by Nicole Casey
2
Trevor
The smell of bourbon penetrated through me as I lifted the glass to my lips and drank. I heaved a sigh and let the cool liquid slide down my throat.
It’d been a crazy busy day and I was glad to get out of the bar I owned, into a place that wouldn’t recognize me for my name or knowledge of the bar scene. Sometimes it was just good to get away. I took another drink and closed my eyes. Sometimes I wondered how I got to where I was.
I was twenty-eight and an owner of the bar and restaurant, Mercury Wild. It’d been sort of an inheritance passed down to me since my father’s passing five years earlier. Men admired me for the fortune that came with my name. Women flocked to me for the man of their dreams, or at least they liked the fact that I was wealthy, but along the way I lost sight of who I was.
I never saw that in my father, so I wondered again how I got to where I was. I took another drink, then ordered up another one. I was only two when my grandfather passed away, so I also questioned if maybe we were cut from the same cloth. Was I more like him?
“This seat taken?” I looked up into the eyes of a tall blonde woman. She had waves of curls that cascaded over her shoulders and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. In every man’s fantasy, she would be the ideal catch. I just smiled and shook my head.
“Have a seat!” I then took another drink and looked away, literally ignoring the woman and probably offending her with my cavalier attitude.
She did make small talk, but I didn’t even acknowledge her talking and I was sure I had offended her, because about fifteen minutes later she was getting down from the bar stool. She mumbled something about having a nice life and then she was gone.
The truth was the blonde-haired woman was the typical woman that I would gravitate towards and that was exactly why I didn’t indulge in any thoughts of communication with her. I was tired of going the typical route. I needed to change things up or I was bound to go crazy.
After a couple more drinks, finishing off my bourbon, I left behind the glass and turned around to leave. I spotted Dylan coming closer to me. Dylan was one of my good friends and not one I could easily ignore. I put on a smile and waved to him, just as he got closer.
“Hey, buddy, thought that was you over here. Wanna come to my table and hang?” he asked.
“Just heading out,” I responded.
“Oh!” Dylan said, looking disappointed. “I have two of the hottest babes that are going to be sitting at my table and I thought you could help me entertain them.” He winked at me. “If you know what I mean.”
I laughed and looked away from him. “Yeah, I know what you mean, but I have a busy day tomorrow and I just had my two drinks, so really should be going. I’m sure you can handle them though.” I chuckled as I patted him on the shoulder.
Dylan laughed. “Yeah…maybe.” He then gave me a curious look. “What are you doing here anyway?” Dylan asked. “Isn’t Mercury Wild enough bar for you?” he asked, giving me a teasing grin.
I snickered and shrugged. “Guess sometimes I need to get away from the office and really think things through. But hey…you best be getting back to your table. Don’t want the women to send out the cops looking for you.”
Dylan looked away from me and glanced back towards where he came from. “Gotta keep them guessing, right?” Again he winked at me and then backed up. “Suit yourself if you don’t want in on it. They are a couple of real babes.”
“I’m sure they are,” I said. “But you have fun!” I grabbed my keys out of my pocket and watched him as he headed back towards his table. I shook my head, not the least bit surprised by Dylan’s attitude for the women. Dylan was someone that would never shy away from getting what he wanted. It came with the territory of his job. He was a real estate broker and one of the finest in the county.
I turned away from the direction he walked away in and headed towards the front door of the club. I was so driven on getting out of there that I hadn’t noticed a woman stand up from her table and I bumped right into her, nearly knocking her to the ground.
“Oh…I’m sorry!” I said.
She turned around and our eyes met. For me, it was an instant physical attraction. She had piercing green eyes that seemed to look right into my soul. Yet, the thing about her that seemed different than the rest, was that she wasn’t this obvious beauty. It looked more like she didn’t try. She had only light makeup on and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but she just had this look that was captivating.
“It’s alright,” she mumbled. “Excuse me!” She then turned back around and raced towards the front door, as if she was in a hurry to get somewhere. I watched her for a moment, then noticed that the table she came from had their eyes on me. I smiled, then looked away and headed back out of the bar. I looked around, but the woman was gone.
Feeling like I had just had a glimpse of someone I wanted to get to know, yet didn’t feel I’d ever see again, I headed to my black Aston Martin. I got in the driver’s seat and just sat there for a moment, a smile playing on my lips. Somehow, someway, I wanted to believe if our paths crossed once…then they could cross again. Even if it was only a dream that might never be realized.
3
Jasmine
My car couldn’t go fast enough as I had to be mindful of any cops around and avoiding getting hit by traffic. The text message kept playing through my mind. If you want to see what your boyfriend is up to, then I suggest you come to his place right now. He won’t be alone and you won’t want to miss this. It came from an anonymous phone number and I sat there for three minutes pondering if I should pay attention to it. But, I would kick myself if I didn’t.
So, I made an excuse that I wasn’t feeling well, and broke away from the table and Sydney’s exciting news. Then when I bumped into the strange man that was heading in the same direction I was, I let a couple more crucial minutes pass by. He looked at me like he knew me from somewhere, or at least that was what I thought the look was, but then I realized that he wasn’t recognizing me, he was admiring me. I hadn’t had that much attention from my boyfriend, Josh, in well over four months. So, it was nice to have that affirmation.
But now I was driving towards Josh’s home, just hoping that the text message was full of shit. However, as I turned down his road, I spotted an unfamiliar car in his driveway. I cut the lights, so I wouldn’t warn him I was there, then pulled up to the curb and parked my Jeep.
My heart was racing so fast, as I got out of my vehicle, leaving my purse and phone behind. I held my keys in my hand and I was shaking as I approached his door. I slowly unlocked his door and took a deep breath before entering.
After getting inside, I found the foyer and living room dark. There was a light coming from upstairs, so I followed it. I crept slowly, so I wouldn’t alert anyone I was there. When I got to the top of the stairs, I hesitated. The light was in his bathroom across the hall from his bedroom. I moved toward the bathroom, fearful of finding him naked and having sex in the shower. But the shower wasn’t going.
I glanced at his room and that was when I heard soft murmuring. My heart caught in my throat. I paused, trying to figure out if I really wanted to see what I was obviously about ready to see, but I had come this far and I wasn’t going to allow some bimbo to get in the way of me finding out the truth. I walked over to the door and peeked my head inside, careful not to let the door creak.
My mind went blank as I came into contact with my boyfriend screwing another woman. His naked ass was moving up and down, between the legs of another woman and I immediately felt tears stinging my eyes. I covered my mouth and left the opening of the room. I stood in the hallway, feeling sad, sad that I let this man rob me of my happiness.
Then the moans intensified, shooting through his bedroom and I couldn’t take it anymore. He had to know what a true jerk I thought he was, so I stormed back into the room, this time uncaring if the door creaked.
“Hello, honey,” I said.
He looked up and hi
s face was a mask of confusion and guilt. He was in mid thrust and I looked down at the two of them, shook my head and stormed out of his room.
“Jasmine…wait!” he hollered.
I didn’t want to see him or to talk to him. The tears flooded my eyes, then streaked down my face as I ran down his stairs and out the front door. It wasn’t until I got in my Jeep that I let all my anger out. I hit my fists against the steering wheel, crying out my anger to anyone that was within earshot.
I leaned my head against my wheel and sobbed. As the sobbing died down, I was left to gasps of air every once in a while. The thing was, I wasn’t sad that my relationship of two years was over. I was sad that I let another human being get to me and eventually shatter my insides.
There were so many thoughts that crowded my mind as I sat there. Was this all because I wouldn’t sleep with him? Did he ever love me? Did he love her? I looked out the window and spotted her car pulling out of the driveway. She whizzed by me; I didn’t expect her car to go so fast.
I looked up at Josh’s front door and he was coming out on the front porch. He was fully dressed and walking towards my vehicle. I started my Jeep, with every intention of tearing by him, but I hesitated.
He got to my door and gave me a pleading look. I rolled down my window and glared at him. “How long?” I simply asked.
His face was a sheet of white. “A couple months,” he responded.
That didn’t really give me the response I wanted to hear. I wanted to know if she was the only one he was sleeping with and how many times. “Is this because I wouldn’t sleep with you?” I asked. My lower lip trembled and I fought hard to be strong. He didn’t come out and respond. He just shrugged.
“You knew I was a virgin,” I countered. “You told me you respected that. Were you just lying to me?” I asked.
He looked uncomfortable and I was glad about that. I didn’t want this to be easy on him. “I wasn’t lying, but come on…sometimes a man can only take so much.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe he was defending himself.
“Okay!” I said, looking away from him. “I hope you two are very happy together.” I put my foot on the break and put my car into drive, then started to drive away, but he reached in my window and grabbed my arm, causing me to slam on my breaks and glare at him. “Let me just go!”
“Jasmine, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you hurt. That’s the last thing I wanted.”
He looked sincere. He sounded sincere. But I knew Josh for too long and he wasn’t fully sorry this had happened. In a way, he was blaming me and I couldn’t stick around and try to convince myself to stay and move past it. Our relationship had technically been over for months and I was just holding on. No more. I was ready to make a break of it and Josh was not going to change my mind.
4
Trevor
One Month Later
The bar was all abuzz on Saturday night, as I wiped another table down, then quickly moved back to the bar and tossed the rag into a bucket. “What can I get you?” I asked, looking at the redhead that just took a stool.
She grinned. “What can I get you, honey?” she asked, winking at me.
I drew up my eyebrows and then lowered them, then chuckled, but didn’t respond to her question. She wanted a rise out of me and I was too busy to make it work. I continued to look at her, with her grazing her tongue over her lower lip, and me thinking how that would normally do it. However, I owned this club and there was work to do.
When I didn’t break, she laughed. “Okay! I’ll take a Fuzzy Navel.”
I nodded. “Coming right up, little lady.” She watched my every move, as I worked quickly around the bar to get her drink prepared.
As the owner of the place, I wasn’t typically the one to do the dirty work behind the bar, but the place was jumping, and my usual Saturday night bartender had called in sick. That left me, until I could find a replacement for the night. Luckily, Brayton was on his way, but there were still people to serve until he got there.
I handed the Fuzzy Navel to her and she winked at me, then quietly said thanks and handed me the money. I nodded and went on to the next couple of customers. That was how the night was going, from customer to customer, up and down the bar, then pocketing the money into the cash register.
A few more women attempted to flirt, but I kept everything professional, barely giving them the time of day and they seemed to notice right off. When Brayton finally got there, I couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief fast enough. I tossed him the towel and he gave me a look that said he hated the fact that he had to come into work on his night off. I knew he did, but he needed to suck it up, because it was no way for the bar to be run.
I went into the back room of the bar and sunk down into the chair behind my desk, heaving a sigh as I turned to my computer. My office was small to say the least, but it did the job and provided me everything that I needed to get my work done.
I pulled up my computer screen and went to my emails, then started to read through them, tossing out every email that was basic spam or nonsense jargon. I was finishing up my list of twenty new emails, when I spotted Sam at the door. He was another employee that worked more on the front-lines, out in the open.
“Hey! What’s up?” I asked, looking up, as Sam walked into my office.
“We’re almost out of beer,” he said. His words came out in a rush and I was sure I had heard him incorrectly, even laughing as the words sunk in.
“What? Impossible,” I said.
Sam shrugged. “I looked at least five times and unless it was placed somewhere incorrectly, it’s not back here.”
I looked down and shuffled through some order forms, then pulled out the one I was looking for. “I just ordered beer the other day. There’s no way we’re out,” I said, still arguing.
Sam didn’t look pleased that I didn’t believe him, but the fact remained that I was looking at an order form as we spoke. If the beer had arrived, then we should have plenty. I got up from my chair and walked out of my office and over to the walk-in refrigerator that housed the supply of liquor we had on hand. I opened it up and we stepped inside.
I walked directly to where the beer would be located and found empty shelves. I then looked around to the shelves that were near it and also found that those were full, but beer wasn’t on them.
I glanced at Sam and we both looked confused. I then left the refrigerator and made sure the door was closed, then went to the back alley where sometimes deliveries were dropped off. The alley was bare.
“Great!” I mumbled, frustrated that Sam wasn’t just mistaken. We both went back into the bar and I glanced at my watch. Hopefully someone was at the supplier location, so I could speak to them.
“I’ll take care of it,” I said. Sam nodded and headed back into the bar. I figured if the refrigerator box was empty, then we were talking about maybe twenty bottles that were in the refrigerator at the bar and that was simply an estimate. At how busy we were, chances were we’d be sold out of beer by the end of the night.
I got back into the office and closed my door behind me, then went to my computer. I scrolled through the list of suppliers on my screen, until I found the correct one, then dialed up the number. It rang. Then rang again. Finally after the fourth ring, someone picked up.
“Prescott Brewery…you buy em, we brew em. How can I help you?”
I rolled my eyes at the quirky one-liner, then told them my problem. “Hello, this is Trevor Wild and I own Mercury Wild.”
“Oh yes…Mr. Wild. We’ve been expecting your call.”
I frowned. “You have?” I asked. I sunk down in my office chair and unbuttoned the two buttons on my blazer jacket.
“Yes! After we sent you out the email about your order not going through, we just assumed you would want to take care of that.” I heard shuffling of papers on the other end of the phone and I was even more confused.
“I’m sorry? I’m not following. I didn’t receive the email. There was a prob
lem with the order?” As I waited for him to start talking, I pulled up my emails. It was true that I would tend to go through emails quickly, chucking ones that weren’t prevalent, but I was certain that I hadn’t missed this one.
“Let me look here…” There was a long pause, then he came back. “Ahh…yes. It appears that the email went out two days ago.
I quickly pulled up the emails from that time period and didn’t locate one from the supplier. I was about to tell him so, when I went through the trash files on my computer and that was when I saw it. I read through it and my face fell with each passing word, the basic gist being that my card was declined and the order was canceled.
“Are you there?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m here.” I hit my desk with my hand and moved back from my desk. “I saw the email.” I took a deep breath. I had to do something, because we would be out of beer in no time and no beer would mean fewer customers and we were already losing business. Things weren’t as booming as they used to be. I dug my wallet out of my pocket. “Let me use another credit card.” This time I grabbed my personal credit card. “Will you add rush delivery?” I asked.
“Sure thing! Let me pull the info up on the computer.” There was some tapping on computer keys and then he came back. “Okay, I’m ready.” I gave him the card number and stated I wanted the same order that I had placed previously.
“We have you down for that and you can expect the order in a few days.”
I swallowed. “A few days?” I didn’t expect them to load up a truck and bring it out tonight, but I had hoped maybe it could be there by the next day. That’d be Sunday and we wouldn’t be open, so I wouldn’t have to worry about running out.