“Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I’ve got my girls coming every single day.” Flipping her hair over her shoulder without her hands, Tiffany pulls a smile that is designed to taunt.

“Coming, huh.” Yuri chirps, wearing her classic slanted smile that is responsible for knocking perfect sense out of people who get an eyeful of it.

“Yeah. Coming.” Tiffany rolls her eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Yul. I’m not one of your poor victims.”

“Victims? You make me sound like a serial killer.”

“Well, aren’t you? I’m surprised they haven’t put you behind bars yet. The innocent public needs to be protected from you.”

“Hey, hey, you should be saying the innocent public needs to be educated by me,” Yuri quips, waggling her elegantly shaped brows. “Speaking of which, I think someone who needs a little education just stepped in.”

Tiffany turns, following Yuri’s head jerk and spots the girl she is talking about. It is easy to tell because this girl looks out of place. She lacks the assuredness that most of the regulars carry. And on top of that, she is alone. No partner to lean on. No friend to blend in with. Something about that face strikes her as familiar, however. Where has she seen the girl before? In here? If so, when was that?

“She’s pretty,” Yuri comments. “Interested?”

Tiffany shrugs. “Maybe.”

“Oh, come on. You ended things with her a month ago. That’s too long to stay celibate.”

“You know I haven’t been celibate.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Look at her. Just look at her. Half the people in here are checking her out. You have to rescue her. Or I will.”

“I’ll call Beefy if you do.”

“Ah . . . so you do want her to yourself.”

“God, Yul, you’re making a huge fuss over a girl who just stepped in. Go ahead, chat her up if you want.”

“Alright, fine. I won’t tease you anymore tonight.” Yuri taps the bar. “I’m bored. Let’s sink some pots.”

“Sure.” Tiffany struts to the pool table in her chilli-red -me-heels and selects a cue stick from the rack. She chalks it, blows and swings her head so her hair flips over her shoulder again. As she does that, she catches a glimpse of the girl heading to the bar. She likes the lengthy black hair falling in big waves down her back. The punky black top and classy shimmering bottoms. The safe black stilettos aren’t screaming -me but they are y enough. But what she likes most is perhaps the porcelain fair skin. Fair to the point of bordering on Snow White level, the girl has a glow that few other people have. And her eyes. Enhanced by eyeliner and mascara but they should be beautiful even if—

“Earth to Venus, I repeat, Earth to Venus . . .” Yuri’s smirk tells Tiffany in no uncertain terms that she knows exactly who Tiffany was looking at.

“Earthworm you mean,” Tiffany quips as she bends to take aim.

“Are we really friends?”

“No.”

“Oh, really? So what are we then?”

“Rivals who decided not to kill each other.” Tiffany lines up her shot and takes it with confidence. Only, her white cue ball ends up potting itself too. “.”

Yuri picks up the cue ball and lines it up behind a solid green. “I wanna bet something on this game.” The solid green clunks into the corner pot and Yuri straightens up with a grin.

“No more exotic bank-account-robbing brands of coffee beans,” Tiffany is quick to say.

“You really don’t give me enough credit, Fanya. I was only gonna bet on the girl.”

“You’re obsessed with her.”

“For you.”

“Why are you so insistent that I get with her?” Tiffany grins when Yuri misses her next shot. “It’s not like I’m in depression or anything.”

“I know you better than you know yourself and I know you aren’t not open to honest-to-god dating. That’s not good, you know.”

“So why this girl?”

“Because—she doesn’t belong here.”

The striped green narrowly misses the pot and Tiffany huffs in frustration. Her game is off-form today. “Okay, tell you what. I’ll go over. But you owe me a favour.”

Yuri’s grin is jubilant. “So long as the favour doesn’t land me in jail or bankruptcy, you’re on.”

Tiffany replaces her cue stick on the rack and goes over to the girl who is currently shrinking away from a man who has his hand on her shoulder. “Hey babe,” she says, sliding her hand across the girl’s shoulders, conveniently brushing off the man’s as she claims the entire length with her arm. “Is he a friend?” she asks, sending the middle-aged looking man a stern glare.

The girl is staring at her in surprise but she manages to answer, “No, he’s not.”

“I see. In that case, it’s girl talk time. Find somebody else, this girl is with me.”

“Sure, have a good evening,” says the man as he ups and leaves.

Tiffany smiles at the stunned girl. “You’re welcome. The name’s T—”

“Tiffany. I know,” the girl interjects, much to Tiffany’s surprise.

“How did you know?”

“You told me your name the last time we met.”

“The last time we met? When did we meet?”

“Here? A couple months back?” The girl shifts and looks away, shy like a young girl in an awkward situation. “You—sorta—kissed me.”

“I sorta kissed you?”

The girl clears . “Do you remember the girl who came to you asking for a hug?”

A light bulb goes off suddenly. “You’re that girl. No wonder I found you familiar.” Tiffany’s grin grows wider now that she has placed this girl’s face. “So what’s your name?”

“Taeyeon.”

“Taeyeon. Nice name.”

“Thanks.”

“So why are you here today? Why did you come here without your friends?”

“A date stood me up so I wandered around and ended up in here.”

“A date stood you up. Seriously? Which human being would be crazy enough to miss out on a date with you?”

Taeyeon blushes and it is contrasted against the rest of her fair skin. “It’s someone at work and he was asked to cover somebody else’s shift last minute.”

“Steady boyfriend?”

Taeyeon shakes her head. “I’m not in a relationship right now.”

“Well, one man’s misfortune is another woman’s windfall.”

Taeyeon giggles and blushes again. “Don’t tease.”

“I’m not teasing. I’m flirting.”

The smile on Taeyeon’s face is wiped out. “Oh . . .”

“Are you open to flirting with girls?” Tiffany watches with interest as those big, brown eyes go on a rapid blinking spree.

“Er . . .”

“That’s a better answer than a straight no, so the flirting shall continue.”

“I . . .”

“Hey, Tiff.”

Tiffany whips around and almost groans out loud. Damn it. She forgot all about the girl she had coming tonight. “Hey Lin.”

“Busy?” Lin enquires, eyes darting to Taeyeon and back.

“Kinda. Yul’s over at the pool tables. Join her for a while? I’ll scoot over after.”

Lin grins. “Sure.”

“You don’t have to entertain me if you already have plans with someone,” says Taeyeon after Lin has left.

“I’m not entertaining you. And Lin, she’s a regular. It’s not like a date date.”

“What do you mean by regular?” Taeyeon’s wide open, innocent eyes are simply too alluring for their own good.

“Do you not know what bar this is?” Tiffany asks with an air of amusement. This cute girl is getting cuter by the second.

“It’s called Pot Shot . . . and you can shoot pots while drinking? I dunno . . .”

“Sweetie, this is a rainbow bar.”

“A rainbow bar? What—”

“It means the people who are in here aren’t necessarily straight.”

“Oh . . .”

“I’m biual, in case you’re wondering.”

“Biual . . . so you date—”

“Both men and women, yeah.”

“Oh . . .”

Tiffany grins and takes a slow sip of Taeyeon’s lychee martini. “So, are you open to choices or do you eat strictly from one plate.”

“Er . . . I . . .”

“I love how you can’t answer me straight. That means I might just stand a chance.” Tiffany places the martini glass on Taeyeon’s lips. “Drink up.” Bewildered eyes stare back at her but those pink lips part and Taeyeon allows Tiffany to feed her the martini. After two sips of it, Tiffany takes it away and empties it herself. “Consider that my entertainment fee,” she says, tongue-in-cheek. Taking Taeyeon’s hand in hers, she gets off the bar stool and flashes a smile. “Come, let’s have a date with my friends.

X