Chapter Four: Letting Our Hair Down

Blair rose from a deep sleep a few hours later, her head drooped down, almost in her lap. She slowly opened her eyes and glanced upwards towards the sky. It was nighttime.

Blair rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stared at Jo, who was still focused on the road in front of them. Her stomach growled with hunger and her muscles ached from being in the car for so long. She wanted to take a break.

She stretched out her arms and yawned. "How much longer do we have to go?" She asked, yawning some more. "I'm hungry."

Jo continued to keep her eyes on the road. "'Bout another hour or so," she informed Blair. "We've got enough food for a month."

Blair pouted. "But, Jo…I'll never make it until then," she whined. "Can't we stop for just a few little minutes? What's a few minutes?"

Jo groaned. "Aw, c'mon, Blair! We're not gonna get to the cabin 'til after dark as it is!"

"Then what difference does it make if we stop?" Blair asked, frowning. "Come on. I barely ever get to do stuff like this! Can't we stop? Please, Jo, Please?"

Jo sighed. She realized then and there Blair was going to continue to whine and beg and pout if she didn't get her way. And Jo would have no choice but to give in just to shut her up.

That's Blair for ya, Jo thought, sighing again.

"Fine. Fine," she said crossly. "But it's only gonna be a quick stop."

She ignored Blair's satisfied, cat-that-ate-the-canary-looking grin and looked around for the nearest highway exit.

"Oooh! The Silver Crown. I like that name! Let's go there!" Blair said, pointing to a large bar with huge neon lights.

"Jeez, could they get any brighter with those damn lights?" Jo pointed out. "Are ya sure ya wanna stop here? This doesn't exactly look like your kinda place."

Blair gave her a look. "Are you kidding? I'm a weary traveler of sorts. I've been cramped in a car for hours upon hours. I believe any place right now that has some food, some kind of drink and a comfortable place to sit is my kind of place."

Jo parked the car into the bar's large gravel parking lot and turned off the ignition. "Well, alright. Let's go," she said.

The two women stepped out of the car and made their way inside the bar.

It was nearly dark and crowded inside and there was loud honky-tonk music playing. People were mingling about; drinking, eating, smoking cigarettes, talking and dancing.

"Wow. This place is jumpin'," Jo commented as she and Blair walked their way through the throngs of people to find a seat.

"I'll say," Blair agreed. She then took a glance at her surroundings. "I mean, look at this place! It's so huge!"

Jo nodded her agreement. The place was huge. There were dozens of tables and chairs full of people.

People were playing pool and billiards in one area of the bar and in another area, was a large stage with a dance floor.

Blair's eyes shone with excitement. "Isn't this great?" She asked, smiling broadly.

They spotted an empty table near the stage and sat down.

"Yeah. This reminds me of this bar my mom worked at a year or so ago when we lived in Texas," Jo mused.

"I didn't know you lived in Texas," Blair said, surprised.

"It was only for a few months," Jo said, shrugging. "After my folks split."

Before Blair could continue on talking, a ginger-haired waitress with a short silver minidress appeared before them with a pad and pen. She dropped their menus on the table in front of them.

"So, what'll it be, ladies?" She asked them.

"Do you have any of that Southern Comfort drink around here?" Blair asked, without missing a beat. "I'd really like to try that. Straight, by the way. Thank you."

Jo stared at Blair in shock. Who is this woman and what has she done with Blair Warner? Jo thought. The Blair she knew was all about being prim and proper and ladylike. The Blair she knew drank white wine spritzers; not Southern Comfort.

Jo shook her head. "No thanks. I'm the driver. I'll just have a Coke, please."

The waitress nodded, writing down their orders. "Be right back," she said.

As soon as she left, Jo gave Blair a stern look.

"Blair!" She scolded.

"What? I'm just trying to have a good time. Is this my vacation or isn't it? I mean, you've gotten almost as bad as Casey!"

"Yeah, but I just haven't seen ya like this in awhile. I think I've gotten used to seein' ya more sedate," Jo replied.

Blair snorted a laugh. "Well, I've had it up to here with being sedate, Jo! You told me you and I were going to get out of town, let loose and let our hair down. And between you and me, the world had better watch out, because Blair Warner's hair is coming down!" She then whooped loudly, grinning.

Jo only stared, dumbfounded. She surprises me every time, she thought. Leave it to Blair.

"Well, if that's the case, the hell with it!" Jo exclaimed, laughing.

The waitress came back with Jo and Blair's drinks. Jo quickly turned to her. "Ya know what? I changed my mind on my drink. I want a strawberry margarita with some Cuervo on the side, please."

The waitress nodded. "Comin' right up," she said.

Blair whooped again. "Yeah!" She shouted, reaching out to high-five Jo.

A second or so later, a tall, thin, handsome man with short and wavy sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes approached them.

Damn, they're both sexy as hell. Especially the blonde one. Don't think I've ever seen them here before, he thought. There's something different about them. Lemme shoot my shot.

"Now, pray do tell, what's a couple of cuties like you doing around here in a place like this?" The man asked, grinning.

Jo immediately looked irritated. She hated when men used sleazy pick-up lines to hit on women. She gave the man a look of disgust and contempt to let him know they weren't interested.

"We're mindin' our own business. Why dont'cha try it?" she told him condescendingly.

Huh. Didn't want her anyway. Let's try her, the man thought, turning his attention to Blair.

Blair blushed and began toying with her hair, apparently flattered at being called a cutie.

Think I'm gonna hurl, Jo thought, fighting the urge not to throw up.

What Jo was not prepared for was for Blair to start telling this strange man her business. She listened in horror as her friend started blabbing.

"Well, we left town this weekend because we both wanted to go out and have a good time," Blair rambled. "And Jo here is upset because her husband won't call her while he's on the road…"

Shut the fuck up, Blair! Jo thought angrily. There was something she already didn't particularly like about this guy and here Blair was giving him information about her to him!

Jo kicked Blair under the table to shut her up.

Blair cleared her throat. "And…uh…we just wanted something to eat," she said lamely.

The man gave Blair a smile. "Well, well, well. You've come to the right place! This place has some chili that'll knock your socks off! You like chili?"

Before Blair could answer, their waitress came back with Jo's drink. She set it down and gave the man a cutting look. "Lee, are you bothering these girls?" She asked warningly.

Lee only smirked. "Shit, no. I just came to be friendly."

The waitress continued to glare at Lee. "Well, it's a good thing they're not all as friendly as you are," she said sarcastically, giving Jo a pitiful glance. Jo only nodded, completely understanding what the waitress truly meant.

Blair, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand Lee's true intentions. And if she did, she didn't seem to care. She seemed to enjoy getting attention from an attractive man.

Blair beamed at Lee. "Your name is Lee? I think I have an uncle with that name!" She said.

Lee smiled, rubbing Blair's shoulder. "Do you now? Is he funny? 'Cause if he is, then he and I have something in common!"

He then laughed at his own joke. Blair only laughed politely.

I don't get it, Blair thought, frowning at his joke.

Meanwhile, Jo only glared daggers at Lee and Blair. Doesn't she know a creep when she sees one? His gross innuendos and come-ons are enough to make a cat sick. And what's up with him rubbin' on Blair's shoulder like that?

Blair noticed Jo giving them both harsh glares.

"I don't mean to be rude," she said to Lee. "But I need to talk to my friend privately."

Lee ran his fingers through his wavy hair.

"Hey, I understand. I didn't mean to bother you. It's just so hard to not to notice two beautiful women such as yourselves."

He stood up, giving Blair a toothy grin. "You better dance with me, sweetheart. Or else I'll never forgive you."

Blair smiled. "That sounds fun," she said. "I'd love to."

With that, he walked away, winking at her.

Blair turned her attention to Jo. "Jo, that wasn't very nice," she reprimanded, scowling.

Jo rolled her eyes. "Fuck, Blair! Don'tcha know when ya bein' hit on?" She demanded crossly.

"And so what if he was? It's your years of watching your mom wait tables that's got you so jaded, that's all."

Jo only crossed her arms in front of her chest, frowning. "Well…maybe," she admitted gruffly. "But still…I've got a bad feelin' 'bout that guy. Somethin' about him doesn't feel right to me."

"Jo, would you lighten up and just relax? You're making me nervous and it's kind of a buzzkill. Just relax," Blair replied. She then grabbed her shot of Southern Comfort and knocked it back, the whiskey immediately warming her insides.

She grinned at the feeling it gave her and signaled at the waitress to bring her another one. The waitress spotted her and nodded.

Blair turned to Jo. "So…tell me…Rick hasn't called you yet?" She asked concernedly.

Jo toyed with the rim of her margarita glass. "I'm just givin' him a taste of his own medicine," she admitted. "What an asshole."

Blair placed her hand on top of Jo's, rubbing it and giving her a look of sadness. "I'm sorry, Jo," she said. "I've been so excited to leave the house that…" she paused, interrupting herself. "I wonder if Casey's back yet…"

"I wonder if Rick's gotten back," Jo wondered, glancing down at her feet.

The two women then stared up at each other.

Look at us, still worrying about those two! This is supposed to be our vacation! Blair thought, shaking her head.

"When are you going to tell Rick to get lost, once and for all?" Blair asked her.

"Why don'tcha ditch that loser boyfriend of yours?" Jo countered.

They only stared at each other again, drifting off in thought and at a loss for words. Neither one had an answer.

Their waitress broke the eye contact, coming over with Blair's drink plus an extra one. "This one's on Lee," she told Blair, rolling her eyes as she set the extra drink down in front of her.

Blair put her hand over her heart and blushed again. "For moi?" Good to know Blair Warner's still got it! Not that it actually went anywhere, she thought, tossing her hair around and smiling smugly to herself.

She caught eyes with Lee, who was grinning at her and making dancing motions with his hands from across the room. Blair waved at him with her fingers, smiling back flirtatiously.

She turned back to Jo, giving her a serious look. "Look, Jo, I'm sure Rick will come home, notice you aren't there, freak out, call you a hundred thousand times and then Sunday night will be the night you'll call him back. Then come Monday, he'll be kissing the ground you walk on."

Jo smiled wistfully at Blair. Trust Blair to always come through for me, just when I need her to, Jo thought, smiling gratefully at her friend.

"Exactly," Jo replied, nodding resolutely.

Blair gave her a half-smile. "Now," she said, standing up from her seat as the band began to strike up. "I believe it was you who said we were going to have some fun!" She then grabbed her two shots of Southern Comfort and hit them both, back to back. "So let's go have some fucking fun!"

Jo had to laugh. The booze must really be kickin' in for Blair to start cussin', she thought.

She whooped loudly and took a long sip of her margarita as she followed Blair to the dance floor.