TWENTY-SEVEN
FROM THAT CONVERSATION ON, I DREAMED ABOUT AN ENIGMA.
My Jessica Rabbit.
Even when I spent time with the other ladies in my book, my thoughts would go back to the mystery girl without a face that I dreamed about almost every night. The only thing I could remember when I woke was her eyes and her mouth.
Misty green pools and a set of luscious pouty lips.
It didn’t make any sense to become obsessed with a dream, but it was happening. It was embarrassing, to say the least. I was a man who had women, yet the only woman who seemed to keep my attention wasn’t even real.
That wasn’t the only bad thing going on around me. A month passed after Clive’s appointment, but it seemed to me that he never really got better. In fact, I was pretty sure he was getting worse. But the more I nagged him about it, the more he hid his sickness. Tucking away into corners to cough and hiding his blood-trickled tissues.
I stepped into his office to find him having another coughing fit. When he finished, he wiped his mouth with a tissue and went about his business as if he hadn’t almost coughed up his lungs.
“This is stupid,” I said, interrupting him and making him snap his head up in my direction. “Why don’t you just take the night off and relax? Let me oversee things for once.”
He chuckled, and his voice sounded rougher than usual.
“Keep dreaming, kid.”
I moved into his space, taking a seat on the old chair in front of his desk.
“I’m serious. I can do this. You taught me everything you know.”
He shook his head, his jaw tightening at my words.
“I’m sorry, kid, but no.”
I tried a different approach.
“I really need you to get better. Working all the time isn’t making you better.”
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation.
“I’m fine, for the hundredth time. Now get out of here and let me finish.”
I wanted to stand there and argue. I was as stubborn as the old man was, but I wanted him to get better not have a stroke from arguing with me.
“Fine,” I mumbled.
I left and made myself useful, stocking heavy boxes and doing all the things I didn’t want him to have to do.
Hours later, we were too busy for me to find time to stress over Clive and his sickness.
“What can I get you, sweetheart?” I asked without looking up.
All I knew was it was a woman, and women loved it when I called them pet names. That was one of the first things I learned when Clive finally let me start bartending. The more pet names I gave out, the bigger my tips were at the end of the night.
“Jack and Coke to start with, and then maybe your phone number to finish?”
I looked up to find her staring back at me with a sly smile.
She was cute in a sweet and innocent kind of way. Her short auburn bob and round face instantly reminded me of Velma from Scooby Doo.
She wasn’t like the usual women I spent my time with, but suddenly, she appealed to me. I was having a hard time with my ladies since my dream woman seemed to be coming out of my dreams and affecting my real life. Maybe a change was what I needed.
I smiled at her and cheered inside when a sweet blush spread across her plump cheeks.
“Sure thing, sweetheart.”
We flirted on and off for the next hour, and when closing time rolled around, she was one of the last stragglers hanging around. I watched as she said goodnight to the girls she had come with and then made her way over to the bar where I was. It was Thursday, and we only stayed open until ten on weeknights.
“I know it’s kind of late, but I know a great diner on Jefferson Street that’s open all night and makes the greasiest cheeseburgers on this side of the Village. It will be the second-best thing you ever put in your mouth. Want to go grab one with me?”
I grinned and continued to wipe the same spot over and over again.
“Oh, really. And what’s the best thing?” I flirted back.
She looked down, letting her hair fall on her face before looking back up at me through the lush strands.
“Me.”
I chuckled, liking the way she brazenly flirted. She looked so innocent and sweet, and to hear her say such dirty things was a major turn-on.
Still, I couldn’t leave Clive to close out on his own. As it was, I was trying to do as much as I could so he wouldn’t have to.
“That sounds delicious, but I have to take a rain check on that. My old man …” I started, nodding at Clive. “He hasn’t been feeling very—”
“Get out of here, kid,” Clive said, cutting me off.
“But …”
“I said get the hell out of here. Go have some fun. You promised.”
He pulled the cloth from my fingers and started cleaning the bar top.
The last thing I wanted to do was go out. Not because I didn’t want to.
I did.
I hadn’t been fucked properly in a month, and something about Velma, which was what I officially named her, told me she could give me the night I needed.
My little black book had been put on hold as soon as I saw that Clive was getting worse. I couldn’t leave him.
What if he needed me?
“I’ll be fine!” he yelled out. “Now, get the hell out of here before I fire you.”
He pushed me from behind the bar and took my coat off the hanger, tossing it at me.
I caught it in the air before it could hit me in the face.
“Go stuff your face.” He winked. “I don’t want to see your face again until at least noon.
Velma looked back at me with a smile as she shrugged her shoulders and waited for me to respond.
“Fine, but I’ll be back before noon. Please make sure you turn the heaters on this time. And close that damn window in the kitchen. You’re letting all the winter in through that damn thing. We’re going to end up freezing our asses off one of these nights.”
I was procrastinating.
Thinking of every reason I could to stay with him a little longer.
It was weird how badly I didn’t want to leave him, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew he was right. I needed a night away, and I was sure he probably wanted a night away from me, as well.
Clive waved a hand at me, dismissing everything I said. “Get, kid.”
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” I repeated firmly.
“And I’ll be here.”
“You'd better,” I mumbled as I turned to Velma. “You ready?” I asked.
I had to go. If I didn’t, I would never hear the end of it. Besides, I was only going to be gone a few hours. Nothing would happen to him in a few hours.
I pulled open the bar door and moved so Velma could go out ahead of me.
“Oh, before we do this, you should probably know my name is …”
I stopped her, covering her pouty lips with my warm palm.
“Velma. Tonight, your name is Velma. Got it?”
Her eyes lit up with excitement. Some women were weirded out with my cartoon obsession and the need to keep myself separated from them mentally. But more often than not, they enjoyed the mystery of me and the fun of being someone else in bed.
Turning before I left, I took Clive in once more. He scrubbed at the bar and cracked his neck.
“Night, Clive.”
“Night, kid,” he said, smiling up at me with a smile I hadn’t seen since he started getting sick.