There was a split second of consideration as she debated whether or not to give him her real name. It was old habit that even brought the thought to mind.
“Well, Hiya, Oliver. I’m Lexie.” She flashed him a grin as she lifted her glass to cheers before throwing back the white liquor. A painful grimace tore across her face and she stuck out her tongue in a silent ‘yuck’. For all the years of drinking under her belt, she still hadn’t learned to use a chaser.
With the better part of the burn swallowed down, she set her glass upside down on the bar. Her beer had appeared in that time, which she took a small sip of to taste test. She could never remember which order was best to avoid getting sick, but she knew mixing layers of beer and liquor couldn’t be a good idea.
“So, what do you do around here, Ollie?” No, Lexie hadn’t asked to use a nickname. Nor had she asked if she could invade his space to peek at the menu in front of him.
“Oh! Pub chips! Do you want to split an order?” She was more sincere in her previous question than her own interruption would suggest. Staying on a single train of thought was hard enough when her stomach wasn’t starting to growl.