#retrorsum

The little courtyard is a welcome reprieve from the busy chaos inside and he's sitting on one of those little flower bed brick walls as he holds a cigarette that the hasn't brought to his lips in a while as he tells the story. " - by that indoor fountain thing, and I just thought that was just some random rich lady thing, but then she found me at the bar and slipped me her number, and am I crazy? She looks hot. Like a hot grandma. Maybe I should just call her, she looks like she'd take me to a really nice dinner, like a lobster and wagyu kinda night, you know what I mean?"

"Excuse me, your chair is on my wife's dress," she barely catches the beginning of the sentence but the expectant look on the couple's face is enough to make her realise and so she stands so the chair can be moved. The older couple thank her and walk away, and Tori glances at the table. "Oh, I didn't know you were seated here," she smiles, moving towards the other and then notices they're alone for the moment at the table. "You look a bit miserable. What do we need? A drink? A dance?"

His sister had once said that he possessed the lesser known but equally hilarious sibling of the resting bitch face, and that was the resting angst face. He always just looked troubled, and he could be doing something as mundane as opening a piece of mail. But sometimes it comes with advantages, especially when he'd rather be left alone. The resting angst face conceals a little frustration as he makes his way to the bar, because now he has a feeling that the meeting that had been called that evening is not as simple as it seemed. And worst of all, he can't get sloshed. He's a man on a mission as he makes his way towards the drinks, and he's sure the person behind the bar can tell too. "After you," he says as someone approaches at the same time he does, just a little ahead of him so all he can see is the back of their head.