griffin bites back a smile when lorrie laughs. it’s his favorite sound. he busies himself by reaching to pull one glass heineken bottle from his back pocket, and a second from the opposite one. at social gatherings, he kept himself prepared, grabbing greedily from the cooler. never one to know when enough is enough, he even drinks in excess — always chasing a greater drunkenness; more fun, enhanced delirium. most of the time he just ends up sick. in the present moment, he offers one up to her, cricking the cap of the other with his canine tooth. he spits it out and takes a swig.
his brows flash upward as she announces that she’s broke, wiping chin dribble away with the back of his hand. he’d tipped the bottle back too far. “i’m also flat broke,” he tells her, “been flat broke and will probably always be flat broke, so, welcome to the club.” he holds the bottle up as to cheers. “that’s cool. good luck with all of that. with the job searching, and stuff. make sure you log out before you creep on anyone’s linkedin profile. that’s a lesson i learned the hard way.” he drains the beer he’s only just opened, wanting nothing more than to drown the uncomfortable feeling deep in his gut. numb the anxiety from seeing the love of his miserable life there in the flesh. “i’m up to the same old, same old. pizza delivery. finishing up my degree. being something of a local celebrity on twitter. y’know.”
lorrie hated that she thought griffin opening the heineken bottle with his teeth was hot. she accepted the beer, but didn’t open it, letting the bottle warm between her hands. “you’re gonna crack your tooth,” she muttered, staring at the ground. “and then what will your dentist think of you.” her joke delivery was garbage, too nervous to make it good. now that it was setting in, that griffin was here in the flesh, lorrie felt her stomach flopping like a fish on the deck.
she physically cringed at the mention of linkedin. god, if she never had to look at that website again, she’d die happy. of course, lorrie took note at the speed with which griffin was drinking, and then shoved that aside. “so you’re the pizza guy now, huh?” she asked, trying to make something resembling conversation. “i’ll have to remember that the next time i order a pie.” since her initial reaction was to avoid ordering a pizza at all fucking costs, for fear of him showing up at her front door, but she hoped that didn’t come through in her comment.
lorrie cleared her throat, adding, quickly, not looking up from her feet. “um, i… full disclosure, i’m super high right now, but if you, uh, ever wanna… talk, or whatever. um. i can give you my new number. or you can dm me on insta or twitter or, fucking, linkedin, i guess? i dunno, uh.” she glanced up at griffin to gauge his reaction. “because i feel like we should capital-t talk but not when i’m…” she trailed off, gesturing vaguely to her face.
