Rick

 

Rick finished wiping down the bar. His bartenders were both running five-minute smoke breaks after the midday rush. The steady ebb and flow of the bar had helped relax him. There was always somebody readily available who needed to unload their burdens on anybody that would listen. Rick was happy to be that someone, because other people’s problems helped him forget about his own.

The door to the bar banged open. Rick turned to put the final clean glass away before acknowledging the lone customer. When he turned back around, all the air left his lungs. Her blonde hair flowed down past her shoulders. Her lips were painted a sultry red to match the form-fitting dress that clung to her perfect body. Rick’s bear growled, giving Rick mixed signals.

It was uncommon for his bear to react when the man in him responded to a beautiful woman. His bear seemed offended by the woman, though. Rick didn’t sense any evil about the woman. Her eyes locked onto his as she made her way to one of the bar stools.

“Hello,” she said with a beautiful baritone mixture in her voice.

“What can I do for you?” Rick asked, clearing his throat.

“Do you carry whiskey?”

“Of course. Any particular one?” he asked, turning back to his whiskeys.

“I prefer single barrel Jack, if you have it.”

“Certainly. On the rocks?”

“No, neat,” she said, finally sitting down.

Rick did a shallow pour and slid the glass over to her. He didn’t want to watch her sip the dark liquid, but he found he couldn’t look away. Her dark lashes fluttered shut as she took a small drink and then hummed in pleasure. Rick found himself wanting to lap the liquid up off of her lips. He turned away then, and started to clean the other side of the bar.

“Pretty slow today,” the woman cooed.

“You’re in between rushes. Things will pick back up around four.”

“So, you’re a shifter?” the woman asked, causing Rick to turn.

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, just curious. I used to know a shifter, once upon a time. He looked a bit like you, actually.”

Rick didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure why she would mention that. Women like her usually had ulterior motives. Women like her could wreck shifters’ lives.

The bartenders came back in and Rick tossed the towel over to Steve.

“Here you go, boys. I’m going to take off. I’ll stop by again later,” Rick said, heading for the door.

“See ya later, boss,” they both replied.

Rick made it to the edge of the parking lot before he heard her voice call out to him. Part of him felt the strong desire to keep walking and ignore the blonde-haired beauty. The male part of him stopped and turned around.

“You don’t really know when you’re getting hit on, do you, shifter?”

“I’m not someone you want to toy with,” he said as gently as possible.

“I think you are. Now are you going to show a lady a good time, or go spend the night alone?” she challenged.

Rick knew he should walk away. There was a familiarity to her, but he couldn’t place it. Women like her were a dime a dozen. A flash of another woman came into his mind, pushed there by his bear. It was fleeting, and Rick lost it before he could even make the image out. Then the sharp stab of a migraine began. It was intense, and Rick was afraid he would be sick, the pain was so strong.

The woman rushed to his side.

“Are you okay?” she asked, showing genuine concern.

He waved her off, but her touch took away the pain immediately. Rick grabbed her by the arms and studied her. He still wasn’t detecting any evil, but something wasn’t right. The migraine was completely gone then. Rick decided she was worth keeping around for a while even if she just kept the migraines at bay.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Arriell,” she chirped.

“I’m Rick. It’s nice to meet you, Arriell.”