The Day I Met You

The girls talked me out of calling Buster. The beach bum dealing with FMX riders was definitely not a good idea, although Buster would love talking injuries with them. I continued cleaning not aware of what on Earth I could do. I finished mopping, the stereo was turned off, and there was another loud bang against the door. Jamie and Sally were questioning me about who it could be, but I knew without looking.

“Hey Jessie,” I sighed as I opened the door for him. He took one look at my exasperated expression before he dropped his bag on the floor. He engulfed me in a hug that was sweet and warm.

“Are you alright,” he whispered in my ear before letting me go. I gave a vague nod as I looked at his appearance for the night. He’d gotten a haircut and slicked his hair back. I guessed he had a black night plan since he was wearing white sunglasses, fingerless gloves, and tee-shirt under his black vest, jeans and converse.

“Been a rough day, that’s all,” I replied as I forced a smile.

“Where’s the classic rock I normally find you dancing too,” he asked. The curiosity and worry were evident in his voice as he picked up his bag.

“I was listening to my usual station on the stereo until my friends came to tell me the news.” I nodded towards Jamie and Sally standing to the side of the bar with their mouths hung open slightly staring at him.

I didn’t understand why they were staring. He had chocolate colored hair that was usually messy, but it was clean cut now. His eyes always seemed to have a happy, warm, glint, and his cheeks offset by a high bone structure always had a very light pink tint because he always seemed to smile. His smile was one of the more handsome things about him because he had perfect pearly white teeth surrounded by full pink lips. He was muscular with sun kissed skin. He had one tribal tattoo on his left shoulder, which wasn’t visible through his white tee-shirt. They couldn’t see the part of him that was worth staring at; the part that was covered by the large brown leather wrist bands. They couldn’t see his scars.

“Um,” he began to ask as he was distracted by the two blonds. Jamie and Sally were both ripped from their sports. Sally was tan; Jamie was a little less tan. Sally had green eyes and Jamie had blue. Both girls were wearing short skirts and tank tops with matching accessories. They were hot. Jessie shook his head, “What’s the news?”

“First off, that’s Jamie in the blue and Sally in the red. Jamie is a snowboarder who rides for Rock Star Energy, and the entire FMX world is coming to party with us tonight,” I explained. “Guys, this is Jessie, the D.J.”

“Hello Jessie,” Jamie said as she eyed him. Sally kept staring.

“Okay…,” Jessie trailed off as I brushed his vest off. “So it’s still classic rock night right?”

I laughed. I couldn’t control my fit of giggles. I shrugged my shoulders as I walked over to his D.J. turntable. He pulled out his laptop before plugging it into the speakers. I finally regained my composure as I flipped through the songs on the play lists. “Every night around here is classic rock night,” I finally retorted.

Jessie gave me a lopsided grin as he replied, “Because you like Bryan Adams so much.” Sally and Jamie “awed” at the same time.

“Yeah, yeah,” I laughed while play hitting his shoulder. “Classic rock it is.”



Half an hour later, Jessie was playing his set list for us, which was basically my iPod on shuffle except for a few Top40 songs he decided to throw in. His musical motto was always if what we pick doesn’t work out then Pandora Radio has to have something to fit the crowd. It worked before plenty of nights.

It was 8:01 when I unlocked the doors. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I felt a little disappointed. There was no big line outside the door. The regulars staggered in; Frank, Jay, Christian, and Lauri. I took my place behind the bar as I set the glasses out. Frank loved his beer from the tap, Jay always wanted his whiskey on the rocks, Christian took Bloody Marys with the tabasco sauce on the side, and Lauri loved her Slow Gin and orange juice. I grabbed a long neck beer. I was about to take it to Jessie, but Sally stopped me. “What are you doing,” she asked with a sly grin on her face.

“Working,” I half asked.

“Looks like you’re flirting to me,” she giggled. I rolled my eyes.

“Do you and Jamie want beers or what,” I asked, obviously ignoring what I knew she was suggesting.

“Yes, please,” she answered. “Oh, and I’ll take this to the cute D.J.” Sally winked at me as she sashayed toward Jessie. I shrugged and walked back to the bar. I motioned for Jamie to come sit on the empty barstool in front of me as I popped the lid off another long neck.

“So…” Jamie trailed off as she glanced over her shoulder. Sally was trying her best to keep Jessie’s attention.

“I thought you’re FMX guys would show up by now.”

She laughed, “So did I. Apparently, Deegan isn’t good with times unless he’s got a run to do.”

I smiled, “I wasn’t looking forward to Deegan, you know.”

“What do you mean,” curiosity got the better of her.

“I wanted to see…” I trailed off as people began to enter the bar.

First, I saw that famous Rock Star Energy hat cocked just a little to the side hiding those bright blue eyes. That white tee-shirt was definitely Deegan’s color. The woman in the little black dress with perfect long chocolate curls on his arm must have been his wife. The Mulisha, as Jamie called it, filed in after Deegan all wearing something to represent Rock Star.

“Um, let me buy you a drink,” Jamie tried to pull my attention away from the crowd. That’s when he walked in.

Those green eyes were darker now that the sun wasn’t out. His black hair fell messily over one eye. I realized for the first time that he was actually short for a guy standing around five foot six. He was limping. I couldn’t look away from him. Maybe it was his Monster Energy gear, but I couldn’t be sure what caught my attention. Not until he smiled.

A woman with straight dark hair walked in behind him. She had almost as many tattoos as he did, but she was taller. She was beautiful. He reached back for her hand. She took his hand before kissing his cheek. I felt my heart drop.

“That’s his wife,” Jamie informed me. My heart was crushed.

“I think I’ll take you up on that drink.” I poured two whiskeys. Instead of spitting mine back into the empty beer bottle like I usually did when someone insisted on buying me a drink, I took the shot. My eyes caught Jessie’s as I swallowed hard.

“Alright guys, D.J.’s taking five. Listen to the new Top40 hits provided by Pandora Radio,” Jessie announced over his mic. Sally looked disappointed as he half ran to the bar.

“Call Buster,” I said before he even got to me. His cell phone was out as he was heading for the door.

“Rey,” Jamie started, but my mind was already whirling. Kyle Loza spotted me, and he was limping towards me with his wife in tow.