Right In Front Of You

Chapter 1

Cameron; North Carolina;
Suzie's POV;

Pulling in to the dirt drive way of my home, it had been a long night and all I wanted to do was crawl in to bed and get some sleep. Waving my hand as my best friend drove past my driveway with my two sisters in his car. The minute I pulled my truck to the spot in front of the house the engine died on me; great another thing that needed my attention. Trying to turn it over in the vain attempt that it was just something minor, I was left suitably irritated when it refused to play nice with me.

Resigning myself to the fact that I would have to call Derek in the morning to get him to look at it, I pulled the key from the ignition and grabbed my bag. Other than the death of my trusted truck it had been a good night; for the past year I had cradled and loved my vision to life and tonight had been the huge pay off.

My bar; the one thing that I had devoted all of my time to over the past twelve months, had finally come together and been a huge success when the doors had opened this evening. The Core Lounge had been a huge hit with the punters who had graced the confines and I was beaming from ear to ear with the kind of pride that a Mother has when her baby first walks or talks.

The moon stood high in the sky; paving my way up to the front door, where I unlocked the door and stepped over the threshold. Normally the minute I stepped over the threshold, I could feel the calmness of being here, the tranquillity of the life that I shared with my long term boyfriend, Shaun. But not on this occasion; standing in the hallway I could feel my insides balling together, making me feel sick.

Unable to explain the feeling, I tried pushing it aside as I moved to the kitchen door and pushed it open to be greeted to Saracen, Shaun's large German Shepherd dog who whined softly as I lowered myself down to his level and let him lick my face affectionately for a few moments.

Quickly pouring him some water in to his bowl, I grabbed my bottle of JD from the fridge where I always kept it and poured myself a shot. Downing it in one, I felt the burn all the way down my chest until I was pulling what was known as whiskey face. Then before I knew it I was giggling softly as I remembered the way one of my favourite all time comedian's; Denis Leary, had been the one to introduce me to whiskey face.

Having another quick shot, I placed the glass in the sink to be washed in the morning, I bid Saracen goodnight and closed the door to the kitchen behind me. Still the uneasy, queasy feeling sat at the pit of my stomach, pushing it aside, I moved back to the front door and turned the key in the lock before ascending the stairs quietly.

If Shaun was sleeping, I didn't want to wake him. Six months ago he had been given an honourable discharge from the Army when he had witnessed the death of his best friend; mentally that incident had burned him badly and since then he had barely left the house, which was why he hadn't been at the opening tonight. I supported him and did everything that I could to ensure that he was perfectly fine and had everything he needed. I couldn't blame him or be mad at him for not being there with me on my big night because I had absolutely no idea what it felt like to watch your best friend die, and the kind of effect that, that would have on a person.

I did know that the thought of me losing Barry was more than I could bare, so that helped me to remain supportive with my high school sweetheart. Barry and I had been best friends since Junior high. My best friend at the time, Susan had, had the biggest crush on him and had been too fearful to talk him, so I had struck up a conversation with him and we had just clicked and because he accepted me; his friends accepted me and that was how I had met Shaun.

Barry lived about a half mile from us now with my two sisters; Heather and Brittany, which meant that I didn't have to divide my time between my Family and my friends. In fact Barry was my Family too, he had been there when we had lost our Parent's and he had been there whenever I needed him; for that I could never repay the debt that I had stocked up with him.