Author's Note: Since the chapters are fairly short I'll try to post two at the time if I can. I hope everyone enjoys my new fanfic please read and review.
Inspiration: Here for the Party by Gretchen Wilson
Here for the Party
The day was Saturday and not a normal day that he saw his angel it was often the day he gave her off to rest her voice. However, today he was going to the chapel to meet her and it wasn't for a music lesson but instead to speak with her tell her about himself. He was going to take Jennifer's advice at least about this. As for Carlotta she wouldn't be singing the night of the gala his angel would. Now to see her and spend time with her so they could become closer.
Jennifer was ecstatic Wednesday was the night of the gala dinner she was looking forward to wowing the managers with her dishes. She was also excited because the first showing to be on Monday so since everyone was getting ready for the rehearsals the normally slow Sunday would be even slower with everyone resting before the premiere night. This meant Sunday they could all sleep in longer than normal, so Saturday was the perfect night to get her drinks on. She had gotten closer to her kitchen staff over the month she had been there, and the few of them that normally went out invited her to come and she had gladly accepted. It would give her more time to know them outside the kitchens and they could see she was just one of the boys. Some of them still treated her as though she were fragile or wouldn't make jokes if she were around, so she hoped to ease them into treating her like an equal even if it wasn't exactly proper in their time. In her time, she also worked with mostly all men who saw that she was one of them. She had always been a tomboy growing up and even though her fashion sense changed, she still preferred hanging with the boys.
Jennifer walked into the bar O'Malley's, it wasn't as seedy as she expected but it certainly wasn't high class just right in the middle, which she liked. As soon as their group walked in they got strange looks, well she got the strange looks the other men got familiar nods and greetings. Not that she was surprised. Instead of a dress that she would have worn if they were going anywhere other than a possibly seedy bar, she had worn pants. Unlike the loose breeches, she worn for work these were more fitted to her body, hugging her curves. The white shirt she wore was modest but fitted and worn under a corset that amplified her assets, eliciting stares from most of the men. A burgundy velvet cropped vest topped off the ensemble. She was grateful she had come with a group of men five from her kitchen staff. Lucian, Aidan, Maurice, Anton and Robert accompanied her. Lucian headed to the bar while they headed to a table in the back. Music was playing by a small band that was quite good in her opinion. The bar was decorated in burgundies and golds. It looked like an old style tavern pub, which she guessed would actually be modern to them. Overall, despite the stares from grimy and not so grimy men and female servers it wasn't a bad place. During her assessment Lucian made it back to the table a bottle of dark amber liquid in hand and a pretty waitress who held a tray of four shot glasses and a slightly larger glass with red liquid inside that was placed in front of her.
"What is this?" Her curiosity piqued.
Lucian spoke up. "It's a cordial."
"I've heard of these but have never had one before." She took a tentative sip while the men watched. It tasted sweet like strawberry, elder flowers and ginger. There was a bit of alcohol to it but very minimal.
"Not bad sweet but very mild." She drank it quickly being only a small amount. The men had already poured themselves shots of the amber liquor.
Lucian looked at her empty glass. "Would you like another?" He waved over the waitress.
"Actually I'd prefer something stronger. What is it that you guys are drinking?"
This time Aidan spoke up. "It's from my country lass, well our country, good ole Irish whiskey. The bartender is also from Ireland and has quite the stock of Irish liquors. But it'll be too strong for a wee lass such as yourself."
On the inside, she was laughing hysterically on the outside she looked at them innocently smiling softy. "Would it be possible to at least try some?"
Maurice laughed and spoke to the server. "Bring another shot glass please."
One was brought over and quickly filled, Maurice whispered to the other men softly but loud enough for her to hear. "This ought to be good."
She stayed looking innocent as she took a small sip and wrinkled her nose, which made the men laugh. It was strong but definitely not top shelf it was a middle grade, a shot whiskey or mixing whiskey definitely not a sipping whiskey.
"Do you not like it lass?"
"It's definitely strong but low quality doesn't have that nice finish or touch of oak as the higher quality ones have." While they all stared at her blankly, she continued. "But shots are never high quality anyways and it's just the stuff I need to get me where I want to be." With that, she brought the glass to her mouth poured the shot down her throat swallowing quickly before slamming the glass down on the table.
"Pour me another." She winked at them before laughing at their gaping mouths especially Maurice.
"Come on you didn't really expect a part Irish girl to not know how to shoot whiskey did you? Please." She poured herself one while most were still shocked or chuckling and quickly downed it. "Come on guys you're not gonna let a woman pass you are you?"
Lucian spoke up. "I know I'm sure as hell not." He poured himself another soon joined in by the others.
Suddenly a thought hit her. "Aidan you did say this bar is stocked with Irish goodies."
"Aye lassie. Why?"
She smiled mischievously. "You'll see."
She made her way over to the bar and they watched as she talked to the bartender/owner who then proceeded to let her behind the bar. "Well I'll be damned I don't think O'Malley's ever let anyone else behind that bar except his brother."
"Well she is quite fetching and quite persuasive."
"Looks like someone's sweet on the chef."
Lucian scoffed. "I am not sweet on her."
"Didn't ya just say she was fetching laddie?"
"Yes you'd have to be dumb or blind not to notice that but I'm not sweet on her I have another lady I'm sweet on."
"Oh do tell."
"If you must know her name is Platina, she's a laundress in the opera house."
"I think I've seen her she has strange blond hair looks almost silver in the light. She's definitely a looker." Anton spoke up getting a glare from Lucian. "But you are right the chef is definitely a looker, someone to settle down with."
"You're just sweet on her since she's the first woman to ever turn you down."
"True which means she's got morals, she ain't like most girls that are easily caught up in games." They all seconded that and drank another round.
Jen made the drinks showing the bartender how they were made and how they were to be drunk. Everything got placed on a tray and brought over to the guys expertly. After telling them not to touch anything, she brought the tray back. "If you ever in need of a job lassie you can find one here."
"Thank you I'll keep that in mind." She smiled and kissed Thomas on his cheek leaving the fifty-year-old man blushing behind her as she went back to her table.
"What are these? Do we drink the Guinness first or what's in the shot glass?" Robert looked at the creamy liquid strangely. "What is in the shot glass?"
"The shot glass has cream and whiskey and it gets dropped into the Guinness then drunk as quickly as you can before it curdles."
A chorus of "What?" soon followed.
"Just watch me and do as I do." They followed her lead and were soon finished Jen being the last one.
"What do you call these?"
"Irish Car...Carriage Bombs, yea Irish Carriage Bombs."
"Odd name but quite tasty."
"If you think that's good I'll show you another one called a Bee Sting."
She went back behind the bar bringing the other glasses back then showing Thomas how to make the Bee Sting. She pulled out seven low balls filled them with three fingers of Irish whiskey, a tablespoon of honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. She gave him one to try. He tasted it then soon gulped it down. "With the honey you can make a low quality whiskey taste middle quality and because its sweet guys will drink a bunch of them before the alcohol takes effect it's know as a creeper drink cause it creeps up on you." He winked and smiled mischievously at her. She winked back then took the rest of the drinks to her boys.
The night soon ended after two more Bee Stings, two more rounds of Carriage Bomb, more shots that she lost count of, and so much laughing her cheeks hurt. It was raining out but none of them cared they were too wasted to worry about catching a cold and instead revealed in it. It helped cool off their alcohol-heated bodies. Two headed home singing a lewd song about women's breast and the other three headed back with her singing some French tune she didn't know. They split up as she headed to the passageways that led to her room. She began to sing and dance, which was an odd blend of line dancing and booty shaking.
Erik had just left his lair to check on the theater and to clear his mind. As he was heading to the stage, he heard the soft singing of a woman the voice was rough but fascinating. He wondered who could be singing at this time of night and went to investigate.
"Well I'm an eight ball shooting double fisted drinking son of a gun/I wear my jeans a little tight/Just to watch the little boys come undone/I'm here for the beer and the ball busting band/Gonna get a little crazy just because I can."
"You know I'm here for the party/And I ain't leavin til they throw me out/Gonna have a little fun gonna get me some/You know I'm here, I'm here for the party."
As he got closer, he could hear the lyrics better and her voice more clearly. He was right her voice was rough lacking training. She could sustain a note but her tone was off. She wasn't a soprano quite possibly an alto though he was paying more attention to what she sang than her voice being both a song and style he had never heard.
"I may not be a ten but the boys say I clean up good/And if I gave em half a chance for some rowdy romance you know they would/I've been waiting all week just to have a good time/So bring on them cowboys and their pick up lines"
He wasn't sure if he understood what rowdy romance meant but the thought of what it could mean made him blush. He decided it best to end her song lest someone less reputable hear her. He watched with amusement as she headed down the hall but amusement changed to fascination as he realized she was dancing down the hall and it definitely wasn't the waltz by the look of her movements. The smell of alcohol soon reached his nose and he realized she was drunk even more reason for him to get her to her room quickly.
"Don't want no purple hooter shooter just some jack on the rocks /Don't mind me if i start that trashy talk"
"You know I'm here for the party/And I ain't leavin til they throw me out...Oomph. What the hell?"
Jen felt like she hit a wall that was a serious buzz kill but she still felt tipsy. She looked up to see that it wasn't a wall at all but a very imposing phantom. She giggled. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you to your room mlle. since you are clearly inebriated."
She scoffed. "Please, I'm not drunk, I can get home."
"Well the way you were singing and 'wobbling' would suggest otherwise."
A/N: I think we've all (at least the over 21 crowd) have had those tipsy/drunk moments where you do things you normally wouldn't or hit on a crush because you don't care. Plus, the usual saying that you're not drunk when you usually are. ;-) This always makes for fun entertainment which we will soon see. As always read and review.