Cuffed. [Norman Reedus]

9*Hey Bartender.

Chapter Nine ::: Hey Bartender.

{*UNEDITED*}

It's seven AM, and I'm still at home feeding Buck some macaroni from last night's dinner. "Shit," I mumble, noticing how late I am as I jump into my shoes. "Don't ruin the place!" I yell back at my dog before heading out the door in a rush (even though I obviously know that he doesn't understand a word I say to him.)

When I get to Boone's bar, I park my bike in the back and scope out the place for an unlocked door. I spot a tall metal door near a trashcan that's propped open with a rock that has a note attached to it:

Close the door behind you, Norman. ~Boone

I walk inside, kicking the rock out and walk down the hall until I emerge in the actual bar. Most everything is made of a burgundy wood that shines, and there's cool nick-knacks all over the walls like license plates and photography. Boon is cleaning the counter-top with a damp rag when he spots me.

"You are awfully late." he looks at the clock that hangs sideways above the front door. "But that's okay. Come back here, and I'll go get Janice." he says.

I feel a bit of pride for my buddy. Either Janice is threatening him, or he's found a way to pull himself together in the short time between now and the party. As I wait I try to imagine what things Janice could've done to help set Boone straight. I already know he's being punished by sleeping on the couch, but I would think it would take more than that to fix Boone's attitude.

Boone walks to the back room, returning a moment later with Janice, interrupting my thoughts. She's wearing a red button-down shirt with a nice collar, jeans, and a white apron. Dress-code, I'm guessing.

"I'm assuming you only need a refresher from last time?" she asks, walking behind the bar to stand in front of me. I nod, remembering the first few months when Boone opened up this place. I was his second worker, so I remember most of the drinks and generally where everything is.

"Alright," she begins. "Beer levers are right over their, and you know the whole 'ID' thing." I nod as she talks, not bothering with asking stupid questions due to my laziness. "Okay, and there's water and soda behind you. Menus down here, and we have an emergency chart of drink recipes just in case you forget. Also, we don't sell the Arctic Terror anymore. . ." she glances over at her boyfriend with an iffy look on her face, supposedly recalling an incident that involved the crazy alcoholic drink.

I click my tongue, "Okay, I think I'm good." I say smiling.

Janice looks at me relieved "Thanks for remembering most everything. I was not in the mood to give the big speech."

"I wasn't in the mood to listen." I respond.

With a chuckle, Janice returns to the back kitchen and leaves me and Boone to make small-talk while we wait for opening time to come around.

"Well, uh, that took a whole lot less time than I'd expected." Boone says, continuing to clean and organize. "We don't open until eight, so, you know, feel free to hang out and watch whatever on TV."

I bounce on the balls of my feet, sort of getting used to my surroundings again. I haven't stepped foot in this place for a long time, and never thought I'd be working here again. I shrug off those thoughts even though they're keeping me busy, and find the T.V. remote under the counter.

The first channel up is the news, which I've never been a fan of, so I flip through the guide until I spot a football game between Georgia State and Ohio State.

"Hey, uh, so did things work out with you and that Vampire girl?" Boone asks, interrupting the game.

I glance down in his direction but don't fully look at him, thinking about her. "Her name's Ella. And yeah. . . She came over the other day." I say, peering back up at the television. Boone blows air out through his nose in a lame attempt at a chuckle.

"Hey man, good score! I bet she's-"

I plow through Boone's statement before he can finish. "No, she's not just some 'good score' like a stupid high school bet. I want to be serious about this one. Treat her with respect." I don't know where it's coming from but there's a maturity inside me when I either see Ella or think about her. It locks up the risky side of me that would think to just tap her and leave.

Boone shuts up, shocked to hear this wisdom coming from his life-long idiot as a friend, and just sort of eases back into cleaning like nothing had happened.

"Oh, I got a new dog, too." I say, seeking to break the slow tension.

Boone actually laughs at this one, "Didn't you hate dogs back not-so-long-ago?"

I smirk, "Yeah, it's kind of a long story."

Boone just shakes his head smiling as he finishes tidying up. After that, me and him watch the game like old times until the bar opens up at eight.

(A/N: I know that ended suddenly and it's way shorter than I'd hoped but writers block is literally killing me I hate it so much and I just want to stop this chapter now before I drag it on and make it boring! It's better than nothing, and this is my apologies for the awfully long wait between Chapter 8 and 9 but here it is, in all it's wimpy glory. . . Thanks for reading and voting! Comment what you all think about Norman's whole thought-process on this new little crush he has! Bye!) ~writingslayer