The Unborn

Chapter 13

Mike rolled into Bluey’s, his black slacks neatly pressed and his brand new polo shirt tucked neatly inside them. He scoured the room before his eyes finally rested on the bar to his left.

"Yo Tadpole!" he yelled from the door-way.

"Mikey, get over here." the smile on Tad-poles face was welcoming.

In an effort to appear as his usual casual self, Mike sauntered over to the bar and held his hand out to Tadpole. The men shook hands and Mike ordered a beer.

"I thought you’d still be recovering from last night?" asked Tadpole, a knowing smile on his lips.

Mike chuckled, "It’s not the drink ya gotta look out for," he said, his eyes darting about the room.

"Yeah, you’re right…" Tadpole grinned as he watched Mike studying the bar. "It’s the women!"

Mike’s eyes flew back to him in an in-stant, "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"I’m just saying, a woman can stay in your system a hell of a lot longer than alcohol can."

"This beer tastes like shit!" cried Mike. "It must be flat, gimme another one, would ya?"

 He pushed the frothy ale back on the bar and pulled his cigarettes from his pocket, angry that Tadpole was goading him over the waitress. He understood that sleeping with a waitress from his regular bar was likely to cause problems, but he had been prepared for that. What he hadn’t been prepared for was the fact that he would actually fall for her and end up making a fool of himself in front of his drinking buddies.

"Here you go," said Tadpole, sliding an-other beer over to him. "Fresh keg. Spiked it myself just now."

"Bloody well oughta be, too," replied Mike.

Tadpole stared at him for a while.

Mike wondered if it was obvious to Tad-pole that he was looking for the girl. He was determined he wouldn’t mention her unless Tadpole asked about her.

"So," Mike began, his eyes still wandering all over the bar. "How’s the wife and kids?"

"Great thanks, mate. The littlest one’s just cut his first tooth actually."

"Really?" It was clear Mike was more interested in the scenery than hearing about Tadpoles family.

"Yep."

"That’s exciting and all Tadpole, but I’m gonna wander outside for a bit. Have a smoke, enjoy me beer…"

"By all means, Mikey. Go for it." Tadpole tried hard to disguise his humour over the situation.

Mike stepped out onto the smokers deck and sat his beer on the table next to the railing. He pulled a cigarette from his packet and lit it. The bright orange flame danced at the end of his smoke, it’s blue centre glowing against the curtain of darkness behind it. He tucked the lighter back into his packet and sat them on the table. He picked up his beer and gulped it down leaving only about an inch in the bottom. He needed an excuse to call the waitress over when he finally spotted her… if he ever spotted her. No matter where he looked, he couldn’t find her. Maybe she wasn’t working tonight.

Still staring into the bar, Mike drew back on his cigarette and swallowed the last of his beer. He glanced down at his watch and saw that it was only 9.05pm. Perhaps she hadn’t started just yet. Although, it was around this time last night that he and Ben had seen her there. With the empty beer glass in his hand, he crushed out his cigarette and ventured back into the bar, determined to find what he was looking for. The pool table was crowded with a dozen or more young men, all drunk and all believing they were the next Eddie Charlton. They hud-dled together at the far end of the table, forming a tight knit circle. When they dispersed, Mike saw her familiar face, she was standing in the middle of the group, her tray loaded with empty glasses.