It's a snowy winters night in Asheville, NC. The air is cold, crisp and pregnant with potential. Large white snowflakes are cheerfully yet hesitantly floating down from the gray, cloudy, starless sky. Holiday music is bleeding onto the streets. 3 weeks before Christmas and some people want to make other people bleed at this point. Mid-December marks the period of the holidays where if you were short of the Christmas spirit before, you're completely devoid of it now and ready to rip it from anyone who still has it.
Everyone is bustling and often grumbling about looking for gifts. Perfect, last minute, and otherwise. Kids are tugging at their parent's coats, pointing to the store front windows that showcase the toys that will make their lives infinitely better… and most certainly the favorite among their friends. Finally! Parents are nodding to each other in knowing agreeance as they stop at the liquor store with the eggnog and bourbon on sale. Two of everything, please! Norman Rockwell on speed… and whiskey.
A deep blue jeep wrangler pulls into an open parking spot in front of Bunnies and Puppies, a popular hot spot the townies lovingly refer to as: 'The Hare of The Dog". A strikingly gorgeous blonde in skintight black jeans and calf high black lace up boots steps out of the truck. She is bundled in a blue scarf, black and blue leather jacket lined with fleece and a black knit hat.
Her sky blue eyes scan the building to make sure this is the correct place. Once she sees that it is, she gives a little shudder from the cold and quickly makes her way to the door and bursts through. All eyes are on her for a second (she always did know how to make an entrance) but they quickly go back to their private conversations.
An obscure Christmas song is playing softly from the speakers and she is very impressed. She smirks with approval then heads to the bar and takes the first open stool she sees.
As could be expected, it isn't terribly crowded, though there are more people than she thought there would be. Half of the customers are hovering around the roaring fireplace while the rest are scattered into small groups.
White Christmas lights wrap tastefully around the baseboards. A few garlands and mistletoes hang in the doorways, but nothing too gaudy. The soft orange lighting is warm and inviting. Gracefully straddling sterile and homey, this is definitely her new favorite place. She had been unpacking all day and was told that this will be the perfect spot to unwind.
The bartender notices his latest arrival and saunters over to the attractive new customer.
"Good evening" he smiles as he gently rings the dishtowel in his hands. "What would you like to drink on this fine winters night?" seduction cautiously coating his eyes.
"I'll have an extra dirty martini on the rocks. Thanks." she says, ignoring his subtle flirtation.
"What kind of vodka?"
"Surprise me."
"You got it. Coming right up." He throws the dishtowel he was holding over his shoulder and begins to make her drink without losing eye contact. "So, thanks for coming out tonight. I thought I was going to be dead in the water for tips." He thinks about it for a second and then corrects himself with a laugh. "Dead in the snow I mean."
She can't help but roll her eyes and laugh. "Good one." She replies with forced politeness.
The bartender is looking around for something that he can't seem to find. He leans in close to her from the other side of the bar and says in almost a whisper. "I'll be right back. I am missing a piece for your drink."
"A piece? Oh, okay. No problem." She waves him off. She doesn't even want to know. The less encouragement the better.
She takes this free moment to look around the room some more. She notices a man with a gray felt fedora sitting in one of the leather chairs. He is speaking very passionately to a curly haired brunette with a fancy looking drink in her hand. She is very intrigued with what her drinking companion has to say.
Next she inspects the group of people hovering in front of the fireplace. A few of them keep looking up at her. She thought she was imagining it at first, but no, she wasn't. They are definitely talking about her. It's not as subtle as they might think. Or perhaps they have no interest in being subtle. That is a distinct possibility.
For some reason she feels the need to further investigate their faces. She is looking at them up and down, chin to forehead. She's never looked at people in such a manner and is finding it rather enjoyable. It's a game! She makes it to the last face of the group and her breath catches when she is startled to see eyes looking just as curiously back at her.
She jumps and then grimaces when she is shaken out of the eye lock. "Okay! I'm back. Miss me?"
She swirls around in her bar stool, facing the bartender again. She raises her eyebrows and lips in a sarcastic smile. "Oh yes. Immensely."
The bartender is nice enough but she is so not interested. He is much more brawny and masculine than what she usually goes for. Nope, not her box of Cheerios. Sorry guy. Come to think of it, she knows exactly who goes for his type. She makes a note in her phone: Octavia- found the perfect dude. Make sure he's not a total creeper. Because for Octavia, half creeper's were sometimes alright.
"For you." He hands her a single rose. She hesitantly grabs for it and responds with tentative appreciation. "Oh goodness. You, uh, didn't have to go to the trouble."
"No trouble at all. I snagged it from one of the tables." He says with a wink.
"You're a risk taker, I'll give you that." She says, only slightly annoyed and now more entertained than anything.
He shrugs his shoulder and raises his arms in a what can I say? gesture. "I presume you are new to town since this is the first time I've ever seen you here." He says curiously, still hell bent on trying to see this gorgeous addition to his bar outside of work.
She decides it's time to nip this rose in bud. "What? I was just in here the other night?"
"You were?! When?"
"Um, I believe it was last Tuesday?"
"Figures. I wasn't working that night."
"Yeah, figures." The blonde smirks with the satisfaction that she ever so furtively poked holes in his theory. "See? Not necessarily new in town." She was so new.
The bartender is starting to rethink his pursuit of this girl. It was becoming clear that she is not interested in him. "Right." He musters up half a smile and puts the ordered drink in front of her. "$8.50"
The attractive, detail-loving, point-proving customer whistles and shakes her head from side to side as she reaches for her wallet. She pulls out her credit card and gives it to the now frowning bartender, suddenly eager to help anyone else but this woman.
He finds himself actually looking forward to seeing the old man who comes in on Wednesday nights and constantly talks bout his alien abduction while blowing his nose each time he says … and then right up my left nostril they went... I tell ya!
They were both suddenly jarred from their separate thoughts.
"Lincoln, this one's on me."
The blonde's head whips around to see where this soft, confidant voice with all the power is coming from. Standing behind her is the dashingly beautiful brunette woman she made eye contact with earlier.
The blonde is confused but something inside her starts to stir. Her brows are furrowed but her eyes are glowing. "Oh. You don't have to do that."
She is suddenly concerned for Lincoln. She looks over at him to see his head down, staring at the bar. His face has paled significantly and the bravado that previously filled his eyes has been replaced with cold fear.
"Yes, I do. Lincoln knows not to flirt with certain clientele." The brunette shoots him a glare that makes the towering bartender shrink by two inches at least. "Because of his behavior, every drink tonight is on the house and his tips will be cut in half."
Lincoln lets out a small sigh and the blonde let's out a small gasp.
"Oh. That's not necessary. Really, I'm fine. His tips are already on thin ice." She says in a dramatic voice, as if she were on stage doing one-liners for comedy hour. She looks over at Lincoln, proud of herself at matching his corny pun from earlier. Her hopes of lightening the mood are dashed when he barely smiles and continues looking down at the bar.
The brunette does not budge a smile. "It is done." She waves her hand to signify the finality of the matter and Lincoln quickly hands the card back to the blonde. "Have a wonderful evening." She says as she turns and walks away.
The blonde watches her head back towards the fireplace crowd. She turns to face the bar and bows her head to stare at the now paid-for drink.
She is not quite sure what just happened and she's not sure if she's okay with it. She won't deny that she is now thoroughly entranced and wants to learn more about this woman. There was a twinkle in the green of the brunette's eyes that she can't shake from her mind.
She lifts her gaze from the bar and turns her attention to Lincoln. He is busying himself, cleaning glasses and avoiding all contact with her. She waves her arm in the air casually (trying to hold back the frantic feeling) hoping to catch his eye. She aims to get his attention again because she knows that he holds answers that she now must have.
He lifts his head and looks at her. She is relieved when he begins to walk over. She is taken aback when he becomes much more matter-of-fact than he had been all night. "Yes, ma'am? Would you like something else?"
She is surprised by this sudden change but she does prefer it to the other version. A rose? Really? "Uh. Yes. Will you please tell me about the woman who just bought my drinks? And what she meant by 'certain clientele'?"
"Her name is Lexa. She is the owner. She means an unwelcome advance. I came onto you first." His eyes fell to the bar again.
"How could she tell?"
Lincoln shrugs and looks back up at the blonde. "I imagine it had something to do with the rose I gave you and the cold shoulder you gave me."
She couldn't help but let out a hardy laugh at that. "Yeah. That's all true." She thought for a moment before saying, "Well, I might know someone who would gladly start flirting with you first." That seemed to lift his mood a bit but he didn't take the bait as she thought he would.
"That's nice of you, but it's fine. I don't even know what got into me tonight. I do apologize."
She lifts up one shoulder to her ear. "Eh, don't sweat it. We've all been there. I have a feeling you're a good fit for my friend but I'm going to need to ask you some more questions first. Get to know you. Just in case you're some demented pervert who has just been let out on patrol."
His face is very serious when he says, "I assure you, I am no such thing."
She expected him to laugh and not take on such a somber tone, but she can see the sincerity in his eyes.
"Okay, okay. Good, good." She scrunches her face in exaggerated seriousness.
"You can ask Lexa. She'll vouch for me."
Her heart beats quickly at the suggestion. "Even after the 'half the tips' thing?"
He nods and closes his eyes. "Yes."
The thought of going to speak to the brunette makes the blonde's stomach sink as if she had just driven down an extremely steep hill. She wants nothing more than to go speak with Lexa and she now has two reasons. The first being that she had to thank her again for the drinks, of course.
"Yes, I think I will do that. Thank you so much for that tip, Lincoln" She says as she starts to swivel around in her bar stool. Lincoln nods and lets half a smile break from his face. That is the first smile she's seen since 'the incident' and feels pleased. She likes it when everyone is happy and getting along.
She motions towards her jacket that is now placed atop the bar. "Can you please watch this for me?"
"No problem." He takes the jacket and puts it behind the bar.
"Thanks." She turns to face the small sea of people. The place has grown with more heads since she last purveyed the landscape. It is a Friday after all. The small clique near the fireplace has multiplied into small archipelagos, making it harder to make out faces.
She stares into the crowd and desperately looks for the eyes that literally took her breath away. Once she finds her mark, she takes a deep, steadying inhale and slowly exhales as she peels herself from her seat. She carefully begins to sift her way through, keeping her eyes locked on Lexa.
It's time for a proper introduction.
