Anna counted the change in the till, marking on the paper next to her as the gangly ginger man ducked out of the kitchen to gather another plastic bin filled with dishes from the empty tables.

"I've never seen so many people filling tables Ms. Smith." He squeezed around a table, stacking another bin to carry two in one go.

"Neither have I and careful, Alfred," Anna warned as his stack wobbled. "You break them you buy them."

"Yes Ms. Smith."

Anna shook her head, finishing the last pile before dividing it up into smaller piles. Someone tapped on the bar and she managed a half smile for John. He leaned his arms on the bar, nodding toward the money, and spoke.

"Not a bad haul for your night?"

"Better than most nights, since it doesn't hurt me to say it." Anna pushed over one of the piles. "That's rightly yours, Mr. Bates."

"Is it now?" He put a hand to his chest, acting surprised, "How'd you figure that?"

"It's the cash take for the night and I've already divided it evenly since we all split tips here."

"Seems unfair if you've got someone pretty personable who then has to share with your less-liked waiters." John counted through the money as Anna snorted.

"Or my adored musical talent?"

John laughed, "I'm not here to take your money. Just what's owed a man for a night's work and nothing more."

"I think I picked up on that when everyone kept asking how I got such a famous personality as you to play here." Anna pulled out her mobile and swiped to show him a picture she pulled from the internet. "If you'd told me you were this famous I wouldn't have auditioned you."

He shrugged, "You never asked."

"Well, Mr. Famous Blues, Mrs. Patmore's just dithering over your skills and saved you some dinner." Anna pointed back to the kitchen, "Enjoy it before you clean yourself out for the night."

"Clear out?"

Anna frowned, "You've got to find a place to bunk down don't you?"

"About that," John held up a finger, pointing it toward the ceiling. "If I heard Gwen right this afternoon then that spot above you's free."

"You heard her try to convince me we should buy the space and rent it out as a drunkard's layabout." Anna shook her head, "It's nothing but cobwebs and creaking boards."

"Good enough for me." John walked the edge of the counter, "I've bunked in leaky bus stations and more than a few depots. A bit of dust isn't going to do me any harm."

"It will if you're found there and then arrested for trespassing."

"I guess it's worth the risk to me."

"Jail time?"

"There are quite a few good blues songs related to prison."

"Are you always this incorrigible?"

John grinned, "Usually."

Anna sighed, "I'll let you on my sofa for the night but I expect you to get yourself someplace more permanent if you're going to be my employee here. I don't put up with tardiness, belligerence, or laziness."

"I'm none of those things."

"I hope not."

Anna divided the cash between her employees, all gathered in the back to eat the left overs from Mrs. Patmore, and then grabbed a rag of her own. Turning on the radio she smiled to herself as the mournful song came on. Whistling to it, Anna wiped over the tables and flipping chairs into place for a moment before she sang along.

"Where the working man does his best to provide, safety and shelter for kids and wife. Given little love an' soul every day, making over time to keep the wolves away."

A tiny noise roused her but Anna ignored it, focusing on a particular stubborn stain before moving on to the next table. Her voice picked up and the radio crackled a moment in the last strains of the song. "So goin' for broke with every song I've made, 'cos now it's my turn to keep the wolves away."

"That's a shame."

Anna jumped, noticing John at the bar. She pointed a finger at him, "You're too bloody quiet for your own good."

"And you're not a bad singer. It's Uncle Lucius but still, takes a bit of soul to sing the songs of desperation and fear."

"Takes experience is all." Anna hopped over the bar, wiping it down from her side. "And what'd you know about it, Mr. Famous Blues Singer?"

"You can't sing the blues or delve into dark country without having traveled there a stretch." John nodded at her, "How'd you learn the way?"

Anna gripped the edge of the bar a moment, staring at him as if to find something other than sincerity there, but pushed off when she could detect no ulterior motive. "Got trapped here."

"And how does someone, like yourself, get herself strapped to a trashy blues bar?"

"I told you, guy left me for a waitress with my name on the lease."

"But you don't just put your name on the lease to help a kind stranger." John leaned forward, "You tell me yours I'll tell you mine."

"That's assuming I care what brought John Bates, blues singer, into my bar."

"It's an offer."

"It's not necessary."

"Then let me tell you what I think happened." Anna raised an eyebrow but John continued. "I think Anna Smith, aspiring journalist, got herself in too deep with an investigation and the only way out was this bar."

"Do you now?"

John held up his mobile, showing her the articles. "You're not the only one with access to the internet."

"I guess I didn't count on your sleuthing skills."

"And I'll be a bit more wary of yours." John tucked the mobile back into his pocket. "What got you stranded here?"

"In this town or this bar?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really since it's the same answer." Anna shrugged, "The guy I sold out for, the one who abandoned me to this bar, is who. I was in a bit of trouble given what I'd published about some not-so-nice people and he offered to help me out. Gave me a place to crash and a little side gig with his band that played here."

"You play?"

"I sang." Anna waved off John's widened eyes. "I'm not that good and it didn't matter since we were the late act so everyone was smashed by then anyway."

"You've got a good voice."

"I don't sing anymore."

"Then my ears deceived me when I walked out here earlier?"

"That's not singing. It's reminiscing and it's what landed me in this shithole so I'm not overly fond of it as an activity anymore."

"That's a shame."

"Depends on you're point of view." Anna waved a hand at the dim bar around them. "The option for the lease came up and he convinced me that we should pitch in for it together. That we could both make a new start and arrange it like we were business owners or something."

"Then what?"

"Then, after giving him a year of my life and all the blood, sweat, tears, and blues variations on pop songs we could manage, I opened the store cupboard to find him dick deep in one of our waitresses. He tried to convince me it was the first time but I knew it wasn't." Anna shrugged, "It only got worse when I woke up the next morning on my saggy mattress to find he'd taken my car and the cash in my wallet to leave me with the bar while he and the waitress decided to scarper off."

"He left you?"

"After I gave my life to save his."

"What?"

Anna bit the inside of her cheek, pulling a stretched smile and shaking her head. "It's jus an expression."

"Feels more than that."

"So did our relationship but I guess you never really know someone until the bill man's beating at the door and the bank's got pink papers tacked to your windows."

"Then you're climbing out of the hole still?"

"As I mentioned earlier this afternoon, I'll spend the rest of my life climbing out of this hole and so will any progeny I ever have the misfortune of bringing into this world."

"You don't want kids?"

"I don't want them to have me." Anna stopped, blinking, "How'd we get onto this topic?"

"Followed the rabbit down the hole I guess."

"Even knowing what that reference means, it still sounds vaguely sexual." Anna checked her mobile. "We've got a breakfast rush in a little under five hours so I'd suggest we all pack up before daylight comes before we're ready for it."

John blew out a puff of air, shaking his head, "How are you not dead on your feet?"

"It's perpetual exhaustion, Mr. Bates. It eventually runs into a continuous loop and you deal with it." Anna locked the doors and flipped the switches with the locks. "If you're still up for the sofa-"

"Yes." John grabbed his things, "After you."

They closed up the rest of the bar, leaving it dark and forlorn next to the rest of the blackened buildings, and Anna clicked the fob to her car. The headlights blinked at them before the boot popped open. John followed the silent cue, storing his things there, and shutting it as Anna climbed into the front seat. Once he joined her they set off, John pushing the seat back as far as it could go to stretch out his legs.

"Sorry for my tiny car."

"You're a tinier woman."

Anna feigned offense, "I'll have you know I'm exactly average height."

"I'm above average height and I can tell you that the weather up here isn't better and neither is the company." John leaned the seat back. "Though you definitely bought a car with the idea that most of the occupants would be far more average."

"I wouldn't know anything about average but I can tell you that the few encounters in this car that were above average were below average themselves."

John made a choking sound in his throat and Anna smiled to herself as he struggled to find words. "I do hope you're speaking in euphemistic terms."

"Of course." Anna turned down an avenue framed by trees all dangling marsh-like moss. "Usually it's a quickie because I'm married to my job but there was one good run in the backseat."

"Only one?"

"It was before I found out my boyfriend was shagging other women as well as me." Anna pulled into a drive and parked the car. "There weren't many chances after that to do much more."

"I thought your boyfriend drove off in your car."

"I didn't way it was that boyfriend." Anna got out of the car, leading the way to the house as John retrieved his things. "Surprising as it may seem, I do tend to date the fourth cousins and inbreeds around here."

"Because you like them?"

"Because everyone needs a hobby, Mr. Bates." Anna unlocked her front door and switched on the light, "Welcome to my home."

John set his guitar case on the floor by the door and took his tentative first step into the house. He circled the small sitting room, moved through the kitchen, and noted the back room leading to the garden. As he came back through the mudroom to the sitting room Anna pointed to the sofa.

"That's yours for the night."

"You don't seem very sure of that."

Anna raised an eyebrow, "Why wouldn't I?"

John shrugged, "I don't know but my experience says that when a woman plays with her keys she's delaying something."

Looking down Anna noted the keys still in her hands and hurried to set them on the little table by the door. "You're very sure of that are you?"

"I think you're nervous."

"About you?" Anna snorted, "Don't flatter yourself."

"Am I wrong?" John took a step toward her. "The last man you had in this house betrayed you and now you're giving use of your couch to a veritable stranger. That doesn't make you nervous?"

"It makes me something."

"Curious?"

Anna turned to lock the door and then found John in front of her. "Intrigued is my word for it."

"It's a synonym." John risked a finger to trace the line of her face. "Didn't you study journalism in school?"

"I also studied anatomy." Anna flicked her eyes down a moment, "And I know that if you get what you want you'll just leave. They all do."

"What if I promised to stay?"

"Why? This is a shit town with nothing for anyone with a real skill."

"I only want one thing."

"What?" Anna surprised herself with the levelness of her voice.

"You."

Her arms wrapped around his neck and sealed her lips to his. John proved a little more dexterous with his hands as one found her hip, slipping under the fabric of her vest to hold at the small of her back, and the other cupped around her jaw to give him the range of motion to the kiss that she immediately gave over to. They bumped against the wall next to the door and Anna used the moment to shift her leg over his hip.

John pressed closer, Anna gasping in their kiss at the feel of him pressing against her stomach. She broke the kiss, taking his hand, and led him down the hall. With the tinge of color on the horizon as their only guide they found her bed.

Anna sank into the sagging mattress with John's weight over her. His hands moved so softly over her that the whispers of her clothing leaving her body were almost a dream. Her hands proved their worth when years of flipping bottles and mixing drinks led to matching thumps of fabric hitting the floor.

The darkness and the silence were only broken by moans and gasps, muffled cries and whimpers while their fingers and mouths sought to explore every inch of the new body presented to them. Anna fell over the edge first, her nails digging their marks into John's side and shoulders. And John followed after with a bruising grip at her hip.

They settled on the mattress together, their harsh breathing giving sound to the scent of sex surrounding them. Anna turned her head enough to see the grin spread over john's face and snorted. "You've every right to be proud of yourself."

"I take it you enjoyed it then?" John faced her, "Because I did."

"It was Heaven on wheels."

"What?" John laughed, "What does that mean?"

"It means you're the best I've had in awhile."

John stayed silent a moment, "I thought the phrase was 'Hell on Wheels'."

"It is." Anna grabbed a blanket, "But that's what I call those who leave in the morning."

His fingers trailed over her skin and she met his eyes, "I'm not leaving."

"I guess we'll see about that in the morning won't we?" Anna settled with her back to him, "Good night, Mr. Bates."