Written By Special Guest Author Becca O.
Chapter 11
Bingo. It only took three bars for Howie to discover where Nick had run off to. In all honesty, he’d expected to spend hours searching, and possibly even having to drive to Tampa, but ironically, he found him in a dive just three blocks from his own club, Tabu.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked Howie, placing a napkin in front of him.
“I’ll have a Corona. Thanks.”
“Go home, Howie.”
“Hey Nick. What’s new?”
“Fuck off, Howie, I don’t need you to check up on me.”
Howie counted to ten and then took a long swallow of his beer. “Let me pay your tab and drive you home.”
“I’m not drunk, D, and I don’t need your help.” Nick slid off the bar stool, and would have walked away, until he heard Howie’s next words.
“Becca needs you Nick, go home.”
Nick spun around. “Leave my wife out of this.”
“Like you have?” Howie shot back. He had the advantage of being stone cold sober, so when Nick took a swing at him, he was ready. He easily blocked the punch, grabbing Nick’s wrist and twisting his arm behind his back. In no time, he had Nick pinned to the bar, immobilized.
"Goddamnit, Howie, let me go." Nick twisted and struggled, and in spite of his size and what he'd told Howie, he was drunk and no match for his smaller friend.
Howie caught the bartender’s eye. “How much does he owe you?”
“He started a tab on his AmEx card.”
Howie nodded. “Good. Add on my drink and a $50 tip, and then close it out.”
“Yes sir,” he grinned. “Thanks.”
“We’ll be leaving now. Say goodbye, Nick.”
“Fuck you,” Nick spat.
“You too, Mr. Carter,” the bartender shot back with a grin. “Asshole,” he mumbled. He shook his head, and went back to his other customers.
Howie pushed Nick ahead of him, and when the cold winter rain hit Nick’s face, the epithets began all over again. Cursing a blue streak, he fought to get away and found himself shoved up against the brick wall by an immovable force.
“What the fuck-”
“Watch your mouth, Nick. Thanks Tommy.”
“No problem, boss. Good thing I was close by when you called. What do you want me to do with him?”
“We’re going for a walk. Nick could use the fresh air.”
“Are you crazy?” Nick fumed. “It’s raining.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Howie smiled at Tommy, and the three of them set off for Tabu.
After two blocks of walking in the cold Orlando drizzle, Nick and Howie were soaked. Tommy escorted Nick up the back stairs of Tabu, and deposited him in Howie’s office. “You need me to hang around?” he asked.
“No, go on home. We’ll be fine now.” He shot a look at Nick. “WON’T we, Nick?”
Nick said nothing, just glared as he dropped onto the leather sofa.
Tommy smirked, rolled his eyes at Howie and set off for home.
Howie said nothing. Completely ignoring Nick, he opened his closet, took out a change of clothes and began stripping off his wet jeans.
“Hey – I’m wet, too,” Nick groused.
“Sucks to be you, doesn’t it?” Howie replied calmly. He reached into the closet for another towel, and when he turned to give it to Nick he was stunned. “Nicky?”
Shivering, Nick had pulled his knees up to his chest and was rocking silently, tears falling down his face.
“I’ll be back, Nick. I’m going to put on a pot of coffee and see what’s in the fridge.” Draping the towel over Nick’s shoulder, he headed for the kitchen, pulling out his cell phone as he walked. Pressing speed dial, he keyed in the code for Sarah’s cell phone.
“Howie?” After only one ring, Sarah picked up.
“Look, don’t let on to Becca what I’m saying, all right?”
“Sure,” Sarah hedged, letting him know that Becca was right there and hanging onto every word. “What’s up?”
“I found him, but Angel, this doesn’t look good.”
“Where are you?”
“Tabu. No, he wasn’t here. I found him at the Hideaway, three blocks over. Tommy helped me get him back here. He’s a mess.” He listened as Sarah relayed the basic information to Becca, and sent up a prayer of thanks for the way she was able to avoid answering Becca’s urgent-sounding questions. “Look, I need to go. It’s going to be a long night, Angel. Just plan to stay with Becca tonight and see if you can get her to get some sleep.”
“I love you, D.”
“I love you too, Angel.”