“Damn! Look what just walked through the door!” Scott said.
Mark looked in the direction that Scott mentioned & almost dropped his beer; walking towards the bar were two tall young women: one redhead dressed in a green sweater top, silver jewelry, black jeans & knee-high boots; the other girl had jet-black hair & dressed all in black. Both girls were almost 6 feet tall, slender & well built.
“Bartender, their drinks are on us,” Scott said, handing the man a couple large bills.
“Yes, Sir,” Joey said, walking over to the two girls, their drinks already in his hands. “Compliments of the two gentlemen down near the end of the bar,” he said, placing the drinks down, pointing to the two men.
“Thanks, Joey,” Maggie said. “But, they shouldn’t be buying MY drinks; one of the wonderful advantages of dating a bartender!” she giggled as Joey leaned over the bar to get a kiss.
“Well, some of us don’t have that pleasure, Cuz!” Max said. She turned and smiled at the two men, lifted her wineglass in a silent salute & took a sip. Then, turning to Joey, she asked for pool balls and the two girls walked over to the pool tables.
Fifteen minutes later, Max said, “I’ll be right back, Maggie. Don’t cheat on this game like you did last weekend!” she laughed as she made her way to the back hallway to the restrooms.
A few minutes later, as she came out of the ladies room, she noticed one of the men that had bought their drinks earlier and realized that it was Scott Stapp of Creed. She smiled at him as she started to walk past him, but was stopped when he grabbed her arm, “Hey, can I buy you another drink?” he asked as she turned and looked at him.
She looked at the hand holding her arm, noticing the wedding band on his hand, then looked up at him. She cocked an eyebrow at him, “Don’t you know that you should never touch what isn’t yours?” she asked as she brushed his hand away & tried to move past him again, only to have him block her way, grabbing her around the waist.
Her hazel eyes darkened threateningly, “If you don’t mind? I would like to get back to my game of pool. Without your company, preferably.”
“Hey, Scott, she told you to leave her alone,” said a voice behind Scott.
“I thought most women would want a chance to be seen with a member of a band; especially one dressed like this,” Scott said, glancing down at Max’s outfit. As he looked back into her eyes, he was startled by a resounding slap across the face.
“I like Creed’s music, I don’t like YOUR attitude. And to answer your question: I have been seen with many men from different groups & bands. That’s my job as a tour and production manager. Now excuse me,” she said, brushing past him.
As she passed the other man, “You, Mark, on the other hand, I like,” she said quietly with a smile. She walked out of the hallway and back towards the pool table, where Maggie was patiently waiting.
“What the hell did she do that for? All I wanted was to talk to her and buy her another drink!” Scott said, rubbing his stinging jaw.
“Apparently that’s not all you wanted!” Mark said, getting angry. “One of these days, you’re gonna grab the wrong woman! She gave you what you deserved!” he said quietly, then turned and walked away towards the bar.
“What took you so long?” Maggie asked, then saw the look of suppressed anger in her cousin’s eyes. “What’s wrong, Maxie?”
Max looked over her shoulder & Maggie followed her gaze, seeing Mark walk out of the hallway, followed by Scott.
“Well, the rumor that we heard that Mr. Scott Stapp of Creed is an ass is true. He just grabbed me in the back hall.” She took up her cue stick and bent to take her shot. “He got what he deserved, not what he wanted,” she said as she stood back up & rubbed her hand down her jeans.
“You slapped him?” Maggie laughed as she took her shot, winning the game.
“Yep. Like I said, he got what he deserved,” Max said. “Too bad our cousin Sully wasn’t here to see that. Mr. Stapp wouldn’t be walking around right now. You set up the next game; I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go get another glass of wine. You want anything?”
“Yeah, another beer, please,” Maggie said, beginning to set up for the next game.
Joey saw Max walking towards the bar & had the drinks ready.
“Gimmie a Lemon Drop, Joey; I need it after what I just went through a few minutes ago.”
As Joey set the shot down next to her wineglass, he asked, “It must have been pretty bad; you never do shots unless something’s wrong.”
“You could say that,” she said as she set the shot glass back down. “I’ve been hit on by rock singers before, but if I say no, they usually listen. That one,” she indicated Scott, sitting at the other end of the bar, “doesn’t know the meaning of the word, apparently. Thanks for the shot, sweetie,” she said, placing a five dollar bill on the bar.
“Nope, shot’s on me; that’s what friends are for,” he smiled. “Anyway, he paid me enough to pay your bar tab for the next two months!”
“Well, that was awful sweet of him, wasn’t it?” Max said sarcastically. “Then I guess I’ll just use this to play some music!” she said, picking up the money and the drinks, then made her way back to the pool table.
“Here’s your beer; got any special requests for the jukebox?” Max asked her cousin.
“Staind, Drowning Pool, Disturbed, Linkin Park, GodSmack, P.O.D., Adema, Puddle of Mudd; anything that will rock this place! It’s too quiet!” Maggie laughed, rattling off some of her favorite bands.
“That sounds like a good idea! I’ll see what I can do for 10 bucks!” Max said as she made her way to the jukebox, her wineglass already half-empty.
