I wave my arms and call out to the bartender, but she pretends she can’t see me. It happens every time I come to this bar, which is too often considering the quality of service.But this place is not my choice. I prefer the pub down the street. I never win the argument. Instead, I just wave my arms like a lunatic in hopes of getting a drink. 

A hand on my shoulder gets me to stop. 

“Hey, Jay. Sorry, I’m late.”

Amir is always late. He can afford to be. He was born handsome which gets him all kinds of benefits. A good job. Endless women throwing themselves at him. No expectations. 

The bartender comes over as Amir sits down. 

“Can I get you anything?” She says with a glowing smile. She’s so focused on Amir that I feel like the third wheel. 

He puts two fingers up and she knows what to get. We get the same thing every time we’re here. She’s served us so many times that she should just expect us. It’s a game she plays with Amir. One that excludes me. She wants that moment of Amir’s attention, even if it’s just to get our order. 

“How’s it been going, buddy?” He asks, clapping my back. “Everything good at work?” 

“It’s been good. We had a going-away party for Penelope. She had that Zero-G-Fit treatment thing. She looks incredible.” 

“Yeah? I don’t know. I don’t trust that stuff.” 

“Neither did I, but you should see her. Everyone was climbing over each other to win her attention. It was something else.” 

“It sounds too good to be true. People don’t get treated like that just because they’ve lost a few pounds.” 

The bartender returns with our drinks. She puts the glasses down with a flirty lick of the lips at Amir, who doesn’t break his gaze from me. He just grabs his drink and holds it out until I clink mine to his. 

“You wouldn’t get it,” I say to him, shaking my head. “It’s different for people like Penelope and me.”

“What does that mean?” 

“You have people falling all over you already. You don’t know what it’s like to be one of us regular people.” 

Amir smiles and shakes his head in a way that should be patronizing, but somehow makes me feel closer. 

“You got it all wrong.  You think I don’t feel the same way all the time? I spend a lot of money on my clothes. I spend a good hour getting ready in the morning. I’m just trying to hide a bunch of stuff. It’s not a way to live, my friend. I’m very broken.”

I appreciate what he’s trying to do, but if he’s broken then I don’t know what I am. We sip our drinks silently. I nervously fiddle with the Zero-G-Fit business card in my free hand. 

“What’s that?”

“Oh, nothing,” I say, suddenly embarrassed about it. “Penelope gave me a card for the Zero-G-Fit place she went to. I was thinking of checking it out, but I don’t know.” 

“Are you going to be a space cadet now?” He laughs, just a bit too loud.

I shrink into the barstool. I can’t look up at him. I speak into my glass instead. 

“I don’t know. I mean, you had to be there to see it for yourself.”

“People do that for women. You’re just witnessing nature.”

“It wasn’t just that. She was magnetic. People didn’t even know she was there before. Now she’s off to live some crazy adventure in Las Vegas. Everyone just wanted a piece of that.”

“Jay, you just need more confidence. When’s the last time you went on a date with a woman? We’re young and successful. Make the most of it.”

I’m not that young and being a junior analyst isn’t enough for me to feel like a resounding success. I should have never expected Amir to get it. He says he does, but it’s not the same for him. He’ll never understand.