Chrissy sat on her stool at the diner and waited for her order to be ready to serve.  She was staring blankly at the wall and was rattling a pen in between her fingers.  Josh walked over and grabbed the pen out of her hand.

     “If you drive me insane, you’re paying for my hospital bills,” he smiled.  Chrissy glared at him and turned around with her back toward him.  Josh gave her a strange look.  “What’s your deal?” he asked as he walked in front of her.  She just glared at him again.  “Waiting for him, are you?”  Chrissy looked up at Josh.

     “Fuck him,” she said.  She turned her barstool back around and drummed her fingers on the counter.  Josh just raised his eyebrows at her and went to go clear off a table.  Thoughts were running through her head, and she couldn’t make them stop no matter how hard she tried. Why hasn’t he called? It’s been three days.  He hates me.  Yep, that’s it, he hates me.  They always end up hating you when all you do is give them what they want.  Shit, if it hadn’t been so good, if it hadn’t felt so right, maybe I wouldn’t feel so bad.  Well, fuck him.  Fuck you Alex! she thought.  Chrissy kept drumming her fingers on the counter and stared blankly at nothing in particular.

     “Ya know,” Josh said as he walked up and placed his hand on Chrissy’s.  “It’s obvious something is bothering you,” he said.  Josh gave her a small smile and looked into Chrissy’s eyes.  “What’s up Chris?”  She stared back at Josh and nodded her head.

     “I’m just in a bad mood, that’s all.  People suck.  I suck.  Oh, but most of all, MEN suck!”  Josh gave her a dissatisfied look.

    “Hey, I’m a man,” he said defensively.  Chrissy smiled.

    “Present company excluded, of course!”  Josh smiled.

    “Ya wanna talk about it?”

    “No! I just wanna get over it and forget about it,” Chrissy said.  She smiled at Josh and got up to go take an order.  Josh began wiping down the counter and was lost in his own thoughts when Chrissy came back up.

    “He hasn’t called me,” she said.  Chrissy plopped back down on the stool and rested her chin in her hands.  Josh gave her a confused look.

     “Who? Huh?”

    “Ya know, the dude that always comes in here and sits in the back booth.  The one with all the tattoos.  AJ,” she said.  Josh nodded in recognition.

     “And, he was supposed to call you because…?”  Chrissy gave Josh a look like “Duh! Why do you think?”  He gave her a dumb look and shook his head.  Chrissy sighed.

    “Dense! Dense I tell you!” she said as she got up and went to take her table their food.  Josh went and cleared off a table and came back to the counter to finish with Chrissy.  She was waiting impatiently for him back at her usual stool.

    “Okay, so he was supposed to call you and he didn’t.  He’s slime.  He’s vermin.  He’s an animal.  Right?” he said.  Chrissy rolled her eyes at him.

    “See, you think that I would think that, wouldn’t you? But, I don’t,” she said with a sigh.  She dramatically laid her head down and sighed.  Josh shook his head.

    “Chrissy, you wanna talk about it?”  Chrissy looked up at Josh and smiled at him brightly.

     “You are so good to me,” she said grinning.  She grabbed Josh and hugged him tightly around the waist.

         Chrissy and Josh sat in a booth in the back of the diner talking.  They had been there for quite some time and had both managed to finish off two packs of cigarettes.  Josh’s pack had been finished off mostly by Chrissy and her ever present “bumming” ways.

    “Okay, so, you two ended up having sex.  The next day, he says two words to you and leaves?  Man, you always pick the winners Chris!”  Chrissy glared at him and ashed her cigarette.

    “Eat me,” she said with a sarcastic tone.  She took another puff on her cigarette.   Josh stared at her.

    “So, why does it surprise you that he didn’t call?  Shouldn’t you be used to that by now?”

    “Fuck off alright.  If I wanted a lecture, I’d call my brothers,” she said.  She flicked some more ash into the ashtray.

    “Anyway, I just thought he was different.  When we talked, it always looked like he was so into what I was saying.  You see,” she said as a dreamy smile spread across her face.  “When he’s talking to you, he makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world who matters at that moment.  He looks into your eyes and takes in everything you’re saying.  You know, not a lot of guys do that,” she said as she stubbed her cigarette out.  Josh nodded and lit a cigarette.

    “So, you slept with him, he hasn’t called, and now, I presume, you hate him and are beating yourself up, right?”  Chrissy grabbed another cigarette and lit it off the previous one she had been smoking.

     “Well, not beating myself up, so to speak.  But, well, I feel stupid.  I wouldn’t have been so eager had I known he’d be a dick about it,” she said as she exhaled.  Josh smoked his cigarette and thought quietly.

    “Here’s how I see it.  You two were friends, or rather, getting to know each other, right?” Chrissy nodded.  “You slept together.  Was it something that you had planned on doing from the second you saw him?” Chrissy nodded again.  Josh looked at her in surprise.  “You wanted to fuck him the moment you saw him?  Chrissy, this is how you always get in trouble,” he said as he stubbed out his cigarette.

     “I can’t help it Josh.  He’s everything I like.  He’s dark, he’s mysterious,” she said.  Josh interrupted her, “He’s got umpteen million tattoos that look stupid…”  Chrissy shot him a death glare.
 

     “Look, you’re my friend, not my family.  And, yeah, I know, he looks like a bad boy, but he’s not, at all,” Chrissy said with a sigh.  “I just wish I knew what I’d done wrong, that’s all.”  Josh stared at her and grabbed one of her hands.

     “Well, ya know I love ya,” he said as he smiled.  Chrissy smiled back at him.  “I just think you did what you always do.  You got in over your head, thought you could trust this asshole and then, when he got what he wanted from you, he left.  He has no plans on calling you Chris.  Get over him and what happened.  He’s not worth it,” Josh said as he held tightly to Chrissy’s hand.  She sighed and pulled her hand out of his grip.  She grabbed her hair and twisted it up into a messy bun and put her head in her hands.

     “I thought we had a good time.  I thought he was more than a conquest, ya know?” Chrissy said as she looked up at Josh.  He nodded.

    “A guy, is a guy, is a guy Chris.  We’re all pretty much the same,” he said.  Chrissy sighed dramatically.

     “You suck, you know that! All of you!”

    “Yeah, but you love us.  All of us, I know you.”  Chrissy smiled and then her face became shadowed with worry.

    “Josh, what if he never talks to me again?  What if I’m just a raving sex machine who chases off all guys after fucking them?”  Josh found her worry humorous and started laughing.  She glared at him.  “Fuckface, I’m being serious.”  Josh stopped laughing.

     “Chrissy, if you’re so worried.  Stop having sex then.  Look, don’t let this AJ guy get you all upset.  He isn’t worth the time it takes to talk about him or the brain cells you lose thinking about him, so just stop.  Soon, another prince will come and sweep you off your feet, just as they always do.  Chris, screw it!”  Chrissy stared at Josh and sighed.

     “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she mumbled.  Josh grabbed her hand again.

     “I know I’m right,” he said.