Whispered Promises

Chapter Five

    When I reached the bar I locked the doors and started to set up before opening. As I was taking

 the trash out, I heard a rustling sound. I peeked around the corner to find some guy tossing

 acorns into a can. I started to walk over to tell him to get away from the bar, but when I got 

closer I saw that it was the Dixon Kid that defended me the other night. "Um, Excuse me", I say 

meekly. He turned in my direction with a blank stare. "Daryl, right?", I asked. His eyebrows lifted 

in curiosity and looked away saying, "What's it to you?". With my hand out, I introduced myself 

"Oh I'm Elizabeth". He just looks at my hand and doesn't take it. So I pulled it back and 

continued "I just wanted to say thank you for the other night with your brother". "Well Merle can 

be a real jackass"., he says as he tosses his last acorn in but it bounces off the rim. "Oh I can do 

better than that.", I say in a challenging tone. He looks at me and scoffs. "What? I can.", I voiced 

defensively. He silently stood up, collected a few acorns off the ground and handed them to me. 

I grabbed the acorns from him and turned to face the can in front of me. I tossed it in the can 

and the acorn went straight in. I immediately jumped in the air to celebrate my victory. I turned 

back to Daryl with a smug smile and said " I told you so". He rolled his eyes, "yea, beginners 

luck". "Oh yeah?", I say feeling challenged. "I bet I can get you in a game, Whoever gets more 

acorns in the can out of ten wins.". He stands there for a moment seeming to think about it . 

"What's the prize?", he asked. "Um how about.....Free drinks at the bar for a whole week", I say 

looking up at him. " And if you win?" He said he took a step closer to me. "And if I win, you have 

to take me for a ride on your bike.", I said smiling. He turned back and looked at the bike and 

back at me. "Deal, but it's not mine. Its Merle's.", he reaches out to shake my hand. I take his 

hand and say "good". I walked around him and grabbed some acorns off the ground as he did 

the same. "Ladies first", Daryl said. I stood in front of the can about five feet away, and shot my 

acorns one by one. I only made six out of ten. I turned to Daryl with confidence and said "Your 

Turn". He walked to face the can in silence. He looked so focused, his blue eyes looked so 

beautiful. Being mesmerized by his form I missed him making all ten of his shots. "Boom! I 

guess you owe me free drinks all week.", he said. I broke out of my gaze to seem disappointed he 

won. "Oh, that sucks. I guess I don't get to take a ride on your bike", I say trying to flirt. I don't 

catch him because he says "well I'm still building up mine. That's why I'm using Merle's. Maybe 

when I finish mine.". Embarrassed that he didn't respond back with flirtation I started to walk 

back to the bar, "Maybe. Well I gotta finish setting up, see ya later.". Daryl Stops me and asks " 

Hey, lemme get my first free drink now". "Um sure, but you gotta help me set up", I say moving 

to the doorway. "Sounds fair", he says as he follows me into the bar.