Betty Cooper smoothed her skirt over her thighs as she opened the heavy door to the dark bar.
It was her second week in New York City - she had spent every waking moment in her office. She wanted to come straight to New York after she graduated high school, but her mother insisted she went to North Western, as they had one of the best Journalism programs in the country. She spent all her time studying and missed out on building relationships with people.
It was her first night of freedom, and there was only one thing on her mind.
It was cool outside, so Betty had thrown her worn leather jacket over her outfit. Once she was inside, a wave of humidity overwhelmed her. She shrugged her jacket off, revealing a deep v-neck top, red as blood, as she strode to the stools lining the bar.
She chose one, second from the end, and eyed the man behind the counter. He had black jeans on and a t-shirt sporting the name of a band she'd never heard of. He put a well worn book down behind him as he strode over to her.
"What can I get you?" He asked her, brushing his hair back from his face.
"A cosmopolitan, please." Betty answered, hooking her jacket over the back of the stool. She crossed her long legs as the bartender chuckled to himself.
She raised an eyebrow.
He shook his head as he poured her drink and set it before her in a whisky glass. "The dish washer quit yesterday. No clean martini glasses." He quipped as he wandered away.
"This is fine." Betty said, pulling the coaster closer to her. She took a sip of her drink and eyed the bartender again. He was at the opposite end of the bar, pouring a tequila shot for an older woman in a jean jacket.
Betty unlocked the screen on her cellphone when it buzzed against her thigh. After a moment, an audible sigh escaped her mouth as she put her phone face-down against the counter. She downed half her drink as the bar tender came back to her side of the bar.
"Get stood up?" He asked gruffly.
"Sort of. Not that it's any of your business, but my roommate was supposed to meet me, She's decided to stay in with her girlfriend."
"You want another drink?"
Betty bit the inside of her cheek. Really, she should just go home. But fuck it. She was here now. "Sure."
"You new in town?" He asked as he made her concoction.
"Yeah," Betty answered as he set the drink down in front of her. "I went to school in Illinois, continued living there for a few years after school ended. I wanted to come to New York for college, but - well, not important. I'm here now. Out of Riverdale. That's all that matters."
Jughead stared at her for a moment before opening his mouth. "Riverdale, New York?"
Betty nodded. "I'm surprised you've heard of it."
"Heard of it? I lived there until I was seven. Then I moved to Toldeo."
"Small world." Betty took the cherry out of her drink and popped it into her mouth, her plump lips parting around the stem. She looked Jughead in the eye.
He held her gaze, a smirk forming on his lips until a large man a few stools down cleared his throat. "Yo, Jug, another beer."
Jughead wandered toward the man, pulling a beer from the fridge under the bar.
Betty took a sip of her cosmopolitan as a balding man with a tattoo on his head sat down beside her.
"Evenin'" He commented, looking her up and down. "How much?"
