FAIR PLAY (1)

I hadn't been to Wang Li's Sports Bar in a long time, not since my wife and I had married. She wasn't much for bars, sports, or Chinese food, so taking her to Wang's was pretty much out of the question.

But it had been 6 months since we split up and, after stumbling home from work in the middle of the night and eating whatever I could find in the freezer on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I decided I deserved a break. The project was finished and the boss told us all to take tomorrow off so this was my big night to go out and enjoy myself.

I got to Wang's at about 7:30 and asked for a table and a menu. Wang Li ran an interesting establishment. He had taken over an old sports bar and upgraded the video and sound to the cutting edge. A big projection tv with several satellite sets were the main features. He then replaced the over- priced burger-and-fries menu (which no one ever ordered anyway) with cheaper, better tasting Chinese food.

It was quirky but popular, which made it a good place for watching people. The clientele varied and was often a mix of professionals and blue collar workers.

This night the young lawyers had been replaced by a somewhat earthier group. I was sure they would supply some unintentional entertainment with my meal.
I sat at a small table off to the right side of the bar and waited for my food to arrive.

A lot of action was already in progress around me but I decided to focus on just a few of the groups. First, there was the ballgame. I wasn't interested in it but a group of four 20-something guys had loudly planted themselves in front of the projection tv and were deeply involved with the play by play.

They were also deeply involved with their second (or possibly third) pitcher of beer and were soon going to be deeply involved with passing out on the floor.
At a table in front of the bar was a group of 3 women, 2 very young and one somewhat older, who were having a lady's night out.

That was my guess at least. The collection of little umbrellas on the table said they were also feeling no pain. Opposite them at the bar were 4 guys who were also watching the ladies. They seemed to be in their late 30's or early forties which put them about 15 years older than the 2 younger women.

By the way they dressed, I guessed that the women were secretaries and the men were salesmen ( I'm pretty good at spotting a cheap suit).

When I went up to get my food from the bar, my suspicions were confirmed: the women were secretarial staff at a local law firm, the older one being the head secretary.

The number of umbrellas and cigarette butts said they had been here since leaving work and all three were dressed just a little too provocatively to have been lawyers or professional staff. The younger ones were wearing short skirts and sweater tops over moderately large (or "tissue-enhanced") C-cup breasts.

Both wore their brown hair straight and long, but one had tied hers back and pretended to ignore the guys. The other attracted extra attention every time she tossed her hair over her shoulder. She was also wearing leather boots and too much make up making her the perfect picture of an office tart.

The older woman was in her late 40's and was wearing a snug dress that accentuated her curvy figure. Her curly blond hair rested nicely on her shoulders framing her worn but still pretty face.


At least 2 of the men were discussing the car dealership they worked for in between making lewd comments about the two younger women. One guy was taller and quieter than the other 3 and was trying hard not to be noticed as he stole glances at the older secretary. I smiled to myself as I took it all in.

It was at this point that I spotted the trio on the far left. There was a 50-ish portly man who was standing at the bar, gesturing wildly as he told some sort of story to a blonde woman and a dark haired man standing next to her. The two listeners appeared to be in their 30's and were very interested in whatever the older man was saying.

I also noticed that the dark haired man was moving ever so slowly closer to the blonde as the story progressed. Every so often the blonde would become aware of his closeness and move away from him and toward the older man. I smiled at myself again. This looked like it could get interesting.

As I sat down and ate my dinner, I watched the events unfold. The group in front of the tv started to become listless until Wang himself came out and roused them. He was wise enough to call them a cab first since they were all way beyond driving. It wasn't even 9 when the cab driver showed up and carted them away.

The salesmen had started taking turns hitting on the secretaries. The girls for their part were flirting and teasing them mercilessly. The tall guy wasn't playing however.

He laughed along with the group but his focus was on the older secretary. At some point she had become aware of his attention as was occasionally locking eye contact with him. When caught he would look away.

The heavy guy from the trio had finished one story, downed a drink, ordered another, and started a new story. In the meantime the dark haired guy was trying his best to get closer to the blond. I didn't blame him; she was quite attractive. Her hair was long and slightly curled around the soft features of her face.

She was not very tall, maybe 2 or 3 inches less than my 5'8" and certainly a lot shorter than either of her 6 foot plus companions. She was thin with a modest bust size of maybe 34B. It was hard to tell since she was wearing a loose white shirt and a gray jacket-and-skirt combination that made her look very businesslike.

Judging from her well toned legs, I guessed that she worked out regularly. I amused myself thinking about how stunning she would look in jogging shorts.
The dark haired guy had tried twice to put his arm around her but with no success. She had run out of room to retreat from his advances when the heavy man had finished another story.

This time, after ordering another drink, he headed for the restroom. Dark hair took this as an opportunity to really try to make a move. I watched him put his hand on her arm and whisper something to her. The blonde wanted no part of it however. She removed his arm, pushed him away.

I heard her say "Stop it, Frank!" It looked like he finally got the point as he put up his hands and apparently apologized just before the heavy man returned and started another story.


Over the next hour or so the place started to clear out. This was not surprising given it was a Thursday. Tomorrow Wang's would be hopping well into the wee hours, but not tonight.

The secretaries had started to gather their things to leave and it looked like the salesmen would be doing the same shortly. Tall guy had retreated to the mens room as the ladies headed for the door. The head secretary stopped as they approached the door and turned to go to the ladies room.

The other 2 girls went outside and didn't see her meet up with the tall guy outside the men's room. She slipped him a piece of paper which he quickly stuffed into his pocket. After they parted, he said his goodbyes to his friends and headed for the door.

I could see the quiet smile on his face as he left. His hand was in his pocket probably holding the paper with her phone number.