The Bartender and The Injured

Chapter One: Kaylee

Chapter One:

Kaylee

"Chris, I'm on my way," I told my boss over the phone. I was nineteen, but working under the table at a local bar. This was where the drunkies came to be. I knew how to bartend and I was available whenever in the summertime.

Chris, my boss, was nice. Too old and not the greatest boss, but an awesome dude. He hired me when he realized that I was paying for my own rent and living by myself. The pay was perfect and I could do something I really enjoyed.

But that night, as I drove to Felix's, the name of the bar, I could only think of one thing. Luke. He had left in his monster truck all by himself, after getting a handshake from only one person. No one had spoken to him, no one was there.

I was, but I didn't count. He didn't know. And I had no problem with that. I had other things on my mind.

This one game, the one game that should've put us on top, officially, instead ended up ruining our best player.

I reached Felix's with two minutes to spare. Quickly putting on my work shirt and high heeled boots, I ran into the bar through the back door.

"C'mon Kay. Tyler wants out already," Chris yelled at me from his office. Gotta love him.

"Ok, Ty," I said, reaching the bar. "You're free to go," I continued, as I clocked myself in on the screen.

The game had been over for forty minutes, and I couldn't help but question where Luke was. Maybe at home, by himself, drinking a bottle of vodka. Maybe with some girl, fucking her senseless in his room. I really didn't want to think about that. Somewhere inside me, I knew I still had some feelings for him, back from fifth grade. Most of the time, I could go out on dates, have fun by myself. Without being reminded of him. But sometimes, I remembered how I felt about him. He was my first "love", so to speak.

We had a decent amount of people working tonight. Me, Sara, Lamar, Jon, and Kellie all piled behind the bar, taking orders and making them as fast as we could go.

Ten minutes later, I was filling up a beer that the new guy, Carlos, couldn't do himself. Apparently, a guy in the corner table in the bar wanted it. Seclusion isn't always good for the soul. Especially if it comes accompanied by a beer.

But I wasn't one to meddle with people's lives, especially if it ended up paying my rent.

I reached the table and set the beer down in front of the man, who smiled at me, showing me his black teeth. Gross. I tried to pull back fast, knowing that he'd try to hit on me if I stayed too long.

"Baby, why don't you s-s-stay with me for a little w-w-hile-e-e?" he slurred.

I ignored him and turned. This was the ugly part of the job. The bar was always dark and you could never tell if the people that came in were already drunk and waiting to get drunker.

He gripped my hand as I turned on my heel. "Please-e-e-e?" Definitely hoping to get drunker.

"Let go of me," I hissed through my teeth.

He tried to stand up, but I managed to rip my hand out of his grasp and turned to run to the bar. But instead, I bumped into a chest. A very muscular, sweaty, and hot chest. A chest that my hands could feel perfectly fine seeing as how they were placed right on the abs section.

And as I looked up, I realized it was Luke.

"Sorry!" I said, not exactly taking my hands off him.

"Is okay," he said, slurring just slightly, looking away.

Shit. He's wasted.

"Luke?" I asked, softly. The music in the bar was loud but I made sure he could hear me.

"Hey Kaylee. I didn't realize...you worked here?" Again, the words were cut up and sort of garbled. His breath reeked of beer and other alcohols.

"Yeah." Awkward silence followed.

"Well...I'ma go home," Luke spoke.

"Uh, are you driving?" I asked.

"I got a big ol' fancy truck waitin' on me," he said with an awkward twang and a happy smile on his face.

I smiled then frowned, remembering the current situation. "You can't drive home Luke. Can you call someone to take you?"

What he said next broke my heart. "No one cares about the reject."

I frowned. "Luke, you're not a reject. It was one lost game. Yeah, you got pissed. But you only lost one game."

"Yeah, the one game that actually mattered Kay..."

I shook my head. His drunken state had worn off a little. But I still wasn't about to let him go home himself.

"Stay here," I said as I sat him at one of the tables. "I'll be right back."

I ran to the back, knocking on Chris' door. "What?" he yelled from inside.

I opened the door to see him sitting at his desk, counting money.

"I gotta go home, Chris," I said. I'd already made up my mind.

"What'd you mean?"

"Personal day."

Chris looked at me skeptically. I'd been working here for over two years; he knew how many days I'd taken off. Two. And both times I'd had a cover for me beforehand. So I deserved this night off.

"Fine, whatever. Let the guys know. And have a good night."

Love him! "Thanks Chris. See you tomorrow," I said.

"Kids," he muttered.

I ran out to the table where I'd left Luke. He was now slumped against the chair, sleeping. Damn. I forgot to mention that he's big. Like football wall-type player big. Just the way I liked 'em.

"Luke, can you wake up for a minute?" I whispered, patting his arm.

"Huh?" he said, opening one eye. He seemed to realize where he was and opened the other one.

"C'mon big guy. We're going home," I said.

Here's where things get creepy. I knew where he lived. But it was all one big coincidence. We were on the same bus when we were younger. He got off before me, though.

Luke slowly got up, holding onto the chair for support. I realized he was going to be stumbling along so I draped his arm over my shoulder and let him put some of his weight on me. We started to walk out of the bar together.

I saw his huge ass truck outside of the bar and decided that I couldn't drive it. I wasn't used to such huge vehicles so I just headed for my Jeep Wrangler instead. F350's were a little bit too much for me.

I unlocked the doors with my keys, which did as a matter of fact take me a while to get, and let Luke slump in the passenger seat. Immediately, his head hit the back of the seat and he was gone. Done for the night.

I chuckled as I buckled his seatbelt and then closed his door.

Damn hot guy.