JENNIE
After awhile, Taehyung and I came down the stairs holding hands. It was almost like we were teenagers in puppy love. We were both thoroughly enjoying finally living together. I told Taehyung what we looked like, and we were both laughing as we rounded the corner into the kitchen.
The second thing I'd noticed about this house, right after taking in the small size of it, was how sparse on decorations it was. It was clearly evident that it was simply a place to sleep at night. A pad. I was definitely going to have to do some shopping soon. It was just way too barren for any girl to leave alone for long, even me.
The kitchen was pretty decently sized, considering. The far wall had a long counter ending in a refrigerator. The opposite wall was half the length with a stove and microwave above it, and on the left of the stove, another short counter with a coffee pot full of freshly brewed coffee, the smell emanating from it making my mouth water. The back portion of the room had a moderately sized table with four chairs and a large window that overlooked the postage-stamp backyard.
The space in-between the short wall and the windowed-wall opened up to the living room and Lisa was walking through it. She was holding the morning paper and reading the folded front page. She was already dressed for the day in shorts and a short-sleeve tee, her wavy hair still messy, but more orderly than earlier… perfect. Even though Lisa was simply dressed, I felt suddenly very plain in my basic jeans and t-shirt. I tightened my hand in Taehyung's and dealt with it though.
"Hey, man." Taehyung smiled and went over to Lisa, who looked up at his voice.
"Hey, glad you guys made it!" Lisa smiled back and clasped Taehyung's shoulder in a quick hug. I smiled slightly too. Guys could be so cute.
With a warm smile in my direction, Taehyung said, "You already met Jennie, I hear." My smile left me at the memory.
"Yes." Lisa's eyes sparkled…a little too mischievously. "But, nice to see you again." At least she was being polite about it. Still smiling, Lisa walked over to the fresh pot and grabbed some mugs from the cupboard above it. "Coffee?"
"Not for me, no. I don't see how you guys can drink that stuff," Taehyung said, making a disgusted face. "Jennie loves it though." I nodded in agreement and smiled up at Taehyung. He didn't even like the smell of coffee. He was more of a tea-guy, which I found completely amusing and adorable.
Taehyung looked down at me. "Hungry? I think there is still some food in the car."
"Starving." I bit my lip and looked at his beautiful face for a second, then kissed him lightly and playfully smacked him in the stomach. Yeah, we were definitely teenagers in love again.
He gave me a brief peck and then turned to leave. As he moved away, I noticed Lisa behind him, watching us with an amused expression on her face. "Okay, be right back." Taehyung left the kitchen and I heard him grab his keys from the entryway table, where he'd tossed them last night. The door closed a second later and I marveled at how he wasn't even fazed that he was only wearing the t-shirt and boxers he had slept in.
Smiling, I went to the table to sit and wait for him. Lisa came over a few moments later with two cups of coffee. I made a move to stand up and put cream and sugar in mine, but looking at the coffee more closely, I could see that she already had. How did she know that I liked it that way?
Noticing my puzzled expression, she said, "I brought mine black. I can switch you, if you don't like cream?"
"No, actually I do like it this way." I smiled at her as she sat down. "I thought maybe you could read minds or something."
"I wish," she chuckled, taking a sip of her black coffee.
"Well, thank you." I raised my cup a little and took a sip…heaven.
Lisa looked across the table at me, her head tilted. "So, Ohio huh? Buckeyes and fireflies right?"
I smiled and mentally rolled my eyes at her limited knowledge of my home State. I didn't press her though. "Yep, that's about it."
She looked at me quizzically. "Do you miss it?"
I paused for a moment before answering her. "Well, I miss my parents and my sister, of course." I paused again and sighed a little. "But I don't know…a place is just a place. Besides, it's not like I won't ever see it again," I finished, smiling.
She frowned slightly at me. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why did you come all the way out here?"
I was a little annoyed at the question, but I tried to ignore it. I didn't know Lisa well enough to judge her. "Taehyung," I stated, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Huh." She didn't elaborate, just sipped her coffee.
Needing to switch subjects, I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. "Why do you sing like that?" I instantly regretted saying it, realizing how horribly offensive it must sound. I didn't intend it that way. I was just curious why she was so…flirtatious on stage.
Her brown narrowed at me. "What do you mean?" she slowly asked. I got the feeling that her singing was something people usually didn't question her about. I couldn't tell if she was angry, but I didn't want to steer her that way. This was not how to make a good impression on the person I now shared a home with.
Pausing for time, I took a slow sip of coffee. Knowing I would have to explain my horribly embarrassing question, I started blushing slightly. "You were great," I started, hoping to mollify her. "But sometimes you were just so…" I cringed mentally, but knew I needed to just be a grown-up and say it, "…sexual," I whispered.
Her expression softened and then she laughed for what felt like five minutes.
Irritation flared in me full force. I wasn't trying to be funny and I was getting really embarrassed, not to mention uncomfortable. Why did I have to open my big mouth? I stared down into my coffee cup, wanting to crawl inside it and disappear.
She finally noticed my expression had changed and worked at regaining her composure. "Sorry….It's just, that's not what I thought you were going to say." I wondered for a moment what she had expected me to say and looked back up at her. Still slightly chuckling, she thought for a moment. "I don't know. People just tend to respond to it." She shrugged her shoulders.
By "people," I inferred that she meant women.
"Did I offend you?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Great, now she thought I was this prudish person who couldn't handle her. "Nooo." I overly stressed the word and glared at her a little. "It just seemed excessive. Besides, you don't need it…your songs are great."
She seemed a little taken aback by that. She sat back in her chair and watched me in a way that was making my heart beat quicker. Seriously, she was just absurdly good-looking. I looked down at the table uncomfortably.
"Thank you. I'll try to keep that in mind." I looked back up at her again. She was smiling softly at me and she did seem to genuinely mean it. Changing topics, she asked me, "How did you and Taehyung meet?"
I smiled as I remembered it. "College. He was a T.A. in one of my classes. It was my first year, his third. I thought he was the most beautiful person I had ever seen." I blushed a little bit over calling him beautiful out loud, and, to someone. I generally tried to not use that word in everyday conversation. People tended to look at me funny. Lisa was just smiling peacefully at me however. I suppose she was used to hearing a wide variety of glowing adjectives.
"Anyway, we just hit it off and have been together ever since." I couldn't help but smile at the flood of memories we had together. "What about you? How did you meet Taehyung?" I knew the basics of the story, but not much more.
She thought a moment, a smile on her lips that matched mine. "Well, my parents thought it would be good idea to host an exchange student. I think their friends were impressed with that…" Her smile faded a bit before instantly returning. "But, Taehyung and I hit it off right away too. He's a cool guy."
She turned her face away and a look passed over her that I couldn't comprehend…almost grief. "I owe him a lot," she said softly. She turned back to me, her charming grin back in place, and shrugged. "Anyway, I'd do anything for the guy, so when he called and said he needed a place to stay, it was the least I could do."
"Oh." I was curious about her sudden sadness, but she seemed back to normal now and I didn't want to press her. Anyway, Taehyung came back into the kitchen at that point.
He looked very apologetic. "Sorry, all I could find were these." He held up a bag of Cheetos and a bag of pretzels.
Lisa laughed softly while I held my hand out and gave Taehyung a sweet smile. "Cheetos, please." Taehyung frowned, but gave them to me and Lisa laughed harder.
We finished our "nutritious" breakfast and then I called my parents (collect, no less) to let them know we were here and we were safe. Taehyung and Lisa caught up on their years apart while I chatted with my family. The only phone in the house was an olive-green, corded, seventies-looking contraption in the kitchen, and Taehyung and Lisa's stories were getting louder and funnier as they sat at the table and reminisced. I had to glare over at them a couple of times, non-verbally asking them to be quiet so I could hear my parents. Of course, they thought that was hilarious, and it only seemed to make them laugh even louder, so eventually, I turned my back on them and ignored their happy conversation. It wasn't as if my mom and dad were saying anything other than, "Ready to come home now?" anyway.
After my too-long conversation, Taehyung and I headed back upstairs. He quickly showered while I rummaged through his bag for some clothes. Choosing his favorite, faded blue jeans and a light beige Henley shirt for him, I started setting out the rest of our things on the bed.
The person who had rented this room before us had been kind enough, that they had left the bed (sheets and all), a dresser, a small television and a nightstand, complete with an alarm clock. I wasn't sure why, but I was extremely grateful, since Taehyung and I had absolutely no furniture. In Athens, we had lived with our relatives to save on cash. I had tried on numerous occasions to get Taehyung into an apartment of our own, but, ever the money-savvy one, he hadn't seen the logic in wasting all that cash when our families were only a few minutes from school. In my head, I had a very long list of reasons why…most involving a bed, sheets and all.
And of course my parents, although they adored him, weren't keen on him moving into my bedroom. They hadn't even been okay with me moving into his Aunt's place, and since they were paying for my pricey education, I hadn't pressed the issue too far. But now we sort of had to live together to save on money, so I guess, in the end, I had won the argument. I smiled at that thought as I began putting our clothes into the small, double dresser - his on one side, mine on the other. We didn't have a whole lot of clothes, and I was done by the time Taehyung came back from his shower.
Seeing him wrapped only in a towel, pleased me greatly, and I sat on the bed with my arms around my legs, head resting on my knees, to watch him get dressed. He laughed at my rapt attention, but was comfortable enough that he had no problems dropping his towel and dressing. I would have made him turn around, or close his eyes or something, if our roles had been reversed.
Once finished, he sat on the bed beside me. I couldn't resist running my fingers through his damp hair, rustling it around a little bit, and styling chunky pieces. He waited patiently, a warm glow in his eyes, a soft smile on his lips.
When it appeared that I was contently finished, he kissed me on the forehead and we made our way back downstairs to get the rest of our boxes from the car. It only took two trips - we really didn't have a whole lot of stuff. We were however, apparently completely out of food. We put the boxes on our bed and decided to brave our way through the city streets in a quest for sustenance. Taehyung had lived here for an entire year, but that had been several years ago, and he hadn't been driving then, so we got some directions from Lisa and made our attempt.
We easily made our way down to the pier and Pike Place market to look around and get some fresh food. It truly was a beautiful city. We strolled hand in hand down the pier, watching the sunlight sparkle off the Sound. It was a warm, clear day and we stopped and watched the ferries shuttle back and forth, and the seagulls fly low over the water, like us, also scrounging for food. A light, cool breeze brought the smell of salt water with it and I leaned my head back on Taehyung's chest as he wrapped his arms around me, perfectly content.
"Happy?" he asked me, rubbing his jaw along my neck, the light hair along it making me giggle.
"Deliriously," I answered, turning my head to give him a soft kiss.
We did all the touristy things in the area - went through all the quaint shops, listened to the street musicians, sat on a cute little merry-go-round, and watched the fish mongers chuck huge salmon to each other while the packed crowd cheered. Eventually we picked up some fresh fruits, vegetables, and other edibles, and made our way back to the car.
One unfortunate thing about Seattle, that was quickly apparent to us on the drive home, was the roller-coaster steep hills, and trying to drive a stick shift on them. By the third near accidental rear-ending, we were both laughing so hard that I couldn't stop the tears. Only getting lost twice, we eventually made it back home in one piece.
We were still laughing about our little adventure as we walked back into the kitchen, carrying a couple canvas bags of groceries. Lisa looked up at us from where she was sitting at the table, writing notes on a spiral pad of paper. Lyrics maybe? She gave us an amused grin and went back to her work.
Taehyung put our food away, while I began sorting through our few boxes of stuff upstairs. It went pretty quickly. Knowing we weren't moving into a huge place, we had only brought the essentials with us, leaving the majority of the stuff that a person accumulates over any given period of time, in my mom's attic. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, before I had put away all of our books, Taehyung's work clothes, my school stuff, and a few pictures and other mementoes. I finished up by putting our toiletries in the bathroom; our dollar store shampoo next to Lisa's expensive stuff, making me smile. Then, I was done.
Heading back downstairs, I turned into the living room to find Lisa and Taehyung watching ESPN. The space was as barely decorated as the rest of the house; I really was going to have to do something about that soon. It pretty much consisted of a large TV against the back wall, next to a slider that led out to the backyard. A long, ratty looking couch took up the far wall, with a seemingly comfy looking chair kitty-corner to it, and a round table with an old lamp on it, was tucked between the two. Lisa appeared to live as simply as she dressed.
Taehyung was sprawled across the long couch, looking like he may fall asleep at any moment; he probably was still dreadfully tired. I was beginning to feel the long trip (combined with walking around the pier all afternoon) catch up with me as well, so I walked over to Taehyung and crawled on top of him. He shifted so I could sink in-between him and the couch, my leg over his, my arm across his chest and my head nestled in his shoulder. He sighed contently and pulled me tight, kissing my head softly. His heartbeat was slow and steady, and was gently pulling me into sleep. Before I closed my eyes, I glanced over at Lisa who was sitting in the chair. She seemed to be watching us curiously. I could do no more than wonder about it, before my eyes slipped closed and sleep washed over me.
I woke up awhile later when Taehyung shifted beneath me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said, his accent warm and delightful around the words.
Stretching luxuriously, I yawned and pushed myself up a little, to look at his face. "It's okay," I mumbled, kissing him lightly. "I suppose I should wake up anyway, if I ever want to sleep tonight." I looked around but we were alone in the room.
Alone.
The thought made me instantly aware of how close Taehyung and I were snuggling on the couch. Grinning mischievously, I kissed him again, but harder. He laughed a little, but kissed me back eagerly. It didn't take long for my breath to quicken, my heart following. Desire filled me for this warm, beautiful man beneath me, and I ran my fingers down his chest and slipped them under his shirt, to feel his smooth skin.
He reacted by gripping my hips with his strong hands and shifting me over, until I was more directly on top of him. I sighed happily and pressed into him. Somewhere in the corner of my mind, I registered a door closing, but Taehyung's hands pulling me even harder against him, quickly drove any other thought from my head.
I was happily kissing his jaw and moving to his neck, when a faint, amused chuckle woke me from my reveling. I sat bolt upright on Taehyung's lap, causing him to grunt in surprise. I hadn't realized Lisa was still here, and I was pretty sure the color on my cheeks made that painfully obvious to her.
"Sorry." She was laughing a little harder now. She was standing in the entryway, grabbing her jacket from a hook by the front door. "I'll be out of your hair in a minute…if you want to wait." She seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Or don't. It really doesn't bother me." She shrugged, still chuckling.
It bothered me. I immediately flew to the other side of the couch, too embarrassed to say anything. I looked over at Taehyung, hoping he could somehow rewind time a few minutes. He just laid there, an amused smile on his face as well now. Irritation flowed through me – men!
Needing to change the focus somehow, I blurted out, "Where are you going?" It came out more harshly than I meant it, but it was too late to change that.
She blinked at me, a little surprised from the angry outburst. I got the feeling we really could have been having sex on the couch and she wouldn't have cared. Apparently she was very open about that sort of thing. She probably had only meant to tease me, not embarrass me. My irritation cooled slightly.
"Pete's. We've got another gig there tonight."
"Oh." Now that I was paying more attention to anything but my mortification, she did seem dressed differently than this morning - a brilliant red, long-sleeved shirt and perfectly faded blue jeans. She looked freshly washed too, her hair fabulously messy, but still slightly damp. She looked the rock god that I remembered from the night before.
"Do you guys want to go…" she paused, then grinned devilishly, "or stay here?"
I blurted out, more from remembered embarrassment and irritation, than any real desire, "No, we'll go. Sure."
Taehyung blinked at me in confusion, and what looked a little like disappointment. "Really?"
Trying to find a way to recover from my unthinking pronouncement, I came up with, "Yeah, they sounded really good last night. I was hoping to hear a little more."
Taehyung slowly sat up on the couch. "All right. I'll get my keys."
Lisa shook her head at me slightly, an amused grin on her face. "Okay, I'll see you there then."
On the car ride there, I tried to cover my earlier embarrassment by asking Taehyung about the odd conversation in the kitchen with Lisa. I looked over at him. "Lisa seems…nice?" I didn't mean for it to come out like a question, but it kind of did.
He looked across at me "No, she is. You kind of have to get used to her. She can seem like a real figjam, but she's a really great person."
I raised my eyebrow at his weird Australian slang and smiled, waiting for him to explain. Every once in awhile, he would throw words out at me that I had no idea what they meant. He smiled, knowing what I was waiting for. "Fuck I'm Good, Just Ask Me," he explained.
I blushed a little, thinking I preferred the shortened version, and then laughed. "You never really talked about her before. I hadn't realized you guys were so close." I tried to think back over the few times he had mentioned his friend in Washington, but nothing jumped out in my head.
He looked back to the road and shrugged. "I guess we kind of lost contact when I went back home. I talked with her once or twice when I came back to the States…but we never really kept in touch. Busy, you know."
Puzzled I said, "I got the feeling from her that you were closer. She kind of seems to love you?" I felt a little weird saying that; they weren't usually so blunt with their feelings. It wasn't as if Lisa had been writing her sonnets or anything, it was just a feeling I got from her. Her comment of "owing Taehyung" and "doing anything for him" - in their verse, that equated love.
Taehyung seemed to understand what I was talking about and looked down for a second, a little embarrassed. "It's nothing. I don't know why she makes such a fuss over it. Really, it was no big deal." He looked back to the road, biting his lip.
Insanely curious now, I asked, "What?"
He paused, like he'd rather not tell me, but of course, he eventually did. "Well, you know I lived with her and her parents for a year?"
"Yeah," I said, puzzled as to where he was going with this.
"Well, she and her dad had a…strained relationship, I guess you could say. Anyway, one day her dad took it too far, knocked her around a little. I didn't really think about it, I just wanted it to stop. I guess I kind of stepped in front of her, took a blow for her." He looked over at my reaction for a second, before turning back to his driving.
I stared at him, shocked. I hadn't heard this story before. It sounded exactly like something Taehyung would do though. My heart squeezed a little for Lisa…
He shook his head, his brow creased. "That seemed to wake his dad up a little. He didn't bother her again while I was there." He lightly shook his head. "I don't know about after though…" Looking over at me, he gave me his goofy grin. "Anyway, Lisa just kind of felt…like we were more a family than her real family after that." He laughed and looked back to the road. "I think she's more thrilled that I'm back, than I am."
When we arrived at the bar, Lisa was already there, sitting with her three other band mates at a table in the back near the stage. She was sitting on the end, looking relaxed and comfortable, one foot propped on her knee and sipping a beer. To her left, was the longer-haired blonde that I remembered as the bassist. Across from him, was the teddy-bear drummer that I'd hoped was our new roommate, and finishing the circle, to the drummer's left, was the last member of the group, the other blonde guitarist. I was a little surprised that they weren't hidden away somewhere, getting ready to play. But they looked completely confident that they were going to be great, and were simply relaxing with a few beers before going up there.
Two women sitting at the table across from them were openly watching their every move. One was clearly gaping at Lisa. She looked drunk enough, and intrigued enough, that I thought at any moment she was going to lunge herself across the aisle and plop right down in her lap. While Lisa paid her absolutely no attention, I wasn't sure if she wouldn't mind if she decided to do just that.
Lisa's attention however was currently being held by the bassist sitting next to her. From the door I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but all of the guys were listening to his story with smiles on their faces.
Taehyung noticed them as well and turning to smile at me, he started leading us over to their table. As we got close enough to hear the bassist's words, I decided that coming here was a bad idea, and wished that I had kept my mouth shut and we were warm and comfortable, snuggling on the couch again. Taehyung was pulling me steadily forward though, so I glumly followed.
"…this girl, damn, she had the best rack I've ever seen." The bassist paused to make a crude gesture with his hands…as if the guys would need that statement clarified. "And the shortest skirt too. Everybody around us was completely wasted, so I ducked under the table and shoved that skirt as high as it would go. Then I grabbed my beer bottle and stuck…"
Lisa smacked him on the chest, noticing Taehyung's and my arrival. We stopped at the end of the table before her, Taehyung chuckling a little. I was sure I was blushing, and tried to keep my face as smooth as possible.
"Dude…I'm getting to the good part, hold on." The bassist look mildly confused.
"Jack…" Lisa pointed over to me. "My new roommates are here."
He looked up to glance at Taehyung and me. "Oh yeah…roommates." He looked over at Lisa again. "I miss Joey, man…she was hot! Seriously, why did you have to tap that? Not that I blame you, but-"
He cut off as Lisa smacked him in the chest, even harder. Ignoring the bassist's irritation, Lisa pointed up to us. "Guys, this is my friend Taehyung and his girlfriend Jennie."
I tried to fix my face into a smile. I hadn't known why her old roommate had left, and I was a little shocked and, of course, still a little embarrassed at the crude conversation we'd walked into. Taehyung smiled and smoothly said, "Hello." I managed to mumble out a, "Hi."
"Hey." The bassist nodded his chin up in greeting. "Jackson." He eyed me up and down, making me extremely uncomfortable and I squeezed Taehyung's hand harder, moving slightly behind him.
His could-be twin across the table from Lisa, stuck his hand out in a more polite greeting. "Lucas, Hi."
"The guitarist, right?" Taehyung asked him while he shook his hand. "You're really good!"
"Yeah, thanks, man." He seemed genuinely pleased that Taehyung had remembered what he played. Jackson however, snorted, and Lucas threw him a look. "Oh, get over it, Jackson."
Jackson shot him a look right back. "All I'm saying, is that you totally messed up that last riff. I rock that song, I should totally play it."
Ignoring what sounded like an on-going argument, the big teddy-bear looking guy beside Lucas stood up and extended his hand to us. "Evan, drummer. Nice to meet you."
We shook his hand while Lisa stood up. She walked across the aisle to the drunken women. I thought the one who had been gaping at her earlier might pass out at her nearness. She leaned over the back of her chair, brushed aside a lock of her hair and whispered something very closely in her ear. She nodded, flushing slightly, and then Lisa stood, grabbing a couple of empty chairs beside them. The women were giggling like school girls as she walked away.
She set the chairs down for us at the end of the table, with a slight smile on her face. "Here, have a seat."
Feeling odd about that whole exchange, and not entirely comfortable with our new companions, I sat down with a small frown on my face. Lisa's smile widened. She seemed to really enjoy it when I was uncomfortable.
Jackson was turning his attention to Taehyung as we sat down. "What's your accent…you British?"
Taehyung smiled politely at him. "Australian."
Jackson nodded, like he knew that all along. "Ahhhh. Ahoy, mate."
Lisa and Evan laughed. Lucas looked over at him like he was the world's biggest idiot. "Dude, he's Australian…not a pirate."
Jackson sniffed haughtily. "Whatever." He took a swig of his beer.
Laughing a little, Taehyung asked, "What's the name of your band anyway?"
Jackson chuckled while Lisa stated, "D-Bags."
I looked over at her incredulously and then smiled. "Seriously?"
Jackson surprisingly frowned a little. "They made me condense it, the pussies. I wanted the full thing. State it loud, state it proud!" He smacked the table.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "If we ever want to play somewhere bigger than Pete's, then we need a name they can put on the marquee." At least one of them seemed to have goals for a bigger future.
Jackson shot an irritated look over to Lucas, while Lisa and Evan chuckled. "Dude, I made t-shirts… "
"No one is stopping you from wearing them," Lucas muttered, rolling his eyes again.
Lisa and Evan laughed harder, and even Taehyung chuckled a little. I couldn't help but smile at them. "Are you guys brothers?"
Jackson looked at me in horror. "Absolutely not!"
Surprised, I looked back at Lucas and then to him again. They really could have been twins. "Oh, sorry it's just you look so…"
"We're cousins," Lucas explained. "Our dad's are twins, so the resemblance is…unfortunate." He frowned.
Jackson snorted again. "Unfortunate for you…that I'm hotter." The rest of the guys at the table laughed while Lucas rolled his eyes again.
Abruptly, Lisa lifted two fingers in the air and nodding her chin up, motioned the fingers down at Taehyung and me. I looked across the room to where she was focused. An older woman, who smiled at her oddly, was running the bar at the far end of the long room. She seemed to know exactly what she meant, and handed two beer bottles to a waitress, pointing her in our direction.
I looked back over at Lisa, but she was already talking with Taehyung about Taehyung's new job position. Lisa was curious about what an internship in advertising entailed. Having heard the story a million times before, I tuned it out and took a look around the bar.
Pete's was warm and comfortable looking. The floors were oak and worn with years of use. The walls were a pleasant cream and red with nearly every square inch covered with signs of various brands of beers. Dozens of tables, in varying sizes and styles, dotted the wooden floor, crammed packed where they could fit, except for a twenty foot area in front of the stage that took up one of the shorter walls.
The stage was oak as well, the wall behind it painted black, and covered with hanging guitars in different styles and colors. Huge speakers sat on either side of the stage, pointing out towards the crowd. The lights above the stage were currently off and the microphones, guitars, and drums sat on the darkened stage, waiting for their owners.
I looked over to the other side of the large rectangular room while the guys chatted around me. The other short wall was one long bar. The mirror behind the bar was lined with shelves, all filled with every bottle of liquor you could imagine. The bartender was now busy filling drinks for the crowd starting to pour in from the double doors along the front wall. Large windows dotted that wall, letting in the glow of the various neon bar signs.
A pretty, blonde waitress approached, and handed Taehyung and me our beers. We thanked her and Lisa gave her a friendly nod, which made me curious for a second. The waitress only smiled politely at her however, so I figured they were just friends.
I sipped my beer and watched the waitress walk through some double doors on the other long wall of the bar. I could see steel and movement, and hear the clatter of food being prepared. That must be the kitchen. A large archway, not far from the kitchen doors, led to a decent sized room that appeared to have a couple pool tables in it. Continuing down the rest of the wall, I noticed a hallway close to the stage that receded around a corner, signs above it indicating that restrooms were in that direction.
As I was looking at the hallway, my eyesight came across the two women who had been watching the guys earlier. Taehyung and I were now partially blocking their view, sitting on the end of the table as we were. The one who openly wanted Lisa did not look happy that I was sitting right next to her. In fact, she looked downright pissed. I quickly turned back around.
I felt someone approaching me from behind then, and for a moment, I worried that the woman was going to try and start something with me. My body involuntarily tensed as I looked over my shoulder. I sighed softly with relief at the sight of an older man approaching our table.
He was dressed nicely, in khaki slacks and a red collared shirt with the name of the bar in the upper corner. He looked to be in his mid-fifties with graying hair and a weathered face. He did not currently look happy at all.
"Guys ready? You're up in five," he sighed heavily.
"You alright, Pete?" Lisa asked him, frowning a little.
I blinked. Pete must be the owner of Pete's. How cute.
"No…Traci quit over the phone, she's not coming back. I had to have Kate pull a double, so we were covered tonight." He glared, rather angrily, at Lisa. That made me curious, until I remembered that the ex-roommate, Joey, had left abruptly because of Lisa. Maybe it was a pattern with her?
Lisa in turn, glared over at Jackson. He looked a little sheepish and took a long swig of his beer before muttering, "Sorry, Pete."
Pete sighed and shook his head. I guess there were just some risks that Pete was accustomed to involving his entertainment. Surprising myself I said, "I was a waitress. I need to get a job, and working nights would be perfect when school starts."
Pete looked over at me curiously and then back to Lisa. Lisa smiled and pointed to us with her bottle in turn. "Pete, these are my new roommates, Taehyung, Jennie."
Pete nodded and looked me over. "You twenty-one?"
I smiled nervously. "Yeah, since May." I wondered briefly what he would do if I said 'no' while sipping on a beer?
He nodded again. "All right. I could use the help soon though. Can you start Monday, six pm?"
I looked over at Taehyung, wondering if I should have talked this over with him first. With his internship during the day, nights would be all we had together. He was smiling at me though, and nodded near imperceptibly.
"Yeah, that would be fine. Thank you," I said quietly. And just like that, one full day being in this new city, I had a job.