Chapter One

"You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey / You're as sweet as strawberry wine / You're as warm as a glass of brandy / And honey I stay strong on your love all the time"

"Dammit. I thought they might have been closed."

Alex Romero sighed as he glared at the times listed on a glass window in front of him. His partner shot him a cold look, her eyes stabbing into his cheek as he pretended to stare at something on the ground. Her piercingly cruel gazes gave way to his many failures. All the guys at work had warned him about her. "Don't hook up with the ice princess". He was just too weak to say no. Rebecca Hamilton was a fierce human being after all.

"I thought they might have been closed," she mocked, her voice going an octave deeper in attempt to imitate, "Fuck, Alex. We've been planning this for a week now. I had the menu memorized and I already knew what I was going to order!".

He hated her when she was like this. Sometimes the questions regarding why he was with her surfaced when she started to complain and bitch. He had a gross habit of reflecting on the things she would scold him about later in the night while knocking back copious amounts of scotch. Was she even worth it? He could've ended it right then and there and everything would still be the same in his life. This wasn't love. This wasn't the way a man his age should be treated. But for now, his hankering for a cold one was hefty and he needed something to numb him so he wouldn't have to keep processing all of her nonsense.

"Look Becs, there's a really good bar down the street. Heard they uh- revamped the whole thing so it's a bit nicer. I think they have pretty good food and drinks. If you wanna go, I'll take you there instead," he offered lightly. It was their chew and screw night. He would pretend to be happy during dinner with her, she would pretend to be satisfied in bed with him. The perfect trade off. If he could still find a way to take her out, maybe there was a chance that he could still get laid. It'd been a while.

She rolled her eyes, "I guess. I'm not happy about the prospect of going to a bar on our one and only date night but...let's just salvage what we have here," her voice was saturated in an annoyed energy that made Alex want to pound his head against a brick wall.

Yeah, a drink would absolutely do him some good.

X

When they entered the bar, it was all a cliche. The lights were blinding, the music was completely too loud, and there were boatloads of 20-30 year old players with alcohol in their hands trying to score only the prettiest girls on the floor. It wasn't a club though. Alex could thank his lucky stars for that. Him, a simple small town police officer sitting in a club. That just wasn't a good look. His thoughts were cut short when he felt his partner's boney finger protrude his side.

"This isn't at all what I had in mind, Alexander."

Alexander. The use of his full name was something that she turned to in order to belittle him. He turned to her, looking for a little bit of sympathy even though he could never get even a sliver out of her.

"Hey, it's the best we have," he started, lifting his wrist to check his watch, "Especially at this hour of the night. I promise next week, we'll do something much better."

Alex didn't bother continuing the fight that she was about to tear into. It was just a rehashing of the nights events. She'd probably find 12+ things to complain about in the car so he figured it'd be best to settle for an hour of peace and booze before the barrel of bullshit got dumped on him. He walked to the bar and took an empty stool, she begrudgingly sat next to him and grabbed a menu.

"Ew...these are way too sticky," she mumbled, putting it down to observe the items. Nothing worse than ruining a $50 manicure on some bad liquor residue.

Normally, he would've offered to just choose something for them so he didn't have to hear her mouth. But this...this was a different kind of night. He knew when he looked at her. The bold faced beauty behind the bar that was probably grabbing everyone's attention. Or maybe it was just him. When you find a diamond in the rough, sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you're the only one who sees it. She was so...perfect. If perfection could ever be set in stone. Blonde waves, blue eyes, and the body of a goddess. He had to look away in order to avoid coming off as a creepy but...Jesus he'd never seen anything like it.

"Hi, what can I get for you guys tonight?"

Her voice was soft yet demanding. She was angelic. Especially the way the light was hitting her when she approached him. He could feel the rays of jealousy shooting off of the frigid woman beside him. Even Rebecca couldn't deny that this woman was beautiful. And he knew it drove her nuts. He knew that she could see what he was looking at.

"I'll have a margarita. Peach flavored. Skinny. Absolutely no triple sec. And no salt or sugar around the rim. I would like extra lime please. But don't put it on the side of the glass. A ramekin will do just fine," she said, her head falling into the pit of her hand. She was pleased with herself.

Alex always got annoyed when he brought her out for this reason...a server's nightmare. Too many modifications and requests to tend to. He always left 30% just to make up for her bitchy behavior.

The bartender's eyes shot to everyone else at the bar. Almost trying to signal that she had multiple other patrons to tend to. This bitch wasn't the only one. She really wanted to make a comment. But she needed the job. She needed this money. So, her head fell into a tight nod as she looked to her companion. She knew what to do to get back at this lady, but in a subtle way.

"And what can I get for you?" she asked, leaning over the bar to give the man a clear shot of her cleavage, her grin was more flirtatious than anything. Her and the other servers always used this tactic. If the lady was a problem, bring out the big guns and charm the husband. It worked every time. Plus, she got more of a tip.

He didn't look down. He knew that it would kill her image of him right off the bat. When he saw her grin, he couldn't help it. He made a mental note to put one of the dinner napkins over his lap when she turned to get the drink. He didn't care if Rebecca noticed, he just didn't want her to bring attention to his erection in front of this beauty plus everyone else at the bar.

"Uh- I'll just have a scotch. Neat."

Rebecca was clenching her fist under the bartop. This girl was trying to draw him in. She was pretty. But her slutty scale was high up on the charts. This was just lovely. A bar skank trying to pick up her boyfriend. She was doing a damn fine job because Alex sure as hell seemed flustered.

"Mmm...good choice!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, "We have a really wide selection."

The bartender turned to grab two bottles from the wall, the most pricey bottles of scotch in house. But she wasn't going to skimp. She knew upselling was part of the job. And the higher the bill, the higher the tip. With the amount of irritating energy this poor guy likely had to deal with, he'd probably be welcome to the idea of a couple of drinks.

"Here we have The Balvenie Doublewood and The Glenlivet. Balvenie is about 12 years aged and Glenlivet has 18 years. I would recommend Balvenie because it's smooth. Better on it's own too," she said, shaking the other bottle around in her hand to showcase.

"Little bit of a scotch know it all?" he laughed nodding at her choice, "Alright, give me the Balvenie."

She smiled pouring the drink in a nicer highball, "You could call me a bit of a scotch connoisseur. I have a wide selection at home. Nice to have it as a nightcap. With all these people to take care of, it's nice to wind down."

"I'd bet."

He took a swig of the glass she slid him and nodded. "Oh yeah. I like that."

"Excuse me," Rebecca announced rudely, her tone sharp, ready to chop someone to pieces, "Can I get my drink please? I'd like to enjoy it with my boyfriend."

"Sure thing, honey," she cooed in the most fake tone she could muster. She paced over to the margarita mix and started the process while still trying to maintain a conversation with her man. The night was far from over.

"Happy you like it. We just got it after the revamp. Our bar manager wanted to class up the joint a little bit with some of the nicer liquor," she explained, shaking the lime juice in a mixer and adding it to a barebones glass. No rim, how boring.

Alex nodded, taking another sip, "Well, tell him he made some good choices. This stuff is gold. I'm a simple guy when it comes to scotch, Dewars and Johnny Walker typically do the job for me...but I think I've jumped ship."

She giggled, slipping the woman beside him her drink. "Lemme know how you like your margarita, sweetheart. I tried to put as much peach in as possible without making it too sweet. Because you wanted no triple."

Rebecca simply shot her a dirty look and sipped from the glass, "Not the best I've ever had but it'll do for now I suppose."

Alex just shook his head lightly and eyed the bartender when Rebecca went to reach into her bag for her phone, "Sorry," he mouthed silently. The last thing he wanted was for his girlfriend to see the action.

She waved her hand, shaking it off. This wasn't the first rude woman she'd dealt with and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Her words did nothing to affect her. She knew the drink was good, this woman was simply a jealous asshole.

"Let me know if you two need anything else."

With that, she was off to the other side of the bar to take care of the people that had just sat. It was only a cycle.

X

Two hours and three glasses of scotch later, Alex asked for his bill. Rebecca had barely touched her drink. He had sent her out to start the car while he paid, not wanting to deal with her anymore and needing a couple minutes break.

"Alright!" the bartender said, dropping the bill in front of him, "Before you ask, I noticed your lady friend didn't enjoy her drink very much. Sorry about that. I just had my manager take it off. No use in paying for something that wasn't touched."

"Wow, thank you. I would've paid anyway. Sorry about the trouble," he said, shaking his head. The bill was still a hefty $50, he pulled a crisp $100 bill out of his wallet and placed it on the check. He looked at the server name on top of the tab.

"Norma?"

She turned from the dish sink where she'd turned to after leaving him with the check, "Yeah, that's me." Her face held a smile as she scrubbed at a couple of tall beer glasses.

Alex stood up from the barstool and put his coat on, heading to the door. "I'll be seeing you around then, Norma. That scotch was too good not to come back for."

When she walked to his empty stool and looked at the extravagant tip, her head popped up, "Wait, wait...I didn't give you your change."

"That's all for you."

With that, he was out the door. He left her with a smile and a whole $50 tip. She couldn't believe it. In her 10 years of bartending, Norma had never seen such a good tip from a party of two. She pocketed the rest and put the payment in the computer.

She could get used to seeing him around too.

Guess who's back, back again, Shady's back...tell a friend! Here's to the beginning of a good 2018. Not sure how many Bates readers are still out there but I'm sitting creatively over here :) - MJ