Chapter Two

"Jealous girl, jealous girl / What have you done? / I won't live in the jealous world with anyone / Can't you let your boyfriend be himself? / Oh jealous girl, sweet jealous girl

"So are you gonna tell me what the fuck that was exactly?"

When her voice pierced through his ears, he wanted to throw her out of the car. However, he knew if he were to do anything drastic she would just make his life even more miserable so he just decided to play along. The night was almost over anyway.

"What are you referring to?" his voice was saturated in a sweet nature. Alex always utilized a gentle tone to avoid arguments with her. Sometimes it was a good tool to calm her down but tonight was different, she was just out to pick any fight.

"Please don't pretend like I'm some imbecile. I just don't understand how you could sit there and flirt with that little...bar skank the whole night! Did you not see me next to you, Alexander? Did you not think that your actions might actually hurt me?" she hollered, tossing her handbag on the floor of the car to cross her arms over her chest.

He would've argued right back with her but she was right. The bartender- Norma, was gorgeous. She also talked to him about his favorite pastime...scotch. No man would turn that away, especially if they were going through a rough patch with the one they were "committed" to. But it did make him think. If it was simple enough to show attention to other women when Rebecca was around, did he really want to be with her?

Silently, he figured if he got her worked up enough maybe she would just break it off with him. He knew life shouldn't be this way. Closed off with someone cold and stuffy and most of all, unloving. He was just too scared to dump her himself. Alex was never good with break ups. Never liked to see women cry and battle him to stay with them.

"First of all, I was not flirting with her, Rebecca. We had something in common. She talked to me about scotch and I answered. Was I just supposed to ignore her? Man...look at how jealous you are," he laughed, looking ahead at the road.

She scoffed as her energy turned more and more malicious. "Your going to sit there and call me jealous of some whore? Really?! You think I'm honestly envious of some bleach blonde bimbo who works the bar and presses her tits against the table for extra cash?"

He didn't respond, his shoulders just gave a little shrug that signified a yes. She pretty much hit it on the nose. Not that the bartender was a whore or a bimbo, but that she was jealous of someone who got more attention than her because their looks were far superior. He wasn't going to say that his companion didn't have good looks. When they first met, Alex thought she was the hottest thing he'd ever seen. Then the personality came along and he was immediately swayed. A pretty face alone never makes for a good partner. They need a personality and a good heart. At least that's what he believed.

"Well...you know something, Alexander? That's it. We are through here. And I don't want you blowing up my voicemail or banging down my door to get me back either. You showed how you really feel tonight," with that, she stopped talking and sank back into the car seat. "Take me home right now."

When he watched her get out of the car for the last time and walk up the cement stairs to her apartment, he felt relieved. Never again did he have to deal with the nagging, complaining, dramatics that she put out. It was time for something new.

X

A few days later, he found himself back on that same barstool. It was a night after a long shift and he was too tired to continue patrolling. He called his chief and told him he was going to end the day. Alex considered it a blessing that he was the favorite out of the deputies in his department. Once, his chief told him that in three years, he would consider him for sheriff. That made his whole week. He had so many things he would change, so many things he would set right in his seedy little town. He'd been working for the White Pine Bay Sheriff's Department for four years and he was ready for more responsibility.

Just as he looked up from the bar peanuts that were sat in front of him by a shy food runner, he saw her. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was. She was peeling off her coat and putting her purse away under the bar. Those tight blue jeans accentuated every part of her beautiful pear shaped behind impeccably. And the black low cut top was definitely doing her some favors. He cut his eyes back to the front to stop himself from staring.

Once she stepped behind the bar, she started pouring a beer from the tap for the older gentleman next to him. As Norma delivered it to him, their eyes met and she shot him a smile, giving him a motion that read she'd be over in a second to tend to him.

"Do you want to look at the menu for a while, sir? Or did you find anything you like?" she asked, in her same friendly tone.

"Well," he started in his slight southern accent, clearly he wasn't from around White Pine, "You ain't on the menu are you, sweetheart?"

She looked like she wanted to fight him. Honestly, had she had knocked him in the teeth, Alex would've cheered her on. He was holding back his anger as well. He wanted to say something so bad but he really didn't want to make a scene in front of Norma. He wanted to come off as a gentleman, not some scrapper.

"Um…" she took a deep breath and looked at the floor for a minute. Alex felt bad, she must've been harrassed so much in her line of work. "I'll give you a few minutes to look at the menu."

"Hey you!" she moved over a couple steps and leaned in front of Alex, her cleavage exuberant, but he wouldn't dare look down. He wasn't like the man next to him. His focus instead set on her beautifully red painted lips and her sexy tousled dirty blonde locks.

"Hey," he grinned, something he hadn't done in a while, "How've you been, Norma?"

"Oh you know, still here, so obviously I'm thriving," she joked with a small giggle. He watched as her nose crinkled and he felt himself want to ask her out there and then but that could wait.

"So how are you? Where's the gal?" she asked, referring to Rebecca. He looked down at his hands and shook his head at her.

"We didn't work out, actually. We ah- decided to go our separate ways."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that," she said, with a sympathetic look on her face, "Can I get you something to make that better?"

"How about a little bit of that scotch from last time I was here," he said, his voice low, his eyes focusing on only her. The smile never left his face either, this feeling was new. He liked it. He wished he could hold onto it forever.

"Yeah, I think I can do that."

When the drink was sitting in front of him, he felt a shard of disappointment. The bar was starting to fill up with people and Norma had at least 16 guests to tend to at once. She was handling it like a champ though. The man next to him tried to start conversation, which he really wasn't interested in. He could smell the beer coming off of his breath.

"Name's Keith, you know anywhere I could get a cheap motel around here," he asked, his eyes wavering around the room. He was clearly intoxicated. A heavy man but a lightweight.

"Uh- no, I would try the Kings motel. That's probably your best bet."

He immediately felt uncomfortable, he came for Norma. Not some drunken slob.

"Thanks buddy," he slurred, slapping the wood of the bar, trying to signal the bartender. "Hey sweetheart! Can I get another one. Make it a shortie."

Alex felt the blood boiling through every vein in his body. This man was a pig.

She nodded and poured the trash beer into a cup, walking it over to him. "Hey, um...this is the last one, okay? I need to cut you off after."

"Aw c'mon honey, don't be like that."

"I'm real sorry," she frowned, walking away from him and back towards Alex. "Sorry I got a little busy there. Do you need anything else? Would you like another?"

"Yeah, sure. No rush. Whenever you have a sec," he smiled.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the large man chugged the 16 oz glass down. He could hear the alcohol sifting down his throat. It was repulsive.

Norma came back over with his scotch, her head resting in her hand as she leaned over to look closer at him, "You know something, I haven't even gotten your name yet."

"I'm Alex," he said, taking a small sip of his scotch.

Just as she was about to speak again, Keith spoke up and slid the empty glass over to her. "Hey darlin, how bout once you get off, you could help me get off," he slurred with a grin.

Alex stood from his stool immediately, "Alright, it's time to go."

The drunken mess just looked at Alex and scoffed, "Baby, that rack of yours has something fierce going on in my pants. I'd just love to lie you down and make you come over-"

And with that, Alex's strong hand was on his neck, he slammed his head onto the hardwood of the bar and the man fell to the floor with a fluster. "Not now. Not ever, you piece of shit. She's not interested. So how about you show some fucking respect," he growled, face to face with him.

Norma just stood back with her hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe that this was happening. This handsome man was trying to defend her. It was quite the turn on despite the disgusting man who was violating her with his words. She could see Alex's knuckles bleeding from the force of hitting the bar top. Her feet paced quickly across the cement floor to him, her nimble fingers on his back, "Why don't you come with me and we'll clean that up?" she offered.

He looked up from the mess and nodded towards her, "Just gimme one sec, okay?" his voice gentle despite the heated dispute. He grabbed the silver badge that was tucked into the pocket of his off day jeans and flashed it at Keith. "I suggest you get the fuck out of here now. Or else I'll call for backup. And if I ever see you in here harassing any of the staff, I won't hesitate."

Alex watched as the man stumbled to his feet and spit on the ground in front of him, throwing a hand at him. His drunken feet took him all the way out the door. He felt a sense of pride seeing that fat shit leave.

In the meantime, Norma came back with a woman dressed in normal, nice clothes. "Alex, this is my manager Colleen. She's gonna watch the bar while you and me patch that up. Come with me," she said, leading him through a kitchen filled with swearing cooks who couldn't wait to be off the clock and older servers who were pandering for that ten dollar tip. They ended up in an incubator of an office, Norma in the manager seat and Alex across from her in a cushy chair.

She reached up to grab the items out of the medicine cabinet and he immediately got a whiff of her intoxicating scent. It was a mix of cheap booze and daisies. He was surprised at how well she wore it.

"So...cop huh?" she asked, grinning as she started to clean up the now drying blood that once coursed down his knuckles. She was careful not to hurt him with the peroxide, her little fingers dabbing ever so gently.

"Four years now, yeah. It's not always fun but it's nice to tell of dirtbags like that," he said, watching as she put some cold cream on the wound, it was a nice contrast to the swelling.

"Well, um...I really appreciate all of that, y'know. Not many people stand up for their bartenders. You were a regular old superman out there," she giggled as she pulled the white adhesives out.

"I hate to see men like him disrespecting woman like you. You're just trying to do your job and people like that make it thirty times harder. I sympathize. I don't know how you all do it. Being around people all day who can either suck or be great and loyal customers."

She nodded as she started to wrap his hand up, "Eh, you get used to it. You learn how to deal with people in this industry. I got good at shutting people off with drinks when I first started bartending. And I'm good at dealing with assholes who sit and complain about their drinks. I just don't let it affect me and think about the money."

"Makes the world go round."

She smiled again, looking into his eyes as she patted his hand. "You're all set. That's gonna hurt in the morning, so I'm gonna give you some of these," she said, pulling some of the aspirin from the medicine cabinet.

"I really appreciate it," he said, tucking the pills into his pocket. He made a mental note to take one that night and one in the morning.

"Yeah well...I really appreciate you taking care of that asshole."

"I uh- I want you to have someone walk you to your car tonight and um…" he fidgeted for a minute, taking a piece of paper and a pen from the desk beside him. He jotted down his number with shaky hands, feeling like a high schooler all over again, "Text me or call me when you get home safely. I don't want him to follow you or anything like that. If you have any worries I can always patrol for you tonight."

She took the number and held it deep in her palm, "Thank you so so much. I will absolutely call you. And um, thanks again for caring."

They left the office and she went back behind the bar. He asked for the bill and left her a higher tip then last time. $60. Norma couldn't believe it, she even argued that it was too much but he refused to take the cash back.

"Have a good night. Remember to call me."

The moment he stepped outside, the cool night air hitting his back, he felt lighter than he ever had before.

Man I don't know what's gotten into me tonight. The writing bug hit me and I couldn't stop. Hope you all enjoyed this long chapter! Sorry to keep you waiting. Adulting and working a 30 hour a week job is a lot. I'll probably be updating every Monday or Thursday if I can. I'm not going anywhere. Love you all xoxo - MJ