LENORA

 

Five years earlier…

 

The bartender eyeballed me as he held my ID in his hand. He kept twisting the card back and forth, trying to make sure that it was real. I stared back at him and did my best to keep a straight face.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have cared if he took the card from me and tore it into pieces.

But he looked like he had more important things to do than worry about whether or not some girl was trying to drink with a fake ID.

He tossed the card back in front of me.

“What do you want?”

“A beer sounds nice.”

I stuffed my card back into my purse while the bartender gave me a thick mug all to myself. I stared at it for a moment. Despite the size of it, it still didn’t seem big enough. There wasn’t enough beer in the entire bar. I wanted enough alcohol so that I could swim in it and get so drunk that I wouldn’t remember anything.

But I had to start with what I had. I took a big gulp of the bitter beer. The feeling of the cold alcohol pouring down my throat was enough to make me forget about all the shit I had to deal with, even if it were only just a second.

It was the middle of the week, so the bar wasn’t as crowded as it could have been. All of the other patrons minded their own business, drinking their beers and having inane conversations about sports or relationships or whatever the hell 20-somethings talked about on a weeknight.

Ivory wasn’t an interesting town. I’d lived here my entire life to know that. And knowing that I was probably gonna die here only made me want to drink even more.

My elbows propped up on the counter, I leaned up against the bar and gently rested my cheek against my fist. I kept gulping my beer and counted the seconds until the alcohol was pumping in my veins instead of blood. The bartender wasn’t busy, so he was free to give me a refill whenever I needed it.

“Need some company?”

I had my head down when I heard a voice. I looked up and watched the burly man take a seat next to me.

He was a fat man. I could tell that just from a quick glance. A bulging stomach and breasts that were as big as mine. The ink on his arms looked like it had been stretched to capacity. His head was bald and shaped like an egg. His mustache wasn’t appealing either.

That didn’t stop him from smiling at me with obvious intentions. I wasn’t in the mood for a man to flirt with me. And if I were, it definitely wouldn’t be a man like him.

“No thanks,” I sighed. “I’m just planning on having a beer by myself.”

“What’s a cute girl like you doing in a place like this?”

“Having a beer by myself. Just like I said.”

I rolled my eyes at him and sipped on my beer. He chuckled at me like he didn’t get the message even though I knew he did.

He leaned in closer to me. So close I could smell the whiskey on his breath.

“I got a buddy who’s out of town,” he said. “He told me to watch his house. I’ve got the entire place all to myself. You’re the prettiest girl here. What do you say we go back to my place and have a few drinks and see where that leads us?”

I couldn’t hold back my laughter. I scoffed then took a sip of beer to stop myself from laughing any harder.

“If it’s your buddy’s place, it’s not exactly your place now, is it?”

“It’s my place for the night. I won’t need very long with you.”

He licked his lips and raised his eyebrows at me.

Why do I always attract the creeps?

“Listen,” I said. “I’m sure you’re a great guy. But right now, I’m not looking for any company. All I want is to drink my beer in peace. Alone.”

I glared at him to make my point clear. The bald man stared at me for a second before finally nodding.

“You have a good night now…”

I sighed in relief when he was gone. I celebrated my minor victory by taking another sip. But my victory was short-lived.

“Guys sure can be creeps, can’t they?”

I tried to ignore the voice next to me.

“A girl just wants to be alone but that doesn’t stop guys from running up to a girl and bothering her. It’s so rude, isn’t it?”

I didn’t look at the man taking a seat next to me.

“Yes, it’s very rude—”

I turned to him and cut myself off.

The bald fat man was replaced with someone who was the complete opposite. He looked young, maybe just a few years older than me. His hair was short. It looked like he couldn’t grow a beard if he wanted to.

But there was something else about him. Something about the way he looked at me. And then there was his smile. A subtle smirk like he already knew what I was thinking.

“Sometimes a girl just wants to have a beer by herself,” he said.

“Right. Do you know a place?”

“I’ve only just gotten to Ivory. I hear there are a lot of fun places in town.”

“I’m not interested in any fun right now, so you’re talking to the wrong girl.”

“Maybe I’m not looking for any fun either.”

“Is that right? And just what are you looking for?”

He wasn’t the ugliest guy in the world. If anything, he was kinda handsome. I figured I would play his game to keep myself occupied. It’s not like the beer was going anywhere.”

“What am I looking for?” he said. “If I knew the answer to that, I’m sure I’d have already found it. Sometimes you just gotta go out there and see what the world has to offer.”

“I can tell you this much. Ivory is not the place you’re looking for. Unless you’re looking for heartbreak and misery, that is.”

“I see…”

He kept staring at me even though I wasn’t looking at him.

“Rough day?” he asked.

“More like rough life.”

“Ouch. It can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Let’s see… My father died in an accident. My mother died because she couldn’t get over my father. And I just found out my brother died. Probably because he couldn’t deal with being without my mother and father.”

I turned to him and widened my eyes at him, waiting to see how he could respond. The stranger frowned at me and shook his head.

“Ivory,” he said. “How did I end up in a place like this?”

“I’d say this is the place where poor souls end up before they end up in Hell but it feels like I’m already there.”

“Ivory isn’t that bad. I know it isn’t.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“They let underage girls drink.”

I shifted my eyes to the bartender to see if he caught it but he wasn’t listening thankfully. I turned back to the stranger and shook my head.

“What are you doing here?” I said. “Are you a cop?”

He burst into laughter and nearly fell out of his seat.

“I can assure you that I’m anything but a cop.”

“That’s not very assuring. Guys out here are always up to no good. They’re always up to something.”

“In your experience.”

“Yes, in my experience.”

“Well…”

He straightened up in his seat and sighed.

“…I can tell you that I am up to something but I’m willing to share all of the details with you.”

I shrugged and took another sip of beer.

“I’m all ears.”

“Ivory is a small town. The people out here are just looking for a good time. Well, everybody except the young adult women who are trying to have a beer by themselves.”

“Thanks for your consideration…”

“But for everybody else, they don’t have much of an escape. I’m here to provide them that escape.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“That sounds like a lot of trouble,” I said.

“Trouble and fun are always synonymous. It’s funny how it works that way. But you said it yourself. You’re just a poor soul stuck in Ivory, waiting until it’s time for you to go to Hell. You might as well enjoy yourself while you’re still here.”

The grin on his face grew even wider. It was probably the alcohol talking to me, but there was something appealing about him. I should have just told him to leave me alone but I was intrigued.

I decided to keep playing along.

“What are you up to?” I said.

“It all starts with making a little money,” he said.

“Of course. You can’t have any fun if you don’t have any money. And just what is it you do, stranger?”

“I have some businesses on the side. I make a few bucks. It’s nothing big. Not yet, anyway. But it’s only a matter of time.”

He kept grinning at me. Despite the news I just got about my brother, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. This guy had me playing along and I couldn’t stop.

“Only a matter of time,” I said. “Pretty soon you’re gonna have all the money in the world. A dozen cars. A big mansion. Your own yacht.”

“That’s the life, isn’t it? I admit, all of that would be nice. But it wouldn’t mean anything without that one important ingredient.”

“And what’s that?”

“You.”

A cheesy line like that wouldn’t make me blush but here I was, trying to hide my embarrassment. That’s how I knew I was definitely drunk.

He knew I was playing along with him, so he didn’t stop.

“I’m not asking for your company tonight,” he said. “I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m not even asking you to sleep with me.”

“Then what are you asking?”

“I’m new in town. I don’t really know anybody. And from what you told me, you don’t really know anybody either.”

He leaned in closer to me.

“Have dinner with me. Tomorrow night. I think it would be a great opportunity to discuss how much we have in common.”

I looked away from him and took another sip of beer. I contemplated his offer, trying and failing to find a reason to turn him down.

“It’s just dinner,” he said. “You don’t like what you hear. You don’t like my attitude. You don’t like the way I smell. Just walk away. I can’t force something that was never meant to be.”

I sighed a deep breath through my nose and nodded to him.

“Okay. I’ll have dinner with you. On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I really wanna forget about today. Buy me another drink?”

“Another drink. Sure. That sounds like the right kind of fun.”

The stranger ordered a couple of beers from the bartender. I grabbed my mug but just before I took a sip, the stranger stopped me.

“Hold on,” he said. “We should toast.”

“Toast?”

“Yes. This is a celebration. For me, anyway. It’s not often you meet the woman of your dreams.”

“All right,” I said, giggling. “A toast.”

“Let’s see… If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?”

I squinted as I thought about it for a second.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Somewhere in Asia sounds nice.”

“To Asia.”

“To Asia.”

I clinked my glass with his and took a huge gulp.

“What’s your name?” I asked as I watched him drink.

“My friends call me Jacob.”

“Then Jacob it is.”

“It’s a pleasure…”

“Lenora.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lenora. I think you and I are gonna have a lot of fun together.”