Post by jezyk on Jun 1, 2006 22:03:35 GMT -5
For disclaimer & story info, see part 1...
Chapter Two
A few blocks away and around a corner, Scotty led the way into Joe's. At one point in its history, if a person was drunk enough to listen to Joe and sober enough to remember, Joe's had been the "it" place to go for a drink. It had been so popular that people would crowd together, too close to dance, listening to music that was too loud to talk over, and get drunk on whatever grossly overpriced cocktails were in that season. Joe had been a young man then, reveling in the thrill of owning the best bar in town.
Joe was no longer a young man, his heavily lined face revealed too many years of smoking and smiling. The melancholy face seemed somehow even sadder with the ghost of better times so obvious. Joe's hadn't fared even as well as its owner. It wasn't popular any longer, hadn't been for so long that no one besides Joe could even remember that it had been. The tables were stained and scratched and leaned perilously to one side or another. The chairs which surrounded them were torn and mismatched and offered the prospective customer the impression that a sign was hanging somewhere inviting them to sit at their own risk. The dark, cluttered walls were even worse than the furniture, filled with decades old signs whose lights had died before Joe's hair had turned gray.
Joe's was exactly the place to be for people who didn't want to be anywhere. Conveniently, it also housed the tools, whichever poison one preferred, for those very same people to not have to think either.
It was a place Scotty knew well. He'd buried a lot of demons in empty bottles. He wasn't a fan of drinking to excess usually, certainly not following his recent scrape with losing control, but he knew there were times when it was the only way to survive. And as long as those times were few and far between, he wasn't going to deny Lilly's request.
As he pushed open the door and stepped into the dismal room, Scotty felt a moment's hesitation from Lilly. He was much more in tune with her than he normally was and turned back to check on her. She looked confused, but Scotty could see her eyes searching for some indication that the bar was still operational. He squeezed her hand tighter for a moment. "Joe's always here." She followed him wordlessly as he headed for a booth against the back wall.
"Hey, Joe." He didn't slow down or even look; he knew Joe was standing at the end of the bar, resting on his elbows as he always did. Scotty was sure, if anyone was ever able to pry Joe away from that spot, that there would be an indentation from all Joe's years of leaning on that exact location.
"Scotty." Joe's depressed answer barely reached his ears by the time they sat down.
Once seated, Scotty looked around. He felt eyes on him, which he attributed to the two resident drunks who'd pulled their heads off the bar long enough to notice him. Their eyes weren't directed at him, he realized; they were looking at Lilly.
Joe's wasn't a place a man would take his date, not if he wanted to see her again. Joe's wasn't a place a woman who'd bathed and brushed her hair inside of a week would hang out, not on purpose. The two customers and Joe were staring at Lilly and Scotty could practically hear them questioning their sobriety.
Hell, he'd done it plenty of times - looked up and saw a beautiful angel smiling at him. Sure he knew her, but he still couldn't quite believe Lilly's ethereal beauty had any place in his life. He smiled at her, meeting her eyes in the dim light. She either hadn't noticed or didn't care about the audience as she looked back at him.
"You want to change your mind?" He could help her forget, but she'd be on her own with the memory of forgetting banging on the inside of her skull in the morning.
She shook her head quickly, so quickly Scotty believed she was afraid she'd back out. "No. I just don't want to think about it." Her nervous, twisting hands belied her words.
"Coming right up." He smiled his usual, cocky smile at her and was immediately rewarded with her relaxing a bit. He wondered about it as he made his way back to Joe, realizing that she was as used to him as he was to her. He was nervous because she wasn't herself; she was nervous in turn because he wasn't himself either.
He returned to the table empty handed, drawing a questioning look from Lilly. He smiled and nodded as Joe followed a moment later with a tray. He watched with a real smile as Lilly took in the limes, the salt, and the shot glasses. Her eyes widened slightly as they drifted over the bottle of tequila on their way to meet his.
He opened the bottle and poured a shot for each of them. "I've tried about everything out there. This is the fastest way to forget anything."
She stared at the shot before her, her eyes giving away how very long it had been since she'd taken a shot of anything. "I'm not really much of a drinker, Scotty."
He nodded. He understood. With her mother's history and her slight frame, he doubted she'd get past two shots of anything. "It's ok. I can get you a beer."
She smiled ruefully and shook her head as a blush stained her cheeks. "I can't stomach enough beer to forget."
He grinned back as it became clear why she'd sit there on first Thursdays and nurse one beer until she went home. Then he winked at her and pushed the salt towards her. "You're a tough girl. You can take it."
She contemplated the salt. She contemplated the back of her hand. She blushed again, keeping her eyes a little lower than level with his. "I feel like an idiot."
He looked around. As he'd expected, the other three gentlemen had gone back to their own worries. "No one's looking." Not even at the woman Scotty could never quite pull his eyes away from.
She bit her lip as she thought about his words, finally turning her head to check for herself. She looked at the salt again, this time actually picking it up. "I still feel like an idiot."
"One shot and you won't care. I promise." He followed his words with actions, trying to rope her back in. He took the shaker from her hand, pretending he hadn't felt that familiar charge when his hand brushed against hers. He feared if she backed out, the way it was appearing she might, that he'd offer her a shoulder to cry on instead and he knew, when confronted with the choices, that it would be better to have the excuse of alcohol to fall back on to counter anything stupid or revealing or embarrassing that he might say if he ever had to deal with Lilly sobbing in his arms. And if he had to guess, he'd say that deep down, Lilly would prefer the same back door out of anything she might confess. They were safer behind their walls. The alcohol would provide a safe haven, a tunnel between them for a few hours.
Chapter Two
A few blocks away and around a corner, Scotty led the way into Joe's. At one point in its history, if a person was drunk enough to listen to Joe and sober enough to remember, Joe's had been the "it" place to go for a drink. It had been so popular that people would crowd together, too close to dance, listening to music that was too loud to talk over, and get drunk on whatever grossly overpriced cocktails were in that season. Joe had been a young man then, reveling in the thrill of owning the best bar in town.
Joe was no longer a young man, his heavily lined face revealed too many years of smoking and smiling. The melancholy face seemed somehow even sadder with the ghost of better times so obvious. Joe's hadn't fared even as well as its owner. It wasn't popular any longer, hadn't been for so long that no one besides Joe could even remember that it had been. The tables were stained and scratched and leaned perilously to one side or another. The chairs which surrounded them were torn and mismatched and offered the prospective customer the impression that a sign was hanging somewhere inviting them to sit at their own risk. The dark, cluttered walls were even worse than the furniture, filled with decades old signs whose lights had died before Joe's hair had turned gray.
Joe's was exactly the place to be for people who didn't want to be anywhere. Conveniently, it also housed the tools, whichever poison one preferred, for those very same people to not have to think either.
It was a place Scotty knew well. He'd buried a lot of demons in empty bottles. He wasn't a fan of drinking to excess usually, certainly not following his recent scrape with losing control, but he knew there were times when it was the only way to survive. And as long as those times were few and far between, he wasn't going to deny Lilly's request.
As he pushed open the door and stepped into the dismal room, Scotty felt a moment's hesitation from Lilly. He was much more in tune with her than he normally was and turned back to check on her. She looked confused, but Scotty could see her eyes searching for some indication that the bar was still operational. He squeezed her hand tighter for a moment. "Joe's always here." She followed him wordlessly as he headed for a booth against the back wall.
"Hey, Joe." He didn't slow down or even look; he knew Joe was standing at the end of the bar, resting on his elbows as he always did. Scotty was sure, if anyone was ever able to pry Joe away from that spot, that there would be an indentation from all Joe's years of leaning on that exact location.
"Scotty." Joe's depressed answer barely reached his ears by the time they sat down.
Once seated, Scotty looked around. He felt eyes on him, which he attributed to the two resident drunks who'd pulled their heads off the bar long enough to notice him. Their eyes weren't directed at him, he realized; they were looking at Lilly.
Joe's wasn't a place a man would take his date, not if he wanted to see her again. Joe's wasn't a place a woman who'd bathed and brushed her hair inside of a week would hang out, not on purpose. The two customers and Joe were staring at Lilly and Scotty could practically hear them questioning their sobriety.
Hell, he'd done it plenty of times - looked up and saw a beautiful angel smiling at him. Sure he knew her, but he still couldn't quite believe Lilly's ethereal beauty had any place in his life. He smiled at her, meeting her eyes in the dim light. She either hadn't noticed or didn't care about the audience as she looked back at him.
"You want to change your mind?" He could help her forget, but she'd be on her own with the memory of forgetting banging on the inside of her skull in the morning.
She shook her head quickly, so quickly Scotty believed she was afraid she'd back out. "No. I just don't want to think about it." Her nervous, twisting hands belied her words.
"Coming right up." He smiled his usual, cocky smile at her and was immediately rewarded with her relaxing a bit. He wondered about it as he made his way back to Joe, realizing that she was as used to him as he was to her. He was nervous because she wasn't herself; she was nervous in turn because he wasn't himself either.
He returned to the table empty handed, drawing a questioning look from Lilly. He smiled and nodded as Joe followed a moment later with a tray. He watched with a real smile as Lilly took in the limes, the salt, and the shot glasses. Her eyes widened slightly as they drifted over the bottle of tequila on their way to meet his.
He opened the bottle and poured a shot for each of them. "I've tried about everything out there. This is the fastest way to forget anything."
She stared at the shot before her, her eyes giving away how very long it had been since she'd taken a shot of anything. "I'm not really much of a drinker, Scotty."
He nodded. He understood. With her mother's history and her slight frame, he doubted she'd get past two shots of anything. "It's ok. I can get you a beer."
She smiled ruefully and shook her head as a blush stained her cheeks. "I can't stomach enough beer to forget."
He grinned back as it became clear why she'd sit there on first Thursdays and nurse one beer until she went home. Then he winked at her and pushed the salt towards her. "You're a tough girl. You can take it."
She contemplated the salt. She contemplated the back of her hand. She blushed again, keeping her eyes a little lower than level with his. "I feel like an idiot."
He looked around. As he'd expected, the other three gentlemen had gone back to their own worries. "No one's looking." Not even at the woman Scotty could never quite pull his eyes away from.
She bit her lip as she thought about his words, finally turning her head to check for herself. She looked at the salt again, this time actually picking it up. "I still feel like an idiot."
"One shot and you won't care. I promise." He followed his words with actions, trying to rope her back in. He took the shaker from her hand, pretending he hadn't felt that familiar charge when his hand brushed against hers. He feared if she backed out, the way it was appearing she might, that he'd offer her a shoulder to cry on instead and he knew, when confronted with the choices, that it would be better to have the excuse of alcohol to fall back on to counter anything stupid or revealing or embarrassing that he might say if he ever had to deal with Lilly sobbing in his arms. And if he had to guess, he'd say that deep down, Lilly would prefer the same back door out of anything she might confess. They were safer behind their walls. The alcohol would provide a safe haven, a tunnel between them for a few hours.
