I heard my alarm go off and instinctively hit snooze. This was a morning ritual for me. The alarm would go off at 8:30 and I would hit sneeze three times before finally getting out of bed. I would turn on the radio and get dressed and ready for the day. While I wouldn't consider myself a morning person, I was the responsible one in the family. I lived with my two older sisters and they seemed to be more concerned with partying and having a good time than running the family business. Our father had opened a pub and when he died, it was left to us. Of course, I seemed to be the only one who cared about the success of the business. My sisters did a great job at bringing people into Triton's, but they also did a good job of giving away our profits through free drinks.
It was overcast and rainy this morning in Storybrooke, which wasn't unusual. I dressed in dark jeans and an oatmeal cable knit sweater. I pulled on my brown riding boots and quietly left the apartment. I spent most mornings at Granny's with the rest of the town. It was my time to relax before the day started. I would drink a cup of coffee and read the newspaper, then order something small to eat.
I walked in the door and the familiar bell chimed signaling my arrival. "Good morning Marina," Granny would say as she continued bustling around the kitchen. I took my usual spot at the bar and Ruby brought me a cup of coffee.
"Hey Red. How's it going?" she said. Ruby often called me Red, because of my scarlet locks. I always though it was ironic considering her name was Ruby and she was always wearing red. I never argued though. She was one of my best friends after all.
"Morning Ruby. So far not a terrible day."
"Yeesh, doesn't sound very convincing. What's the matter?"
"I don't know. It's just sometimes I feel like we're living the same day over and over again. It doesn't seem like anything ever changes here. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Can't say I've ever noticed it. But I also don't have the curious mind that you have. I'm content here. Storybrooke is my home."
"Forget I mentioned anything. I'm probably just overthinking things."
"Don't sweat it. But I will make it up to you tonight! We'll do something fun!"
I nodded in response, "That sounds good." She took my breakfast order and sauntered off, running food to all the other tables. I made small talk with some of the other people in the diner, but mostly kept to myself. It's not that I didn't enjoy the company of others, I just liked having time to myself in the morning. I finished up my breakfast and folded my newspaper. I left cash on the counter to cover my meal and a hefty tip for Ruby. I gathered my things and headed back to the apartment. It was a short walk and it was right across from the beach in town. I loved the beach. Every morning when I woke up, I would look out my bedroom window and watch the ocean waves tumble against the shore. Even though the weather was far from warm, the beach always made me smile.
I walked into the bar and headed up the stairs to the apartment. We were lucky to have the apartment right above Triton's. It made coming to work a lot easier. After dropping off my stuff and waking my sisters, I headed back downstairs to take inventory for the day.
I loved Triton's, and not just because it was technically my business. My father had opened it when we were young and I kept it pretty much the same as when he opened it. The walls were cluttered with various items relating to the sea, whether it be shells, coral, or driftwood. He collected it all from the shores of Storybrooke and hung it all over the walls. It was kitschy, but perfect. Every now and then I would find another item to add to the collection and look for it's perfect place on the wall. The bar was small, but it didn't need to be much bigger. Storybrooke was a small town.
I started by taking all the stools down from the bar top and tables. I turned on the jukebox and let the music play as I did this mundane task. Once that was done I went behind the bar and checked that all the bottles were full and the taps were working properly. I sliced up some lemons and limes for the day and made sure all the garnishes I needed were prepared. We were set to open at 11, but no one ever came in until later. I just liked to have everything done before then. My sisters would trickle down around 12 or so and sit at the bar and discuss in detail the night before.
Most things were done for the day, so I unlocked the front door and flipped the sign to open. I went to the back of the room to grab some ice for the bar. I usually needed two buckets, which was a little bit of a struggle to carry on my own, but I made it work.
I sped walked with the two full buckets and made a break for the bar.
"Here, let me help you," a voice spoke. I nearly spilled the ice from jumping because the stranger scared me. It was a male voice, meaning it wasn't either of my sisters. I suppose I did open the bar so it wasn't like he was breaking in or anything.
"I can manage. I'll be with you in a minute," I responded. I dumped the ice into the ice bins as the mysterious stranger found a seat at the bar. I hid the buckets under a cabinet and walked over to this man.
He was the heir of mystery. He was wearing a leather jacket and had messy brown hair. There was a decent amount of scruff on his face and his brilliant blue eyes were lined with black kohl. I walked over to him and asked, "So what can I get you?"
"Jameson, neat." I nodded and filled a glass with the Irish whiskey. I slid it down the bar and he caught it nonchalantly.
"It's a little early for whiskey don't you think?"
"Are you turning away a customer?"
"Not at all, just wondering why you're drinking."
"That's none of your goddamn business."
I shrugged. He was right, "Fair enough. But the least you could do is tell me who you are. I know everyone in this town and you're definitely not a resident."
"You're right about that much. I was travelling to Boston and got a little bit lost on my way. Ended up in this charming little town."
"We don't get a lot of travellers here. It's kind of refreshing. And you're name is…?"
"Declan. And you are?"
"Marina."
"This your place?"
"Technically it's my father's but he passed away a few years ago. I've been running it ever since with minimal amount of help from my two older sisters."
"Sorry to hear that. It's a pretty nice place though. You've done a good job of keeping it up and running. Aside from the complete lack of customers."
"Most people don't come in for a drink until the afternoon. However, I still appreciate the compliment. I've put my life into this place." I noticed his glass was empty. "You want another?"
"Depends, are you going to judge me and call me an alcoholic?"
"Only after the third drink. You get off scotch free for the second."
"Very well then," he nodded. I grabbed the bottle and brought it over to him, filling his glass. "Anything interesting to do in this small town?"
"Define interesting. Everything here is pretty basic if you ask me. There's a diner, a library, an antiques shop, and a bar. Your standard small town."
"Why don't you leave?"
"I can't leave Triton's. It's the last piece of my father I have. My sisters won't take care of it so I have to stay. But if I were you, I would leave this place as soon as you can. People tend to get sucked in here. We don't have many travelers but in the past, the passer-bys have had a bit of an extended stay."
"What, you don't enjoy my company?"
"You interest me quite a bit actually. For one, you're someone new to talk to. But you're also rather mysterious. I can't help but wonder what your story is."
"I feel the same way about you. There's some sort of familiarity about you that I can't quite place."
I shrugged, unsure of how to answer. I felt similarly though. I was sure I had never met this man before, but something about him seemed familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I let him enjoy his drink in peace. Soon his glass was empty and before I could offer him another, he waved me off. I saw him pull out his wallet and I just shook my head. "It's on the house."
"You won't be in business much longer if you give drinks away for free."
"Consider it a thank you for keeping me company this morning. It's not very often we get visitors before dinner time."
"Can I see you again?" He asked bluntly.
I wasn't sure how to react. I genuinely enjoyed his company but he seemed like trouble. I just looked at him and tried not to over think things.
I nodded my head. "Come by later if you haven't been terribly bored by this small town. People tend to gather here around 7 or 8."
He bared his brilliant white teeth at me in a smile. "I shall see you then." I watched him walk out the door and just as he entered the doorframe, he turned back to look at me. I gave him a small side smile before he proceeded out the door. As soon as the front door shut, I heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. My sisters.
They took two seats at the bar right in front of me. "Okay spill. Who was that hot guy you were talking to!?" Shelly squealed. She was the oldest of the three of us. She was tall and slender, with golden blonde hair that was naturally wavy and reached the middle of her back. Her eyes were a dark blue but her signature trademark was her beautiful smile.
I rolled my eyes at the two of them. "His name is Declan. He's an out-of-towner who traveled here by mistake. I think he just needed some place to relax so he came in here."
"A hot new guy comes to town and that's all you got out of him! Is he staying long? Is he available?" Coral commented. Coral was the middle sister. She had straight, strawberry blonde hair with layers that framed her heart shaped face. Her hazel eyes were expertly lined with liquid liner that animated her mousy face. She was slightly shorter than Shelly but instead of a stick thin shape, she had the perfect curvy figure. I was sort of a combination of the two. I had firey red hair and what was considered a cute face, similar to Coral. But I also had a small petite figure with a winning smile, like that of Shelly. My eyes were the one characteristic that was completely original. No one in my family had brilliant green eyes like I did.
"My bad, I wasn't thinking about the boy-crazy genes you two possess. I was down here working."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Shelly rolled her eyes.
"Do you think he'll be back!?" Coral asked excitedly.
"If he doesn't get completely bored with the town, I'd say there's a chance he comes back later." The two of them giggled some more as I grabbed the empty glass from the end of the bar. Underneath it was a crisp $20 bill. I smiled and shook my head at his generosity. I continued to tidy up the bar as my sisters gossiped and discussed their plans for tonight. I requested they watch the bar as I headed upstairs to take an hour or so lunch break. I had faith that no visitors would come in. If by chance they did, I knew that Coral and Shelly had plenty of experience with alcohol. They'd whip something up.