For Day 2 of the Pearlnet Bomb Angst, I finished it on time, I swear. It's an AU and I hope you like it, I will admit the ending was a bit rushed.
"Hey there, what's a pretty lady like you doing looking sad in a place like this," a voice came from Pearl's left. She had come to the bar to be alone, she wanted to brood and maybe drink her troubles away. What she hadn't come here to do was be hit on all night which is why she went out of her way to find a lesbian bar downtown instead of a bar closer to her apartment.
Pearl was a lesbian, she had come to that conclusion when she was 11 when all the other girls in school started to be interested in boys she started seeing the other girls the same way. Her normal bar was closer and more convenient though she hated it. Too many men saw a girl drinking alone or with a friend and instantly they assumed she was looking for a man to hook up with no matter what she said. Pearl only went because of her, and now that that was over, or never even started really, she wanted to cut ties with that place. She liked the club atmosphere of the Purple Room, a gay bar that seemed to cater more to lesbians than gay men, though there were a few of them around, a few bi men and women as well from the look of a trio in the corner.
Pearl wasn't looking to hook up, maybe that would change after a few more rounds of whiskey she could do a one night stand, but right now she just wanted to brood. Women seemed to get that more than men, men would assume that you wanted them no matter what you said or they were drunk or sober. They never could wrap their heads around the idea of a woman coming to get a drink and be alone to try and forget a crummy day and not to find a stud to take home. If a woman at a place like this came over to hit on you all you had to say is no thank you, maybe they would ask what was wrong if she noticed you seemed depressed, but all you had to say is bad break up or that you wanted to be alone and the women tended to take the hint. So far that night alone Pearl had to turn down three potentials, each lovely in their own way and each wished her a better night when she made it clear she wasn't interested in hooking up.
This one was the fourth, Pearl put her glass down and turned to the woman who had come up to her, she felt it was only polite to look at a woman when she turned her down. "I'm just looking for a quiet night to drink off a particular bad day and be alone," Pearl said stressing the alone part. The woman wasn't bad, good even though she screamed butch, she was a mountain of a woman, maybe even taller than Rose was. The woman was good looking, somewhere between pretty and handsome, but there was a wildness about her that could have been attractive on another night. The bulging muscles, the gleam in her eyes, and her nice surfer's tan didn't dent her charm, though the reeking of alcohol did and unfortunately her hair reminded her of a particularly annoying individual that was half the reason why she was at the bar in the first place. It was enough to remind Pearl that no matter how good looking the woman was, or how good it would feel to be under a beast like her for a night she just wanted to brood alone in her misery.
"Oh come on, don't be like that pretty thing," the giant woman said catching Pearl's shoulder and Pearl froze. "I'm not trying to be rude or a creep or anything, I've just been noticing all night sitting alone and looking sad. I thought me and my girl might do our best to knock your socks off and more to turn that frown upside down," she said nodded her head over to an equally tanned glasses wearing girl sitting at a table alone who was watching them. She didn't seem to be as interested in whatever the butch woman was purposeing as her partner, but she didn't seem like she would kick Pearl out of bed.
Unfortunately whatever the woman wanted from Pearl, maybe it was her social phobia that made her hate being touched, maybe it was the woman's hair that reminded her of Greg and what he was probably doing with Rose right now, or maybe it was the woman suggesting Pearl go home with her and her partner with an open relationship, maybe it was just stress that was building up over a couple of weeks that erupted that day, but tears started to fall out of Pearl's eye. "Please, let me go and leave me alone," she said quietly, so sad and scared even, and Pearl tried to pull away.
"Whoa I'm not trying to roofie you or anything like that," the woman said not letting go of Pearl out of instinct. "I just wanted to see if you wanted a good ti-,"
"Jasper," a strong and smooth voice cut her off, and the two of them, it was the bartender, she was tall, not as tall as Jasper, but she seemed to carry herself better. She had dark skin and an afro that seemed to be a good look for her, and even though her eyes were covered by sunglasses, Pearl immediately thought beautiful when she saw her. "The lady said she wasn't interested," the woman said calmly, in a manner that said I'm going to be polite once and if I have to ask again I'm kicking you're ass.
"I'm not doing anything Garnet," the woman growled but let go of Pearl's shoulder.
"That's good Jasper, but still the lady said no so why don't you take a walk, you're girlfriends looking a bit lonely over there," Garnet said nodding her head over to Jasper's girlfriend who had girls hanging over her.
Jasper looked at her girlfriend then to the bartender, then to Pearl, and back to Garnet before starting to walk off, "whatever, I hate poachers anyway." But before she left she turned back and gave Pearl a napkin with her phone number on it, "in case you change your mind. I can promise there isn't a woman in this city that is as good at making pretty little things like you happy as I am," she said with a wave before returning to her table.
"Well I'm sorry about that, are you okay there Miss," Garnet asked Pearl who had been quiet the whole incident since her outburst.
"Um Pearl, just Pearl," Pearl said snapping out of her almost panic attack, "thank you for stepping in like that."
"Always happy to come to the rescue of any fair maidens," Garnet said giving Pearl the biggest smile like a dork. It was a very pretty smile and almost infectious enough to make Pearl smile, almost, "I only stepped in when it seemed like you needed some rescuing. Truthfully though you wouldn't of needed any help, Jasper can be a bit pushy, especially when she's drunk, but she wouldn't have done anything except ask for a few more minutes before getting the hint."
"Well thank you anyway, think I should have handled it better, it's been a rough few days," Pearl said extending her hand out of gratitude, "miss-," but she was cut off by the bartender before she could finish.
"Garnet," Garnet said taking Pearl's hand and giving it a firm shake quickly and letting go when she realized how embarrassing she was acting, " and it's no problem everyone's entitled to a bit of an outburst now and then. Maybe talking about it would help though, if you wouldn't mind," Garnet said refilling Pearl's glass.
"No no, after saving me I couldn't bother you with my problems," Pearl said though she had to admit, she did like talking to this Amazonian goddess more than she liked talking to Jasper.
"Well I'm certainly not going to drag anyone's problems out of them without their consent," Garnet said cleaning a much in a clichéd bartender manner, "but it is in my job description to being a sympathetic ear. My boss might fire me if she sees a pretty girl moping at the bar while it's my shift, she tends to have as big of a weakness towards pretty girls as I do," Garnet knew Amethyst wouldn't fire her for anything, not even if she punched each customer in the face and set the bar on fire, they were old friends. And Garnet could punt Amethyst past the New York Skyline if she fired her for a reason as stupid as that.
"Well I suppose I could talk for a bit," Pearl said giving the bartender a giggle after downing the shot she had been nursing. The alcohol was starting to kick in and she was feeling a bit looser and more willing to talk about her problems, the pretty bartender's friendly attitude was definitely helping. 'Is she flirting with me,' Pearl wondered as she looked up at the tall woman behind the bar, 'well she's definitely flirting with me I mean it's her job after all, but is there a chance she's being sincere. No Pearl stop it, you're just hurt from Rose and am trying to hop on the nearest friendly warm body,' she scolded herself. Then she gave Garnet a onceover the whiskey dulling her sense of shame, 'okay, so she has a hot body, the point remains.'
Garnet poured herself a glass and placed an elbow on the bar as she leaned against it to get more comfortable, "let's start off with something small then, what was her name?"
"Her name," Pearl asked confused.
"The name of the woman that broke your heart. Come on Pearl, I'm a bartender at a bar that caters almost exclusively to lesbians and bisexuals, I know the look," Garnet teased, "you don't have to and we can talk about something less intimate, but I can't exactly be a therapist who supplies you with alcohol if we don't get to the root of your problems now can we?"
Staring for a moment before shaking her head and showing a sad little smile, "Rose, her name was Rose," hurt to say her name, it was only this afternoon when her heart had been broken for good, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.
"Pretty name," Garnet commented stoically not wanting to give anything away, this was Pearl's time to talk not hers.
"Beautiful," Pearl agreed, "just like her," she said with a sigh. "She is the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, or at least one of them. She's warm, and sweet, and strong, and and I know she's too good for me, but I can't help but love her."
"What happened, did the two of you break up," Garnet asked not wanting Pearl to wallow in her misery.
"No, at least not exactly," Pearl said looking down at the wooden bar, "we weren't exactly together, more like a friends with benefits over the years, but Rose loves everybody so she isn't one to settle down with one person. At least she wasn't," Pearl spat out bitterly downing another shot that Garnet poured for her. She didn't know how many it was and she didn't care anymore now that she started.
"So she found someone she wanted to be with for the rest of her life that wasn't you? I've seen that before."
"I thought when she met him he would be just a fling you know, I mean he's a musician, not a very good one at that. And he's so short with a pug nose and ridiculous hair that makes that Jasper chick's mane look tame, heh heh that rhymes," Pearl said bursting out into a fit of giggles again. "I guess Greg isn't so bad," she really was drunk otherwise there's no way she would have admitted that. "He's just not good enough for her."
"So she met this guy and realized she was straight or something," Garnet asked trying to understand.
"No, well I mean she's bisexual not gay like me, she was very clear about that even when we first met. It's just that the guys she's dated were normally far and few between, and almost all of them didn't make it past the first date. Mostly she would just stick to girls, seemed like she got along better with them than any guys. This guy Greg though is different, like the way she looks at him, like he's her favorite person in the world, I don't think she's ever looked at me that way in all the years we've know each other," Pearl said sadly. Unable or uncaring tears started to fall out of her eyes, "I know she still cares about me, maybe even in that way, but not as much as I care about her. It hurts you know? I mean sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier if she was just a straight girl who was experimenting for a few years, at least then it would be something I couldn't help."
"But since she's not if feels like you're just the runner up and this Greg guy is the winner because he's better than you," Garnet theorized.
"That's exactly right," Pearl said mustering up her reverses before falling back down to the bar sobbing into her hands. "I thought when they first met that he would be just another failed romance, every time something doesn't' work out and she goes through a breakup Rose comes back to me. But he stayed, she kept him around and now whenever I see them together I can't help but wonder why I'm not good enough. Is it because I never worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, it is because I couldn't get her pregnant like he did, or is it just that I-I'm not good enough, why doesn't she love me," Pearl asked through the tears.
"Alright there missy I think you've had enough," Garnet said carefully taking the shot glass out of the smaller woman's hands. "That last shot might have been one too many, I don't think you're coherent enough to hear any advice if I had any. Why don't I take you to my place and get you to bed, you can sleep this whole day off and feel better in the morning," she said feeling guilty, something about the other woman's voice just made Garnet want to listen to her distracting her from how much she was giving Pearl as she told her story.
"You listen to me missy, just because I'm drunk and heartbroken doesn't mean I'm some goodtime Sally ready to jump into the bed of the first woman with a kind ear," Pearl said wagging her finger uncomfortable close to Garnet's face. "Even if you are like gorgeous pretty," Pearl added after wobbling a bit.
"No Pearl, nothing like that," Garnet assured her, "my shift is almost up anyway and I live right across the street. I don't want you wandering the city at night like this, especially since you're vulnerable and it's kind of my fault you got this way, let me make it up to you." The smaller woman squinted her eyes in what could be suspicion or maybe just trying to see Garnet clearly. "Listen Pearl," Garnet said clearly, "I know we're strangers but I have a burden of care towards you, I promise I will not do anything to you in this state that would led others to question your virtue so will you please let me help you?"
For a moment Pearl just swayed back and forth in contemplation but she nodded, "very well I will accept your offer of sanctuary Sir Garnet," Pearl said with what she tried to make out to be a bow, "I will accept your off of sanctuary, but let me warn you, if I was just a little be more sober I would show you just how lacking of virtue I am," Pearl said laughing at her own joke and almost falling over. She would have crashed onto the floor if not for Garnet vaulting over the bar to catch her.
"I'm leaving early tonight Amethyst," Garnet told her 'boss' instead of asking as she brought Pearl to her feet.
"Alright G," the small squat woman said giving her friend a thumbs up, "don't do anything I wouldn't do," she called.
"Don't worry Ame, I'm only going to do what you wouldn't do," Garnet said leaving the bar with Pearl in her arms, it was just easier to carry the drunken lass instead of trying to let her walk herself. She was out of there before Amethyst could muster up another response. In only a few minutes she was up the steps of her apartment building and inside her place. It wasn't much but it was home and it allowed her to get to work in no time at all. She didn't waste much time putting the smaller woman in her bed and put a glass of water along with some advil on her nightstand for the hangover. "Good night Pearl," she said to the passed out woman in her bed, "one day you're going to find someone who loves you as much as you love her, I promise," Garnet said giving the pale girl a kiss on the forehead before shutting the light. "Maybe it might even be me," she said more to herself than out loud, hopeful, after all her parents met in crazier cirmcumstances.