pulled up Elaina’s contact picture. He rubbed his thumb over her face, and felt that lump in his throat come back.
“Damn it, woman.” He opened the gallery app and started thumbing through the pictures. There were so many of them together, and a few of her alone.
“Henry Daniels!” He was startled by Cam’s booming voice, and the firm hand he laid on his shoulder. “Sorry, bossman. Everything alright?”
“Ah, yeah. Yeah.” He shut the screen off on his phone.
“Where’s that fox at?” Henry’s chuckle was laced with sadness. “Oh, I see.”
“We had a major fight this morning, and she said she needed some space.”
Cam sat down across from him. “I can see this is weighing heavy on you, my friend.”
Henry nodded. “Yeah. She’s amazing. We’re just not seeing eye-to-eye on a few things.”
“I’ve been there.”
Henry looked up at Cam. “I love her. I have never loved anyone like this before.” Henry cleared his throat, worried that he would make a fool out of himself and burst into tears right there in front of Cam. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be bringing up my personal business.”
“I never mind listening to you, Daniels.” Cam stood up and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m going to go get you the good stuff.” He walked away toward the back of the bar. Henry rubbed his eyes and sat there for a moment with his face in his hands.
He felt gutted. He felt empty. He felt alone. He didn’t want to exist without Elaina. Henry heard the distinctive click of high heels coming up behind him, and he grumbled to himself.
“Well, hello, handsome.” He felt a gentle hand move across his wide shoulders. He shut and rolled his eyes at the same time. “You alone tonight?” He looked up at her, and she sat down across from him. Henry stared at her. She was cute, but she didn’t compare to his Elaina. No one did. Sparkly dress, deep cleavage or not, he wasn’t interested.
She gasped when she saw the sparkle of his emerald-colored eyes.
“You’re eyes… They are gorgeous.” They were like a drug to women. Times like those made him want to gouge his eyes out or, the very least, wear sunglasses all the time, making him look like a pompous ass.
“I’m not interested,” he muttered, and she chuckled.
“Not into women?”
“Uh, yeah, I am. Very much so. As a matter of fact, I will show you.” He pulled up his gallery, and scrolled through the pictures of him and Elaina and found one of them kissing. “This is my girlfriend. We are fighting right now, and I came to the bar to have a few drinks to sort out my thoughts…alone.”
“Right. Well, I’ll leave you be then. But just so you know, every woman’s jaw hit the floor when you walked in.”
“Yeah. Great, thanks. I don’t fucking care.” He rolled his eyes. Before he met Elaina, he probably would have taken one or two of the women out back and fucked them both. He wasn’t a stranger to that scene. But not anymore. He only wanted one woman.
“Well, if you change your mind, handsome, I will be more than happy to show you a good time.”
“I’m pretty sure he won’t.” The woman glared at Cam as she rose from the chair. He chuckled as he set down two glasses and a bottle of the best whiskey he had. It was from his personal stash. “Women drop their panties when you walk past them. You need to teach me that trick.”
Henry looked up at Cam. He pegged him at about forty-five. He had thinning hair, a small potbelly, and a few scars on his face, presumably from bar fights before he opened Cam’s. He wore the face of a man who had lived a hard life.
“Yeah, it’s fucking great.”
“Talk to me, my friend,” Cam said, as he sat down and poured the whiskey.
“Not much to tell. She’s pissed that I haven’t had her over to my place yet.” Then Henry started rambling. “The night I brought her in here, that was our first real date. She invited me back to her apartment, and she fucked my brains out. I have been hooked ever since.”
“A little bit of pussy can do that to a man.”