Work Hard, Love Harder

It was probably foolish to give a stranger access to it, but truth be told it was only a driver’s license and his black AmEx – and a whole lot of cash.

Zoe hopped off the stool and followed him as he went to the wall to select a stick; he explained all about the importance of choosing one that was a correct height and making sure the felt was still intact. She listened studiously, smiling sweetly every time he looked at her to be sure she was understanding, and he looked at her a lot.

“Okay, I’m probably going to do the break, but go ahead and wrack ‘em up like I taught you,” he said while gesturing to the balls on the green table.

He watched her as her deft fingers ordered the balls correctly and quickly. “You’re a fast learner – a natural for sure.” Fergus winked at her and she agreed.

“That’s what my mom always said though she’d not be too pleased to see me around here.”

Her voice washed over him every time she spoke, and he lined up the white ball on the other side of the table, trying to concentrate on the break.

The balls collided with a sharp clinking noise, scattering a fairly good distance – he was glad he hadn’t lost much of his touch since he played last.

She stumbled on the first few attempts at pocketing the right balls – she had taken stripes, and Fergus was taking it easy on her – she was just too cute to completely annihilate immediately. He wanted this to drag on.

As he stared off imagining her lips on his, he heard the snap of a clean shot and looked over to see that Zoe had sunk two balls in one stroke and was bouncing up and down, squealing.

“Oh my god! Go me!” 

“Wow! Beginner’s luck is for real,” Fergus said, noting how adorable she was with that grin on her face.

Apparently, beginner’s luck held out for almost the entire game, and Fergus had 4 balls left while Zoe only had the black eight ball.

“Wow, this is pretty easy,” she said with surprise in her tone.

“Like I said, you’re a natural,” Fergus countered with false brightness; he was beginning to think it was increasingly unlikely that he would be getting that kiss from her tonight.

He was a little more devious in his next stroke, deliberately blocking her next move from having a chance at sinking the eight ball. He watched her pout as she walked around the table, making a big show of checking the angles. Fergus looked around and saw that most of the people were watching them – including the bartender, who had a smirk on his face for some reason.

“Are you sure you haven’t been here before?” he asked tentatively.

She shook her head. “No way. This is a bad part of town, I just got kind of got lost on my way to the main street and then…well, I found you.”

He returned the smile she gave him and felt reassured.

Fergus watched her place her left hand on the table gently, fingers barely brushing it as she brought her stick and angled it. He was going to open his mouth to point out that she wasn’t even pointing in the direction of the eight ball when she snapped it back and hit the white ball at an angle.

The ball spun sharply, and as it hit the edge, it snapped through the four other balls, hitting the eight ball on the side, causing it to spin and land directly into the pocket.

There was a dead silence as Fergus gaped at the table until a voice spoke in his ear, her lips touching it. “I guess I’m not just a dumb blonde after all, am I, Fergus McShane?”

He felt her walk away to the bar, likely to collect her winnings, and all Fergus could do was blink slowly in shock.

“Aw, don’t worry boy,” one of the patrons said. “She gets everyone the first time around.”

There was laughter, and it finally snapped him out of it and he spun around to her. “You hustled me!”

She stopped counting the hundred dollar bills that the bartender had pulled from Fergus’ wallet to quirk her head to the side. “It’s entirely possible, but what I do know is that I am now eight hundred dollars richer. Thanks, lover boy.”

He walked up to her slowly. “You lied to me.”

“You were an easy mark, Mr. McShane,” she said, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

He smiled at her despite himself. “What are you doing this Friday night?” he asked, surprising himself with the question.

Tilting her head she joked, “Trying to get that kiss anyways, Fergus?”

“Maybe, but mostly it’s that you charmed me from the moment you walked in. And I don’t think it was all an act, Zoe Isabella. Please go out with me, just give me one chance.”

She stared at him, trying to decide if he was serious.

“Oh, just go out with him, honey. Maybe you can teach him a thing or two about how to handle a cue stick,” one of the patrons yelled loudly, making everyone around them laugh.

She flushed bright red and he brushed her face with the back of his hand. “See? It wasn’t all a game.”

Zoe just smiled and nodded. “Yes, I will go out with you on Friday – but at some point we’re going to have to actually teach you how to play pool because…honestly, that was embarrassing.”

Zoe walked out with her winnings and disappeared into the night. It wasn’t until he was leaving the bar himself that he realized that they hadn’t exchanged any contact information.