Transparency in a Crowded Bar

Her lips were neon
Beacons of wonderlust
Emeralds breaking through night clouds
He wanted her
So badly
He licked imaginary lipstick from his mouth
He could feel his hands on her hips
Rolling down the curve of that barely there leopard print dress
The passerbys whispered predator
A nasty man with a sinful mind
It was clear in his eyes the ways he would try to please her
Somehow those glances missed
The way she shook herself when he looked her way
How she would glide that delicate body forward
Pressing her young breasts together while she moved in tune with the music
Hungry for the way he never failed to look for her there
Anxious for the beat of his longing
Like a dirty, pretty thing she wanted more
So every week she would come
Closer
Batting those eyelashes over mint green eyes
Throwing that golden hair around
Giggling just loud enough that he could hear the sound
And imagine…
A western mating ritual drawn from reality t.v.
Disastrous beauty magazines
Then she reached the stool where he sat
Stealing side glances and capturing them in his memory like a picture show
She leaned over, kamikaze in hand
Dusty pink lips wrapped around her bendy straw
While she sucked
Licked
Smiled
Cosmopolitan gave the execution a perfect 10
Flawless
“Aren’t you going to buy me one of those PBR’s”
She whispered, tapping her blue shoe in time to the thump of the bass drum
He motions frantically to the bar keep
But she doesn’t come
She saw the motion
The way she saw every wasted glance he gave that little toy girl
The way she remembered the shirts he wore in every week
The way she cradled his voice in her mind after the night ended
And it was time to bid the drunks goodbye
In time she walked over, footsteps heavy on the checkered floor
“One more?”
“Make it two”
It isn’t quite a smile, but she manages something while she grabs the cans
And when he didn’t leave alone she knew
It wasn’t going to be one more heart broken tonight
The dirty, pretty thing was sure to make it two.