Addiction [Rick Grimes]

Chapter 9

The bar was mostly empty; considering the time, it was no surprise. Only a few stragglers and the usual drunks dotted around the many tables of the bar.

Gabriella wasn't sure why she chose that bar in particular, but she wasn't about to turn back and head home either.

She sat at the bar, quickly ordering a glass of wine, which she managed to gulp down within seconds before ordering another. The bartender gave her a curious look but handed her request across the bar.

She was exhausted, having only slept for half an hour after Rick left, and she could feel her eyes drooping as she sipped at her second drink at a much slower pace.

Rick would be gone for at least eight hours, so what harm could a few drinks do? What he didn't know didn't hurt him.

'What harm would It do drinking out instead of being cooped up at home?' she thought as she finished her second glass, 'better than being alone.'

After four glasses of wine, Gabriella was feeling tipsy; her increased consumption of alcohol lately had made it take longer for her to feel the effects.

The bar had slowly filled with more regulars, primarily those who had just finished work and wanted a quick tipple before returning home. The increased noise of people chatting bothered her somewhat, especially as she was alone and had no one to talk to.

"The usual, Daryl?" she heard the bartender say as a man sat on the bar stool beside her.

She glanced to her left; he was an older man, good-looking, and smelt faintly of cigarettes and motor oil. His hair cascaded over his forehead and flickered in front of his eyes.

"What you staring at?" The man asked, breaking Gabriella from her thoughts.

Gabriella didn't reply; she shrugged and returned to her drink.

She heard the man beside her snort, "ain't seen you around here before, think I'd remember," he muttered, "you new in town?"

Gabriella shook her head, "new to the bar, not the town," she replied.

"Names Daryl Dixon, own the auto shop up a ways," he introduced himself, turning slightly on the stool and leaning his elbow on the bar top to get a better look at her.

"Gabriella Walsh," she sighed, "not Walsh," she corrected.

Daryl smirked, "Gabriella, Not Walsh, you're the woman Office Choke Hold cheated on, right?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. She knew her husband's affair would be the talk of the town, but she never expected anyone to be so blunt about their knowledge of it to her face, "If you mean Shane Walsh, then you are correct."

Gabriella turned her on the stool, copying Daryl's posture and leaning against the bar. He was eyeing up every inch of her body. She could tell he was the kind of guy to be shy and nervous around women but tried to put on a front.

He was chewing at his bottom lip as he tried to hide his wavering eyes under his hair, "he's an ass," Daryl mumbled, "so, is that why you're here? Looking for a rebound?"

Gabriella chuckled and shrugged her shoulders, "maybe, maybe not. Maybe I just fancied a drink without judgement, or maybe I'm here to fuck the first guy that talks to me," she smirked, watching as his eyes widened.