Strangers at a Glance
"Got a name, handsome?"
Barry looked up from his trance, startled to see a frothy young blonde staring his way from a few inches down the bar. She leaned over, tempting him with leading hazel eyes and while aggressive women were generally not his type, he still managed a friendly grin.
"Ah, it's Barry," he answered delicately, watching as she used it to prompt the bartender.
"Another of whatever Barry's having?" she asked, glancing at his empty glass. "Hopefully it'll loosen him to finally look my way," she added.
He averted the flirty overture, flattered nonetheless. "Sorry, just a little distracted tonight," he found himself apologizing, and then waved down the bartender. "But no thanks, I'm good."
"Come on," she continued to press, flipping hair over her left shoulder. "I've been watching you all night, that's only your first."
He chuckled at her observation, suddenly feeling like a nerdy schoolboy being approached by the head cheerleader. Is this how I sound when I talk to girls, he wondered, dismissing it soon after. She was by any standard intensely attractive, but something about him was simply unmotivated. He imagined it would probably take very little small talk to escort her home, and cursed himself inwardly for being too gallant to just have a normal Friday night for once. But as usual, his instincts went the less traveled path.
"Really, I'm fine," he insisted, but the bartender was already around the other side making it. "You take it, please," he offered the woman instead, graciously placing a few bills on the counter. He stood anxiously, hoping it would cover both the cost of the drink and the embarrassment of turning down her interest.
But she appeared confidently unfazed. "Fine, be that way," she smirked, letting him go. "Come back if you change your mind," she continued to lure.
Barry took it in stride, committed to calling it a night. He made his way around the other side of the bar and started for the door, only to stop just shy of his exit. In an unexpected turn of events, he found himself captivated by a woman who had just come through the door, brushing past without notice in a trench coat and heels and headed right for the bar. She was striking, toffee brown-skinned with jet black hair and almond eyes. But it was the concern in her brow that immediately drew Barry's interest. There was something on her mind and for all her charisma and beauty; it could not mask the weight on her heart. And though it felt strangely assuming, Barry soon realized he was curious what it was.
He watched nervously as she found a seat on the bar side facing the door, relieved it was out of sight from where he had just left the seductive blonde. Besides from what he could tell she had already moved onto her next victim in the bustling urban hangout, giving him just the window he needed to slip back over unnoticed. He followed his instincts yet again and retraced his steps. This time when he sat down it was with fresh perspective, hoping to reboot his evening if the intriguing woman to his right would only give him a chance…
Though he seemed familiar, Iris was certain she had never seen the tall dark-haired man lurking by the bar to her left before. His demeanor was observant, slightly anxious, but effortlessly charming as he flashed a smile her way. She initially dodged his attempt at eye contact, focusing on her phone while the blend of voices and earthy music bleated around her. She continued playing coy until finally she could no longer avoid his presence, forced to acknowledge when he caught her looking up.
"Come here often?" he quickly seized her break in concentration.
Iris kept her eyes shaded from view. "Is it obvious?" she tried a non-committal response.
"No," his answer prompted her anyway. "Actually, it's the opposite. You stand out," he remarked rather boldly, and she finally dared to look up. When their eyes met she quickly sensed a note of regret in his cadence. "I mean… in a good way," he corrected.
"Thanks?" she replied with uncertainty, expecting that would be the end of it.
But his lighthearted charm continued. "I ah, I would know," he stammered a little. "I actually do come here often but I've never seen anyone like you."
Iris saw no harm in affirming his assumption. "Yeah, well you guessed right," she volunteered, finally putting her phone away. It was odd to give a stranger her full attention so quickly but she had to do something to pass the time until her drink arrived. "Today was the exception," she started slow. "It was an extremely trying day."
"I can relate to that," he agreed, but instead of going into explanation he surprised her with genuine interest. "Wanna talk about it?" She returned a skeptical look, and within seconds he was explaining. "It's just, you know they say talking to strangers is actually therapeutic."
"They, huh?" Iris was suddenly amused. "As in your therapist?"
Immediately she regretted the dive right into sarcasm but he drew no offense at her witty comeback. "Not quite there yet," he laughed heartily. "But at the speed I'm going… I might be." It brought a smile to her face and he echoed it, relieved to have lightened the tension.
Just then the bartender came up. "Flash?" he muttered, and Iris wondered for a moment if it was his name until she saw the exotic red drink he placed on the counter. Despite not figuring him for one of the menu's edgier selections, she quickly wondered how he had gotten his choice ahead of hers.
"Actually it's for the lady," she heard him reply next, as if reading her mind.
"Oh no, I couldn't—" she protested, resting her purse on the counter.
"No, I insist," he continued, sliding it down until it was in front of her. "I actually ordered this earlier but you can use it more than I can. Please," he persisted.
Iris suddenly felt bashful, wondering just how much of a desperately annoyed vibe she had been giving off. "That's nice of you," she thanked him graciously. "But one sip doesn't mean I'm going to open up about my problems," she couldn't help but preface.
He still was not so easily deterred. "Then I'll just have to stick around until you finish," he replied shrewdly. It was finally enough to wear down her exterior and she couldn't help but exchange a smile, welcoming enough for him to slide one seat closer. "Listen my name is—" he began but was adversely interrupted.
"Barry!" a voice from behind finished his sentence, and Iris turned to see an alluring blonde haired woman coming their way. "You decided to stick around?"
One look at his face told Iris the woman had identified him accurately, but his expression quickly turned to flustered. "Ah yeah," he answered nervously.
Iris watched as the woman stumbled a little on her way over, and even though she appeared somewhat tipsy it appeared they were already acquaintances. "I'm sorry," she apologized, somewhat unnerved at the thought. "Are you here with someone?" she addressed to Barry.
"No, no not at all!" he swore, but incriminating evidence was mounting as blonde neared, leaning on him for balance and then reaching over to take the drink in front of Iris.
"Hey, that's mine!" she grabbed it, eyeing her up. "He ordered that for me – who are you?"
Even with Barry squirming to explain, Iris was suddenly too uncomfortable to debate. "No one, trust me," she answered in short, both standing and reaching to grab her purse in one quick motion. "I was just on my way out."
"No wait," Barry insisted, wriggling away from the other woman to follow after her. "Hey—I didn't even get to—" he began, but Iris was almost at the door.
"It's fine," she spun half around quickly, gesturing for him to stay put. "I told you, today was an exception," she recalled. She parted with a judgmental once-over, hoping he got the message that she was not interested in playing games. "I should have known better to stick to my rule."
With that she left swiftly, thrusting her hands in her pockets as she stormed out the door and back into the safe comforts of an evening spent alone. What were you thinking, she scolded herself over and again as she marched at a furious pace, anxious to just get away from yet another inkling of hope vanished. There was solace in walking fast, as if running from what felt like a life sentence – no matter what it seemed, anything that felt too good to be true probably was. Even chance meetings at a bar with a kind stranger that had actually been the first person to bring an honest smile to her face in weeks. And as good as it felt to let her guard down for a second, Iris knew it was only a matter of time before the matter weighing her down returned.
It depressed her to think there was no avoiding it, so much so that she was somewhat in a daze after flagging down a taxi and sliding into the backseat.
"Where to?" the driver prompted her, and at once she finally remembered she still had to make the trip back to her hotel.
"298 East 57th—" she began, before suddenly recognizing there was a bigger issue at hand than the one weighing on her mind. "Oh no," she gasped after scouring her pockets and the empty seat next to her. In all her haste to run out of the bar… she had left her purse behind.
A/N: Hello, just a fun little Westallen fanfic I started daydreaming the other day. I was inspired listening to a few tracks off of Sabrina Claudio's album and found myself picturing a city/random encounter scenario where Barry Allen and Iris West met as complete strangers… still deciding whether it's going to follow the course of the "Arrowverse" and Central City but for now it's just for fun. Would you like to see it keep going? Let me know! Have a few ideas for how it could turn out… Thanks and please review what you think!