Promptings from Valhalla - 13. Writer's Toolbox Prompt 1

He swore on his mother’s grave, but then he swore on just about everything. Especially when he was drinking. Ben glanced sidelong at the man sitting next to him. It seemed like every night now that he kept an eye on his friend, preventing him from getting his ass kicked or driving home drunk. He sighed and sipped his Coke. Something needed to be done. He couldn’t spend his life making sure Allan didn’t ruin his. And why did he have to be the babysitter every night? He frowned, wishing he could add some Jack Daniels to his Coke.

“What the fuck’s your problem?” Allan’s words were already slurred.

“No problem. I’m just tired.”

“Well then go home. I don’t need you watching me like I’m a goddamn kid or something. You’re no fun anymore.”

Allan knew from experience that confrontation would not work, so he decided to change the subject. “On Tuesday, Susan asked me the most peculiar question.”

“What?”

“You know Susan… Jack’s friend from Seattle?”

“Oh yeah. She’s a bit of a bitch, isn’t she?”

Ben narrowed his eyes. “She’s actually a really nice person, if you’d give her a chance.” He wanted to add ‘when you’re not drunk and swearing up a blue streak’, but decided it wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Whatever. So what was her question?”

Allan tapped his fingers against his glass, producing a dull tinkling noise. He now regretted the change in subject.

“Well? You brought it up, dick.”

Ben looked into Allan’s reddish brown watery eyes and felt a pang of… something. “She wanted to know if we were dating.”

Allan’s loud, boisterous laughter drew disapproving stares from the other patrons at the fairly empty bar they occupied. “Dating? You?” He snorted. “You should be so lucky.”

“I should be so lucky?” Ben stared at Allan. The months of babysitting his friend came to the forefront of his mind. He was reminded of the day that his boss Sheila had brought Hilary, the new business partner, into the office. To call it World War Three would be being nice. No one knew that Hilary’s ex worked at the company. Talk about a business blunder.

“Yeah. Who wouldn’t want a piece of this?” Allan attempted to gesture down his body, but ended up having to grip the bar so he didn’t fall off his stool.

Ben flinched as a revelation washed through him. Susan had asked that question for a reason. And why did he feel the need to look after his friend night after night? He did have feelings for Allan. But his behavior made Ben question those feelings. Did he really want to date a drunk and spend the rest of his life picking up the pieces he left behind his boorish wake?

Ben was enabling Allan’s behavior. Allan would never sober up until he realized he had a problem. Ben sat his glass down with a finality that made even his drunk friend notice.

“Who wouldn’t want a piece of you? Me. That’s who. Have a nice life.” Ben stood and walked out the door, never looking back at his dumbfounded friend.

Check out Cole Matthew's response to the same prompt in "Dinner is Promptly at Eight".  We had a lot of fun writing these this morning