Straight Tequila Night

By: Vikki

 

"Damn!"  Lance muttered under his breath as the smoke rose up from underneath the hood of his car.  All his friends had been telling him to junk the ol' thing, but he'd had a soft spot in his heart for the old girl.  So what if she was made back before he'd been born?  So what if she was covered in rust spots?  That just gave her character.  So what if she had no radio at all?  She was a trusty car and had gotten him around just fine...up until now.

 

"Damn."  Lance muttered again as the car came to a stop and the engine cut out.  "Come on ol' gal.  Just another ten miles... then I'll be safe and sound back at home."  He tried reasoning with her, but the car had driven her last mile.  It wasn't going to start and that was that.

 

Lance glanced out the windshield at the pouring rain.  It was just his luck that his car would give out in the worst weather possible.

 

That's not true, his mind told him.  It could be blizzarding out... that would be the worst weather.

 

In the darkness of the storm, Lance could make out a bright neon sign about a hundred yards up the road from where he sat.  It looked to be a bar of some type.  Should he chance the weather and make a run for it, he wondered.  Or just sit and wait out the storm?

 

A loud boom of thunder shook the car, deciding for him.  It wasn't that Lance was afraid of thunderstorms, he just preferred not to be alone in a car on a dark deserted highway in the middle of one.

 

He grabbed up his keys and jammed them into his pocket.  After a moment's hesitation, Lance threw open the door and jumped out quickly, slamming the door behind him.  He ran towards the neon sign as fast as his legs would carry him.

 

Lance didn't stop running until he was inside the bar and the door closed behind him.  He let out a sign of relief as he ran his fingers through his wet blonde hair. He was completely soaked to the skin.

 

After he caught his breath, he looked around at the establishment he had entered.  It was a quiet night and only a few patrons had dared to brave the storm to come have a drink.  Their eyes all glanced up at him but quickly returned to their glasses of liquor.

 

Lance slowly made his way over to the bar.  A tall man stood behind the bar and hurried over to him.

 

"Get caught in the rain, did ya?"  The bartender asked, handing Lance a dishtowel to use to dry himself off with.

 

Lance nodded.  "My car died on the highway about a hundred yards back."  He explained as a chill rushed over him.

 

"Well, let's get you something to warm you right up..."  The bartender stated, and he began to mix the contents of a few bottles into a glass.

 

"Thanks."  Lance replied when the resulting drink was placed before him.

 

The bartender nodded his 'welcome' and wandered off to refill another drink.

 

Lance sipped his drink quietly as he let his eyes wander around the room.  His eyes fell on a woman standing near the jukebox in the corner.  She was swaying to the music that emanated from the machine.  The wine glass in her hand seemed to have been forgotten for the moment.  Her eyes were closed as if she were memorizing each lyric.

 

Lance couldn't take his eyes off her and he watched her for awhile.  She seemed completely oblivious to anything going on around her.  Her long red hair was pulled back from her face in a messy ponytail.  The baby doll t-shirt she wore fit her like a second skin and bared her midriff.

Lance couldn't stop his eyes from hesitating on her exposed bellybutton.  Glittering in the dim light of the bar, was a silver ring.

 

When his eyes worked their way back up to her face, he found her staring at him.  She lifted her glass in a silent salute and drank down its contents in one gulp.

 

Lance watched the woman as she walked over to the bar.  She walked with a slight stagger to her step.  He knew that the drink she'd just finished probably hadn't been her first.

 

"Hey, Billy."  Her voice rang out over the quiet bar.  "Another Chablis, please."

 

The bartender gave her a look before fulfilling her request.

 

There was something captivating in the way she moved and Lance could not get his eyes to leave her.  He didn't know what it was about her that had caught his attention... she seemed to hold herself with poise and self-confidence, yet when she glanced over at him, he could see there was a pain in her eyes that she believed was hidden to the world.

 

The woman put some money on the bar top and the bartender, Billy, quickly made change for her.  She picked up the coins but left the remaining bills on the bar.

 

Lance watched her as she moved back over towards the jukebox.

 

"Please... not K13 again!"  The bartender mumbled.

 

"Excuse me?"  Lance turned to look at him, thinking the bartender was talking to him.

 

"Nothing."  Billy replied with a shrug and watched Lance as his attention returned to the woman putting coins in the jukebox.  "If you really wanna know... she comes here a lot."  He added.

 

Lance turned to look back at the bartender.  Was his interest in the stranger that obvious, he wondered.

 

"She just loves to hear the music and dance."  The bartender informed him.

 

As if on cue, the music began to play again and the woman moved to the beat.

 

"K13 is her favorite song."  Billy continued.  "If you play it you might have a chance."  He offered Lance a piece of advice.  "Tonight she's only sippin' white wine, she's friendly and fun loving most of the time, but don't ask her on a straight tequila night."  He warned.

 

"Why not?"  Lance asked in confusion.

 

The bartender was called away by another patron and wasn't able to answer Lance's question.  Lance heard the same song play three times in a row before the woman returned to the bar.

 

"Well Billy, I think I'm heading out."  She said, her voice sounding more than a little slurred.

 

"I'll call you a cab."  Billy offered and he picked up the phone behind the bar.

 

Lance found himself cursing his broken down car.  He would have loved to offer the woman a ride home.  He inwardly laughed at his thoughts.  He was too shy to even approach her and ask for her name, what made him think that he'd have had the nerve to offer a ride to a complete stranger?

 

Lance urged himself to at least ask her name before she could disappear, but before he could compose himself enough to approach her, she hurried out of the bar to the cab that had arrived for her.  He berated himself for not making a move, but the bartender had said that she frequented the place...perhaps if he returned another night...

 

He was so caught up in planning out how he'd approach her the next time he saw her that Lance forgot his unanswered question.  It wasn't until the next morning when he was eating breakfast that it hit him.  He didn't even know what the bartender had meant by 'straight tequila night'.  He made a mental note to stop by the bar some time that week and find out more.

 

The week dragged on and Lance was kept busy in the recording studio with his bandmates.  Their new album was scheduled to be released in a month and it was nowhere near ready.

 

Friday night as he was driving home in his new car, Lance took a chance and decided to swing by the bar, hoping that his mystery lady would be there.

 

When Lance first walked in to the establishment, he didn't think she was there.  However as he looked around again, he saw her sitting at the far end of the bar.  She was tossing back a shot as if it were water.  Lance found himself a seat at the bar towards the opposite end as his mystery woman.  He watched her for a bit as the bartender made his way over.  The place was crowded that night so it took the bartender a few minutes to get to him.

 

Billy remembered the blonde guy from earlier in the week and the two of them made small talk as he prepared the drink request.

 

"You said K13 is her favorite song right?"  Lance asked Billy as he paid for his drink.  "Do you think she'd dance with me?"

 

The bartender glanced down at the other end of the bar and slowly shook his head.  "I wouldn't ask her tonight if I were you."

 

"Why not?"  Lance asked.

 

Billy thought a moment before answering.  "Because she'll start thinkin' about him, then she's ready to fight. Blames her broken heart on every man in sight on a straight tequila night." Billy explained and then rushed off to serve another customer.

 

"That man talks in riddles."  Lance muttered to himself.  He glanced down at the bar where the woman who'd drawn his attention was sitting.  She had a scowl on her face as she took another shot of tequila.

 

Another male patron chose that moment to approach her but he was stopped in his tracks when she grabbed a full shot glass and tossed the liquor in his face.  Lance watched and sipped his own drink.  He knew now what a 'straight tequila night' meant and he decided the time was not right to approach her.  Although he still wanted to learn at least her name.

 

"What's her name?"  Lance asked Billy when the bartender returned to his side of the bar.

 

"Cheri."  Billy answered, knowing exactly who Lance meant.  He'd seen many guys come in with the same look in their eyes that Lance had, but none of them ever stuck around after seeing Cheri at her meanest after she'd had a few shots of tequila.  Billy hoped that Lance might just be the one who'd be man enough to stick around.  He didn't know the first thing about Lance, but

Billy felt that he was a good judge of character.  Perhaps, just maybe... this blonde man with the sweet face would be able to help Cheri forget the hurt.

 

"Cheri."  Lance repeated her name softly.

 

"Get the hell away from me!"  Lance heard Cheri shout and he turned to see her jumping off her barstool.  The glare she fixed on the man next to her would have turned even the warmest heart to ice.  "You men are all the same!"  She continued, swaying a little on her feet.

 

Billy rushed over.  "I'll call you a cab."  He offered and made a quick phone call.

 

"I'll wait for it outside."  Cheri told him and she stormed out of the bar.

 

Lance sighed and shook his head.  There surely had to be easier ways to meet women, he thought.  Maybe he should just let JC fix him up with his friend's sister.  Heaven knows JC had been suggesting it for months that this woman would be perfect for him.  Yet something in Lance told him that a blind date would not be the solution he was looking for.

 

Lance finished his drink and left the bar.  He wasn't sure if he'd return, but he'd never been one to give up on a challenge.  Perhaps he'd swing by the bar one more time to try his luck with Cheri.

 

The weekend passed by quickly and Lance found himself thinking often of Cheri.  He'd seen the pain that she'd tried to hide behind the anger and wondered who had hurt her so much that she tried to lose herself in a bottle of tequila.  He still couldn't logically explain his attraction to her.  He didn't even know the woman and yet she haunted his thoughts almost constantly.  As much as he tried to focus on other things, his mind would wander back to the bar.

 

Tuesday night Lance found himself sitting in his car in the bar's parking lot.  Would it be a straight tequila night?  Or would she even be there?  There was only one way to find out, Lance told himself and he headed inside.

 

As he stepped inside, his eyes went to the jukebox first.  He smiled when he saw Cheri near it, slowly dancing to the music, lost in her own world of music.

 

Lance went to the bar and the bartender grinned as he saw him.  "Back again?"

 

Lance nodded, his eyes still on Cheri as she moved almost blissfully to the song that played.

 

When Lance turned back to Billy, the bartender handed him two glasses of wine and a handful of change.  "Here's a glass of Chablis and some quarters in change. Maybe you can turn her love life around.  Then she won't need the salt or the lime anymore to shoot that old memory down.  Just remember her heart's on the mend if you ever come back to see her again."  Billy told Lance.

 

Lance nodded and took a deep breath.  It was now or never he thought.  Slowly he walked towards the jukebox where the song was just about to end.  He was careful not to spill any of the wine as he approached Cheri.

 

Cheri watched him walking towards her, a curious _expression on her face.  It wasn't quite a smile, but she wasn't glaring at him either, which Lance took as a good sign.

 

"I bought you a drink..."  Lance said softly, as he handed the glass of Chablis to Cheri.

 

She looked at the offered drink for a moment before hesitantly taking it from Lance.  "Thank you."  She replied just as softly.

 

Lance nodded his head and stepped over towards the jukebox.  He put the quarters that Billy had given him into the machine and hit the buttons for 'K13' a few times.

 

As the song began to play again, the smile on Cheri's face grew.

 

"Can I have this dance?"  Lance asked as he offered Cheri his hand.

 

Cheri nodded and set her glass down on a nearby table.  Lance placed his next to hers and then took her hand and pulled her close to dance.

 

"I'm Lance."  He introduced himself.

 

"I'm Cheri."  She replied.  Her eyes meeting his.  He could see that she was searching for any hidden agenda in his gaze, but finding none she seemed to relax and enjoy the dance.

 

Neither Cheri nor Lance felt the eyes of the rest of the bar upon them, but everyone was watching the couple as they moved slowly together.  Their bodies seemed to fit well with one another and more than one person commented about what a cute couple they made.

 

They danced through the same song three times in a row.  It was the first night that no one complained about the same song being repeated continuously.  As they danced, they talked softly, getting to know a little about one another.

 

As the song began it's fourth play, Cheri glanced at the clock and sadly advised that she had to be going.  Lance didn't want the night to end, but he knew it must.  It had been a good start and he hoped that there would be more dancing for the two of them in the future.

 

"Can I see you again?"  Lance asked.

 

"I'd like that."  Cheri replied shyly.  She placed a gentle kiss on Lance's cheek.

 

"Friday night?"  He asked.

 

"I'll be here."  Cheri answered with a smile.  She started to walk away.  Halfway to the door she turned to look back at Lance.  It was just a glance, but said so much more than words could ever say.  It promised of more dancing and less straight tequila nights.  It spoke of a hope for the future where she could forget the pain of the past and look forward to the wonders of the future.  Lance gave a little wave and watched Cheri leave the bar.

 

In one night he'd managed to do more for Cheri than anyone had in a long time.  In his quiet unassuming way he'd showed her that not all men were out to hurt her.  It was a small step in the scheme of things, but after that night there had been no more straight tequila nights for Cheri.  There was only hope and laughter... and Lance.

 

Two years to the day after Lance's old car had given out on him in the storm, Lance and Cheri were married in front of a large gathering of friends and family.  At their reception they danced to their song... 'K13' as they would forever refer to it.  The old memories no longer haunted as Cheri and Lance began a happy new future as husband and wife.

 

The End

 

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