dotmoon.net
Directory

Barfly Breakfast by superkate

1/2  next

Barfly Breakfast (1/2)
A Crossing Jordan Fanfiction
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler

“You know, as a bartender, you learn to tell when your people need to talk.”

The bartender said this as she poured Nigel his third – or was it fourth? – whiskey of the night, and he watched the red-brown liquid slosh into the glass, splashing against smudges from his fingers. The drink reminded him of the bartender’s hair – that ruddy, light auburn color – and he glanced up at her as she put the bottle down. She was pretty enough, with long hair and stormy eyes, and he briefly wondered how much convincing it would take before she’d come home with him and tumble into his bed.

He took a long gulp from his glass.

“And you really need to talk.” She said it without irony and leaned forward on the bar, her hair falling over her shoulders and into her eyes. “C’mon, tell me. What is it? Girl trouble?”

Nigel snorted. “Far, far worse, love,” he replied, and swirled his drink in his glass.

“Then you should talk about it.” She poked him in the arm with a finger, and he moved his arm away. “I’m cutting you off until you tell me more.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes, and then realized exactly who he was reminding himself of and bit off the snort halfway. He sounded like a dying pig to his own ears, even in the din of the bar. “Let’s say – and this is purely on a hypothetical level, for the record – that there is an individual whom I fancy. In fact, let’s even go as far to say that I fancy this individual on a few dozen levels, many of which I cannot even begin to explain to you.”

She arched a slender eyebrow, and nodded. “Alright.”

“And this individual appears to be of….of mixed interest.” He took another swig of his whiskey. “There are times, of course, when I am firmly convinced that this individual wants nothing more than to be pinned to a wall and ravished. But then there are other, less fortunate times, when said individual seems to think I am a flaming twit.”

The bartender frowned. “Harsh.”

“Extremely harsh, and that is where my troubles lie.” Nigel tipped back his glass and finished the shot, and the bartender nodded as she grabbed the bottle and poured him another. “Today was a particularly cruel example of this, I suppose. Everything was fine and then….” He threw up his hands.

“Have you told her?” she asked, and he raised his brow, frowning at her. She smiled coyly. “You mean to tell me that you feel really deeply for this woman and you haven’t told her?”

Nigel sighed and shook his head. “Trust me, love, it’s not that simple.”

“Of course it is!” She punctuated her exclamation by reaching out and gripping his arm. “In the year I’ve worked here, I have seen so many men just like you, who come into this bar and talk about these women they’re in love with. And in the end, none of them get the girl, because they’re too scared to try.” Her hand tightened. “If you want her, you have to fight for her. You have to look her in the eye, and you have to tell her how you feel. It’s the only way to win.”

He dropped his head, peering at the hand on his arm and the whiskey in his glass, the buzz of the bar all around him.

“There’s more to the story,” he finally said, and finished his drink in a single gulp. She frowned at him and released his arm so he could get up and toss a few bills on the counter. “Thank you though. I appreciate the conversation, for what it lacked in quality on my end.”

She watched him carefully as he replaced his wallet, her lips pursed. “If there’s more to the story,” she finally intoned, “then I wouldn’t know it from how you talk about her.”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I guess not.”


Back to Summary Page  next

The dotmoon.net community was founded in 2005. It is currently a static archive.
The current design and source code were created by Dejana Talis.
All works in the archive are copyrighted to their respective creators.