A young man, nervous about ordering

"Hey." The voice belonged to a fairly unassuming young man. He was a bit young looking when compared to the bar’s normal patrons, and appeared slightly lanky, with an unruly mop of brown hair. He also had the unfortunate air of a fish out of water. He stood in front of Alyssa, self-consciously inserting and removing his hands from his pockets.

Probably an undergrad. she thought. He certainly looks young enough. The confused way he was staring at the bar definitely wasn’t helping his first impressions.

“Uh, what kind of beers do you have?" he said, in a tone that was just a little too casual to be authentic. "Could I get…like a lager or something?”

Alyssa mentally rolled her eyes. Probably another underage person trying their luck. “Sure. You 21?” she said, hand extended palm up for his ID. Unnoticed by her, the man seemed to flicker before her for the slightest instant.

“Yeah, right on the money actually.” he responded, handing over his card. Alyssa scrutinised it briefly before returning it.

Huh. I really thought he would be younger. Guess people age differently, after all.

“One house lager, coming right up.” she said, grabbing a glass. “How’s your night been? Let me guess: you’re an undergrad from the university?”

“Two for two.” the man laughed. “Yeah, I am. I just finished a late class and wanted to grab a quick drink before I head back to the dorms.” he briefly checked his phone. “Ah shit, my girlfriend is waiting for me. Might have to chug this one.”

“What, your girlfriend is waiting, and you’re grabbing a beer?” Alyssa said, jokingly. She served him his drink, sliding over his beer on a little coaster. “Having a little trouble in paradise?”

The man slumped in his chair with a heavy sigh. “Yeah. Guess you could say that. Things haven’t been too great as of late." he said in a defeated tone. "I’m John, by the way.”

Shit, I was only joking. Alyssa felt pity for the man. Gotta ask, though. Just doing my job.

“Alyssa.” she replied. “Um, sorry about that. What happened?”

“We got into a fight a week ago.” John replied. “She was kind of late coming back one night, and I ended up staying up an extra couple hours waiting.” He gestured to the bar. “That’s why I’m wasting some time here, making her wait. I guess it is a little petty of me. She isn’t usually like that, but she said she had gotten caught up talking to some friends she hadn’t seen in a while.”

“Well, that does happen sometimes.” Alyssa said soothingly. “People lose track of time. At least it wasn’t like, her ex-boyfriends or something, was it?” she joked.

“Yeah, that’s the thing. It was.” John said with a pained expression. “Weird that it was a group of them." He took a long swig of his drink. "Ugh. I hate feeling jealous.”

“Wow, I’m sorry." Alyssa winced sympathetically. "That is strange. But exes run into each other all the time. It doesn’t mean that it’s anything more than that.”

"I know." John shrugged. "Again, she's not really the type to do anything like that. I do trust her, I just can't help but feel shitty about it."

“I mean, that makes sense." Alyssa replied. "But let me tell you, I’ve seen this story play out a dozen times before. If you let your jealousy run out of control, it’s just going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy and drive her away. I mean, do you want her to start thinking about other men?”

John blinked. His defeated demeanour seemed to intensify at the question. “Um, that’s the thing though. I kind of...do.” he responded, his eyes refusing to meet her gaze.

“Oh.” Alyssa said, taken aback. “Oh, you mean like…like sleeping with...?”

“Yeah.” John buried his head in his hands. “I know, it’s totally weird. If you weren’t a bartender I don’t know if I’d be able to admit it. I did feel jealous when she told me she was catching up with her exes, but at the same time…part of me was really turned on by the thought of it.”

“Well, I'm sure it's not that weird.” she said, trying to put him more at ease. “I'm sure there’s a lot more people like you than you’d think. From what you’re telling me, it sounds like something you’ve been fantasising about for a while?”

“No kidding. Every time I see her talking to a guy, I can’t help picturing what she would look like getting railed by him.” John hung his head low. “Sometimes it seems like the only thing I can get off to, lately.”

Alyssa nodded in understanding. "So when you were at home thinking about her catching up with her ex-boyfriends..."

"I was imagining them fucking her senseless." John admitted in a rush, eyes still firmly glued down on his drink. "I acted mad when she got back. I had to pretend that I hadn't just gotten off to the thought of her being spitroasted. I tried not to think about it, but I kept imagining her having fun being passed around between them, them taking turns with her, fucking her from every position, violating her every hole..." he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "She thought I was just being jealous when I kept asking questions about what she was out doing with them."

"Oh wow." said Alyssa. "Sounds like for you, the only thing hotter than thinking about it would be seeing her in action, huh?"

John simply nodded in response.

“Well, here’s how I see it." Alyssa said, clearing her throat. Time for some good old bartender advice. "So you like thinking about your girlfriend with other men. You get turned on by that kinda stuff, and you can't change that. So you might as well own it. Stop being so ashamed of it. And talk to her! It’d be the right thing to do.” she encouraged him, nodding confidently. “Right?”

John suddenly straightened in his chair as if a weight had lifted off his shoulders. “Yeah....yeah, you’re right." he said tentatively. "Why should I be ashamed of how I'm wired? I need to own it." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I...want my girlfriend to fuck other men. I want to watch my girlfriend fuck other men." John grinned and looked Alyssa in the eye, an excited look on his face. His previous discomfort seemed to have vanished. "Wow, I feel like I've never been able to admit that so freely before!"

"That's the spirit." Alyssa said, smiling. She was a little confused by the sudden change in John's attitude, but she felt happy for him all the same.

"Well, I guess it's time to go have some important conversations." John said. He took a deep swig of his beer and started making to leave. "Hey, thanks for asking me all these personal questions. You’re a good bartender.”

“Just doing my job." Alyssa grinned. "Maybe I’ll see the both of you around here soon?”

Another flicker ran through the bar as John checked his phone. "Actually, yes." he said, settling back into his chair. "Guess I'll have another beer. She’s on her way here right now.”