Elliot - Chapter 12

My arm was wrapped around Elli’s waist as we entered the party to see a proliferation of men, ranging in age from mid-twenties to early fifties. Elli and I went over to the bar to get drinks.
I’ve only had alcohol a few times in my life, like when my parents give me wine at their conventions and Christmas parties, but all those times it’s only been a sip.
“What would you kids like?” the bartender asked us.
Elli opened her little black purse and dug around inside it for money. “I’ll have a …” she looked up at the menu. “Get me a Green Mountain.”
“And you?” he turned his attention to me.
“Uh,” Oh God, I know nothing about alcohol at all…I thought to myself. Okay, I’ll just get a beer… “Can I have a beer? Corona?” My father drinks Corona beer, so I figured there was nothing wrong with me following suit.
“Okay. One Green Mountain, one Corona, coming up shortly.” He told us.
Elli turned around, leaning her back on the bar. I rested my elbow on the bar.
“You drink Corona?” she asked me.
“Uh, yeah, when I can, yeah.” I let out a nervous laugh. I just didn’t want to seem like I was in desperate need of a copy of Alcohol For Dummies.
When the bartender had served us our drinks, two men came over to talk to us. One of them was Jack, wearing a grey suit and shiny black shoes, his dark brown hair stuck to his round head. The other I didn’t recognise at all, but he was a lot younger, and his dark blonde hair was straight and pointed forward, framing his face.
“Ah, Elliot,” Jack said.
Elli forced a smile and spoke through gritted teeth. “Hi, Jack.”
“You remember Lawrence?” he asked her, gesturing to the younger guy next to him.
Elli kept the forced smile. “How could I forget?”
Lawrence outstretched his hand. Elli put her bag under the arm that was holding the drink and shook hands with him. “How’ve you been?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “Same old, same old.”
“Ah, yes, I know how it is.” He laughed.
Elli forced a smile.
“This is Connor,” she said, gesturing to me. “He’s my date.”
They both looked me up and down, but neither offered his hand. I nodded in greeting.
Jack turned his attention back to Elli. “Well, we have to go meet with Penelope now; she’s the representative from Financial Review. We’ll catch up with you later, won’t we, Lawrence?”
Lawrence nodded, and winked at Elli.
The second they turned their backs to leave, Elli let out a relieved sigh.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“No!” she whined. “Don’t you get it?”
“Er, kind of.” She stared at me. “Okay, not really,” I admitted. In hindsight, I seemed so socially inept.
“Jack’s trying to set me up with that loser! Ugh!” She drained her Green Mountain and turned back to the bar. “Another one of these, please.”
She turned back to me. “Lawrence’s dad owns the diamond company that Jack wants to advertise for,” she explained. “And Jack’s competitor’s currently beating him, but if I go out with Lawrence then Jack will definitely get the pitch. And that’s all he’s after.”
I don’t know how many beers I went through before the room started to spin and the minutes turned into seconds. Everything started to blur together, but I distinctly remember Lawrence and Elli talking in a corner. I have no idea what he said to her, but he put his hand on her waist, and she jerked herself away and rushed over to me.
She touched my arm. “Connor,” she whispered, “let’s get out of here, please?”
I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”