Fighting for Arielle by Karina Sharp

nervous habits die hard.  
    “That’s so sweet of you!” she gushes. “Sit down.  Stay awhile.”  She gestures to the chair to her right.
    As I sit, I look over to her blonde friend who is shifting her eyes back and forth between Marta and me.  Putting out my hand, I introduce myself to her.  “Hi, I’m Mick.”
    Her eyes grow wider, she smiles as if she knows something I don’t, and introduces herself. “I’m Macy.  Nice to meet you, Mick.”
    “Mick and Macy,” Marta interrupts, “That sounds like the perfect title to a sitcom.  ‘Mick and Macy fight crime and fight the urge to deliver dialog other than awful one-liners,’” she says, lowering her voice as if she were a voice-over on a commercial.
    I laugh as I find her impression delightful.  I add, “Mick, Macy, and Marta.  M & M & M.”
    Macy furrows her brow, looking to Marta in confusion. “Who-”
    Marta interrupts Macy by leaning in and whispering something which, judging by the look on Macy’s face, must be amusing.  Macy smiles wide and sits up a little straighter.  Being the logical man that I am, and having spent a good amount of time interviewing people in my day, I can tell Marta just informed her friend Macy about her stage name.  I make it my goal to find out her real name tonight, but continue to play along with the stage name.
    “So, how long have you known my friend Marta here?” Macy asks.  She leans over the table, and if I were to move my gaze down just a little, I would be able to see down her dress to her cleavage, but I remain on my best behavior.  Macy looks at me with a devious grin.  I match her body position, keeping my eyes locked on hers.  
    “We go waaay back. ”
    Macy raises a suspicious eyebrow, moves her eyes over to Marta, then back to me as she smirks.  “I bet you do.”
    Marta, having been silent but smiling this whole time , speaks.  “Soooo…what brings you to this fine establishment, Mick?”
    With ease, I disconnect my gaze from Macy’s and return it to Marta’s deep, green eyes.  
    “Have you not been receiving my letters?  I’m stalking you.”
    Marta smiles at me .  Without missing a beat, she has a rebuttal.  
    “I must have missed that memo.  Well, you’re not a very good stalker if I haven’t received your letters containing cryptic messages made from letters clipped from magazines.”
    I sit up, angling my body more toward the hot brunette to my left.  
    “My apologies.  I am new to this stalking thing.” I shake my head as if in shame.  
    Marta shakes her head slowly, feigning disappointment, and presses her lips together.  “Perhaps you should find a new line of work.”
    “There goes my plan for a good nest egg,” I say in quick succession.  
    Remembering the original question, I answer, “Actually one of my buddies is transferring off of the island next week, so we are out celebrating and bidding him farewell.”
    Marta steals a sip from her glass sitting on the table.  “That’s awesome.  Don’t let me keep you from them.”
    I look over to the guys who are looking back at me with questioning looks on their faces and wave them off.  “Oh, they’ll be fine without me for a little bit.  Plus, I’m one less person to buy for when someone buys a round.  Speaking of, can I get you ladies a drink?”
    Marta answers quickly, but sweetly.  “Sure, I’ll have a Jager bomb and she’ll have a Jack and Coke.”
    I rise out of my chair to go to the bar.  “Consider it done.”
    Marta t ouches the back of my arm.  Her hand is actually quite cold, but the sensation of her touch is warm and exhilarating, just as it was last weekend.  
    “Hey, tell your buddies to come over here,” she says as she moves her hand away to her drink.  “The more the merrier, I always say.”
    I feel both relieved and happy that she wants me to spend more time with her, but I wonder if she’s just being polite.  I don’t let myself dwell on that for long though.