Yes I'm being bad. I already have a story barely in progress…but this idea came to me whilst I was in work today, (I work in a bar, so it's justified, as you will see later on) and it was a quiet night so I was free to think whilst polishing pint glasses. I think this is a different take on many of the fan-fictions out there. And could be quite interesting. Looking forward to hearing (well, seeing) what you think. Please please PLEASE when you read – review, to let me know! Thanks
It's going to take a while to get into it too. Bare with me
Alexia Mae
(Lexie xxx)
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It was different. At least the Emerald city bar had that going for it. Lord knows it had little else. But hey, beggars can't be choosers. And I am definitely in the begging band right now. I'm Faye. I left home when just before my eighteenth birthday. In fact, I was in Louisiana for my eighteenth birthday, on the wrong bus. That was a bad day, but that is a different story. I was born in New York. The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps…and all that other crap! I didn't have the fairy tale childhood that I read about secretly when I snuck into the pathetic excuse for a mobile library that visited our town every month. I was forbidden to enter it. Like that stopped me, ha! My father had been a priest, but had died in a highway pile up when I was six. My mom was convinced it was God's doing, smiting father down for his actions when the evil of the drink had been in him. My mom thought she was a saint. St Hilary, the local people used to call her, if only they knew what it was like at home. At first I took the beatings without a word, I was good like that, I thought it was out of anger at the loss of her husband, and worries regarding the rent and paying for myself and older brother Karl. But when she remarried, to Wayne Dunn, a little over two years later, the beatings didn't stop. I just grew more and more immune to them. I found that if I scrunched myself into a little ball, metaphorically and physically, it didn't hurt, no one could hurt me, not mom, not Wayne, not Karl, not the nasty kids at school. And so, I withdrew, happily to my own world. I was there for mom, when she needed me, as someone to yell at, rant at, take her anger out on. Wayne too. I happily accepted that as my job in the family. Wayne brought the money in, Mom prayed for our salvation and Karl was the brains. He was smart, I mean real smart. He was going to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or at least graduate university. Dad had drank my university fund.
When I reached thirteen, I noticed that Wayne looked at me differently, and treated me differently. One night, after a particularly severe meeting with the belt, Wayne had crept into my room and offered to rub ointment on my sores. I gratefully accepted, and lifted my top, eager to feel the coolness of the aloe on my radiating skin. That was my first mistake. And I don't think I need to disclose the exact events of that night, nor the nights following. After five years though. I finally broke. I cracked. As Wayne pulled the covers from my body, where I was tucked up in bed, I reached for my baseball bat and swung. All I remember was a loud bang, then red. Lots of red. I grabbed a backpack, shoved clothes, money and a few of mom's expensive necklaces in and ran. Ran from him. Ran from the house. Ran from the state.
I'd ended up in Seattle, with twenty dollars left from the money I'd got in exchange for the necklaces in a porn shop in New York City. I'd decided at that point that I'd better find somewhere to earn some money, and stumbled across this place, The Emerald City Bar. Joe, the stout but friendly barman needed some convincing that an eighteen year old could serve in a bar, as long as said eighteen year old didn't drink in said bar. He'd finally agreed. If he'd agreed solely to avoid seeing any tears, he need not have bothered. I don't cry.
It was that time off the night. Doctors and nurses from the hospital across the road, Seattle Grace, were starting to arrive. Joe had warned me of this later hour rush, and had also warned me about a few certain doctors. He had also advised me not to take any of their crap.
"Hey Joe!" A handsome, tall male said sitting at a stool in the centre of the bar said sliding his black jacket, speckled with rain from his shoulders.
"Usual?" Joe asked taking a tumbler glass from the shelf above him. When the handsome guy nodded his approval, Joe turned to the selection of drink behind him and selected a bottle of whisky with a bird on the front and poured. "Rough day?".
"Not too bad actually!" The handsome guy responded. He really was handsome. And the way he closed his eyes when he sipped his drink was delicious to watch. I was snapped out of my daze by lemon juice squirting into my eye, from the lemon I was slicing. I winced and rubbed my eye with my lemon juice covered hand, only making the stinging worse. I heard a chuckle. "I think you've got a problem over there Joe" he pointed out to my boss. He'd obviously seen my embarrassing mistake and the discomfort I was in.
Next I felt two hands on my wrists, pulling them from my face. Instinctively, and without any control, I whimpered and cowered. Immediately the hands released me. "Woah…" Joe's voice boomed.
"Sorry…" I said quickly, moving my hands to my side and looked up, one eye scrunched up, the other watering. I shrugged. "Over reaction… I'm sorry!" Joe looked at me concerned by didn't mention it. I'd have to be more careful about my reactions now. Wayne wasn't here. No one was going to hurt me…I badly needed to get a grip.
"Go wash your face in the back room" Joe suggested. "And try not to do it again" he chuckled gently pushing me in the direction of the bathroom to the rear of the bar. I went without hesitation. Citric acid in your eye damn hurts! From the bathroom I heard him speaking to the handsome man again. "She came in this morning after a job. Only a few dollars to her name."
"Runaway?" Handsome guy asked.
"I guess so, but I wasn't going to just let her run around Seattle like a moving target was I? I have a little room here, and I need a hand, she's willing to learn. And hey, if it means I can put a lost girl on the right track…" Joe said, I could hear him making another drink. Maybe it was for handsome guy. That meant he would stay a while longer.
"You're a saint Joe" I heard Handsome guy say. The thought made me shudder. My mother and Joe under the same label. It was wrong. Joe was a decent guy.
Finally respectful again, and no longer stinging, I smoothened my creased cardigan and tshirt and stepped back into the bar, only to see a lot more people at the bar than when I left, only moments ago. I stood and stared. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Joe darting back and forth. Customer, Drink, Customer, Till, Customer. Joe called me, and told me the best way to learn was to just get stuck in. I gnawed my bottom lip for a moment debating who to serve first. I scanned the row. There were three women sat at the end nearest me, smiling and giggling. They seemed nice. I swallowed, hard, and headed in their direction. I hovered in front of them, waiting, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Eventually, one of them noticed me, and stopped talking to stare at me. I blushed and tucked a loose curl back into a clip.
"Yes?" she asked, running a hand through her mousey brown hair.
"Oh, I'm sorry…I just…" I was rambling. I stopped to regain my confidence, licked my lips and smiled a little, "What can I get you to drink?"
The women looked between one another. The one who spoke first spoke again "You work here?" She questioned. I nodded, shifting my weight from one hip to the other wondering how many times I'd be asked that in one evening. "Joe!" she shouted. "Why is there a teenager trying to serve me my drink?"
Joe didn't stop what he was doing to shout back over "She's a newbie. Be nice Meredith. Faye!" I jerked my head towards him. "Give them that bottle of tequila and three shot glasses!"
"Yes sir!" I said, reaching for an unopened bottle. I placed it in front of them, and jumped up for 3 shot glasses from the shelf above the bar (I was too small to reach just standing) and placed them, on coasters in front of them neatly. My hands shaking. I went to the till and found the price, as Joe had shown me and returned to them "That is fifteen dollars please." I announced quietly, yet loud enough for them to hear. The middle lady took the money from her purse and handed it over. "Thanks" I said, taking it and putting it in the till.
As I went to move away the third called my name, "Faye, come here a sec!" I went back to them, wondering if I had done something wrong. I looked at the woman's face. She seemed really friendly, a huge smile on her face, bouncy blonde hair which fell round her face and bright happy eyes. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen" I informed her, I was about to explain that, legally I could work here when she continued.
"You're not from round here, are you?"
"No."
"Where you from?"
"New York…"
"Wow! I love New York. Well, Faye. Good luck with the rest of your first night!" She smiled and returned to her friend's conversation. She was nice. Really nice.
"Izzie's not normally that nice!" A man a few barstools down told me, I looked to the girl he was talking about, Blondie. He'd clearly been watching me. "She just got laid." I blushed. "Oh man, you really are green!" He exclaimed laughing.
"What can I get you to drink?" I asked, trying to sound unfazed.
"Beer!" He answered, dipping his hands into the complimentary bowl of nuts. I looked at him for a moment. He was quite good looking too. In a scrappy kind of a way. But he seemed arrogant.
As I scanned the shelves of bottled beer, and tried to ignore the sniggering from arrogant guy, Joe came to my rescue. "This is Alex. Alex, this is Faye" He introduced, spinning me back round to face him. "He drinks Budweiser. Second shelf on the left." He got the bottle, handed me an opener and walked to another customer. I opened the bottle as quick as I could, handed it to him, and told him the price. He muttered something under his breath and gave me the money. I scanned the bar for another customer, eager to get away from arrogant guy.
The three ladies in the corner beckoned me over. "Ignore Alex." The happy Blondie said. "He's a knob to everyone. Not just you. It's not personal."
"Thanks" I muttered.
"So, what are you doing so far from home…?" By the way Blondie finished her sentence, I could tell she was searching for my name.
"Faye," I offered, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I shrugged. "Wanted something new." It wasn't a lie. I couldn't lie! My face gave it away too easily. I'd taken to bending the truth. A better way to get away with things.
"I'm Izzie!" Blondie…Izzie introduced "And this is Christina and Meredith." They nodded or waved in response, eating the pretzels in front of them. I nodded my acknowledgement. Izzie continued. "We work at the hospital across the road. We're Doctors." She said proudly.
"Wow…" I said softly. "It must be hard work…" I racked my brain for a better way to continue the conversation other than stating the obvious. Conversing had never been my strong point.
"Yeah, but it's rewarding!" Izzie positively beamed. I decided that I could either really like this girl…or I could end up wanting to shove her rainbows and sunshine down her stupidly happy throat. It was a thin line.
Christina spoke next, for the first time. "And the pay is great" The others agreed.
In between serving other customers, clearing up glass I'd dropped and smashed, and wiping the bar down, I spoke to the three doctors. Meredith and Izzie were lovely, Meredith more resigned than her bubbly, bouncy friend. I imagined those who knew Christina well liked her, she didn't seem to take to me too fast though. Not that I minded, they were just customers. Throughout the evening I learnt a lot, not only about pulling pints and making drinks to the way the various customers wanted. I also started picking up on what some of them would order repeatedly. Meredith's little crew for example, tequila shots. When she started singing "Dancing in the Moonlight", Handsome guy came over to her. My heart jumped a little, I hadn't spoken to him since I'd got him a drink. He'd moved and sat in a booth with a tanned women, and a very, very steamy looking guy, drinking and playing cards. It looked like fun. He wrapped his muscley arms round her and kissed her cheek. "I think it's time to go hunny, we have work in the morning." he suggested. "I want you bright eyed and bushy tailed if you're scrubbing in with me!"
Oh, I thought he must be the McDreamy they had been talking about. McDreamy was such a better name for him than Handsome guy. So he was her boyfriend, and her boss. Juicy! Surely those sort of relationships aren't allowed in a work place.
"Oh but Fayeeee is going to get me more te-queeee-la. Aren't you Faye?" Meredith answered in a sing-songy voice.
I hesitated. "I don't think you should drink any more…" She was zonked.
"I am a paying customer! I want te-quee-la!" she elongated the eeeeeeee. "If I want drink. You gim me drink!"
"Um…" I looked at McDreamy / Handsome man for help. He mouthed 'water' to me, so I fetched a glass and put it in front of her. "This will make you feel better in the morning!" I offered, knowing the difference between a hangover with water compared to that without. I'd seen my step dad often enough to tell.
"Thank you. Come on sweetie. We're going home! Night girls" He said to Christina and Izzie. I didn't think he meant me. They waved their goodbyes. "See you around Faye!" He added, surprising me so much that all I could do was force a shaky smile on my face and nod. He laughed and helped his very, very drunk girlfriend out of the bar.
Slowly but surely everyone left. And just my luck. The guy who left last. Arrogant guy. Or Alex. I prefer arrogant guy. I ducked under the bar and headed round the room, collecting dirty glasses, carrying five in each hand back to the sink, then repeated the action. After several trips, I felt Arrogant's eye's on me. At first I tried to ignore it. I failed at this. I went back behind the bar and stood in front of him. "Another drink?" I asked politely. He just stared at me. "Um… want me to call you a taxi?" I offered, pointing to the phone on the wall.
Silence.
"I'm not drunk."
"I didn't suggest you were…" I explained.
"I know. I'm just telling you."
More silence.
"Throw me a bag of chips!" he ordered pointed casually at the cheesy chips. I turned around, reached onto the highest shelf, stretching both my arm and my upper body to reach them. I definitely going to have to get a stool for myself. I turned around and placed them in front of him. His eyes met mine. I looked from side to side, nervous due to the intensity of his stare. Where was Joe? "What happened to your back?"
My heart stopped. Just briefly. And I felt sick. I felt my eyes widen and blood rush to my face, causing me to turn a deep shade or maroon. "W-w.. I don't know what you mean.."
"Then why are you blushing and looking all nervous?"
Dam it I thought to myself. I took a moment to calm down and tried again. "My back's really fine!"
"Liar."
"I'm fine!"
"Liar!"
"I'm not lying!" I argued. "My back feels fine." I punched my back to prove a point. It hurt like hell, but I was well trained in not letting on that I was in pain.
"Then why did I see a load of cuts and sores. They need seeing to." Arrogant guy said, plunging his hand into the bag of chips.
"You're drunk?" I tried.
"Wrong answer. I'm perfectly fine. You on the other hand…." He said, mouth half full. I folded my armed, the picture of stubbornness. "Just let me take a look."
"No!"
"What's going on?" Joe's voice appeared from no where, followed by his body.
"Nothing" I mumbled, picked up glasses and putting them in the sink of warm soapy water. Alex began to explain what we'd been arguing about and I shot him a look. Something in his face changed when he looked at me. I wasn't sure whether I'd angered him or not. I really wanted the conversation dropped. Why didn't he get that. Arrogant guy! Ugh!!!
"Nothing." He said.