Ego, etc.

Reluctantly, I agreed.
He said it would be interesting, that he had a proposition.

We took the elevator up. He nodded to the doorman, I coyly smiled. I
might have winked. His friend took my hand and led me through the
entrance into a bar that was trying too hard to be something more
than it was. Stark, modern furniture sat low on the ground, pretty
people sat uncomfortably in its embrace, over-priced drinks decorating
sleek glass tables.

Windows looked out over the quiet city. Neon lights spilled inside,
casting an eerie glow on all their faces. People stood together. A
drink appeared in my hand. I stood in the corner, as I am likely to
do. I'd rather not waste my words, for they will be forgotten as each
drink is downed, as each moment is passed.

"You are very pretty" his friend said.
I nodded.
"No, I mean really, truly gorgeous".
I smiled kindly. "Thank you", not knowing what else to say.

Later, he pulled me aside.
"So, this proposition. It is about that girl over there".
I considered her, him, and what he was asking.
Slowly, I said "I'm not interested".
"In her?" he desperately question.
"No, in you".

And I walked away, doing what I should have so long ago.
Suddenly, his magic had been lost and I saw him only as a sad man
wandering through a hopeless life. One filled with disappointment and
ridiculous lies.

He stared at me blankly, unable to respond. I shrugged my shoulders
and retreated towards the ladies room.

Someone called my name. I hesitantly turned around.
"Lindsay? right?" asked the beautiful man named after a country.

Surprised that he had remembered me even though we had met a dozen
times before.

"He's an asshole, in case you didn't know. Not that I don't love him
for who he is but he just isn't a good person. He cares about himself
and little else" said the boy named after a country.

Oddly, it was the nicest thing I'd heard all day.

He asked for my number and I gave it to him.