“We’ll be watching you,” the little blonde points to her eyes and then mine. Who knew Ada had such a protective group of students. It was impressive that she could inspire such devotion.
“I’m not,” I argue and they all go out leaving me with my thoughts as Thomas comes back up to me.
“So, is she on board?” He is grinning ear to ear and reminds me a little bit of the Cheshire cat.
“We’re going out Monday night to talk about it. She’s not made a decision yet.”
To my utter shock and disbelief, I find myself anxious that I won’t be able to get her to sing with me. After our little battle, I feel almost desperate to get her to say yes. Maybe it goes back to not being used to being told no.
"Thomas, are you going to come tie one on?" I change the subject needing to get the thought of Ada possibly saying no off my mind.
"No, not tonight. I have a hot date with Lila."
“Your loss.” I wave at my agent and head to my truck.
The bar Savannah wants to meet at is called Rascals. It's not my usual hangout. I prefer bars with table service and expensive bar food so this will be different. Snob thing to say but I can’t change who I am. Up until my father and I had our falling out, he would take me to those places. The man enjoyed a good meal and a good scotch.
Nashville has a ton to offer and for every twelve country western bars you'll find an elegant club or upscale bar where those of us with money hang out. Savannah used to work at a nice one called Reds. After she missed work too many times, they canned her so now she works here in a much smaller, much more hole-in-the-wall place on the other side of town. So, I’m slumming it tonight.
One thing is the same across the board, the drugs. No matter where you go, you can find them. Hot little Savannah is a fan of coke so I brought a little to give to her. A little bump
to keep us both going all night long. Well, for her, I’ll stick with my drug of choice, alcohol. A distraction from a music teacher who has taken over my thoughts.
I walk up to the front of Rascals. It's a typical dive bar with shady patrons standing outside smoking and a bouncer who doesn't want to be here. Saturday appears to be their busy night.
"ID?" The guy asks in a deep voice. I show it to him and he laughs.
"What's funny?" I ask confused a slither of unease snakes down my spine.
"Just watch your ass tonight rich boy," he says. Stepping to the side he lets me walk into a smoke-filled loud bar. A typical scene with people everywhere. The bar is small with a curved bar to the side complete with red leather stools. Most of the seats are taken with boisterous locals buzzed out of their minds, and alcohol clearly isn't the only thing they are buzzing on.
I walk up to the bar and find Savannah sitting there. She’s looking good in her bar uniform which consists of short shorts and a red t-shirt that’s cut off. It reads I’m a Rascal and there couldn’t be a better description of her.
“Hey, there sexy,” I tell her watching her brighten as she sees me. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, revealing a slender neck. Her plump lips are the color of wine and I briefly imagine what they’d be like wrapped around my cock. Bright blue eyes sparkled back at me, and I can tell that she’s already had a hit of something.
“Charlie,” she squeals and leans over the bar to hug me. She smells like every man’s wet dream. The other patrons she’d been talking to give me a hateful look as she ignores them, and I send them a wink. Not surprisingly, there are only men at the bar and her tip jar is full.
“You have my stuff?” She asks, wiping down the bar and continuing to ignore the protest of the others. Her bottom lip pushes out as she pouts waiting for my answer. This is a girl who gets what she wants. I see a sad future for her if she doesn't stop this shit though. No good can come of drug use, leisurely or otherwise. I'm the one bringing it to her I think with a sting of conscience. What the hell is wrong with me tonight?
“Of course, I do. Why don’t you get me a Jack and Coke?” I whisper my index finger tracing the grain of the wood. “I’ll pay ya with a twenty in a bit,” I say with a flirty wink.
She gives me a nod and a brilliant white smile before flouncing off to get my drink. I take a moment to watch her walk away, admiring her tight ass as it nearly peeks out from beneath her shorts. My pants tighten as I imagine all the things I want to do to her later.
Next, I take a moment to look around the bar and see a group of guys in the corner staring at me. They range in age and are surrounding a table of older men. One of them looks really familiar to me, but I can’t quite place him. I give them a little nod and receive nothing back.
I turn back around to smile at Savannah and feel someone put their hand on my shoulder. I know it’s one of the guys from the table before I look. My shoulder tenses but I stay still waiting to see what he’s going to do.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming in here tonight, Maxwell.” He says and I push his hand away and stand up.
I’m not exactly known for having the most level head when confronted, but since hiring Thomas as my agent, I’ve really tried to work on the whole turning your other cheek thing. Most of the time. This guy can kiss my ass. I don’t even know who he is but I hate him already.
I try to keep my cool while at the same time sizing him up. Thomas would be proud of me. For how long is yet to be seen. He's the one who can speak rationally when his blood is boiling. If he were here, the situation might not be as dire.
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t know you.” I say as I look at him and the other three guys he’s brought up with him. The older men still sit at the table looking my way and I feel a bit threatened. I’m not one to back down though, even though I know this is not going to end well.
The man’s face is blotchy with anger. His ham-like fists are curled in at his sides. The threat in his eyes very real. He leans closer into my personal space. “Your father. He just thinks he can lay off people for no good reason. We’ve got families, we’ve got mortgages.” His breath reeks of whiskey and cigarettes.
I frown at him, trying to think of the best way to defuse the situation. There’s really not one so I do the best I can. The bouncer’s words making more sense. My father would screw up my night without even knowing it. “I don’t have anything to do with what my father does,” I sit back down at the bar. “Let me just enjoy my drink, and we can all just go about our lives.” If only this would work, but my day doesn’t seem to be going the way I want it to. In my experience people already itching for a fight will follow through, the testosterone has already taken over their whole body.