1. Short Story Sample
Nickolas Gomez
“Derek is worthless,” Natalie thought to herself as her forefinger
circled the rim of her Maker’s and Coke. That wasn’t entirely true,
but the truth is counterproductive at a proper pity party. She looked
down at the faint tan line around her ring finger, and the absurdity
of it all nearly sent her head back in a fit of laughter. After a four-
year engagement, Derek found himself in love with someone else.
Natalie’s hangover was going to be legendary.
She exhaled, and smoke lingered above her head in protest of the
humid summer night heat that invaded the bar. “Tallahassee is
worthless,” she muttered under her breath, waving a manicured
hand through the cloud of grey and sweeping her long auburn hair
off of her neck with the other. She knew that much was for certain.
Natalie and Derek met during their freshman year at FSU, and it
was an insatiable attraction in every possible way. It was the kind
of attraction that’s only possible between two hot-blooded naivetés
reveling in their first taste of freedom. She slept with him on their
first date and never told a soul, a truth that almost irritated her
more now than the ridiculous tan line.
He proposed the night of their undergraduate graduation, and their
engagement endured their four years of law school. Natalie
reasoned that that was a small victory in itself. As if there are
victories in a relationship.
She was a sensible woman underneath it all, so the notion that
people could change and outgrow one another wasn’t lost on her.
Still, despite her sensibilities, she was bitter that Derek had
outgrown her. She was left alone in a vicious circle of trying to
make sense of the last 8 years and wondering why she felt the need
2. to make sense of it in the first place.
Natalie lifted her drink to her lips, flicked the straw away with her
tongue and nursed her decimated ego with a generous swig.
Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon was playing on the color-changing
Jukebox in the back of the bar. She closed her eyes and placed the
cool drink on her forehead, gently swaying with the music. When
she opened her eyes, she noticed the two men playing pool in the
back corner of the bar had paused to take her in
Through the corner of her eye, she watched their mouths move and
heads nod in her direction. Natalie didn’t recognize either of them,
so she doubted that they recognized her from anywhere. Almost
instantly, she realized what was happening. It felt like a lifetime
had passed since she was single, and she wasn’t even sure she was
in the mood to humor anything flirtatious. Her mind wondered to
the thought of Derek in bed with someone else and him running his
hands through her hair. A wave of spontaneity washed over her. If
one of those strangers offered her a drink, she would gladly accept.
A few minutes passed, but neither of them pursued her. Aside from
the occasional high-five and nod, they didn’t move from their
vantage point. It was then that she remembered going to the pool
hall with Derek and his friends in college. The single guys used to
play each other for “dibs” if they were interested in the same girl at
the bar.
“Not tonight,” Natalie said to herself before flicking her cigarette
into an ashtray and getting to her feet.
She was making her way toward the two strangers when one of
them tapped the others shoulder to signal her approach. They
puffed their chests out and licked their lips once she reached the
table.
“I’ve got winner,” she said with her arms across her chest and a
3. crooked grin.
“How about I buy you a drink first,” said the man clutching his
pool stick on the right. He was a decent looking man in his mid to
late twenties with a stylish undercut and faint 5 o’clock shadow.
She may have been interested under different circumstances.
“How about I play winner and the loser buys the next round,” she
countered as she pulled her hair up into the kind of messy bun she
knew only a man would appreciate. “You have yourself a deal,”
said the stranger on her left, already taking aim at the
8-ball. She watched the muscles in his jaw flex as he clenched his
teeth and found the best shot.
“Middle pocket,” he called out seconds before the cue ball
smashed into the 8- ball, sending it hurling into the middle pocket.
“Sorry, James, maybe another time,” said the man with the
invigorated ego. James threw both of his middle fingers into the air
before running them through his perfectly styled hair.
“Good game, James,” Natalie said with an outstretched hand. “I’m
Natalie.”
“A fitting name for a beautiful woman,” said James before taking
her hand and lifting it to his lips. “My friend over there is Logan,”
he said, releasing her hand and taking a swig of beer.
“All right, Logan,” said Natalie, turning her attention to the rack of
pool sticks and cone of chalk to her left., “I hope you play as well
this time around.”
She heard Logan laugh over the sound of the balls being released
from inside the pool table. He was preparing to break when
Natalie’s attention returned to the pool table.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she said with a finger waving in the air. “As
4. your challenger, I think I should break, yeah?”
“The lady has a point,” said James from his seat, eyes crawling up
and down Natalie’s long legs.
“All right, sweetheart, let’s see what you’ve got,” Logan said with
a cocky grin. Natalie couldn’t wait to make him swallow it.
She took the cue ball and sat it on the head string about 5 inches
from the left side rail like she remembered. Derek used to attempt
this kind of break all the time, and she was feeling more confident
than she had in months. She was playing more than pool.
Natalie bent over the table, arching her back and lowering her
chest down as close to the rail as possible. She knew she had to
avoid the head ball and take aim at the second. Her tongue teased
her upper lip as she drew the pool stick back and forth between her
fingers to gauge her control. James was sitting to her right, and she
noticed a bead of sweat roll down the beer between his legs before
he wiped the sweat above his brow. She let out a silent snort before
putting the break in motion.
The stick struck the cue ball with just the right amount of speed
and sidespin before connecting with the second ball head on. The
cue ball ricocheted into the left side rail and back into the rack
sending the 8-ball into a side pocket.
“No way,” shouted Logan. Natalie’s crooked grin from earlier
became a full-fledged smile. “You’re kidding,” said James, “an 8-
ball break!”
“Shit shot,” Logan said with a cheeky smile as he walked toward
Natalie. “How about a Tequila shot,” she said as she feigned a
curtsey, “dressed, please.”
She caught a glimpse of herself that night, and she knew that she
was going to be fine.
