RaStro FicS

She keeps me warm (3)

From across the room, Chynna watched as her best friend held on to the bottle of water way too long and now it appeared Glaiza was refusing to let go of the other woman's hand. "Hmmm...interesting." She immediately went to the jukebox, deposited the rest of her change and hit #21 several times.

While still holding the bartender's hand that didn't feel awkward at all, Rhian asked. "Is that a new song?"

Smiling, Glaiza nodded her head. "She's from Seattle. My friend requested it." The short hair realized she wasn't making sense and tried to correct her meaning. "Not my friend." Glaiza glanced over toward Chynna and smiled.

Chynna waved and made brief eye contact with the woman who was still holding her best friend's hand.

Returning her eyes to Rhian, Glaiza continued. "She's from here. My friend that is. I meant the singer was from Seattle."

Shyly, Rhian looked deeply into sincere brown and smiled. "I know...what you meant. I like it."

A comfortable silence settled between them as the song concluded only to start up again. They both laughed in tandem when they heard the familiar song filling the room.

For the next couple of hours, Rhian remained rooted on the barstool sipping her water. For some reason, she was willing to wait patiently for her friend for when they were ready to leave.

When a customer called out to Glaiza for a special brand of beer, the bartender winked and said. "I'll be right back."

Rhian watched her new friend disappear into the back room. She stared at the door for a long moment and was only brought out of her musing when a hand touched her arm.

"You okay?" Ronnie asked.

Suddenly back in the moment, Rhian nodded. "I'm fine." For some reason, she couldn't keep the silly grin off her face and when Glaiza walked back out of the door carrying a case of beer, the smile grew wider.

"Hey, give me that!" Ronnie rushed up and relieved Glaiza of her load. "What I'd tell ya, I'd get it?"

Stretching her back around in obvious pain, Glaiza shrugged. "Customer wanted some beer." The short hair reached around and rubbed the right side of her lower back.

Ronnie twisted around and placed the case on the back of the bar then pointed at Glaiza. "You, sit!" He waited till his part time bartender agreed and pulled up a tall stool right across from Rhian. "Now stay. I've got it." He noticed the smile on Rhian's face brighten. "And you."

Rhian's eyes widened.

"Make sure she doesn't move."  Ronnie winked and picked up the case of beer then turned to his anxious customers. "I'm coming, hold your horses."

Rhian gave a silent thank you to the man that had offered her anything she wanted in the bar that night. And quite unexpectedly, to the young girl's surprise, she had gotten the very wish she didn't know she had longed for.

Glaiza shrugged. "Guess we're stuck together."

Rhian flashed her gray eyes and then blushed at her own comment. "And what a nice place to be stuck."

Glaiza hissed.

Chynna was reluctant to interrupt the enchanted interlude, but did anyway. "Glaiza?" She snapped her fingers in front of her best friend. "Glaiza?"

"Huh?" Her brown eyes were still locked on to gray as the song continued to play in the background. "I think the jukebox is stuck or something. It keeps playing the same song."

Rhian leaned closer as she played with the label on her water bottle. "I know."

Chynna looked back and forth between the two mesmerized women. She turned to Rhian. "Since my best friend won't introduce us, I'm Chynna Hortaleza." The pixie hair stuck out her hand and nodded toward Glaiza. "But you couldn't tell...not the way she's ignoring me."