FicWad

A/N- Hello all. This is my first story here on ficwad, and I'm pretty excited. This story got deleted on fanfiction, because personally I think they are a bit close minded. But I'm happy to be here, and hope that you like this first chapter

You and I Both
The bar was crowded and smoky. From the moment you stepped through the door of the O’Malley’s Irish pub you could tell what you were getting yourself into. The typical scenes hung around every corner. The hopeless 30 something women moped at the bar, complaining to the bartender about their scarcely there love lives. The college kids bumped and grinded to the music on the small dance floor. And anyone else in the room searched the room, with hazy eyes, for someone to go home with that night. It was a normal Friday night at O’Malley’s, and I sat at my usual seat at the bar surveying the scenes around me.
Meredith, my best friend, was the chief bartender at O’Malley’s. To most that would be like saying that she was the head waitress or employee of the month at McDonalds. But to those who stepped through the doors of this pub, it meant she was God. She controlled who drank what and when they drank it. If you made an inappropriate pass in front of her, she would be sure to make sure you wouldn’t get service here for months. All knew and respected her and me in turn.
All of the usual patrons knew me. As I walked in I would always get a few nods of the head or even a ‘Yo Allie!’ The sleazy men that tended to accumulate around the door of the women’s rest room stared as the always did, but they knew better than to touch. They knew what Meredith would do if she ever found out about it, and none were willing to take that risk.
Almost like clockwork, every Friday at eleven o’clock I would arrive and take my place at the bar. On slow nights I would chat with Meredith while sipping on fruity drinks that made me feel Cosmopolitan. But on the heavier nights, I liked to survey the people and things that existed inside the pub. I would always begin subtly, glances here and there. But as the night wore on and as more alcohol entered my system glances slowly morphed into full out stares. Sometimes guys thought that this was an open invitation for them to have a go at me, but Meredith was pretty good at catching most of them.
I entered O’Malley’s at my usual eleven o’clock on Friday May 30th, totally unaware of the events that would be happening that night. From the time I first walked through the door I could tell that something was off. The people who usually greeted me with head nods gave me a tense worried looks. Their eyes followed me as if preparing to see a show. And as I turned towards the bar, I knew exactly why they were watching.
My usually empty seat was filled, filled by a man I couldn’t recognize. My head filled with confusion immediately. Who was this man, and why was he sitting in my seat? I looked for Meredith at the bar only to see her helping a large group at once looking obviously swamped. I couldn’t blame her for doing her job. She couldn’t take care of this like she took care of sleazy guys.
I walked towards my spot cursing under my breath. I willed myself not to be angry. This guy obviously had never been here before, because I have no recollection of him. He obviously had no idea that this seat was not meant for him, but for me. I would explain it nicely to him, and if he didn’t move his ass after that I would get Meredith, whether she was swamped or not. I felt a little cowardly always running to my best friend for protection and to solve my problems, but that’s what best friends are for right?
“Excuse me” I said standing right behind the man now. I could feel the looks coming from behind be, and I resisted the urge to give them an exasperated look. “But…”
“I’m sorry” he said rudely not even bothering to turn around and face me. “I’m not giving any autographs tonight.”
I stood stunned for a minute, and I heard what seemed to be a collective gasp coming from the patrons who had been watching. It struck me the absurdity of his words. Autograph? Who was this person a celebrity? Well, celebrity or not it gave him no excuse to be rude or to take an innocent girl’s seat. I opened my mouth to reply when Meredith appeared on the other side of the bar giving me a warning look.
“Oh, Allie. I see you’ve met Kevin. You’ll have to forgive him.” She gave the man called Kevin a sympathetic look, which startled me more than anything else had. Meredith was never sympathetic to the men in this. “He went to elementary school with me in New Jersey.” She gave me the ‘back off’ look, and, then it clicked.
Whenever someone from back home came into the bar Meredith would treat them like princes, even if they were rude. I once asked her why she didn’t club a particularly rude man over the head, and in reply she said “He’s from America. It would be like clubbing a member of my family.” I never really got her logic on that one, but it was one of the things Meredith refused to give up. In some ways I think every person she met from the states connected her back to her own home, no matter how far away from it she was.
Sighing I plopped myself in a seat next to my usual. It wasn’t overly uncomfortable, it just seemed foreign. I looked up at Meredith who was already preparing my usual drink. She gave me an expectant look and nodded her head towards Kevin. She was correct in saying that he was going through something. He looked like shit. He might have been attractive in the daytime, but under the lights of the bar and his troubles, he looked a little gaunt. Meredith sat my drink in front of me and glared at me for a long moment. It was obvious that if I hadn’t gotten the hint before, I did now.
“So how does someone like you get from New Jersey to Dublin?” I asked with little interest. He looked up at me surprised, as if he hadn’t realized anyone was here. His shock wore off quickly though, and he went back to stroking his drink. He didn’t reply, and I thought for a moment that I had gotten off the hook. I could go back to surveying the bar in peace, ignoring him completely, but Meredith wasn’t going to let it go this quickly.
“Kevin is here with his band.” She stated. She looked proud, as if knowing someone in a band made your place in society somewhat higher. A group of slutty college girls were trying to get Meredith’s attention a little farther down the bar, and she excused herself leaving me with a final withering look.
I tried to resume looking around the bar in my usual manner, but something was nagging me. It was something between the way Meredith talked about Kevin, and the fact that he seemed to look so familiar to me. I glanced at him once again, and this time really studied him. His curly hair fell messily on his head, and I wondered very briefly if it was soft. His clothing was a bit more formal and strange for a bar, but I dismissed it as thinking he had just gotten done with a gig. Multiple bottles were scattered in front of him, and his current drink looked like it would soon join them.
“You know I’ve heard the crazy stories about bands and partying, but…” I raised my eyebrows at him. His eyes didn’t meet mine, but instead continued to stare into his drink. “I don’t think your band mates will be very happy when you’re to hung-over to perform, mate.” To this he only snorted with laughter. It was odd, and almost sad.
“They don’t care what I do. Today was it. It was the end. They so politely informed me that solo careers were in their best interest. THEIR best interest, not the bands.” He drunkly ranted waving his hands about in the process.
The transition from completely silent to drunken ranting was one that I had never seen before, and it took me a moment to recover from the shock. I felt bad for resenting him earlier. His band troubles were bigger than sitting in my usual bloody seat. I vowed to God (or any other higher source) that I would make it up to this mysterious man. I would help him. And the best way I knew how was to call for the nearest bartender.
“Alicia!” I called for the petite girl who had only been working there for a few weeks. She looked nervous but approached us none the less. “Get us two shots of the hardest stuff you got, and keep them coming.” She looked apprehensive, but with a single wave of my hand she was off in a hurry preparing our drinks. Kevin’s head lolled over to look at me miserably, and my heart contracted in sympathy.
“Kevin, as someone who has been in that seat many times, and complained about many things, I’m going to help you.” He squinted his eyes in question as Alicia dropped off our many shots. “Luckily, in this country help comes with a whole lot of alcohol. So drink up, cause in the morning this problem is going to be the least of your worries.”
The irony of the statement didn’t hit us as we downed our first, then second, then third shots. If it had maybe we would have stopped there. But sadly alcohol makes people do funny things. It sure did make fools out of us.