Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Romance/ Pre-island
Rated: M
Synopsis: A bar in Australia, a drunk man and two lonely hearts. How the story ends?

Thanks to Doublell!

The Cocktail Bar - Part 1

Sydney, Australia

Before the crash

She watched him drink another swig of vodka directly from the bottle. His liver should have been well pickled by now, considering all of the alcohol that he had consumed. This probably meant that he could no longer feel the effects of the poison that was slowly killing him.

Two weeks in Australia and Ana-Lucia wondered what in the hell she was still doing there. It seemed like a good idea at the time but she was regretting it now. When she'd met the handsome surgeon at the airport at LAX, he'd offered Ana the perfect solution to escape from her problems by traveling to Australia with him.

At the time, Ana-Lucia just wanted run away from everyone and everything. It was so easy to accept his offer of a job as his bodyguard and accompany him to Australia. Besides paying for her travel expenses, he also promised her an excellent bonus when they arrived at their destination.

So why not to go with him? She felt that she had nothing left to lose.

Since she had resigned from the police force, Ana had isolated herself from the rest of the world. She hadn't even spoken to her mother for countless weeks and she spent her nights alone in her apartment changing the TV channels.

When she finally allowed herself to sleep, she always dreamt about the murder that she had committed out of revenge. Ana, also, had nightmares about her unborn child. She'd hear the baby cry and try to reach out to him… but she never could. Ana always awoke in a panic….sweating, panting and crying.

Every day was mundane. Everyday was always the same. Her life was dreary and depressing. Did she even have a life anymore?

However, being in Australia with this man was definitely not better than having nightmares alone in her apartment in Los Angeles. For God's Sake… she didn't even know his real name! And he didn't know her real name either…this was all so crazy. She was so tired. The day was just beginning again in Sydney, and Ana hadn't even slept yet.

Tom had wakened Ana up in the middle of the night, saying that he needed her services as his bodyguard. Finally, Ana thought….her first assignment after two long weeks! She was wondering if he'd done this only after he'd made a fool of himself earlier that evening when he had grabbed her and kissed her at the hotel bar, claiming that they were soul mates.

Ana-Lucia felt so stupid being there with him. She was disgusted with Tom's behavior. All he wanted to do was drink himself to death. Ana had left him alone in the bar and returned to her room but he knocked on her door later that same night.

Tom kept on blabbing that Ana was his bodyguard, and that she needed to be with him, but Ana didn't think her job description entailed driving a drunken man home every night from the bar.

However, that night they didn't go to a bar. Tom gave Ana the address to a residence in the suburbs of Sydney. Once they arrived, Tom talked at length with a blonde woman that came to the door of the house.

Tom and the woman began screaming at each other in the middle of the rain. Things were getting heated between them and Ana finally had to get out of the car and separate them. She dragged Tom back to the car and then they left the neighbourhood.

Now Ana was driving him around town. Her clothes were soaked because of the rain…she was uncomfortable in so many ways. As Ana drove the car, she watched Tom drink his vodka. She was sick of it.

"We need some damn music in here!" Tom slurred as he drank another drink from his bottle. His trembling fingers turned on the radio inside of the car but Ana-Lucia didn't pay any attention to the music as it played.

"Who was she?" Ana asked him as she tried to understand what they were doing there.

"Who was who?" Tom sullenly replied. It was obvious he was pretending that he didn't understand her question.

"That woman!" Ana snapped at him and impatiently waited for his answer.

"She… is a very long story, Sarah" Tom finally said.

Ana-Lucia was angry. If she was going to stop this ridiculous situation then she'd start by telling him her real name. "It's Ana-Lucia! My name is Ana-Lucia."

He looked over at her and stubbornly said. "Well, I'm still Tom" He was being obstinate by refusing to tell her the truth. He looked terrible.

"You're pathetic! That's what you are!" Ana replied, refusing to continue playing his game.

"You bet your sweet ass I am." Tom agreed. It was obvious that he didn't a give a damn about her questions or concern for him anymore.

Ana-Lucia suddenly pulled the car over and stopped. She turned off the ignition and looked at him seriously. Ana looked him in the eye and bluntly asked him, hoping he'd be honest with her. "Why are we here?"

Tom's face was sad and pale when he quietly said. "I'm here because I can't apologize to my son." He paused for a moment before continuing. "He tried to help me… and I thanked him by shutting him out of my life. I thanked him by hating him."

Ana quietly reflected on his answer because she felt the exact same way about her own mother. Teresa had tried to help her, but Ana had rejected her help and thanked her mother by shutting her out of her life and eventually running away to Australia with a complete stranger.

"You came here for the same reason I did, kiddo. You ran away." Tom continued. Ana listened intently. He was right. But it didn't mean that they couldn't return to The United States and try to fix everything.

Tom recognized the location where they had stopped. There was a familiar bar across the street. It was called The Cocktail Bar. If fate was playing a joke on him, then it was a pretty sadistic joke.

"My, my. Look what destiny has served up this time." Tom suddenly announced, his mood changing from miserable to happy in the blink of an eye. Ana followed Tom's gaze and looked through the car window and noticed the sign for The Cocktail Bar.

"Come on." Tom suggested to her. "Let's go have a drink or ten and be pathetic together. What do you say?"

Ana-Lucia didn't think twice about her answer before firmly saying. "No." She looked deep into Tom's eyes and with a slight smile of affirmation on her lips she repeated her answer. "No."

"It's your call." He said in a resigned voice as he opened the car door and started to get out. But at that exact moment a man walking near the car became angry when Tom opened the door and caused the man to collide into it. "Hey! I'm walking here!" The man yelled, but soon moved on.

Tom finally left the car. "Wait!" Ana-Lucia called out in desperation. She had to try to stop him from committing another mistake. Tom turned to hear what she had to say, he could sense the desperation in her voice. "Don't!" She pleaded. "Let's just get the hell out of Sydney. Let's go back!"

"I can't ever go back." Tom resigned himself to say. Ana could sense the finality and hopelessness in his voice when he finally said. "See ya, Kiddo!"

Ana watched him walk into The Cocktail Bar. Once the door was closed behind him, she sighed and turned on the ignition and drove back to the hotel.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Things didn't need to end like this Ana thought to herself. It had been a few hours since she'd left Tom alone… to get drunk in that bar and drink himself to death.

Since then Ana had taken a shower, changed her clothes and eaten a light meal. She'd thought about getting the money that Tom had left for her and going to the airport. She'd buy her return ticket home on the next flight leaving for LA.

But Ana's conscience was getting the best of her. It was telling her that she had to try one more time to attempt to save the life of poor Tom, before she left Australia.

If only Ana could find out his real name, then she could try to contact his son and ask him for help. But she had no information about him. Nothing!

Ana tried to get some information from the hotel manager but the manager stated that Tom didn't want to reveal his true identity to anyone…not even his female travel companion. Ana insisted but the manager refused to reveal anything.

Ana-Lucia checked the clock on her bedside table in the hotel room. It was almost 2 pm. She sighed. She knew exactly where Tom would be…probably still at the same bar that she had left him at.

If she returned to The United States without trying one last time to make contact with him, then Ana knew she would never forgive herself. She decided to return to the bar and make one last effort to bring him home with her.

Ana rummaged through her luggage and pulled out a red blouse with a low neckline. She put on the blouse and then pulled on a black jacket over top of the blouse. The weather outside was cool because of the rain that had fallen the previous night.

Ana then went to the mirror and applied some make up. Mocha lipstick, some blush and some eyeliner to brighten her sad eyes. Ana wanted to wear makeup because she thought that this would make her feel better. She'd decided to start her life over and she knew that her face looked pale and sad and she wanted to change it.

Ana completed her ensemble with a black skirt and black boots. Finally, she tried to tame a few curls with her fingers and decided to leave her hair loose. Then she looked in the mirror and laughed at herself.

If Tom saw her dressed like this, he'd probably think that she was trying to seduce him! But it wasn't like that at all. Ana just wanted to feel good about herself…for the first time in a very long time.

Ana was hoping to convince, her friend, Tom to return to the hotel with her and drink some coffee. Then they could talk about going home… together…and end this madness.

Ana retrieved her new purse that she'd brought from LA and had never had the opportunity to use before and left the hotel. A few minutes later she arrived at The Cocktail Bar. She parked nearby. The rain was starting to fall again and she had to run inside to avoid getting drenched.

The bar was dark, with only a few dim lights illuminating the place. There was a loud group of men drinking together at a table in the corner and they all became excited when she walked into the bar. Some of the men began making rude remarks towards her.

"Hey, Baby Doll, why don't you come over here and sit with us?" A fat, bearded man shouted as he motioned for her to come and sit on his lap. Ana just sneered and turned away.

"I'll buy you a drink, Gorgeous!" Another man said as he leered at her. He was dirty and creepy and appeared to be undressing her with his beady little eyes.

"What a nice piece of ass!" Ana heard one of them say.

Ana rolled her eyes and decided to ignore them all. She just needed to find Tom and get the hell out of that place. She only hoped that when she found Tom, he was sober enough to remember who she was.

"Hey! Hey!" The men continued taunting her, but Ana wasn't listening to them anymore. Her attention was focused on finding her pathetic friend Tom, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

Tom wasn't drinking at a table or at the bar. Perhaps he'd gone into the men's room? Maybe someone in the bar had seen him and they could tell her where he was.

Ana-Lucia approached the bar, preparing to ask the bartender about Tom when she heard a deep, seductive voice behind her with a distinctly southern accent say. "You lookin' for someone, Hot Lips?"

To be continued…