Tuesday Nights

A glob of beer flopped over the top of a tall glass and splattered on the tip of her new, shiny, black shoes.

"Shit." She said as she placed it down on the counter and bent to wipe the wetness from her shoe. Grabbing the beer off the counter, she handed it to a snaky looking guy with long scraggly gray hair and a toothless grin.

"Thanks Liz." The man said, flopping a five down into a puddle of beer that was sitting on the bar.

"Anytime Mo." Lizzie smiled as she swept a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.

The bar was packed for a Tuesday night. Men were there to watch football on one of the twelve television screens they had and girlfriends were there celebrating happy hour. The bar was O'Malley's, a small Irish Pub that was home to the many locals that lived in the small suburb of Carterville. Carterville was just outside of New York, NY. The people who usually came to O'Malley's were in attempt to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city, or wallow in O'Malley's famous Gallon 'O Ale. Lizzie had seen everyone from failed actors and musicians, to artists on the verge of insanity. She had even seen a few famous people.

Tuesday nights were her favorite though. On Tuesdays she didn't get what she referred to as "crazies." On Tuesdays she got, Mo, the creepy guy with the scraggly gray hair. Mo was a janitor at the local high school and lived by himself in a nearby apartment building. Despite his looks and quiet demeanor, Mo was brilliant and planned on going back to college once he saved enough money for himself. Lizzie and Mo became friends during the three years that Lizzie had worked at O'Malley's.

Vic was the old Italian who drank wine and insisted that Frank Sinatra was the only music to come from the tired juke box. He came in and spoke his mind about anything. He was old and Italian so apparently that gave him the right to say anything to anybody no matter how rude it was. Once you got past Vic's rough exterior, he had a heart of gold.

Cindy was the thirty-year old single mother whom had just liberated herself from an awful marriage. She had a three year old son named Tucker who spent most nights with Cindy's mother because she didn't think Cindy was capable of mothering a child. Cindy's mother thought that she had made the biggest mistake in divorcing Rick, the successful lawyer who slept around whenever he got the chance. He was loaded though so he was perfect to Cindy's mother but Cindy saw through the charming exterior. She was a beautiful brunette who owned a small clothing boutique in the city. Her and Lizzie became close during the many times Cindy ventured into O'Malley's and told her problems to the bartender.

Miriam was one of Lizzie's favorites. She was a sixty-five year old woman who owned half of Carterville. She was somewhat a humble lady but not when it came to men and jewelry. She could also drink any man under the table. Miriam took Lizzie and Cindy under her wing and insisted on teaching them the ways of the world. Her husband had passed away five years ago from cancer and she came in every Tuesday for the past four. "It was Al's favorite place," she would always say and then they would toast to his memory.

Then there was Brian. Brian was freshly twenty-two and had the biggest crush on Lizzie. He attended the community college nearby and had some major that none of the Tuesday night gang quite understood. Some weird art major but he was a sweet boy that was usually hushed by the other four outgoing people but he sat and listened and learned. Lizzie thought it was endearing that Brian had a crush on her, even though she didn't date younger men. Lizzie always thought Brian somewhat reminded her of Larry Tudgeman, a face she hadn't seen in ages.

Every once in a while, Miranda would venture in on a Tuesday night. She was in her last year at a nearby design school and Lizzie's roommate. Lizzie was at the age where she was completely confused about everything. They say you figure everything out at twenty-five. To Lizzie, whoever "they" are, are off their rocker. She had taken classes here and there in attempt to get her Masters in Journalism. Lizzie came to Carterville three years ago to enter the Masters program at Carterville University. They were said to have one of the best programs around and Lizzie had worked at O'Malley's to pay her way through. It was harder than she thought and there were many nights she would lay in bed, thinking of whether or not to continue but she had made it this far.

Lizzie's Tuesday night friends had just helped her end a rough and rocky relationship with a guy named Zach. Zach was almost everything Lizzie had ever wanted in a guy. He was tall, had mesmerizing deep blue eyes that accentuated his caramel colored skin, and also had a knack for being a complete douche bag. Zach treated Lizzie well for the first couple months- he would open doors, pay for things, and act interested in what she had to say until they dove out of blissful couple and splashed right into couple that's been together to long. There would be days he wouldn't call her and she would confront him and he would say "I'm busy" or "get over it." Finally she snapped and told him one day to get his ass out of her apartment and learn to appreciate a woman. Now Lizzie was single, working in a bar, and utterly confused on what she should do with her life. That is, until this Tuesday…