Author's Note:
An idea that popped into my head today. Lauren and Bo, weren't properly introduced. So what if they had already met before? A one shot, really short fanfic. A break from my multi-chapters that's draining me like hell. Enjoy, and please leave a review when you're done. I love hearing from you. Thanks!
I could feel my eyes cross as my vision blurs while I stare at the screen of my laptop. I try to shut out the sounds of people talking and ice clinking on glass. Not to mention the soft music that plays on the background. It is the type of music I like to dance and sing in the shower with and it doesn't help with my concentration. I scold myself for the nth time tonight. Why choose a bar instead of a quiet café? But I knew I had chosen the bar for one reason. Stepping out of my comfort zone was a challenge for me.
Although there were only a handful of people inside, and the place was a bit easy on the ears when I came in earlier this afternoon. I was sure the place would fill up as soon as the sun goes down. It was hard to concentrate on the task at hand which is a complex study on Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The words are now jumbled in my vision. I try to blink several times. My lecture today at a local university was mostly uneventful. I was more bored than the students I was giving the lecture to. I had been invited to talk to college biology students about my study on sickle cells that could be used to attack treatment-resistant tumors. I have talked about it a million times before in various universities, that I did not bother to read from anything and just talk from memory. Most of the time my mind would wander somewhere else and my mouth would talk on auto-pilot. Talking about science made me quirky and enthusiastic most times, but redundancy gets the better of me.
Today is one of those days that my body would not coöperate with my mind. I pull out an energy drink out of my satchel and take a large gulp, hoping it would help clear my head. I'm usually a night owl. My brain works like a machine when the sun sets. But tonight just isn't the night. I do not get breaks from work like this often so I chose to loosen up a bit for a change. So either I have to go to a café if I wanted to work, again. Or just ditch science for a while and be normal human being. So I closed my laptop shut and grudgingly put it back inside my bag.
"Ready to order?" As if on cue, a waitress walks up to me holding a pen and a paper.
I hadn't realized that I had sat for two hours without ordering anything. I grab the menu that was sitting on the table, and quickly scanned for something to satiate my hunger.
"I'll have roasted lamb, with a side of Portobello pickles, potatoes and just mustard. Not honey mustard, just mustard. And no carrots." I said smiling back at her. "And a bottle of beer."
She nodded while writing at the piece of paper. "Alrighty, 'that it?" she asked. I nod. "Okay, be back in a few minutes, hun."
I stare after the blonde waitress as she leaves. Not really wanting to check her out but just for the heck of it. She's pretty, but not exactly my type. Being a blonde myself I think I had developed a taste for something other than what I see in the mirror everyday. Raven haired women with olive skin, I find them so appealing. Redheads are so-so. But brunettes, I think they are my Achilles heel. Nadia was, IS a brunette. I smile faintly at the thought, but willed my mind to focus on other things before I get all drama queen on a bar while I am still sober. My eyes moved with the blonde as she disappears inside the kitchen. That's when I saw her. Wearing a black jacket over a gray low-cut tank top, faux leather leggings which was tucked inside of her knee-high black boots. She had walked out from the kitchen and stood behind the bar as the other bartender leaves. She immediately assumes the work of the bartender who left, mixing drinks and serving them with precision and finesse that haunted me. I have never seen a woman move so elegantly. It's like each move she makes is as smooth as silk. She smiles at the patrons as she serves the drinks but never giving them a chance to flirt with her. She glances occasionally at my direction but never really seeing me.
I crane my neck to get a better view but most of the patrons are blocking my view as I am sitting on the far corner of the bar. I decide to grab my satchel and transfer to a seat near the bar. I choose sit two tables away from the bar, as the waitress arrives with my dinner and a bottle of beer. I take a sip of my beer, never taking my eyes off the brunette.
"..that's me. High sales in the division, and then in the morning I'm flying back to Omaha." the blond-haired patron says as the brunette places two glasses in front of him. I could not see his face as his back was turned against me. But I'm sure he had that smug look on his face. I roll my eyes at his efforts to impress her. She didn't strike me as someone who would jump on any man-oppurtunity that comes by. She looked more like - you gotta work for this because I get what I want - kind of woman.
"That's great!" she says, leaning back as a man carrying a steel keg walks behind her.
"Everything good out here?" he asks.
"Yeah, no I'm fine I'm just starving." she says. I smile thinking if maybe I should try and ask her if she'd like to grab a sandwich on her break. But I decided against it and looked on.
"That's $10.50."she says. The man hands her a bill.
"Oh and darlin' you keep the change." she says leaning closer to her. Picking up a glass and handing it to her. "And this one's for you."
The brunette let out a soft chuckle. "Thank you. But I can't. Policy." she says. Placing back the glass on the bar and grabbing the bill.
I couldn't help but snort and shake my head. Picking up my bottle, I take another sip. I was right.
The man left the bar, glasses in hand. He decides on another young petite blonde who had just came in. He hands her a drink which she quickly accepts and downs in a blink of an eye. I turn my attention back to the brunette. She too was eying the man who had just left the bar. She frowns. A few more patrons needed her attention so she had to keep working. But she occasionally glances at the direction of the man who was now visibly hitting on the blonde petite girl. I would call her girl because she's really so small to be in a bar like this. I had figured she needed an ID to get in. Probably a fake one too. I chuckled as I realize that she was wearing a wig.
Somehow I had eaten most of my dinner and had drained my beer to the last drop.
Leaving $50 on my table I decide to walk over to the bar and get another drink. And perhaps get to know the intriguing brunette. I look back to the bar to where my brunette goddess stand. She had somehow looked at my direction and for a brief moment, our eyes locked. I held my breath as a smile slowly crept on her lips. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I could've sworn that for a fraction of a second, her eyes glistened an electric blue. I tried to smile back but I had somehow froze from head to foot. And in that brief moment I felt my world spin fast and then slow to a complete stop. But I was snapped back to reality, when her smile disappeared and her eyes darted toward the door. She then briskly walked toward it, leaving me dazed and staring blankly at the wooden door that had closed behind her.
It took me five full minutes to regain my composure and decide to follow her. I grab my satchel and practically ran to the door to the elevator and frantically push the down button. I groaned as I opted to use the stairs in a fast pace, hoping to catch up with her. Running down four flights of stairs wasn't a tough job. But tonight with my heavy satchel, I was huffing when I reached the basement parking. My eyes darts frantically for the brunette, when I hear a screeching of tires at the far end of the parking space. I heave a sigh as I see my brunette goddess drive her yellow convertible out of the basement parking.
I wrap my leather jacket tight around me, feeling the bite of the cold, winter air. . I took the time to walk to the compound. I am not in a hurry to get home. If you can call it home. I am determined to make the last moments of my temporary freedom count. It had been an interesting night, but it did not end so well. I would miss this after hours. I seldom go out as I am always buried in work. A slave to the Ash. I slowly drag my feet to my prison. I take a deep breath, letting the cold air reach my lungs. I think of my brunette goddess and I smile. Her smile burns in my memory. And I willfully let it linger there. That smile could get me through any god-forsaken day. Maybe there is a silver lining after all. And if fate allows, I might see her again. Who knows.