Stay Cruel and Represent

The obnoxiously loud sound of a song called, “Booty Bounce” by Dev played in the bar. The bass was thumping off the hard wood floors and making my head pound.

“Daisy, can you please turn that shit down?” I yelled over the music.

Daisy went over to the sound system and turned down the volume before sticking her tongue out at me.

I turned back to the customer sitting at the bar in front of me. “I’m sorry, what did you say you’ll have?”

“Yuengling.” The man in front of me answered. He was very handsome and I couldn’t help but to notice his pretty eyes. He detected me staring at him for a second too long and raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Yuengling, sorry, got it.” I quickly added so I could turn by back to him and find his beer.

“It’s okay,” I heard him chuckle behind me. “Take your time.”

I ruffled through the ice boxes of beer that were behind the bar. Each one had a label with a different brand written on the top. They were all in alphabetical order so I had to go to the very end to grab the right one. I flipped open the top and pulled out an ice cold Yuengling before shuffling back to the customer.

I was about to hand it to him when I noticed that my lanyard, with the bar key and beer cap remover, was no longer in my pocket. I bit my lip and lowered my eyebrows.

“Um,” I laughed nervously and gave out a defeated sigh. “You don’t happen to have a cap remover, do you?”

He laughed back at me and shook his head. “Not on me.”

“I mean, I can still get it off, it’s just not very… appropriate.” I shrugged.

“Go for it.”

I lifted the beer to my lips and used my teeth to pop off the cap. It took a second, but I finally snapped the top and the beer let out a relieved spritz and fizzed down. I set the open bottle in front of the guy and tossed the cap in the trashcan behind me.

The guy laughed and nodded, taking the beer off the bar with one hand and placing it to his lips. “Well that’s a good talent to have.”

“It took years to learn that maneuver.” I smiled.

“Well thank you.” He said after taking a long sip.

I gave him an encouraging smile before making my way out of the bar area towards the pool tables. Daisy was back there playing pool with a regular, Joey, who always came in to flirt with her.

“Who’s winning?” I asked

“Who do you think?” Daisy said, fluttering her eyes at me.

“Not for long.” Joey retaliated.

I laughed and slyly pulled Daisy to the side as Joey got ready for his next shoot. She stumbled away from the pool tables as I moved her.

“Daisy, do you know that guy?” I asked, flicking my head towards Yuengling-guy at the bar.

She shook her head. “No, but I’d like to.”

I rolled my eyes and pinched her. She slapped my arm back.

“It’s rare to get someone new around in the middle of the day.” I commented. We were both staring at him like hawks.

“Well, he’s the only one at the bar, go talk to him. Isn’t that what bartenders are supposed to do? Like, talk with the customers and be the therapists to their drunken lives?”

“I guess so.” I replied, looking around the bar. She was right; he was the only person sitting at the bar. There was a pair of older men sitting at a table, both nursing mugs of rum and coke, and then there was Joey, but the only one actually sitting at the bar was Yuengling-guy. “I have nothing better to do.”

“Then do it!” She squeaked and slapped me on the butt to get me moving. I staggered away, rubbing my butt cheek.

As I walked around the tables I noticed him watching the wrestling fight on the big screen TV. When I got to the bar, however, he turned his head and his eyes landed on me. I looked down as if I hadn’t noticed and started to open a cardboard box that was on the floor. It was full of paper napkins.

“Miss?” I heard Yuengling-guy ask.

I looked up from the box, slowly popping my head up from behind the bar. I was a little surprised. “Umm… … yeah?”

“Could I have another?” He lifted his hand up with an empty bottle.

“Oh,” I sounded almost reassured. “Of course.”

I went back to the ice box and pulled out another bottle. I popped the lid off again with my teeth and handed it to him. Our fingers touched for a split second when I passed off the drink. It got me a little flustered. He was so damn cute. I opened my mouth and let the beer cap fall into my hand.

“Are you from around here?” I asked him to take my mind off of ogling him.

“No, actually,” He took a sip of his beer. “I’m from New Jersey.”

I was surprised. “…and you’re in this shit city because…?”

He laughed. “I’m in a band. We’re traveling and doing gigs on our own and we needed a real cheap place to stay in Manhattan. We found one just a couple streets up from here.”

“You definitely chose a bad side of the city to stay in,” I sighed, informing him honestly. He shrugged and took another gulp. Then I decided to joke, “have you been mugged yet?”

“Uh, no.”

“Just be careful.” I smiled.

“I can take care of myself.”

I don’t know what came over me; I never get chatty and flirty with guys. I mean, my version of flirting is carrying on a conversation while smiling uncontrollably. That was exactly what I was doing. I cleared my throat. “I’m Grace.”

“That is a beautiful name,” He said, matter-of-factly.

“Thanks.” I could feel my face heat up.

“I’m Lucas.”

I giggled and joked, “Oh, ‘Lucas’, huh. You’re name sucks.”