To the Smelly Boy Apartment It Is! (Story 2 of Sev & M)

Chapter 12

Severine felt like a coiled ball of excitement as they headed for the bowling alley. They had taken Marcus's car again so he was in charge of the music which was all over the place. He had played everything from When Will I Be Loved to Milkshake. Marcus had sung along to every song with him.

When they got to the bowling alley they saw all the lanes were taken. They added their name to the list then went to the game room. They played a couple of rounds of air hockey, the claw machine, and a shooting simulator game. He laughed at Marcus's horrible aim. Finally, after about a half hour, their name was called for a lane and they went to get their shoes and balls.

"I'm really glad we finally got to go out tonight," he told Marcus with a smile.

"I am too even though you're going to beat my ass," he responded with a laugh.

"I could let you win..." he started.

"Do not even think about it," Marcus roared playfully.

"Just remember I offered," he said with a wink and threw his first ball. Which of course was a strike.

They had just finished their second game and were getting ready to start their third when their phones buzzed at the same time. They looked at each other then shrugged figuring it was Nora and only one of them needed to answer. He stepped up to the lane while Marcus checked the message.

"Shit!" he heard him exclaim.

He stopped mid throw and turned, "What's wrong?"

"It's Nora, we need to go now," his voice was strained.

Severine took the balls and shoes back to the counter. They paid then left quickly. Once they were in the car he asked what was going on.

"It was a text from the bartender from her phone. Apparently she's gotten pretty trashed and there's an "older gentleman" that's watching her like a hawk and keeps buying her drinks," Marcus said turning the car towards town.

They made it back to town quickly and parked in front of the little bar. When they got inside the bartender seemed to be having a staring contest with Issac. Severine tensed slightly, any hope he had had that the older gentleman mentioned in the text hadn't been him was obviously gone. He saw Nora sitting on the bar stool, singing loudly and dancing in the chair. Had Issac not been part of this he would have been laughing hysterically.

"Go get Nora," he told Marcus.

Issac turned when he heard the door shut behind them. They gave him a hard glare and Marcus stepped around him to Nora's side.

She stopped singing when she saw him and slurred, "Hey girlfriend!"

Then she seemed to see Severine, "Oh my gosh both of you! Yay! You came to drink with me after all!"

Drunk Nora was not something either of them had dealt with before. Marcus looked at him for help and he just shrugged, then turned his attention back to Issac.

"Yeah...we did," he heard Marcus lie, "but let's not drink here. Let's go back to the apartment."

"Nooooo, let's stay here!"

He heard Marcus sigh before saying, "Nooooo let's go to the apartment." He was surprised he had matched his tone to hers so well.

"Psh your no fun, but fine; to the smelly boy apartment it is!" she said.

She stood up and stumbled, Marcus caught and steadied her, then gave him a slight nod. "Let's go."

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," he told him.

Marcus gave him a hard look, "I just want to make sure her tab is paid and she didn't drop anything." It wasn't a complete lie but he still felt guilty.

Once he heard the door close behind them, he turned to the bartender who nodded, he had seemed to pick up on what he had really wanted and chose that time to move to the opposite end of the bar thoroughly engrossed in cleaning glasses.

"What the hell were you doing?" he asked Issac in a deadly tone.

"Nothing, I was just watching out for a pretty girl," Issac replied in his deep voice, a nasty smile on his face.

"That is disgusting you're at least twice her age," he hissed, "don't come near her anymore. Stay away from Marcus and I as well."

"You really think you know what you're doing?" Issac asked.

"I never said I did. But I won't let you hurt either of them," he replied.

Issac laughed, "Good Severine, that's the kind of spirit I'd heard about you having."

"Heard from where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said, laughing, "Think hard about what you're doing. You wouldn't want to have any regrets now would you."

His blood ran cold and he felt the color drain from his face. Issac winked at him then headed out the door. He stood there for a moment breathing hard and watched him. At that moment he knew who had sent him. He heard the bartender calling his name and snapped himself back to reality, he told him everything was good to go with Evanora. He nodded numbly and thanked him for texting them then headed to the car.