by Mima
“Don’t give me an answer now,” Brad said before he could say another word. He slipped a card in his hand. “Call me sometime next week and let me know. You have a good night now, Chase!” He slapped him on the arm as he walked away and Lucy quietly followed.
Staring at the card, he was surprised to find it quite professional compared to the man who handed it to him. Something told him that he couldn’t say no to this offer. Something told him he didn’t want to either.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It wasn’t much of a car, but it got him wherever he had to go. After he was kicked out of the family home, Chase had to invest the little money he had into a vehicle, in order to get to and from work. It was an added stress that he certainly didn’t need at that time, but it was also nice to have something that was his own. However, his budget didn’t get him much of a car - a really old Honda Civic, that would’ve been amazing in its day - but this car’s day had long ended and it was hanging on by a wing and a prayer. Fortunately, most of the repairs needed were things he was able to fix himself, in the driveway of his new home. Granted, the weather was pretty crisp, but you do what you have to do.
His Christmas schedule at the gym was quite hectic and that combined with the times when Bud was available, didn’t allow Chase to make his way to Mento until the first week of January. He’d made every effort to avoid Audrey and his family during the holiday season, spending most of his time at Maggie’s house, who insisted he go there for Christmas dinner, since her sister would be in Calgary and it would only be the two of them. Her mother seemed suspicious of their relationship and wondered out loud why he wasn’t enjoying this meal with his family, but she didn’t show that much resistance to him being there.
“He’s my best friend,” Chase later overheard them talking in the kitchen, while he sat in the living room, checking his phone. The two were rattling around dishes and attempting to have a hushed conversation, but the walls were thin in this old house. “Didn’t you ever have a best friend?”
“Not a man,” Her mother’s reply was curt. “Men and women can’t be friends, there’s always something in the background.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Maggie snapped.
“Feelings, attraction,” Her mother’s reply was sharp. “Its never just about friendship and if it is, it never stays that way. Trust me on that one, Maggie.”
“I’m gay, mom,” Maggie spoke quite clearly and the dishes stop rattling. “I wish you would accept it.”
“You’re not gay, Maggie,” Her mother attempted to correct her. “You’re just confused and that boy out there is attracted to you.”
That’s when their conversation ended. That two returned to the room and Chase pretended to not hear a word. He couldn’t help feeling a spark of desire flow through him upon her mother’s assumption that Maggie was confused, rather than gay and wondered if she was right.
The meal was awkward but fortunately, Chase was getting pretty used to awkward. Every aspect of his life was awkward now; his home life, his affair with an older woman and now, the conversation he was set to have with Bud about working at the bar. The idea of working for someone that was connected to his ex felt strange. Not that it mattered, she flew out of town almost as fast as she strolled in. For that, he was relieved.
Rick’s Bar wasn’t exactly the classiest place around, but it wasn’t as bad as he imagined. Not quite 19, he was probably one of the few teenagers around that hadn’t attempted to enter a licensed establishment when he was underage. Drinking had little appeal to him. Drugs had even less of an appeal. He had learned his lesson the hard way.
It was small, but for the most part, clean in appearance. A limited dance floor was in the corner beside a pretty small stage area that wouldn’t allow the musicians much room, but hey, that wasn’t exactly his problem. The bar was quite large, making him wonder how many kinds of poison were hidden behind it and how many people left a place like this, only to do things they would later regret, as he did after his own, last night of partying. Of course, it was closed when he dropped in to speak to Bud about a possible job.
To his surprise, Bud was a gracious interviewer. He met Chase at the door with a smile on his cleanly shaven face, shaking his hand and giving him a heartfelt thank you for taking the time to drop in. Once in the bar, he offered Chase a drink, a cup of coffee and even made reference to some donuts on the counter.
“Make yourself at home,” He instructed. “Whatever you wish.”
“I don’t really drink or eat sugar,” Chase replied, feeling unusually subdued in Bud’s presence. It wasn’t that he was intimidated by him but oddly relaxed. There was a comfort, almost as if he could finally exhale and feel at ease. “I will take a coffee, though.”
“One coffee, coming up,” Bud went behind the bar, grabbing an off-white cup from a tray and grabbed a pot of coffee. After asking Chase what he took, he worked diligently to his instructions and placed it on the bar.
“Hope it’s to your likin’.”
Chase was pleasantly surprised when he took a sip. “This is actually really good, Bud,” He allowed himself to relax and take a long drink. “Where did you learn to make coffee like this?”
“Well, I gotta tell you, I spent a lot of years in AA and for some reason, I got nominated to make the coffee every week,” His brown eyes seemed to brighten with the compliment. He still had a slight ‘white trash’ vibe, but overall he was wearing a reasonably nice shirt, black jeans and his hair was combed neatly, as it touched his shoulders. Pointing toward the office behind the bar, he gestured for Chase to follow him. “You get good at pretty much anything if you do it enough.”
“Fair enough,” Chase smirked and followed him into the office. They didn’t bother to close the door. “So you aren’t opened on Tuesday afternoons?”
“Nah, it’s not worth it right now to open before dinner,” Bud replied as he sat behind the desk. Much to Chase’s surprise, his office was immaculate. Not a crumb on his desk, papers were neatly piled together, a phone book sat on the corner along with a few pens, a notepad and a coffee cup that was already full. “I try to keep it open every evening because that’s when people come out, after work or whatever, but afternoons are too hit and miss to make sense. Plus afternoons tend to attract the wrong kind of people if you know what I mean? If you’re drinking at 2 in the afternoon, you’re probably not a social drinker.”
Chase nodded, agreeing with his logic. Deciding to change gears, he addressed something that had popped in his mind minutes earlier.
“You’re in AA?”
“Yeah, had a bad bout with the liquor back in the day and well,” He reached into a folder on the opposite side of his desk. “Never made sense to keep it up. I made too many bad decisions and you know, got myself in some real trouble and part of the deal was for me to get off the booze and join AA. Best decision of my life.”
“Does it bother you to own a bar?”
“The bar was left to me in Rick’s will, actually, so it wasn’t really my idea but I felt it was right to run it, since that’s what he wanted,” He spoke earnestly, his eyes settling on Chase. “It don’t matter, liquor is everywhere in this town and at least here, I can keep an eye on people a little better. Most people don’t know this, but I have a pretty good relationship with the cops and ah, let’s keep that between you and me.”
Chase wondered what that meant, but decided it was probably better not to ask. Nodding he took another drink of coffee. “Does it ever make you want to drink?”
“Nope,” Bud shook his head and smoothed out the piece of paper before him on the desk. “It actually has no appeal to me, but I got nothing against other people having a good time. Most of them can control themselves, you know? I couldn’t and well, I don’t want to go back to that place. Besides, when you’re sober at a bar long enough, it’s kinda sad, you know?”
Thinking back to the ni
ght he met Bud, he remembered the three were supposedly on their way to the liquor store. Not that it necessarily meant that he was drinking as well, but it had been an assumption at the time.
The two went on with the interview, Bud surprisingly asking the standard interview questions before launching into what the job was about at the end.
“You’d be watching the door,” He shrugged. “Not a big job, but a necessary job, especially when things get crazy in here or someone underaged wants to get in. Luckily, you’re young enough to probably know who most of those people are, but hopefully, it’s not awkward saying no to friends.”
“I don’t have many friends, so that’s not a problem,” Chase answered honestly, a fleeting moment of sternness quickly passed and he felt his defenses drop once again. He felt no need to put on the tough guy act with Bud; there was a sense of acceptance that filled him from the moment he arrived at the bar and it continued to grow the longer the two talked. “Whatever you need me to do.”
“Like that attitude, cause you never know around this place,” He smirked and Chase sensed a slight insinuation behind it. Assuming he was making reference to roughing up someone who was giving them trouble, he thought nothing of it.
“So, you probably don’t have any dependents,” He shuffled some papers around and found a government form. “Young kid like you.”
“Well, kind of…” Chase sighed and felt a heaviness fill his chest. Bud immediately looked up and searched his face.
“Now, I do feel a story coming on here, what’s this about Chase?”
Taking a deep breath, he figured it was probably best to be completely honest. Bud was clearly a guy who would be pretty open minded and why not just tell him his whole shitty story? Of course, he did the abbreviated version, feeling no need to get too much into details. He told him about his unfortunate error in judgment, the pregnancy and his disgruntle relationships with both the mother of his child and his own parents.
“Hopefully, that doesn’t ruin your impression of me,” Chase smirked, only half joking, he noted that Bud listened carefully to his words and shook his head.
“I never judge anyone,” Bud replied and briefly glanced at the paperwork before looking back at Chase. “You know, that’s a shitty deal but if you want some advice from someone who barely knows you, as I’m sure you do,” A grin lit up his face. “Let it go.”
“Let it go?”
“Let it go, the bitterness isn’t worth holding on to,” Bud replied. “you’ll regret it. You know, all that matters is that baby and although you don’t see it now, one day, you’ll definitely feel differently about this kid. I assure you of that and as for the girl, don’t force something that isn’t there. You can’t. Live a separate life and eventually, she’ll see that you two aren’t on the same page and she will back off.”
He made it sound so simple and he spoke from a place of tranquility that made Chase consider his words. “Is it really that simple?”
“Everything will work out. I assure you of that,” Bud said and leaned forward on the desk. “The baby is the only one you owe a thing to at this point.”
“I have nothing to give.”
“Exactly,” Bud said with a shrug. “As for family, I’m not great at that one either. Family tends to be tied to us with a steel cable, we just can’t see it.”
Chase didn’t reply.
“But, in the meanwhile, there’s a room off this one with a couch, a microwave, a small, private bathroom, if you ever feel the urge to run away from home for a night. Rick used to stay here a lot in his day, you’re welcome to as well. Consider it a benefit, since I can’t afford to pay you much,” He rose from the desk and walked to a door that Chase originally thought was nothing more than a closet. Rising from the desk, he followed Bud into a small, cramped room that, as he suggested, did contain a tattered couch, a wooden chair, a table that contained a microwave and a small television. A bathroom door was opened behind it and inside, Chase could see a shower and toilet.
“Wow,” Chase said while glancing around. “And I can use this anytime?”
“Any damn time you want,” Bud opened his arms as if to showcase the room. “It’s usually free. Too many memories for me, from back in the day, you know but for you, it would be perfect. A man needs his own space sometimes and right now, it don’t sound like you got much.”
“The gym, once it’s closed and that’s about it,” Chase admitted. “At home, forget it. Audrey follows me around and talks nonstop.”
“Well women, they’re good at that, now aren’t they,” Bud sighed out loud. “I can give you the keys today.”
“And I can come here whenever I want?”
“Anytime, day or night, I will give you an alarm code. Long as you keep it set when you leave and turn it on after you’re in for the night,” Bud shrugged. “Actually, you’re doing me a favor, it gives someone to keep an eye on things when we’re closed. A lot of break-ins around here, as you know.”
Chase felt comfort in the silence and stillness of the room. Nodding his head, he turned toward Bud. “You got yourself a new employee.”
Bud’s face lit up and it was strange because it was a moment he would never forget. It was the moment his life took a completely different turn.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
There was no feeling like it. Flying down the highway, just after finishing his shift at the gym, only to go to another job; and yet, he had never felt so free in his life. Always confined to his family home while growing up, under his parent’s stern rules and immediately following, trapped in a house with Audrey, he now wondered if this was what he was missing out on all along. Those few moments alone in the car, not required to follow anyone else’s rules, he was a bird flying through the sky; limitless and free, restricted by nothing.
He was fortunate to work two jobs that didn’t require him to be under constant supervision. When he spoke to other people, he was always amazed by how controlled most were by their workplace. Even someone much older than himself, like Claire Shelley, who often complained about her job, her boss and sometimes, even her life. He sensed her sorrow and dissatisfaction with how things had fallen into place, completely off center from her original dream and he wondered if that would someday be him too? Would he turn 40 and hate how his life had played out? The thought made him angry and anger, made him drive faster and the faster he drove, the freer he felt; even if it was for a few moments.
He spent so little time at ‘home’ these days, that he sometimes managed to forget about Audrey. It was never for long since she texted him constantly, angry that he was ‘wasn’t around’; but as he reminded her, they needed money and he couldn’t earn it if he wasn’t working. She didn’t know where he was sleeping on the nights he didn’t return home but had to accept Chases’ explanation that working so much made him unfit to get back on the road at 3 a.m and therefore, he had to crash at a ‘friend’s’ house. She was, of course, suspicious and demanded to know where that was and he merely shrugged and said, ‘my boss got me this place’. He knew it pissed her off to not have him under her thumb and that gave him a small thrill. Fuck her. He wasn’t going to be the only person suffering.
A couple of people knew about his hideaway. Maggie, of course, was privy to this information and Claire Shelley occasionally stopped in as their affair continued to move forward, even after she started a relationship with a ‘gentleman’ in town. He didn’t ask nor did he care about her boyfriend. Their relationship was physical only. He liked her but he wasn’t interested in complicating his life any more than it already was, but he did like to fuck her and the feeling was mutual. Their attraction was strong and the freedom of no commitment made it even more satisfying. It amazed him that they managed to keep their secret in such a small town.
His new job was pretty simple. He stood at the door, carded people to make sure they were 18, legal drinking age in the province of Alberta.
It was the same thing, night after night. Skimpily dressed women stumbled up to the door and flirted with him, some attempting to get in for free by grabbing his crotch or promising him a hook up later, but he merely laughed at them and insisted they pay or go home. Their reaction was often one of shock and they would stumble around a little more and eventually, somehow, finding the money to get in. If there was one thing he hated, it was a drunk woman.
The guys tended to strut up to the door with the arrogance of someone twice their size, with the alpha dog approach that was just plain fucking irritating to Chase, someone who was twice their size and actually worked for it. Unlike the women, the guys seemed to sense his lack of patience and usually were pretty reasonable. They paid to get in and rarely attempted to get in when under age. There were a few with fake IDs, but Bud had taught him how to distinguish between real and fake. More often than not, he didn’t care. If the ID appeared real, to the point that he could plead ignorance, he let it go. He wouldn’t let underaged women in, though; ever. As Bud said, underaged girls in any situation they shouldn’t be in was a shitstorm waiting to happen.
It didn’t matter in the end. It was always the same, week after week. Girls left crying hysterically, stumbling away from the bar, often with friends holding them up. Other women hit on him at the door, something that didn’t really have any appeal to him. The smell of liquor on their breath, their disheveled appearance and lack of control was another situation that Bud warned him against and the longer he worked in that environment, the more he began to see that he made a valid point. Drunk chicks were more trouble than they were worth. He always shook his head no, expressionless and unapologetic, his lack of emotion seemed to do the trick.
Fights were common. The younger the patrons, the more trouble seemed to erupt. Men were worse for fighting, but women were dirtier. With two men, you could usually sense it. There was a tension in the air that was recognizable to those who were used to such an environment. Bud could feel it immediately and would send one of the bar girls out to monitor the door while he and Chase broke things up. On his first night at the job, a bad fight broke out in the parking lot, just as the bar closed. Remaining relatively calm, he approached the two men and with the help of another patron, managed to pull the two drunken fools apart, while someone else called the RCMP, who were generally not far from the bar on a Saturday night. Usually, they were sitting in the same parking lot in wait.
