Fuck. Five more hours left of my shift. How the hell was I supposed to get through yet another night of sloppy people drunk off their asses?

I hate bartending. Sure, I was good at it; I'm a people person and can handle the bar crowd fairly well considering I used to be a part of it. But honestly, the only reason I'm doing this is because I needed the money and got better tips here than waiting tables.

My name is Eli. I usually wear black, not because I'm Goth, just because I like the color. I drive a vintage hearse that I've had since high school, Morty. My best friend is Adam Torres; we've been close since grade 11. I'm in a band. I play the guitar and lead vocals. Adam's my bassist and his brother, Drew, plays the drums. We have plans to add another guitarist soon, too. We just held auditions a few days ago and were narrowing down the hopefuls.

I looked around the club and saw a gorgeous girl pretending to be into the terrible cover band that was playing tonight. My band usually plays here on Fridays, but the other bartender called out. The girl was obviously only here to humor her friend who was also really pretty, I just didn't find her as interesting as the first girl.

I snapped out of my slight daydream and realized that a crowd was starting to form around the bar. Time to go to work, I thought to myself. After everyone had their drinks, I went back to people watching. I saw the girl that I had noticed before making her way to the bar.

She had on skinny jeans with a pink and green floral shirt, a pink sweater with flats. She wore her hair in tight curls that reached her jaw. She looked nervous and innocent. The bar flies and scantily clad women surrounding her didn't seem to faze her.

Don't screw this up, Eli.

She sat down at a stool, her friend nowhere in sight. I walked over to her wiping my hands on a rag.

"What can I get for you, dollface?"

'Dollface'? Really? What's my problem?

"Hmm," She started, "What's the best you can do without alcohol?" She asked.

I smirked. "Coke..?" I said questioningly.

"That'd be great, thanks."

I went and grabbed her coke and brought it back to her. That's when I noticed her eyes. I have no idea how I didn't see them earlier. They were giant blue oceans.

"Are you okay?" I heard her say. Pulling me out of my daze.

"Oh. Umm, yea. Sorry but you have really pretty eyes" I said handing over her drink.

"T-thanks. Umm, I'm Clare." She said stumbling over her words.

"Eli. So what's with the boring old coke? You got something against booze?"

"I've had some bad drunken experiences that I like to avoid reliving. My friend Alli on the other hand is probably in a corner somewhere sucking some guy's face off. She'll wind up going back to his place leaving me to fend for myself and find a ride home" She said quickly sounding slightly annoyed.

I thought for a minute.

"I could give you a ride home. That is, if you don't mind waiting another…." I checked my cell phone. 11:48. "…hour or so"

"That'd be great. Thank you so much!" She beamed at me.

We made small talk for a while as the crowd thinned and people started heading home.

We were in the car when she started up another conversation.

"So, what do you do in during the day? You know, when you're not bartending." She asked.

"I, uhh, I have a band. We're trying to work things out now to get some of our songs on iTunes. And then there's always taking pretty girls out to lunch. In fact, I just met a girl tonight. She has the most beautiful eyes and I she took me up on an offer to drive her home, but she's way out of my league. She'd never go out to lunch with me." I said hoping she'd pick up my vibe.

"That's so cool!" She exclaimed. "I'm a music journalist. I love spotting up and coming bands. And, as for your predicament… go for it. You never know what could happen when you take a risk." And then she caught me completely off guard with a wink.

I, Eli Goldsworthy, was going weak in the knees for a girl I just met a few hours ago. What's going on with the world?

"Well, Clare, would you like to join me for lunch, say tomorrow at noon?" I asked her nervously.

"Well, I am a very busy person, but I think I might be able to squeeze you in" She said sarcastically.

"Great" I said grinning. Since when do I grin? "It's a date… err, no. It's a plan, a…ummm a meeting, an appointment, a -"

"No," She started "It's a date"

I finally realized that my hearse, which she surprisingly didn't have a problem with, had stopped in front of her complex. She took down my number and entered hers in my phone. Then, she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

"Pick me up tomorrow?" she asked.

I just nodded, not able to form words at this point.

I watched as she made her way out of my car and into her building.

Shit, I thought, I need to get my act together.

I figured I'd get a hold of Adam once I got home. I knew he was at the bar tonight but I didn't see him after meeting up with Clare.

I was in a daze the whole way home. I couldn't believe what this girl was doing to me. I swear she turned my brain to mush. Before I knew it I was home sitting on the leather couch in my apartment dialing Adam's number on my cell phone.

"Hey man. This better be good. You know it's like 2 am, right?" He said, sounding groggy.

"Yea, sorry about that. I, uh, I met this girl tonight and I have no idea what to do. She's so gorgeous, man. I swear I've been converted from 'angry rocker' to 'total sap' in one night thanks to this girl."

I didn't hear any response from the other line. I waited a few seconds and heard a small snore.

"ADAM!"

"Huh, what…oh! Eli, I'm sorry man. I might a girl last night too. And…uh.. let's just say she wore me out."

"Ugh" I groaned, "I'll call you in the morning."

I went to my kitchen and got a glass of water before deciding to turn in for the night. Just as I was stripping down to my boxers, I heard my phone ring.

What the fuck does Adam want? I thought he was going to sleep. I thought to myself.

I looked down at the caller ID:

Clare Edwards.