We Can't Run From Fate

Jack woke with the girl still asleep beside him, her name lost in a haze of alcohol and kisses. It didn’t matter to Jack though, it wasn’t like she’d be sticking around. Seeing the time, Jack got up and made for the shower, trying to remove the smell of booze and sweat from his skin. The girl was still asleep when Jack returned, his hair still damp - he hadn’t bothered to dry it. Writing a note for the girl and leaving it on the bedside table, Jack grabbed his jacket and phone from the floor where they’d been thrown the night before and left his apartment. Jack hardly ever stayed and waited for a girl to wake, he liked to be up and out before they even realised he was gone. Otherwise it meant too many awkward questions that he could never answer. Jack always left them with a message, something like having to go in early for work and that he’d call them. He never did, of course, he just wasn’t that kinda guy. He liked the sex, and the meaninglessness of it; the way he could feel the fire in his veins but never had to deal with the aftermath.
The truth was that Jack didn’t have to be at work for a good few hours, but he enjoyed being out in the morning. He was free to do whatever he pleased without having to worry about other people. He walked past a few coffee stands on the docks, his favourite smell filling the air as he slowly made his way to what Jack thought was the best café in Baltimore. He loved walking down by the docks, the sun was shining and everything just felt warm and comforting. On his way Jack passed his favourite shop- a music shop. Its windows were always decked out with shiny new guitars, drums and basses that Jack had to stop himself drooling over. He loved music and he wished one day he’d be able to play guitar as well as his heroes. After breakfast, which consisted of a tower of blueberry pancakes and more coffee, Jack began his walk to work.

He strolled into work half an hour later, a coffee in hand to find Eliza leaning on the bar as she cleaned up.
“We pay people for that, you know,” he said, placing his half finished drink front of her.
“I know, but I like to be able to see my face in it,” she said, giving the bar one last polish.
“Don’t crack it – that shit’s expensive.”
“Hey!”
“So, how was last night?” he asked. It had been quite late by the time he’d left but he always felt guilty leaving Eliza to handle everything alone, so he made sure to ask.
“No more crazy than normal. How about you? How was she?” Eliza asked, taking a sip of Jack’s remaining coffee.
“She was... Good, yeah, it was good”
“Well, I’m glad someone got some last night.”
“Still no luck in the girlfriend department then?” Jack asked.
“None. I swear Baltimore is the black hole for gay women.”
Jack laughed and leant back against the bar. He’d known Eliza for nearly two years and apart from a few bad dates here and there, she’d been pretty much single.
“Okay enough chit chat, we’ve got a party coming in today so we better make this place look like the 5 star establishment we know it is.”
While Eliza sorted out more with the behind the scenes stuff, like taking bookings and helping with the ordering of stuff, Jack was much more on the music side of things. He dealt with all the music that went on at the bar, from making the playlists for the night to finding DJ’s to come in to do sets for them, even a few bands every so often. However, on that particular night it was just Jack, so whatever party they had in would just have to enjoy Jack’s eclectic taste of everything from Third Blind Eye to Taylor Swift.

By the time the party was in full swing, Jack was singing and dancing with the best of them. He was always more front of house when it came to the Rockwell. He talked to the customers, he got the party going and even served a few drinks when he could; but if it was anything other than shots he was pretty much lost. Green Day’s American Idiot was blasting and Jack and a few of the party goers were doing their best air guitar impressions on top one of the tables. Jack could see a girl looking at him; he’d caught her eye a few times during the night but hadn’t gone up to talk to her yet. When the song ended, he jumped down from the table they’d been using as a temporary stage and began walking over to the girl. But before he could get to her, someone pulled him back.
“Hey!”
“Jack, can I have a word?” Eliza asked, leading him back behind the bar.
“What’s up?”
“I started talk to this girl and she asked if I’d go for a drink with her, like, now. Obviously if you had plans I wouldn’t, but...”
“No, I’m fine, you go girl - you need to get laid at least once!” he teased.
“Thanks, Jack,” she said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“If anything goes wrong or you don’t know what to do, you can call me...”
“Shut up! I’m fine, this place is half mine, y’ know?” he said, pushing her closer to the door.
“Just... Just don’t burn the place down.”
“I won’t! Have some faith in me.”
“I’m so going to regret this....”
“Just go! Your date’s waiting.”
“Thanks again for this, Jack.”
“No problem, God knows you look after this place enough while I’m out doing... Stuff.”
She waved him goodbye at the back door before running off down the street to meet with her date.
Jack went back out to the front of the bar; the music was still playing and people seemed to be having a good time. The girl from before caught Jack’s eye again but he shook his head - he couldn’t, not that night. He took his place behind the bar and began to take people’s orders. They really needed more bar staff but they hadn’t got as far as hiring more. It had been a busy few weeks. The summer was ending and people wanted to fit in a party before work life took over again.
“Can I have Slippery Nipple, please?”
“Shit” Jack muttered, faking a smile. It was Eliza who always dealt with the complicated orders - Jack wondered if it was too early to call for help...

It was somewhere after 2am when Jack locked up the doors to the Rockwell. If he was lucky, he’d be in time to catch the last bus of the night, the one that stopped at the bottom of his street. Of course he could have walked or even ordered a taxi but both of those things look time and effort; Jack was many things and being a lazy ass was one of them. The bus arrived dead on time at the bus stop down the street from the Rockwell and it was completely empty - just how Jack liked it. He took a seat about half way down, next to the window and stared out of it, looking forward to getting into his bed and starting the whole thing again tomorrow. It was only three stops before Jack got to his stop but on the second another person got on, another guy about his age; Jack wouldn’t really have noticed if the brunette hadn’t sat right next to him. An empty bus and they had to sit next to him - Jack would have said something if the boy hadn’t already been falling asleep. So Jack let it slide; it wasn’t far till his stop anyway. They’d only been going for another few minutes when the boy’s head fell onto Jack’s shoulder. But it wasn’t that made them both jump out of their seats -no. It was the burning deep in their veins, the burning that came from the moment their skin touched, all from the marks on their skin that could only mean one thing...
“Fuck!” Jack muttered.