Week 12 Storytelling: Simon and Sylvia

Man alone in Bar, image source: blogspot

Simon longingly admired Sylvia from across the bar.

Her perfectly curled blonde hair shimmered in the florescent lights hanging from above the bar. She leaned over the bar and laughed as the bartender poured her another martini- her third one of the night if Simon had counted right. He noticed how her perfectly white teeth shone from beneath her full lips and that there was a slight smudge of rocket red lipstick on her front tooth. With her tight black pants and low-cut blouse, Simon noticed every curve of her body. She came to this bar, just a short walk from her building, after work about three nights a week to enjoy martinis. Simon noticed she liked them extra-dry and always asked for an extra olive. He felt like he knew more about this woman than he knew about any other. And he had never even spoken to her.

If only he had the courage to tell her how he felt. It drove him to despair to watch her night after night and know she had no idea how he felt about her. Was she secretly longing after him too?

Sylvia had always noticed a shy man in the corner watching her a couple nights a week at the bar.

The man was normal enough: messy dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and a somewhat crooked nose. He had never approached Sylvia, and seeing as he was not her type at all, she had never acted on his clear display of watching her as she drank her martinis after work. She did not know his name, and she really had no desire to. She was honestly somewhat creeped out by his constant stares but knew he could be of no harm in his denim shirt, faded cords, and loafers. He kind of reminded her of her grandpa.

It was a Thursday night and Simon had suffered through a particularly rough day at the office. His boss would not put him on a project that he clearly deserved to be a part of. He had dropped his coffee all over his lap this morning and went through the rest of the day with a big stain on his pants, to which his coworkers would not stop giving him grief about. When the clock struck 5 pm on the dot, he was out of the office and walking down the street to the bar. He was secretly hoping that Sylvia would be there already martini in hand.

Simon took his normal seat in the corner of the bar and ordered a double vodka-soda. He needed a double after the day he had. And to his disappointment, Sylvia had not arrived at the bar for her normal martinis. Simon closed his eyes and gulped down the drink. He debated whether to get up and leave right then, but decided another drink was well deserved for the pain he suffered at work. He ordered another double vodka-soda and went back to his seat in the corner right when Sylvia walked in the bar.

Sylvia took her normal seat at the bar and asked Bill for her regular. She took off her coat and scanned the bar to find the man sitting in the corner looking at her again. She turned back to face the bar and started on her first martini of the night.

Simon admired how beautiful Sylvia looked today. He wanted to approach her but did not know how. With the two drinks swirling around in his system, he decided he could go up to the bar and pretend to order another drink and "accidentally" bump into her. He got up and walked to the bar. He was about to bump into Sylvia and place his plan into action when he chickened out. He couldn't do it. Now he was standing at the bar with no excuse. He had to order another drink. So he asked for another double vodka-soda and returned to his seat in the corner. Ashamed by his failed attempt, he downed the drink.

In his misery of a day and now failure of talking to his long-time lust, Simon decided it was time to leave the bar and go home. As he stood up his legs felt wobbly beneath him. The drinks had hit him hard. His vision started to blur but he could still make out the beautiful woman sitting at the bar. He decided, with the help of the liquid courage, he would go up and introduce himself. It was now or never.

Sylvia watched as the creepy man walked towards her at the bar. He was staring right at her, not even being subtle, as he stumbled around the tables.

"I like you. You beautiful. I have watched you long time over there. Please be mine. Go on a date with me?" muttered Simon.

Sylvia was appalled. She could not help but laugh.

"You clearly have had too much to drink. You are acting like a clown. You should probably go before you make a bigger fool of yourself," responded Sylvia as she turned to the bar and ignored the sad excuse for a proclamation of love from the drunk man in the corner.



Author's Note: For my story this week I decided to retell one of the nursery rhymes from the Loves and Matrimony section. The original is only 12 lines long. It includes a boy named Simon asking Sylvia if she would be his and Sylvia responds that she would give up her crown rather than marry a clown and tells him to go. This short exchange between the two provides enough information to create a story, but allowed me plenty of room for elaboration.

Bibliography: The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).