"Wow! You actually got the bar, Ed?" A middle aged bearded man said from in front of the counter. The man he was talking to turned around to face him, cleaning a glass as he did.
"Well, I got the restaraunt. I couldn't legally run the bar until a year ago."
"Ok, ok, slow down here," another man said, holding his head. "You're trying to say that you got into a massive fight right over there in the pool area?"
"That's right. I didn't really fight, though. That was-"
"And I seriously doubt that this "Lynn" you're talking about is even real. I mean, 10 SIBLINGS? And you had dreadlocks?"
"Aw, come on, Ted! Let him tell the rest of the story!"
"There isn't really much left to tell, Drew," Eddie said as he put the glass on the shelf. "I got the restaurant, Ross had his ass handed to him, and Lynn found herself again. Thats pretty much it."
"What happened to your grampa?"
"Him? He's still hanging in there. He's had himself a few medical crisis, but he's pushing."
"Wow. You're a damn lucky guy, Eddie. You know that?"
"Oh, I've heard that a few thousand times. It doesn't faze me. Speaking of a few thousand times, I think I told you two to hit the road."
"Ah, cmon, Ed! One more Guiness? It's St. Patricks Day..."
"Sucks to be St Patrick. We closed 30 minutes ago."
"Fine. We'll show ourselves out," Ted said as he got out of his seat. He and Drew walked out the front door into the cool March air.
"Oh, shit! HEY, TURN THE OPEN SIGN ARO- damn it! I'll get it myself."
He walked over to the door, only to see a rather large charter bus pull into the parking lot. On the buses side was a familiar logo.
"Holy... COLIN! SANDY! GET DOWN HERE!" He shouted to the top of the stairs. Almost immediately, two men appeared at the stair top, wearing white aprons.
"You called, Eddie?" Colin said. He wore a large scar on the right side of his face, a result of the fight against Ross years prior.
"Guys, you aren't gonna believe this. Guess who just pulled into the parking lot!"
"Uh, Chris Webber?"
"Close, but no. It's a freaking Michigan sports team!"
"What?! In Royal Woods?"
"I don't know, but get ready! We're gonna have a lot of customers in a minute," he said as the doors to the bus flung open. At once, the team walked off the bus.
"Who is it? Football?"
"You idiot! Why would they play football in March? No, its- oh, no."
"What?" Sandy asked as Eddie turned around, terror stricken.
"I'm not here! I went home sick!" He shouted as he ran and jumped behind the counter.
"Hm. Wonder what got into him. Oh, well, here they come!" Colin said as a man came in, probably a coach.
"How many tables you need? Sandy asked to the man, who looked rather unimpressed with the scenery.
"Uh, 15 tables for 4, I think. Or should we get 16, Frank?" He asked his assistant. Behind them, a group of girls came in, looking exhausted.
"Ok, 16 tables..." Colin wrote. "And may I ask who this is? Are you from the community college?"
"What? Oh, no, we're from Michigan. This is the girls basketball team. We just got done with a playoff game."
"Really! We just got done watching the mens game on TV! Did you win?"
"Oh, yeah! The girls played hard! But I think we all know the reason we won..."
At that moment, a familiar looking girl walked into the front door, looking towards the front counter.
Colin leaned over to Sandy as he began to realize who the girl was.
"Dude... that's Lynn!"
"What? It can't be. We haven't seen her since she was in high school! No way!"
"Well, coach? What's the real reason you guys won?" Colin asked him, standing up straight.
"Well, we had a major contribution. See that girl that just walked in? That's Lynn Loud. She hit the go ahead shot to give us the lead with 3 seconds left."
"Wow, fascinating..." he mumbled as he realized Lynn was staring his direction. She began to walk over to the two men.
"Speak of the devil, here she is!" The coach said, backing away.
"Colin? Sandy?" She asked, beginning to smile.
"Oh, uh, hi, Lynn."
"Dude, it's been ages!" She said as she gave each of them a hug.
"Yeah! We haven't seen you since your senior year! You play for Michigan? I thought you were at Indiana State?"
"Yeah! I transferred last year. I've got the most points on the team this season, plus the most assists, steals, and flagrant fouls. No big deal."
"Wow...that's awesome, Ly-"
"Hey, where's Eddie? I thought he was working here tonight..."
"Oh, uh, Eddie? No, haven't seen him," he lied, glancing over to the counter. Eddie rose his head up, only to immediately draw it back down as he saw Lynn.
"Oh. I kinda wanted to talk to him. Oh, well, I guess. Bring me something to drink," she said dejectedly as she walked over to her table.
Colin and Sandy both went over to the counter.
"Ed? You good?"
"No, I'm not!" He hissed, looking up to his 2 friends. "Me and her were done with years ago!"
"Well, we didn't give away your position. I say you talk to her, Eddie. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Uh, I could, uh.." he stopped, trying to think of a good way to put it.
"Face it, dude. You're scared."
"I am NOT scared! I could go over and talk to Lynn right now if I wanted!"
"Then why aren't you?" A voice said from behind the two waiters.
"HOLY-" Colin shouted as he turned around. He and Sandy were pushed aside as Lynn leaned over the counter.
"I knew you would show up, Ed. When, I didn't know."
"Oh, boy..." he thought. "Hey, Lynn."
He stood up to face her, looking rather nervous.
"How've you been?" She asked, taking a seat at the bar.
"Oh, just dandy," he said, avoiding eye contact as he began to clean a glass. "Business is booming, as usual."
"It always is, isn't it?"
"Oh, yeah. I haven't had a day with less than 100 people. It gets wild in here sometimes..."
"I bet... How's Franklin?"
He looked up to face her.
"He's fine," he said coldly. He motioned with his hand for his two friends to leave, which they did.
"That's good..."
"Yep."
"Ok, out with it. What's the problem?" She asked, furrowing her brow.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Look, Eddie, I know we didn't exactly leave each other on good terms..."
"Ha! You can say that again!" He jeered as he looked back down at the glass.
"What is your problem?!"
"Oh, I have a lot of them, Lynn. Which one-"
"Oh, stop acting dumb, Eddie!"
"What do you mean? I'm just answering the question!"
"-sigh- You know perfectly well what I mean, Eddie."
"Yeah. I do. You left In the middle of the night to go to Indiana. And you didn't even bother saying goodbye."
"Well, I was GOING to!"
"Were you?" He asked, slamming the glass down onto the table. "Because it sure didn't seem like it!"
"Well, what did you want from me? You knew that I was accepted!"
"Yeah, and I knew that Royal Woods University gave you a full scholarship, too."
"Uh, does RWU have a D1 program?"
"You could have stayed here, Lynn! We could have-"
"Oh, so it's all about YOU now, isn't it?"
"No! I just wanted-"
"Wanted what?"
"I wanted you to tell me!" He said, almost shouting. "I just want you to be happy, Lynn!"
"And I AM happy!"
"But I'm not!"
They stared at each other for what seemed like ages. Eddie took a deep breath before speaking up again.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"-sigh- I didn't think you would want me to go. I thought you'd be dissapointed."
"What?" He asked. "Why in hell would I be disappointed in you?"
"I don't know! I got the offer and I just wanted to go for it, I guess..."
Eddie went to the front of the bar and sat down beside her.
"Lynn, I would have supported you. Wherever you went."
"I know...I just didn't know how you would react. If you would be happy, or sad, or you would..." she stopped.
Eddie, knowing what she was thinking, put his hand on her shoulder.
"Lynn...I'm not Ross. I would never hurt you. NEVER."
They sat in silence, until very softly, Lynn began to cry. Eddie laid his head down softly on her shoulder.
"Hes not gonna hurt you, Lynn. Not ever again."
They stayed there, the rest of the team eating their post game meal in silence.
Finally, Lynn wiped away the tears from her eyes.
"Feel better, champ?" He asked her. She slowly nodded, giving a small smile.
"Alright then. How about something to drink? On the house."
"Yeah, I could use a drink. Can I get a Coke?"
"Sure thing!" He said, reaching under the cabinet for a can of soda. He slid it across the table to her as he got a glass and began to pour himself a glass of Guiness. It was St Patrick's Day, after all.
But before he took a sip, he stopped. He looked at Lynn, seeing the scars in her eyes. He saw Ross, abusing the woman that he "loved." He visualized the pain, the agony of the one sided relationship...
He reached down and grabbed another Coke, dumping the beer down the sink.
"Why'd you do that?" She asked as he took a seat next to her.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I'm going sober for today..."
They drank their soda, talking and laughing the night away. And in the process, forgetting the past and beginning the future.