by Christa Lynn
“Anytime, Syd. But next time, don’t wait a month. You call me as soon as the dream wakes you and I can either come over, or we can talk on the phone. I’m always here for you.” Dr. Phillips pulls me in to a hug.
“Thanks Leslie.” I call her by her first name, cause our meeting is now over. I’ve known Dr. Leslie Phillips for fifteen years or so, we even shared classes in Chicago. So, not only is she my doctor, but she is my friend too, and right now I think that’s what I really need.
“You wanna go for a drink? Get some of this psychoanalysis bullshit out of our minds for a bit? There’s a new pub that just opened around the corner.” Les asks me, a glint of humor in her eyes.
“Sure, I can go for one drink and that’s it. But we go as friends, not doctor - patient - deal? I could use a break, so no work talk. Got it?” I say as I move towards the door. She shuts down her computer and grabs her bag, following me out the door.
Since this is New York City, we walk. EVERYWHERE. It’s the best way to get around, unless you are going far and then you grab a cab. As we make our way through the bar, we locate an empty table in the back and are immediately greeted by a waitress. “What can I get you ladies?”
I order a glass of moscato and Les orders a beer. “Beer?” I ask her, surprised.
“Yeah, it’s Friday and the game is on.” She says as she motions her head towards the big screen TV hanging on the wall. “Beer and baseball. Nothing like it.” She waggles her eyebrows as the waitress brings our drinks. At the same time, the Yankee’s pitcher throws out a Met’s player on first. “Nice, love these Subway Series’. Yankees and Mets in the same bar. Keep your eyes open, cause we may get to see a fight tonight.” Les says as she lifts the bottle to her full lips.
“So, what’s up with you and Joe?” I ask her. Joe is her long-time boyfriend, but they never talk about getting married. “Ummm, He’s.....Joe.” She responds nonchalantly and tips her beer back again.
“No ring yet?”
“Nope.”
“You think he’ll ever propose?
“Nope. Don’t want him to either.”
“Why not? You guys have been together since college. What’s going on?”
“He’s fucking around.” She answers without emotion.
“What? How do you know?” I ask her, totally blown away that Joe would cheat on Les. And amazed at how Les doesn’t seem to care.
“Found her panties in the sofa last week.”
“You found her panties? Are you sure they aren’t yours?” I ask.
“Nope, I wear a small. These were a medium....and a thong. You know me, no butt floss. I’d spend more time tugging those bastards out of the crack of my ass than anything else.”
“And you’re.....okay with this?”
She shrugs her shoulders and set her beer down. “Things haven’t been right for some time, I think. I’m just waiting on the right moment to kick him out. The lease on our sublet is up at the end of the month. I’ve already talked to the owner and his name will be removed from the lease and I’ll kick him out.”
“Geez, I’m sorry Les. How long have you known?”
“Well, I was suspicious for about three weeks when he kept coming home late reeking of cheap perfume. I pretended not to notice, but after about the third time I knew. He hasn’t touched me in over a month and has started sleeping in the guest room, saying he can’t sleep and he doesn’t want to wake me. I called bullshit....inside. I figured I’d let him tie his own rope and once he has it nicely slipped around his neck, I’ll yank it tighter. He won’t know what hit him.”
Her evil laugh barrelling out of her throat.
“Well, good luck. I hope I don’t run into him on the street or he may never be able to have children.” I tell her as I nudge her shin with my foot. “I’ll kick him so hard in the balls, he won’t be able to walk for a week.” I laugh.
“No doubt, Syd. No doubt. If I were him, I wouldn’t want to meet you in a dark alley.” She chuckles as she raises her hand, motioning for the waitress. We order another round and continue our chat, having a good time.
The crowd is getting rambunctious and as loud as the game when it hits the end of the ninth inning.
Yanks are up five to four and the Mets fans are not happy. It seems they’re chanting at each other and when I see a bottle fly through the bar, I know the hockey game is about to break out.
Les and I sit and watch the battle unfold before us. Shouting, screaming and some cuss words I’ve never heard before fill the room. You can no longer hear the game over the shouting. One guy is the instigator, apparently a Mets fan and he tells the Yankee fan to suck his.......CRASH!
“Oh shit, I think it’s time to dip, Les.” I say as I stand and grab my bag, throwing the long strap over my shoulder. Mets fan has turned a table full of bottles and glasses over and is now climbing it to get to the other side.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here before glass starts flying in this direction. All I need is a trip to the ER for stitches.” Les says as she makes her way around me and we slither our way to the door.
“Fucking cunt!” We hear Mets fan’s fist hit Yankee fan’s face, the sound echoing throughout the now quiet bar. The fans have all stopped screaming and yelling and now it’s dead silent. I look back towards the bar from the door and the two men are standing there, circling each other like ninjas, waiting for the other to make the next move.
Before the second punch is thrown, a security guard or cop or something jumps in between them and pushes them both back from each other. Les is tugging at my arm, trying to yank me out of the bar, but this man that has stepped in has caught my attention. “Hold on a sec.” I tell Les as I pull my arm out of her grasp.
“What? Come on Syd, let’s get out of here before the shit hits the fan.”
“No, hold on. No shit is hitting any fan here.” I say as I nudge my chin towards the commotion in the center of the bar.
“Fuck. Me. Who is that?” Les whispers in my ear as her eyes locate the bouncer.
“No clue, but I’m sticking around to find out.” I say as I walk back into the bar, straight to our still vacant table. My glass of wine is still sitting there with one last swallow in it, so I chug it back and sit down.
Leslie reluctantly follows me back into the bar and sits down beside me, her eyes wide with panic like a riot is going to break out and she’s in the middle of it. “Relax.” I tell her. “The fight is over, hot dude in the center has nipped this one in the bud.”
I rake my eyes over this man’s body. No wait, he is not a man. He’s a God. Dark hair, almost black and messy with matching dark eyes and a scruffy chin. He’s wearing a tight black tee shirt that hugs his arms and chest. Low riding jeans that invite your curiosity as to what’s hiding under there. My face heats and I embarrass myself at the naughty thoughts going through my mind.
I’ve never seen a man in person that has made my brain go in to erotic overdrive. My typically vanilla mind has taken a severe left turn and is heading somewhere it’s never been. I’ll take these feelings home with me and store them somewhere for a rainy day. I’ve never been one to pick up guys in bars and take them home, so tonight will be no different. I’ll just watch from the side-lines.
“Earth to Sydney.” I hear Les to my left jarring me out of my thoughts.
“What?”
“Where’d you go? Are you okay?” She asks, poking her finger in my arm trying to get my attention.
“Yeah, Les. I’m right here, just watching.”
“Well, I got worried for a second when you didn’t respond. What’s got you all tied up?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. Just waiting for the show to start. I wanna see what the bouncer does to those two coots that were squaring off.” The bouncer that has caught my eye is big, but the two dudes going at it are bigger. Not beefier bigger, but fatter bigger. One squash and the bouncer could go down, though I doubt it.
Then, three of NYPD’s finest show up and cuff the two brawlers, hauling
them out of the bar.
The bouncer stays behind talking to who I think is probably the manager. I hear the bouncer laugh as he smacks the manager on the shoulder and turn towards the door, his smile lighting up the room. I can’t take my eyes off of him, and I can feel Leslie’s eyes on me, a smile cracking her lips. He glances around the bar and our eyes meet. He doesn’t look away and neither do I, cause I’m frozen solid. I feel Les nudge my leg under the table and I finally pull my eyes down. I know I’m blushing, cause I do that easily, but I don’t look back up. I can still feel his eyes on me and I know now is the time to escape.
“Go talk to him.” Les whispers in my ear.
“Ah, hell no. I wouldn’t even know what to say without tripping over my own lips. Let’s go, the show’s over and I need to hit the bed. Been a long day.” I say as I stand up and re-position my bag on my shoulder, which has since slid down my arm.
“Chicken.” Les teases.
“Yep, that’s me. Let’s go.”
I stand to move and Leslie falls in behind me, making me lead the way. I know what she’s doing and I try to brush it off, making my way towards the door. I catch one more glance of the bouncer as we reach the door, but I make my exit in front of Leslie and the door shuts behind me.
Blue lights light up the street, no doubt with a drunk goon in each one. Leslie and I stand on the sidewalk while we contemplate our next move. Les lives close, so she can walk but I have to hail a cab. I live on the Upper East Side and she lives in Midtown. As a yellow taxi pulls up, I hug Les and tell her I’ll call her tomorrow and of course, “Be careful walking home. This ain’t the suburbs girl.”
“You too, sleep tight.” She says as I close the door to the taxi.
It takes about fifteen minutes to get me to the door to the apartment I sublet from a friend of my mothers. It’s a corner penthouse and totally out of my league, but I love it. As I unlock the door, my favorite scents of lavender and mint fill my nose and I take a deep breath. In my line of work, relaxation is a must during down time. You can’t let the stresses of the day get to you or you’ll go mad. This is my down time and I do what’s needed to relieve the stress.
I drop my purse on the sofa and head to my bedroom, which is my oasis. Warm earth tones cover the large king size bed and dark furniture. It’s warm and cozy and totally me. Since I live alone I was able to decorate just like I wanted. With a hectic schedule I knew I needed calm and comfortable at home. Simple decorations and a homey feeling.
I snap my iPhone in the docking station and turn it on to the jazz station as music fills the room. It’s only ten thirty, so I fill the tub with hot water and chamomile and sink my tired, aching body down in to the bubbles. Thoughts of the bouncer fill my mind and I silently wonder if I should have introduced myself. I shake off that thought quickly, but I can’t get his dark ‘bedroom’ eyes out of my mind. His eyes were seductive and sexy, just begging to be hovering over a willing female body. Or male, for all I know. Yeah, that’s it. He’s probably gay and I would never stand a chance. That’s what I’ll keep telling myself so I don’t think about him anymore.
Les was right though, I am chicken shit. My tormented past prohibits me from making casual conversation with men, especially gorgeous men. I know I’ve probably missed out on a whole lot of fun in my younger days, but I stayed away from anything that could remotely be trouble. I’ve had enough of that in my life and now I focus on helping others get out of trouble. Maybe it’s the wrong way to be, but it’s me and I have to accept that.
Chapter 3
Gabe
“Man, did you see that woman and her friend that just left?” I ask Mark, the manager here.
“Nah man, women come and go through here like tornados, I hardly notice anymore. Why, what was so different about her?”
“Her eyes, dark and mysterious. You had to have seen her, cause she was stunning. I watched her for a bit from the back bar and just her mannerisms were hypnotic. Long dark straight hair and those dark eyes, like she holds many a secret.” I tell him as I stare towards the table where she sat with her friend. “After I broke up the fight, I planned to go to her table, but she and her friend disappeared out of the blue, almost like she was never here at all.”
“Gabe, man. Snap out of it dude. You look like you’ve just lost your puppy. It’s a bar, the women are a dime a dozen. Give it a few, another hottie will walk in shortly and you’ll forget all about her.” Mark says as he slaps me on the shoulder and heads back towards the bar, though I seriously doubt I’ll be able to get her out of my mind anytime soon. My cock jumped at just the thought of having her underneath me.
Before I get too deep in to my daydream a woman squeals from the back of the bar. My eyes focus on the darkened room and I head back to where I heard the scream. As I enter the back billiard room, I see two men sandwiching a young woman, pressing her against the pool table. I watch for a second, cause you never know when what you are looking at is consensual and you don’t want to jump in too quickly. As one of the men turn, I see the fear in the woman’s eyes and I know she’s not asking for this. Being a cop by day and a bouncer by night, I have to make sure that what I think is happening is what is actually happening. New York has such a variety of people here that you never know when someone is actually acting out a scene.
Her eyes are wide and her skin is pale, so I know she is truly frightened and not acting. I step back a little to get some distance and grab my radio, letting Mark know I need NYPD back in the billiard room. Since I’m off duty, I can only do so much. I step back in to the room and clear my throat, making my presence known. “Back off man, this pretty little thing is ours tonight. Go find your own.” The one guy says to me, but I hear the woman suck in a breath. Her eyes are now glazed over with moisture and I know she’s about to cry. I step forward and grab the guy by the back of the collar and yank him backwards. He’s a skinny guy without an inch of meat on his bones, so I know I can take him. I shove him back towards the wall and step towards the other dude, who’s a bit bigger and might present me with a challenge. And, I love a challenge. “Bring it on, man.”
The bigger dude lets the girl go and steps back, assessing the situation. His eyes meet his friends and his expression changes from a rapist glare to a murderer. “Dude, you’re infringing on our territory here. I suggest you back off before I knock your head off.” He says right in my face, the smell of beer and cigarettes flow from his mouth. I know he’s drunk and one punch to the jaw and he’d go down like a dead fly. Yeah, I calculated this one down to two hits, me hitting him and him hitting the floor.
But the demon in his eyes has me taken aback just a little, and I witness his hand moving towards his pocket. I know then he has a weapon, but what is it? A knife? A gun? I decide that I have no time to try and figure that out, so I haul back and my fist connects with his face, crimson spewing all over the green felt of the pool table. The dude’s body thunking on the floor. Yep, out like a light. I turn to his friend at the back wall behind me, but he’s gone like the wind. I turn to the woman and confirm that she is in fact, okay.
“Thank you.” She tells me as I pull her to a standing position, my eyes scanning her body for any injury. She’s a tiny thing and would have never been able to defend herself against this man that now lies on the floor, blood seeping from his lip. His head is up and his eyes are open now and he’s glaring up at me like he’s thinking about taking me on, but as I step over his body he closes his eyes, an admission of defeat.
Two cops then come in, tugging the skinny guy behind them. “This the other one, Gabe?”
I look back and scan the scrawny man, “Yeah that’s him. The other is lying here on the floor in a pool of his own blood.” I say as I look back at the man at my feet. “Get up asshole, NYPD has some fancy jewelry for you.” And I step back to allow the defeated man to get to his feet.
“I didn’t do anything criminal.......” He says and I cut him off, patting him down and locate the switchblade in his pocket.
“But you did attempt an assault on an officer of the law. That my friend, is a major crime. One that can have you sitting in a jail cell for a long time.”
“You’re a cop?” He asks like he is truly surprised.
I point to my badge attached on my belt and smile. “Next time, you need to pay more attention to your surroundings. Did you really think the law wouldn’t be in here on a night like tonight? Plus, you were assaulting this young woman here, so you’d better be glad I stopped you when you did, cause attempted rape is a lot lesser offense than rape. Haul him off, Gibbs.” I say as I shove the guy towards Officer Gibbs, who waits patiently with his cuffs in his hand, ready to slap them on his wrists.
Gibbs drags the skinny dude out and Detective Scruggs drags the bigger guy out to their cruisers parked on the street. “Do you have someone that can come get you, Miss......”
“Jan. Yeah, my friends are in the bar. I’ll just go find them.” She says as she turns on her heel.
“Wait, you have friends here and they had no idea what was going on back here?” I ask, concern now lacing my voice.
“They’re watching the game. I came back here to use the restroom and......”
“There you are Jan! Geez, what took you so long?” A young blonde asks from the entrance to the billiard room.
“Oh, NOW you come looking for me? Wow, thanks for nothing Stacey, nice to know my ‘friends’ are looking out for me.” She says as she stomps her way out of the billiard room. Her friend stands at the door dazed and confused.
“What the hell happened?” She asks me.
“Well, apparently two men tried to attack your friend there.” I say as I lift my chin towards where her friend just headed. “Maybe next time you visit the restroom in pairs. Safety in numbers girl.” And I make my way out of the room, back to the bar.
Mark announces ‘last call’ and a mad rush for the bar begins. The bartender’s frantically work to get their final drinks out so they can clean up and shut it down for the night. Night life sings in the city, but this bar closes at midnight so people drink up and then head to the next place. My night ends when the last person leaves and then I get about four hours sleep before I’m back at the precinct.
