A Cocktail and a Cougar

It Was No Ordinary Night Out in NYC

How does a man blatantly come on to a woman in front of her husband?

Buy a cocktail as a conversation-starter, add two straws, and share the drink. I have to confess –– this happened to me.

My husband and I were out in one of our favorite restaurants in Chelsea where we often eat at the bar. It was a packed Friday night, and seats were tough to come by. We managed to squeeze into the two stools at the end of the bar and closest to the wall.

We sat sipping our wine, and chatting like couples do. A gentleman came in and stood to the right of me at the bar to order a cocktail. He obviously knew the bartender well. It’s always best to frequent places where you know who is behind the bar, by the way. The results are stronger drinks and free rounds, on occasion.

And then there were two straws…

Momentarily, he had a coup of colorful liquid resting on the bar in front of him. He and I were making small talk while my husband was sitting on the other side of me. The next thing I noticed was two straws in his glass. He wanted to share his drink with me.

He said it was incredibly strong and he couldn’t finish it, so I took a sip. Then, it dawned on me that this guy was actually hitting on me in front of my husband. Who does that? Obviously, tall, dark and handsome strangers out carousing on a Saturday night in Manhattan.

Next, he sat down casually in back of us at the low corner table by the window, only to consume a beef carpaccio in four minutes or less, after which he bolted out the door. Perhaps he was on to seek out his next encounter?

I never saw him again. But since that night, I am officially known as a “Cougar.” This is a word that I have never understood outside of the wild or a zoo, but then again, New York is both wild and a zoo.

After that brief, spontaneous rendezvous, my husband seems to love me a little bit more.

Speaking of drinks, Tuesdays can be rough in the big city.

And a Sunday in New York.