Stick around and chat with Liz

You choose to stay until the end. That way you can enjoy the rest of the show and hopefully catch Liz after. You have a lot of fun. They definitely save their best acts for the second half. When the show is over you grab another drink and mill around the bar. You keep an eye out for your friend but she ends up spotting you first.

“Connor? Hey!” she walks up to you, wearing a long coat and carrying a heavy shoulder bag. It probably has her costume in it. {if help = true}“I didn’t expect to see you here. Did you watch the whole show?”

“Yes, I was here start to finish. I wanted to show my support since I couldn’t help you with it. I thought you looked good up there.”{else}“What are you doing here? Do you come to a lot of these shows?”

“No, I came to see you.” You realize that isn’t the best phrasing so you decide to elaborate. “What I mean is, I saw you posting about it and it looked like fun. Then I figured that this is what you were asking me to help with and I felt bad for being unavailable. So I came out to support you. I hope that’s okay? I thought you did well for a first time.”{endif}

She smiles. “You’re sweet. How about a drink while we catch up?”

“That sounds great, Liz,” so you flag down the bartender.

You’ve already had a few so you switch to a light beer and get a cider for your friend. You talk for a bit about how things have been the past couple weeks. Obviously she’s been busy with the show and you hadn’t been talking to each other much. You realize that it actually quite nice having someone to ask how you are and really mean it.

Twenty minues and another round in you finally get around to talking about the elephant in the room.

“So was it everything you hoped it would be?” you ask.

Liz puts her nearly empty can on the bar top. Then she props her head up on one elbow and sighs.

“It was fun, yeah. But I don’t think it’s my thing.” She seems to get a bit smaller as she talks. “I wanted something new and bold. That’s what I got. But I never said I’d stick with it.”

Her eyes drift up to you.

“Do you think that’s okay?”

You put down your empty bottle and say, “Of course. You haven’t made a commitment you’ve just been in to test the waters. It wasn’t to your liking so you’ve decided to go another path. It’s your call to make. And, in the end, I trust your judgment.”

Liz smiles and sits up straighter.

“Thank you, Connor, {if benefits = true}You’ll always be a good friend.”

She leans in and kisses you on the cheek. It lacks the usual passion she has when you’ve hooked up, feeling much more chaste. You come to realize that your days of sharing sexual escapades and late-night booty calls are a thing of the past.{else}You’ve always been a good friend.”

She leans in and kisses you on the cheek. It’s very chaste, the same kind of kiss she’d give to one of her girl friends. You come to realize that your fantasies of sexual escapades and late-night booty calls are just that; a fantasy.{endif}