be any different? He nurses his beer as the female bartender makes drink guesses for one patron after the other. He watches in amusement as each one chokes, coughs, or spits the drink back out. Then the quiet man behind the bar comes over with a different drink and a wink. Each time, the woman is completely unaware.
“How ya doing, hun? Another old fashioned?” the bartender asks, even though his is clearly sitting in front of him untouched.
“I’ll just have a beer, please…in the bottle,” he quickly adds, not trusting she wouldn’t mess it up.
“Coming right up, although I would have sworn you were an old fashioned kind of man.”
“Do you guess drinks often?”
“Every day. It’s one of my hidden talents.”
“How often are you right?” he asks, not bothering to hide his skepticism.
“Well, never…but just based on odds alone, I’m bound to be right one of these days,” she replies with a wide grin before she takes his untouched drink to the back.
“Strange one, isn’t she?” he asks the man behind the bar, who chuckles.
“She’s different, but not a soul around her is unaffected by her charms. Can’t mix a drink to save her life, but she brings in more business than any other bartender I’ve got.”
Elliot drinks his beer and contemplates what the hell he’s going to do now. Glancing around at the crowd, he almost laughs at the sorry lot of them. Looks like he’ll fit right in.
FIVE
ELLE BRINGS OUT two plates of food and sets them in front of her regulars. She glances over at the new customer with the sad eyes and wonders what could be plaguing someone so young, who has so much life yet to live. She could see the hopelessness in him the moment he sat down. It’s not hard to read when it’s the same look staring back at you from the mirror every day.
“Can I getcha something to eat to go with your beers?” she asks the young man.
“Why not?” he says, not bothering to look up from where he is peeling off the label on his beer.
“Burger and fries sound good?”
“Sure.”
She throws Lyle a look over her shoulder, and he shrugs. She gives the guy one last look then goes to put his order in. You have enough problems of your own. You don’t need to be taking on any more, Elle chides herself, but it does nothing to ease her worry. The mother in her will always worry.
When the burger is ready, she takes the plate from the cook and heads back to the bar. “Here ya go. Can I getcha anything else?” she asks once she places his food in front of him.
Saying nothing, he shakes his head and then stares at his food, like it just might hold all the answers.
“Helvetica and Times New Roman walk into a bar,” she says to the stranger with a smile. He doesn’t smile back, so she continues with her joke. “The bartender shouts, ‘Get out of here! We don’t serve your type!’”
He stares at her without blinking.
“Get it? Your type?”
The guy says nothing but raises an eyebrow, either in concern or confusion, she isn’t sure.
“No? How about this one? Why do we tell actors to break a leg?” When she can tell he’s not at all amused or going to even try to guess, she soldiers on. “Because every play has a cast.” She chuckles at her own joke. “Dang, rough crowd.”
“Do people normally laugh at those jokes?”
“Well, my seven-year-old thinks I’m hilarious.”
“Elle, phone call,” Lyle calls, holding up the bar phone.
There’s very little cell reception out here, so they have to use the land line. Nobody would call her here except one place. Her laughter dies instantly, freezing her to the spot.
“Elle, it’s the hospital.” Lyle snaps, breaking her trance. He walks over, placing the phone in her hand, and all she can do is hold it to her ear as she breathes out three words.
“This is Brielle.”
She listens to the doctor on the other end of the phone. She swears she can feel the blood stop pumping to her heart as it begins to break. This is the call she knew was coming. It was bound to happen—everyone knew it—but she still wasn’t prepared for it. The phone slips from her hand and bounces off the counter, yet she can’t manage to do anything but stand there.
“What’s wrong with her?” she hears the stranger ask Lyle, but she is too busy replaying the doctor’s words over in her