No Idea

A bartender and a regular meet a girl during her first time in a bar. The girl comes with baggage and the two help to alleviate her burdened mind, all while finding their own feelings for each other.

No Idea

by Austin Cates


After a long day of sweat and pain, I just wanted a stiff drink to put me at ease. So I made my way to a dive bar I frequent, The Lone Soldier, and I found my indentation on my favorite bar stool; where I ordered my usual Crown Reserve with a splash of Coke. The bartender, Sammy, smiled in that seductively sly way she always does and set my drink before me.

"How ya been, babe?" She asked, causing a long sigh to flow between my lips. "One of those, huh?" She chuckled and wiped the sides of the bar top next to me. "Is there any other kind?" I asked rhetorically. "Sure, but apparently you've never had one. What do you wanna hear tonight?" The familiarity of her voice did a better job of putting me at ease than liquor ever could.

"Don't Fear The Reaper." I told her with another sigh. "Gotcha, babe." Sammy walked to the jukebox on the wall, put in a five and picked our soundtrack for the next 20 or so minutes. When my song started up, I closed my eyes and drifted away into the music for a few moments. Sammy leaned back against the counter that the tumblers and pint glasses rest on and smiled at me. "What?" I asked, my eyes still closed. "Nothin." Sammy chuckled and I smiled in return.

Sammy and I went to high school together, became acquainted through mutual friends, and eventually became best friends. There was always this unique feeling between us that was almost tangible, our friends always goaded us into dating each other. We eventually made an effort at a relationship once, right out of high school, but it just didn't feel right for some reason. It's not that we both didn't care for one another, it was hard to explain actually. So we both agreed to end it casually and stay friends. Nothing changed, like most said it would, the two of us are just as close as we have ever been. We like it this way.

"Tell me." I said with a dry smile.
"You just always seem so dreary, lately." She explains, her words were coated with a hint of worry. "Life, for me, isn't rainbows and unicorn farts. It's hard work, sweat dripping from my brow, and a ferocious need to be better than I was the day before." I stated. "You should know this by now Sam." My neck finally relaxed and I felt the day slip into the folds of memory, never to rear it's head again.

Don't Fear The Reaper kicked in in full and the chorus allowed dopamine to flow freely into my brain. "Well s**t, babe." Sammy said with an emotionless tone. I opened my eyes and leaned towards her. "I do however, still adore YOU, my dear." Sammy rolled her eyes, then poured me another drink. "Like you could adore anyone else." She jabbed sarcastically with a roll of her soft hazel eyes. I laughed and finished my first drink in one go.

Suddenly, a girl sat two seats down at the bar and Sammy became the model employee she's always been. "What can I get you?"
The girl; around the same age as us, mid twenties, looked at every bottle behind the bar with a genuinely curious face. "Something sweet and strong." The girl's voice was sweet and entirely unbecoming of the dive bar she has wandered into. "Long Island Ice Tea?" Sammy asked. "Um...yes?" The girl asked as a statement. Sammy mixed the cocktail with a fervor I rarely see and slid it to the girl. "10 bucks." She told the girl.

"Thanks." The girl replied as she handed Sam the money, I could feel trepidation in her voice, she had no idea what she was doing. She was a bar virgin, you could almost see her cherry pop with the first sip of the Long Island. The girl shuddered something fierce, and set the drink down for a few seconds. "You ok?" Sammy asked with raised eyebrows. "Yeah, of course." The girl replied, lying through a choked throat. Then she surprised us both and took half of the Long Island in one long sip. I swear, she almost fell over afterwards. "Take it easy, it's not a race." Sammy advised, and the girl looked into her drink with a lost gaze.

Sammy looked at me for a hint at what to do, and I shrugged my shoulders. I had no clue, this was uncharted territory for me. "You sure you're ok?" Sammy asked. The girl looked up and for a fleeting moment I thought she was gonna break like a thin pane of glass dropped on asphalt. However, she regained her composure and nodded. "I'll be fine." She masked her emotions poorly, but Sammy didn't pry. "Well, I'm Sammy." She said, hand extended. The girl grabbed it gently and spoke her name softly. "Clarissa."

"You should probably take the rest of that kinda slow, Clarissa, I don't want you to fall over." Sammy suggested, and Clarissa nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry, I'm not much of a drinker." Clarissa pushed the drink up a couple inches and stared at it. "It's cool, I'll help ya through the basics." Sammy chirped with glee. Clarissa gave a half smile then. "Oh, this giant ray of sunshine is Stieg. He's big and scary lookin, I know, but he's a big ol p***y, really." Sammy pointed her thumb towards me and I nodded to Clarissa. "F**k you too, Sam." I muttered with my middle finger up. "See?" Sammy just giggled.

"Steeg?" Clarissa asked me, sounding my name out. "Yeah, after my grandpa, he was Swedish." I answered with a slight shrug. "Have you ever been to Sweden?" Clarissa asked. "When I was little, yeah, we would go visit my grandpa every summer. It was nice, from what I remember. Friendly people and all that." I replied, then finished my drink and set it in the speed rack for Sam to fill up. "That's so cool, I've always wanted to go overseas somewhere, maybe Paris someday, if I'm lucky." Clarissa's emotional frailty slipped away then, revealing genuine excitement.

Clarissa finished her Long Island with a cringe and Sammy leaned on the bar with her hands outwards. "You want something else?" She asked, and Clarissa bit her lip. "Can I have something different?" She answered with a question. "Sure, got any ideas?" Sam inquired. Clarissa shook her head softly, she was so dreadfully far out of her comfort zone. "Alright, what do you like?" Sam replied, and Clarissa's face drew a subtle frown. "I don't know, I've never really drank before apart from wine at dinner with my parents."

"Let's see, what could we do for the young lady?" Sam asked me and I looked upon the bottles behind Sam. Something simple and preferably sweet, hmm. "Do you like coconut?" I questioned Clarissa, receiving a nod in return. "Pineapple?" I threw another suggestion her way and she smiled. "Love it." Her enthusiasm sparked and I chuckled lightly. "Well there ya go: Malibu and pineapple juice." Sam interjected with a grin befitting her beauty. "Is that good?" Clarissa asked us with a curious smile. "Sweet and simple with a taste to match." Sam said as she grabbed the Malibu and a can of pineapple juice to whip up the drink. I cleared my throat a bit and Sam looked up at me. I held 3 fingers against my glass to signify how much Malibu to pour in and she nodded in agreement.

She snuck it by smoothly as she poured the pineapple juice at the same time. "So what's your story, Clarissa?" Sam inquired, taking Clarissa's eyes off the final seconds of Malibu entering the tumblr. "Huh? Oh, um, well I go to the university."
"College girl, nice. What's your major?" Sam asked, setting the new drink before Clarissa. "Psychology; I wanna be a therapist for children." Clarissa seemed to be allowing herself to relax with us, which was refreshing. "Ooh, helpin the kiddies, that's nice." Sam smiled.

Clarissa nodded with her own smile. "Yeah, I've always loved kids and especially the way their minds work. It's exciting and pretty rewarding." Sam looked at me and her sly smirk and squity eyes told me I was about to be the victim of her wit. "Well maybe you can help this one, he could use someone in that head, and he's just a big ol kid anyway."
"Ha ha ha, and you don't have a Barbie collection still?" I stuck my tongue out and Sam got serious. "Those are collector's items, and you bought half of em anyway!" She smiled again halfway through and returned with a tongue of her own. "Yeah, I know, I fuel your addiction. What can I say, I'm a great enabler." My eyebrows rose and dropped as I sipped my drink. Clarissa chuckled under her breath at our verbal spat. "How long have you two been together?" She asked us and we shared a look that was sewn together with a thread of memories.

"We're not." Sam finally told Clarissa, and she seemed genuinely surprised by that. "No way." Clarissa uttered in disbelief. "Way. Tried it before, didn't seem quite right." I told her. Clarissa's eyes stayed wide and she chuckled, bringing them back to normal. "Well, you had me fooled, you guys definitely have crazy chemistry. Ever think about giving it another shot?" Clarissa's question caused us to look at each other with a strange stare. I could feel Sam feeling her way into my mind, and I did the same with her's. We said nothing for a moment, before Sam's eyes began to glisten ever so slightly, was she really considering it? Her eyes then begged me to break the silence, so I obliged.

"I don't know, Sam probably only tolerates me cause I tip well." I winked and Sam snapped back to the conversation. "And you feed me from time to time, so it lightens the load a bit." Sam added, then winked back. "Oh my god!" Clarissa blurted out, I found myself scared that she picked up on my lingering glance and knew I was definitely thinking about the idea of Sam and I. "This is so good!" Clarissa had only tasted her drink, talk about relieved. "I live to please." Sam said with a small bow. "Ever so humble." I deadpaned, Sam just flipped me off quickly.

"I need more of this in my life." Clarissa joked with the glow of truth shining through her words. "It's cheap and easy." Sam told her, then held her index finger up to me. "Don't even." She said without looking at me, killing my joke before it left my lips. "Well s**t." I muttered, the taste of Crown Reserve fresh on my tongue. "What's eatin ya, Clarissa, something brought you here by yourself." Sam asked and stated. "Well..." Clarissa started slowly, staring at her yellow drink. "It's uh, well, I um..." Clarissa knew what to say, but had no idea how to say it. Sam caught on faster than I did though. "What'd he do?" She asked Clarissa, who stared up at Sam with glossy eyes. "My best friend." Clarissa then finished her drink quickly and pushed it towards Sam. "Damn." I said under my breath, everything made sense now.

"This one's on the house, girl." Sam said as she set a fresh drink on the coaster in front of Clarissa. "Thanks." She half smiled again. "She was my roommate too, so now I have to move in with my sister." Clarissa continued. "Wanna talk about it?" Sam asked, but Clarissa shook her head. "Nah, he's not worth it. 6 years and my heart down the drain though." Clarissa whistled and swirled her finger downwards in a spiral, then blew a raspberry with her tongue between her lips. Sam looked at the despondent Clarissa, then at me. What do you even say to that? "Um, sorry about your boyfriend cheating on you with your best friend, you want another drink?" I'm not good at this stuff, man, that's why I have Sam.

"Tell you what, it's dead in here right now, let's play some pool." Sam suggested and Clarissa's face was painted with excitement and apprehension. "I'm pretty bad at it." She told Sam. "I'll teach ya some tricks, it'll be fun." Sam walked around the bar towards the pool tables at the back of the small building, by the dance floor and stage. Clarissa followed eagerly then, drink in hand. "Well c'mon dipshit, we gotta play against someone." Sam yelled to me from the tables. I sighed, grabbed my drink, then headed to the girls, and my impending doom.

The thing about playing pool with Sam, is that you don't play pool with Sam. She's been playing since she was in single digits and is better than most I've ever seen. She's helped her team win every year in the league since she was 21 and can make shots that seem to defy the laws of physics. And the whole being-gracious-in-victory thing only happens during league games. If she wants to, Sam can always make them feel like they at least had a chance. One-on-one however, she dances around and rubs salt all over your wounds after she demolishes you. It's fun for her to utterly destroy her opponent and make them feel as though they're a child again. This game would probably hurt, but I was sure Clarissa would at least get a laugh out of it.

Sam and Clarissa had their sticks and they were chalking em up. Sam looks down at the quarter machine on the table and nods, I was paying apparently. I paid, racked the balls and Sam showed Clarissa how to break properly, sinking a solid in the process. "Your turn, girl." Sam said and Clarissa made an attempt at hitting a solid in, but knocked the cue ball sideways. "See." She laughed, and Sam smiled. "It's ok, he sucks, so we'll have plenty of time to show you the ropes." I don't suck, actually. I'm not as good as Sam, granted, but I definitely don't suck. I showed this by sinking 2 stripes in a row and barely missing the 3rd. "He seems good to me." Clarissa chuckled but Sam rolled her eyes.

"When you shoot, you gotta find your way of holding the stick. I put my index finger over the top of the stick and touch the table, while resting the stick on my thumb. It helps me control my movement better, but some people do it their own way." Sam explained and demonstrated for Clarissa, knocking in a nearly impossible solid by banking it off two walls and into the corner pocket. "Wow!" Clarissa yelped, and Sam shrugged like it was nothing. "Classy, Sam, really." I joked. "Your turn, let's get the finger position down." Sam helped Clarissa hold it like she does and Clarissa hit it well, knocking a stripe near her desired hole. "See, you almost got it." Sam coached and Clarissa yipped with glee. "This is fun!"

Scanning the table I saw that I had no easy shots and could only go for 2 hard shots: one that required precise aim and one that required a bank off the wall. I chose the wall and missed the hole by half an inch. "Aw, missed the hole, babe. Story of your life." Sam had a fake frown draped across her face. Clarissa laughed heartily and I just nodded with an "eat s**t" grin. Sam nodded to Clarissa but she motioned for Sam to go instead. "Sometimes you have a ball really close to the hole, like the 3 there. You have to hit it hard enough to make the white bounce back and not go in too." Sam explained, then did just that and sunk the 3 before the cue ball shot backwards. "You're great with balls, Sam. Superb, to be honest." I jabbed, for her previous jab at me, and Sam looked at me with squinty eyes. I might as well have pushed her next 3 balls in myself, cause she made them just as easy. "Point proven." I said, my only defense. The game was already over, and I knew it.

"You go for that one, an easy bank." Sam told Clarissa. Clarissa lined the white ball up to the wall where Sam pointed and Clarissa sunk it easily. "You wanna go for the 8?" Sam asked, but Clarissa shook her head. "Scary." She chuckled. "C'mon, it's not that bad." Sam laughed and helped Clarissa line up a fairly average shot. "You're gonna have to hit the white directly to the edge of the 8 ball to hit it to the hole." Sam coached and Clarissa nodded. "Ok, I'll try." Clarissa took a breath and hit the 8 right in. "OH!!" She yelled, and Sam high fived her with fervor. "Sorry, babe, you can't beat girl power." Sam gave a pouty face and wiped away fake tears. The salt was thoroughly rubbed into the wound. Told you.

"One-on-one, loser buys a round for all 3 of us." I challenged Sam, and she sighed. "You never learn, do you?" She asked. "Yay or nay, little lady?" I antagonized, and she looked at me with her seductively sly grin. "Rack em up then." So I payed the 4 quarters, racked em up and she then "allowed" me to break em. Cocky much? I broke em and sunk a stripe in the corner pocket. "Oooh." Sam jested with false fear, and I made a face in return. I sunk another one, easy power shot, then missed an easy straight shot when Sam took a drink of my Crown, while sitting on the table with her a*s bulging out of her shorts. "Hey!" I yelled, and she held up her hands in protest. "What? I was thirsty." She claimed. Clarissa just laughed and sipped on her Malibu.

Sam made another double bank, then a well aimed straight shot, and a final power shot before missing a side shot. "3 down though, buddy." She said, then stood by Clarissa, no doubt telling her exactly how I was gonna hit and where. I sunk 2 straight shots and missed a bank to give me a lead of 1. "Move over, let mama show you something." Sam ordered and I took one step to the side. She lined up a simple straight shot but I coughed loudly when she shot, making her miss. Sam looked up slowly and I saw the devil in her eyes. "Ok...ok." She told me but I just smoothed by her and tapped one in with ease. "2 up." I said, then lined up a well aimed straight shot, missing when Sam bumped into me with her hip. "Whoops, sorry, I'm so clumsy today!" She lied and walked to the end of the table to sink 2 in a row. "Tied up, suckah." She said nonchalantly and Clarissa whooped for her.

Sam lined up her last shot and I stood right beside her. "Sure you wanna aim there?" I asked and she nodded, looking right into my eyes. She hit it without looking away from me, making it. "Yup." She said with an evil grin. "Go Sammy!" Clarissa cheered with slurred words, the Long Island had set in, and Sam ran to her where they high fived again. Sam came back to shoot the 8 and missed on purpose, knocking the 8 in between the cue ball and mine. "Oh damn, that suuuucks." Sam faked sincerity with a thick coat of sarcasm. I looked at my last ball with an annoyed grimace. "He can't hit the 8 into his ball to make it." Sam told Clarissa. "And he has no room to bank it." Clarissa finished. Sam nodded with pride then they giggled like school girls.

Then I thought of something that made me smile. I aimed at the bottom of the cue ball, took a breath and skipped it over the 8. It knocked my ball in and rolled just to the edge of the pocket. "Holy s**t!" Clarissa yelped, and Sam nodded. "Not legal, at all, but I'll accept it under the circumstances." She was proud of the shot too, I could feel it. I lined up the 8 with the wall for an easy bank and win, then I looked at Sam. She seemed a little sad I was gonna beat her in front of Clarissa. I suddenly aimed a little off and knocked the 8 just shy of the hole. "F**k." I intentionally muttered under my breath. Clarissa cheered again and Sam walked up laughing. "Aw, so sad. Now move, junior." Sam lined up her final shot and sunk it beautifully.

"Boom." She winked and Clarissa turned a circle with delight. "Good game." Sam said, shaking my hand. "Coulda been better." I smiled with a hidden joy. "Your round, by the way." She giggled, then hopped to the bar with Clarissa. "Yeah, yeah." I muttered, following behind the two. "Same thing, Clarissa?" I asked and she nodded. "Sam?" I asked her, and she thought for a second. "Scooby Snack. You should try it Clarissa, they're really good." Sam suggested and Clarissa nodded. "Alright, Scooby Snack then." Clarissa was so giddy, and definitely buzzed, it was contagious. Sam hopped around while making 3 Scooby Snack shots, apparently I was getting one too, then she poured em and handed one to Clarissa and I.

"When we clink glasses, set it down gently on the bar and shoot it immediately after, ok?" Sam explained to Clarissa and she nodded absent mindedly. "Bottoms up then." I said happily, then we set em down and knocked em back after. "Ooh, minty!" Clarissa chirped, then burped a bit and apologized. "Don't apologize." Sam laughed, then burped too. "Oh, gotta pee, bathroom?" Clarissa asked, and Sam pointed to the hall on the left. "Thanks." Clarissa hurried to the bathroom and Sam looked at me with a caring smile. "I like her." She said. "Yeah, me too." I replied.

"So why'd you let me win, a*****e?" Sam asked, taking the empty shot glasses and my money for them. "I didn't let you win." I replied coyly. Sam just stared at me with her don't-lie-to-me face. "Well Clarissa wanted you to win and I didn't want her to lose that little bit of happiness she had. Sounded like she needed it." I explained and Sam smiled so wide and beautifully that I felt my stomach float. "Well I'll be damned, the Grinch's heart grew three sizes today." Sam joked, then came to me, looked into my eyes and rested her hands on mine. "Thanks for that." She whispered, and all I could do was nod.

"You smell." Sam then said bluntly. "That'd be the building I was working in today. We had to set up the wiring in a high rise downtown." I told her. "You need a bath, seriously." Sam started laughing and removed her hands to wash them. "It's not that bad, remember the farm I had to rewire?" I threw the memory at her and the smell came flooding back. "Oh my god, eew, why would you bring that up?!" Sam was thoroughly disgusted and it was makin my day. "That was horrible, like a dead goat was draped around your neck. Yeesh..." Sam continued, with rather extravagant detail while I kept laughing.

About 10 minutes later, Clarissa still hadn't come back, so Sam went to make sure she wasn't painting the floor with Malibu. When she walked in the one toilet bathroom, she saw Clarissa sitting on the closed toilet seat looking at her phone. Clarissa's boyfriend had called her but she ignored it and started going through old pictures. Tears had been flowing like an open faucet but she was silent as the grave. "You ok, hon'?" Sam asked, and Clarissa looked up and the salty streams on her cheeks were shining in the bathroom light. "Why did he do it?" She asked Sam. "I was good to him, I loved him more than anything." Her voice was breaking slightly. She was on the edge of sanity, and if she fell, her world would shatter.

"I wish I could answer that, I really do." Sam said, squatting down next to Clarissa. "I thought we were great, there was nothing wrong with us." A sniffle brought more tears and Sam handed her some paper towels from the dispenser. "I don't know, some guys are just a******s. It hurts to say, and definitely to feel, but it's true." Sam said, hoping to comfort her. "And with my best friend? Like, really? What the f**k, man?" Then, with a shudder, Clarissa broke. Sam stood up quickly and held onto her with care. "I don't know what to do..." Clarissa sobbed into Sam's stomach and Sam fought back tears of her own. "You can't let him get to you." Sam tried to explain. "How? I-I can't stop thinking about them. How could they do that?" Clarissa wept and felt her heart rip more and more with each thought that her mind brought forward.

Sam knelt down and took Clarissa's hands before looking up into her soaked eyes. "It's gonna hurt, it's gonna hurt like hell, but you have to keep em out. You have to find a way, because it's gonna hit you like endless waves. Each one is gonna open that wound and make it feel as fresh as it does right now. But when you find a way to shut em out, you'll start to feel the pain go away. You'll start to move forward and everything is gonna start to feel right again. Then, one day, you'll be ok. And I promise, you will be ok, Clarissa." By the end of her words, Sam had tears on her cheeks and Clarissa gripped Sam's hands tightly. "I promise." Sam finished.

I stood just outside the bathroom. I had gone in case Clarissa needed to be picked up from a drunken fall, but instead I heard Sam's words and couldn't walk away. I didn't know Clarissa but I felt for her, I really did. She was devastated, and Sam did her best to help the broken pieces from scattering. I admired her so much right then.

Clarissa wiped her eyes and smeared makeup and Sam dried her own eyes too. "Thanks Sammy." Clarissa said softly and Sam helped her up. "No problem. You wanna go back out there, or do you wanna go in the office and rest?" Sam offered, and Clarissa motioned ner head towards the bar. "Can we do something fun?" She asked. Sam smiled, and put her arm around Clarissa. "We can definitely do that." I quickly made my way back to my stool and watched the two stroll out and Clarissa took her seat while Sam made a glass of ice water for her. "So, how about some pool?" Sam asked and Clarissa perked up. "Yes!"

2 HOURS LATER

The bar got busy around 5, all the workers and other stragglers, so Sam had to head back behind the bar. I sat next to Clarissa and we talked about her childhood and schools. Her favorite dog: Skye, a pug that lived for 13 years before being put down. All the bands she'd seen, movies, books, everything under the sun basically. I was lost a few times, I'll admit, but it helped her to just talk. So I listened and spoke up from time to time. Sam would come over and chat a bit, fill up her water or my soda once I quit drinking liquor. It was a nice night, to be honest. Clarissa and Sam exchanged numbers and set a lunch for the next day even. Clarissa hugged us both and thanked us for everything, then she went drove off.

The bar finally died down around 11, leaving just Sam and I. "I think she's gonna be ok. It'll take some time, but she'll be happy." Sam chirped, and I nodded. "I uh, I heard what you told her in the bathroom. I went to maybe help her up or something, but I couldn't walk away once I heard you talking." Sam turned her head when I said that. "How much did you hear?" She asked. "All of it." I replied slowly, then held her hand. "You were amazing, Sam." Sam blushed and turned her head away. I stood up and turned it back, gently as possible.

"I wanted to ask you something actually." I told her, and she looked at me with anticipation. "What's up?" Sam asked, she seemed jittery all of a sudden. "Earlier, I got to thinkin...why don't we give it another shot?" My words brought tears back to her eyes. "Give what a shot?" Sam asked. She wanted to hear me say it out loud, and so did I. "Us." I whispered, then Sam hugged me tight, and I hugged her back. We didn't say anything for a few seconds, we just stood there. "Is uh, is that a yes?" I asked, and she pulled back to look at me. "Yes, you big idiot." Then she kissed me quick and hugged me again.

2 MINUTES LATER

"Ok, now what?" I ask, the hug has become kind of awkward. "No idea, this is usually where the credits would roll and we live happily ever after." Sam says. "Hm." I grunt. "Hm." Sam grunts back.