Promises Made, Promises Broken - SYTYCW (Bad Reputation)

Present Day (Chapter Twenty-Three) Thursday

JOEY

I should’ve banged down Tucker’s door as soon as she slammed it in my face.  Instead, I let the idea of her on a date with Mark eat me up inside.  I glanced at my watch, checking to see if it was early enough for me to start drinking.  Then I laughed.  I was finally no longer required to keep to my dad’s schedule.  

So instead of begging Tucker for forgiveness, I was hopping from bar to bar, downing shots at an alarming rate.  The latest one had music so loud it almost drown out my self-pitying, internal monologue.

"You alone?" 

I looked up, trying to focus on the voice.  I was more than half-cut, and the woman in front of me was a blurry mess.

"Hey," I slurred the word into three syllables, then tried harder to form a coherent sentence. "Yep. It appears that I am...unattached."

"Enjoying the music?"

"The music's all right." I took a big gulp of my beer. 

"Only all right?"

"Yes. But I am having a bit of a hard time seeing the band at the moment." 

I smiled, but I doubted there was a trace of humour in my eyes.  The woman didn't notice.  She just got comfortable, and seated herself right in my lap.

"How about now?" she asked.

"Uh oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Can't reach my drink."

I grabbed her by the legs and shoved her over.

"Easy now," she laughed, shook her hair in my face, and settled on my knee. "I'm a bit breakable"

For the first time, I really focused her features.  Pale skin.  Copper hair.  Huge breasts.

"You a natural redhead?" I asked.

"Not much about me that's natural," she teased. "Hair colour included."

"That's too bad."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with a natural one. A redhead, that is."

She sat back.

"What?" I asked. "I'm as surprised by it as you are."

The woman trailed her fingers along my collarbone. "If you're in love with her…Why are you here?"

I drank a long pull of my beer. "I'm not good enough for her."

"You seem good enough to me."

"Trust me. I'm not even good enough for you."

She finally stood up, put her hands on her hips, and gave me a final stare down.

"If you really don't think you're good enough for me, or anyone else…Maybe you should do something about it."

She flounced away, and I didn’t bother to go after her.

“You’re right,” I muttered, and headed out to find a cab.

***

A thirty-something girl in pajamas answered the door on my third knock.  She slid out into the hall, closed the door, and pressed her back against it.

“Are you trying to get us kicked out?” she hisses.

“Liandra, I presume.”

“How did you get in here?”

“Sad, pretty smile,” I replied.

She sniffed irritably. “You reek like booze.”

“I’m here for Tucker.”

“She’s finally asleep. And even if she was awake, there’s no way in hell I’d let you see her.”

“Whatever she told you about me…It’s not true.”

“You didn’t get to know her on behalf of your dad under the pretence of friendship?” Liandra demanded.

“At first…” I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “No.”

“No? You didn’t then seduce her, and break her heart?”

“The first time I saw her, I didn’t even know who she was. That was before I knew what my dad wanted, and I still thought she was beautiful.”

“You can stow your sad, pretty smile. It won’t work on me.”

“Would you just let me explain?”

“You have about ten seconds before I slam this door and call security.”

“Tell her that the whole time we were together, I’d already made up my mind to help her instead of my dad.”

Liandra’s face softened just a little bit.

“Please,” I said. “Just tell her I’m sorry, and I wish she’d let me tell her that.”

She gave a quick nod, and closed the door.