A History Of Violence - Violentine AU

Chapter Three: Straight Up

As they drove further into the city, the buildings seemed to progressively get taller. Violet wondered why that was, if there was someone who had planned it all out or if it was simply a coincidence. The dilemma was entirely pointless to consider, she knew it was just the way cities were. Violet was trying to distract herself from the anxiety that threatened to overcome her, the same anxiety that had been eating away at her since last Saturday. At first she had been excited, but the more she dwelled on her plan to ask Clementine out, the more she worried.
What if she's straight? And even if she isn't, maybe I'm not good enough for her? Maybe she's already seeing someone?
Her mind tortured her for days on end with thoughts of her own inadequacies.
Louis seemed to pick up on her stress, lightly tapping her shoulder while he drove to get her attention.
"Vi, don't worry, you got this." He said in a soft, reassuring voice.
Violet weakly nodded and took a deep breath, they were almost at the bar.
He's right, I've got this.
She wasn't sure she believed Louis, or herself for that matter, but she figured it would help somewhat to feign confidence.
They pushed open the door to the bar and made for an empty table, of which there were many. The venue wasn't even half as full as the previous week. A few patrons sat at the bar and the rest were scattered about the tables, talking amongst themselves. Violet and Louis sat down opposite each other, she cast a nervous glance over at the bar. As anticipated, Clementine was standing behind it serving drinks. Violet stared down at the table, noticing a sticky patch where someone had spilled their drink.
"So, what now?" Louis asked.
Violet didn't really have an answer for him, she hadn't thought this far ahead. She gave him a shrug.
"You know what? Because I'm such a good friend and overall nice guy, I'll help you out," she raised her head to hear him out, "I'll stay with you at the table until you're ready, when you are, you're gonna go over and sit at the bar and talk to her. Once you've broken the ice a little bit, ask her out."
"That's not a plan."
"What, did you want me to give you a script? You know how to talk to people Vi. You might not like to, but it's not that hard."
Violet slumped back in her seat, letting herself slip down, almost to the point of being horizontal.
"You don't have to challenge her to a fistfight, just go up and say hi. Ask her how her day's been, make conversation. You'll be fine."
She knew he was right. Once in a while Louis gave genuinely good advice, Violet was thankful he was willing to come here with her. As much as he got on her nerves, there was a reason Louis was her best friend. She sat back up and sighed.
"Okay, just give me a minute."
"I'll do you one better, I'll give you a drink." He left the table and went up to the bar before returning with two drinks in hand. He set the beer down in front of her and opened his can of soda with a metallic crack. Violet glanced at the soda and up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey I've got to drive, remember?" He said, taking a large gulp.
Violet eyed her own drink for a moment before raising the bottle to her lips and taking a swig. She figured having a drink beforehand would help calm her down somewhat. Although Violet had experienced firsthand why drinking before doing something daunting wasn't a very good model of decision making.
Years before, after a party, Marlon and Mitch had tried to climb a flagpole in high school. They had both been completely plastered at the time and the escapade ended with one of them in hospital due to a broken collarbone.
Nonetheless, she finished the contents of the bottle quickly. Violet stole a quick look at the bar, noticing that there were only two people sitting there. She took a deep breath, nodded to Louis, stood up and began walking towards Clementine.
She pulled up a stool at the bar, folding her arms on the wooden top in front of her. Clementine walked over, she put down the glass she was wiping and threw the towel over her shoulder.
"Hey again." Clementine said cheerfully.
"Hey." Violet said quietly, looking up at the girl.
"I don't know if you recognized me the other day, we ran into each other in the store?"
Violet recalled their encounter the prior week, and how she practically ran away after interacting with Clementine for less than a minute.
"Oh yeah. No I recognized you." She laughed nervously.
"Okay, you must have been in a hurry then. You left pretty fast." Clementine laughed sincerely.
"I was uhhh....getting cereal. I had nothing for breakfast so I wanted to go home....to eat it." Violet immediately regretted saying that.
Great, now I sound like an idiot. This is off to a good start.
"Must have been some good cereal then."
Violet nodded, having no idea how to answer that.
"So, what can I get you?" Clementine continued, clapping her hands together.
"I don't know. Whatever's popular I guess?" Violet shrugged.
Clementine paused for a moment to think, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"A bunch of people ordered whiskey tonight, does that sound good?" She said.
"Yeah sure, whiskey sounds good."
"Straight or mixed with something?"
"Umm, I'll have it with coke."
"No problem. I'll be right back." Clementine said with a smile. She walked to the left side of the bar and began mixing the drink, Violet turned around in her seat and looked at Louis. He gave her a thumbs up and shrugged, seemingly asking how the conversation was going. Violet shrugged and Louis raised his thumbs up higher, wearing a smirk. She rolled her eyes at him and turned back. As awkward as it had been in the beginning, she had to admit, it felt like it could have been going much worse.
Clementine returned with the drink in hand, placing it on the counter in front of Violet. She inadvertently glanced at Clementine's missing finger again, quickly turning her gaze towards the drink.
"Here you go, enjoy." Clementine said enthusiastically.
Violet thanked her and took a sip, the coke masked the taste of the whiskey enough that it went down easily. Clementine leaned back against the sink behind her, holding her weight with her arms. She tapped her fingers on the edge of the metal trough, as if she was waiting for something.
"You can ask you know." She suddenly said, causing Violet to spasmodically choke on her drink.
"Wh...what?" She asked, flustered.
"My finger, I saw you looking at it last time and just now. You can ask about it, I'm not gonna take offense." She laughed.
"Oh...uhh, ok. So what happened?" Violet took Clementine's prompt.
"When I was a teenager, I was with some friends hanging around this old quarry. We were messing around and I decided to climb across this wooden beam on the outside of a building. I got up onto it and started to move across," she mimed the action, holding her hands up in front of her, "I guess all my shuffling around must have knocked something, this big piece of sheet metal came loose and slid down the wall. I fell off, it took me a second to notice I was bleeding, and you can imagine my surprise when I also noticed my finger was missing." She maintained a smile the entire time she told the story, like it was a good memory.
"We all freaked out and ran home. My dad took me to the hospital and they sewed it up, but since we didn't grab the finger they had nothing to reattach."
Violet found herself leaning forward, resting her chin on her fist. She was enraptured by the story, concerned, but enraptured nonetheless.
"Shit, I'm sorry." She said.
Clementine laughed.
"Don't be. If fourteen year old me wasn't such a show off I'd still have all ten fingers."
She rapidly leaned forward, her curls swinging back and forth in front of her face. Violet's heart began beating faster and her face went hot. There was little more than a few inches between them. When Violet breathed in, she could smell Clementine's sweet perfume.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," she whispered, "I actually kind of like it, makes me feel a bit more interesting."
Violet was frozen, she was completely entranced, gazing into Clementine's honey-coloured eyes.
Holy shit, she's so fucking pretty.
Clementine twisted her lip into a half smile and leaned back out, taking up her position by the sink again. Violet screamed internally, wishing she could be that close to Clementine again.
"So you do urban exploration then?" She finally said.
"I used to, kinda stopped after I lost my finger." She giggled, Violet loved the way she laughed.
"I work for this urbex magazine, I go pretty regularly and take pictures of all these abandoned places."
"That's so cool."
Violet took another sip of her drink.
"Oh my god!" Clementine suddenly exclaimed, startling Violet.
"I just realised, I never asked your name."
She cocked her head to the side slightly with an expectant expression.
"Oh, I'm Violet."
"It's nice to meet you officially Violet. I'm Clementine." She brushed some hair out of her face and tucked it under her cap.
Violet didn't realise it until that moment, but she had also been smiling the entire time.
"Hey, I-." Violet began.
"Bartender!"
Someone on the far end of the bar called her over, Clementine shrugged.
"Duty calls I guess, I'll be back." She said, leaving.
Violet sighed, she was about to ask. She wondered why the universe hated her so much.
She heard quick footsteps behind her and craned her neck to see the source. Louis stopped and crouched down to her level.
"Looks like things are going well." He said.
"Yeah actually. Thanks for your help."
"Great. Look I have to bounce, good luck."
He went to walk away but Violet grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back, much to his dismay.
"What do you mean you're going?" She hissed, lowering her voice.
"Ow. I've got stuff to do tonight, just have fun. Call me if you need a ride home, or maybe you'll have other arrangements?" He said, pointing with his thumb at Clementine.
Violet's face turned red again. Before she could stop him, Louis practically ran out of the door.
"God damn it Louis!"
"Good luck!" His voice trailed out the door, cutting off completely as it shut.
Clementine wandered back over, having served the other customer.
"Sorry, what were you going to say before?"
This was her chance, they had been talking for a while and Clementine seemed comfortable enough with her to tell personal stories.
"I was wondering if, like, I don't know..." Violet trailed off, pausing for a moment, "I....could have another drink?" The last few words drained from her as she sighed.
Violet was furious with herself, how could she backpedal like that when the sole reason she came to the bar that night was to ask Clementine out.
"Yeah, no problem. Did you want it with coke again?" Clementine asked, taking the bottle of whiskey down from the shelf. Violet shook her head.
"Straight up." She solemnly muttered, taking the glass Clementine gave her.
She drank it quickly, not wanting to have to feel her embarrassment any more than she needed to.
She continued to chat with Clementine for a while, mostly small talk, until more customers took their seats at the bar. Clementine was pulled over to serve them, leaving Violet to stew in her own thoughts. She preferred not listen to those however, and instead chose to listen to the thoughts that were telling her to have another glass of whiskey. Violet topped up her glass, pouring high from the bottle Clementine had left for her.