A/N: Hey there you gorgeous reader you! Had this short but fun (okay well I think it's fun..) one-shot playing in the back of my mind and thought it might help me take a breather from the intensity of When Words Fail. Like I said, it's a one shot, but like two or three chapters expected. Probably three.
Also, I stumbled across some unfinished but fucking amazing stories from CampbellE and if any of you like WWF, you'll enjoy the pants off this brilliant writer. A favorite of mine she wrote, hands down, is Another Love. I was honestly bawling. Okay I'm done, enjoy it!
One for the road Ch. 1 - Interpretations
Naomi Campbell walked through the door, pulling her hood off her head. It was raining buckets tonight and of course she got the closing shift. Just her luck. She passed through the room, hearing the squeaking of her shoes and the rambunctious drawl of plastered older men. It was just for a year or so, she would tell herself, just enough to help her pay for this last year of university. She got "laid off" from her last job as a grocery clerk after an older guy tried to tip her by pinching her arse and she kicked him in the shin. In front of her boss. It was all instinct, the fire in her, but it backfired when her paycheck had stopped coming in. So she called up her mate Effy, desperate for an in because Effy, of course, knows everyone. That's how she ended up here, in a somewhat classy bar and grill pub where there was still leering men hoping to show their appreciation, but at least she took care of the bar and had a good barrier between her and all the other drunkards.
More importantly, it paid the bills.
That's why she was squeaking over to the bar she was an expert at and silently berating herself for rescheduling her shift the night of a game: Liverpool vs. Manchester United. She dropped her stuff and shed her jacket just as Liverpool scored and her eardrums burst from the yells.
"About time you showed the fuck up, these tossers are drinking us dry tonight," Effy scolded, slightly stressed from all the orders. Naomi chuckled and tied an apron around her waist. It wasn't part of the uniform, but she kept one in her shoulder bag for these nights after experiencing the post-game parties—not everyone could drink their weight in beer and she learned that one day after most of the lagers ended from an old bugger's stomach up on her pants.
"The more they buy, the more that goes in our paycheck. Suck it up babe," she reaffirmed. Their banter was light and taunting, always welcome especially in their busiest times. Naomi wasn't originally supposed to come in tonight, but Cook—fucking wanker—had persuaded her to cover his shift to avoid this "bird on his tail always showin up to the pub after one good shaggin'." She grudgingly agreed and started cleaning over the bar. He definitely owed her big time for this. The whole room, eating areas included, had been dimmed to highlight the game in all its excitement, while three warm lights hung over the counter and stools off to the side. While the bar area was usually packed, the stools were nearly empty tonight, just lots of business on Effy's end which she was handling with surprising skill.
The pub doors opened again and Naomi kept right on scrubbing the counter, stained with scotch. She looked up surprised when a high pitched sneeze tinged the area with a noise that didn't quite fit in a place like this. Walking slowly to the bar, eyes trained to the ground was a small girl. What would be pale skin and red hair was drenched in the Bristol rain—rotten luck, Naomi thought—and left it a deep burgundy instead with a blueish tint on her cold arms, raised with goosebumps even from meters away. Despite the cold weather, she was in jeans and a band t-shirt, arms crossed tightly into her shaking body. She looked a bit like a drowned cat and Naomi couldn't help but stare at how miserable she seemed.
The red haired girl didn't look up as she sat down, sniffling slightly and rattling the squeaky stool. The blonde looked up and over at Effy, she was busy but could easily handle the few orders. She wiped her hands on the towel as she walked over to where the girl sat. She hadn't usually been the touchy feely kind, but things changed over time and a few of her own struggles taught her to take everything with a grain of salt. Be soft and sturdy. She leaned against the counter, towel over her shoulder.
"Can I get you anything, miss?"
"No, not yet um thanks," her voice cracked after a raspy response strained out. Naomi's jaw tightened marginally and quickly glanced over at Effy, who was also now cleaning the far counter. It couldn't hurt. She flipped a glass over and poured a small amount of liquid out, quickly putting it back. She reached up to put it in front of the girl, where her eyes could catch it despite staring in her lap. She looked up surprised and shook her head.
"No, I-I didn't order anythi-"
"I know. On the house." Naomi said quietly, looking across the bar to check she was in the clear, "Looks like you had a rough night, so I thought it might heat your insides up a bit." She smiled at the girl who had an unreadable expression on her face, hair still dripping with rain.
"Thank you," she whispered, so quiet Naomi almost missed it.
"You're welcome," she smiled again, feeling quite pleased with herself. She never did this in college, being nice to someone just for the sake of being nice. To be a good person. It felt good, and made her bubble. She helped with some food orders coming out and pitched in pouring the round of drinks after the game ended in a miserable loss on Manchesters' end. The place was starting to trickle down with folks and Naomi could finally take a breather after moving for nearly an hour now. She poured a shot for herself, classic peach vodka, and saw as she lifted the glass the same red haired girl still alone at the counter, tracing the rim of the glass with her finger. She didn't look much better, but at least she was drier. Her hair had lightened in the heat of the bar so she could make out a few shining crimson strands under the lamps hanging.
She's quite pretty, Naomi thought, throwing her head back. Without thinking twice, she grabbed the bottle she was looking for and went to top off the girls drink again. Like deja vu, she looked up again, surprised. Naomi cut in before she could.
"You said 'not yet' for a drink an hour and a half ago, so consider it wishful thinking," she smirked. The small girl sighed and although she wasn't smiling, her frown seemed to lift some more.
"Can I ask what it is?"
"Whiskey. Neat. Everything a growing girl needs," the blonde laughed. The girl sat up a bit straighter. If she wasn't happy, she was at least distracted and that was good enough for Naomi.
"Oi, Campbell!" Naomi looked over to Effy calling her. "The boys in back need you. Some wanker at table five bought a feast near closing time," the brunette remarked sourly. Naomi sighed and put her own glass aside for the time being. The girl was looking at her when Naomi looked back. She smiled and swore she saw the corner of the redhead's mouth twitch.
"Naomi!"
"Yeah alright, keep your vagina on," the blonde grumbled back, getting increasingly irritated. She flopped the towel on the counter next to the girl and went to see about all the huff. A feast was right, as Naomi spent a good ten minutes carrying trays through the crowds at some scrawny white man in a white suit with a rat-like face. She could deal with the waitress-ing, but she was getting catcalled and had to grit her teeth to keep from being rash. She needed this job after all.
At last, she was back behind her counter where the red haired girl sat and Naomi found her towel, surprisingly, folded neatly underneath an empty glass. The girl watched her come back and gave a weary smile, just a tug of her mouth and the blonde noticed how distinctly feline it looked. Could only imagine what she looked like happy, and the very image made her smile back.
"Did it do the trick?"
"Yes," the reply sounded almost like confession, "I think it was exactly what I needed." Her voice sounded husky and Naomi was beginning to realize that was her normal voice. The girl leaned back and dug something out from the pocket of her jeans—looked at the barkeep sheepishly at the damp money.
"Sorry, I was in the rain for a bit, not much I could do..." she said looking down.
"No worries. How long, if you don't mind me asking. In the rain, I mean," Naomi asked curiously.
"Umm...I dunno. Twenty minutes? Half hour? I just knew my feet were about to fall off if I didn't get inside soon," the girl laughed nervously.
"Half hour? You realize its, what, negative degrees out? Below freezing and you came here in a...a t-shirt?" the blonde said incredulously. The girl's face dropped again, like she had done something wrong and been punished for it. She looked to her lap, hunched over.
"...sorry..." she said above a whisper. Something tugged in Naomi, not unlike a dog on a leash, and she frowned.
"No don't—don't do that. It's okay, really...look, what's your name?" the blonde worked to undo the turn of the conversation.
"Emily," she said quietly, biting her lip. Naomi couldn't help but smile to herself.
"Well Emily," she drawled, "will you stay until close? It's not too much longer, but it would be a shame to miss you if you left before I'm off." The question hung in the air until Emily looked up shyly and nodded, tired but more relaxed.
"Can I..." she faded.
"Yeah? Go on?" the blonde leaned on the counter, waiting patiently for the answer.
"Can I get another?" she nodded to the glass, "Whiskey wasn't it?"
Naomi snorted at her antics and stood up, reaching under the counter to grab the bottle from earlier.
"You're sitting at the counter of a bar, of course you can bloody have another," she teased, pouring it out, handing it to her with a bright smile. This girl—Emily—was so shy that Naomi was determined to bring out the girl that was hidden. There was bound to be a gold mine in there somewhere.
The blonde left the bar with the bin, scooping up half finished pints and plates, clearing the clutter, but when she turned back, she found Emily turned away from the counter now, facing the direction of the game, but her eyes locked on Naomi's instead. She gave her a smirk and an assuring wink, before dropping everything off in the back. She was about to go wiping down tables, but realized she forgot her towel. She walked back to the bar and found Emily quickly looking away with the towel in her hands. She passed it off to her, answering with a soft, 'thank you' before finishing up the tables.
At long last, Naomi had finished the clear out and left Effy with the job of ushering lingering guests out. Before the blonde was properly back behind her counter, she saw the brunette walk towards Emily and shuffled over quickly, placing a hand lightly on the redhead's back, defending, "She's fine, she's with me." Effy nodded and walked away leaving the two girls to look at each other with eyes widened in shock—one at the touch, and the other from the cold. Emily's clothes were still as frigid as ice despite being in the pub well over two hours. Naomi didn't like it one bit. She walked around to her stuff and pulled the jacket from the pile before heading back to the girl.
"Right, first things first, you got somethin' under that shirt, yeah?" The redhead unconsciously crossed her arms and looked down.
"I mean, a bra sure, but not...um.." she mumbled quietly.
"Good," the blonde said loud and proud, before whipping the jacket at her chest, making Emily gasp in surprise, snatching it before it fell. "Bathrooms are right around the corner there, get out of that wet shirt and in that. The hoods a bit damp but a hell of a lot warmer than those sodding clothes, promise you that." Emily stared with mouth agape before Naomi, nodded to the bathroom again with raised brow, "Get goin'." She scrambled off the stool at the order and disappeared in the room. A few minutes later, a considerably happier Emily came smiling out of the loo, bear paws tucked under her jaw.
What a smile, Naomi thought, what a completely happy smile. She couldn't help but grin at the redheads shifted demeanor.
"Better now?" The smaller girl nodded vigorously, patting the hem of the sleeves against her pink cheeks. "Good." watched Effy follow the last of the people out before locking the door and flipping the sign to 'Closed.' Officially off the job, Naomi slouched into her normal curl and took a bar stool next to Emily. She turned to the blonde, hunched as well, from the comfort of the sweater. She was happy to be the one to bring the redhead all that giddiness.
"So," Naomi started, getting comfortable, "Emily. You wanna talk about it?" She kept the sleeves on but her smile faltered a bit.
"Talk? About...what?"
"Whatever it is that made you walk for half in hour in freezing rain and look completely miserable coming in here," she stated bluntly. Naomi was going to have to tread carefully, but with Emily already being shy, she wanted to push enough the redhead enough to learn something about her. Emily looked down and sighed heavily. Naomi leaned her elbow on the counter and swallowed uneasily. "I'm just, I'm only curious. You know that right? Don't ever feel any pressure to answer something too personal 'kay?"
"No, you're right, it is a bit weird, and it would be nice to talk about it..." The blonde waited with a smile, easing the redhead. "I...I um, I'm not really sure how you'll take this," Emily laughed nervously.
"Probably better than you think," she smiled easily.
"Okay," she started with a deep breath. "I...Icameouttomyfamilytoday," she said in a rushed speech. Naomi waved her hands in front of her and shook her head.
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. Take it easy, say it again," the blonde soothed.
"I—I came out to my family today. As gay. Well, lesbian. My girlfriend broke up with me a few days ago and everyone was just pestering me about why I was so upset," she ranted, "and do you know what it's like to not be able to tell anyone about it and suffer alone? It's terrible! And then when I couldn't take it anymore, I just blurted it out, and my sister Katie shut me down, and—and my mom just denied it, my brother was a right little pervy bastard and...and...and..." she had to stop because she was tearing up again.
"That's really brave," was all the blonde said, but it was enough. Emily stopped immediately and looked at Naomi. "They won't see it now, but you just showed them a bit of yourself, and that's something to be proud of." Emily was beaming and finally smiled the big smile Naomi had been waiting to see.
"Now I don't mean to kick you out of here so soon, but Effy will kill me if I don't help her clean up the rest of this place. But tell you what, come back again soon, and I promise there will be someone working, hopefully myself," she leaned in dramatically to whisper, "that will gladly hear about it. Is that okay?" the blonde smiled, unsure, biting her lip. Emily looked back with an unreadable expression, but nodded gently, radiating with something that coiled Naomi's stomach. Something pleasant.
"Okay," the red head said gently. The blonde reached out her hand and upon seeing what it was, Emily chuckled.
"It was lovely to meet you, Emily." Their hands shook and they both stayed a bit longer than necessary.
"Absolute pleasure, Naomi," Emily drew out her name with a husk that made the blonde's skin ripple. She got up then, her neck tinged pink, the blonde noticed, and walked towards the door. She was halfway across the room before turning back and beginning to take off the blonde's jacket. Naomi put a hand up stop her.
"I'm getting a ride, why don't you take it, consider it a token to make sure you come back." The redhead beamed so brightly and waved cutely back at her. She was turning away before Naomi acted on impulse, rushing to find the pack, and called back to her.
"Emily...here," she tossed a bottle of hard lemonade across the room where the girl caught it with a fumble, "One for the road, yeah?"
She walked out the door biting her lip, looking back with a smile and a shy wave, leaving Naomi thinking how she she was grateful she took Cook's place that night.