16. "He's Mine!"

Chrissy's first encounter with jealousy.

(Warning!  Chrissy is drunk and that means foul language!)

Chrissy discovered that her glass was empty and banged it loudly on the bar three times to get the bartender's attention. He came over and gave her a disapproving look.

“Haven't you had enough?” he asked gruffly. She banged her glass on the bar once more in reply. He grabbed the bottle of bourbon from the shelf behind him and poured some into her glass. “Last one!” he said sternly, shaking a finger at her.

As she took a sip she sensed someone sit down next to her. She sighed! Another idiot coming over to hit on her, no doubt! She wondered what this one's line was going to be.

“This seat taken?”

She closed her eyes and hung her head in exasperation as she recognized Ian's voice. “How the hell did you find me?” she asked.

“It was pure luck,” he answered, “This is only the second place I've checked.”

“Lucky for you - unlucky for me!” she replied sullenly.

“Double scotch-on-the-rocks,” he said to the bartender who had come over to take his order.

“And put a shot of cyanide in it!” Chrissy added derisively. The bartender gave her a dirty look.

“Cyanide?” responded Ian with a smile, “I would have expected you to be more of an arsenic kind of woman. It's a slower and more painful death.”

“Arsenic is for enemies,” she replied, “Cyanide is for loved ones.”

“Well, it's nice to know I still fit in the latter category.”

The bartender set Ian's drink down in front of him, but before he could walk away Ian held up a finger, picked up his drink and downed it in two gulps. He handed the glass back to the bartender and said, “Another one!”

As he walked off to fetch Ian another drink, Chrissy asked, “What's your hurry?”

“I'm trying to catch up to you.”

“Well, you've got a ways to go.” Her speech was slurring.

The bartender set another double scotch down in front of Ian. “Gonna make that one last?” he asked with a critical look.

“Check back in about a minute,” Ian answered with a smile. He picked it up and chugged down a third of it. The bartender rolled his eyes.

“You're wasting your time, Ian,” said Chrissy. “I'm going back to my place tonight! Tomorrow I'll come back and get the rest of my things.” She took another sip of her bourbon. “I'm just not cut out for this 'relationship' crap! It's too hard!”

“Of course it's hard!” said Ian, “You think having a relationship with you is easy?!” He drained his glass and signaled the bartender for another. “The question is, 'Is it worth the trouble?' And for me it is! I love you, Chrissy. Come on back and we'll work things out.”

The bartender brought over the bottle of scotch and refilled Ian's glass. Ian immediately picked it up and gulped down half of it. The bartender shook his head as he walked away.

“I'm used to having things in my life my way!” she said, “I'm not good at this 'compromise' s**t that comes with sharing my life with someone!”

“Am I that hard to live with? I thought I was pretty easy-going.”

“It's not that,” sighed Chrissy, “It's just... I've always been a loner. I can't change!”

“You want to go back to how your life was before we met?! I don't think you do! That was no life! It was an existence!” He drained his glass and signaled for yet another. “I've spent half of my life thinking I would never fall in love and then I met you!” he continued, “I feel like we were meant for each other, like we were supposed to find each other.”

“Oh, God!” she replied, “You must be getting drunk. You're starting to sound hokey!”

“You love it!” he responded.

The bartender set another drink in front of Ian and said, “That's it! I'm cutting you both off!”

Ian handed him a credit card and said, “Put her tab on there, too.” Chrissy was too drunk to argue.

“My life was just fine until you came along and fucked it all up! Goddamn you, Ian Stewart! I hate you!!”

“I don't believe that!! And I certainly don't think you believe it!”

“Believe it!”

“Alright! I'm calling your bluff! You want to go back to your crappy old life? Then just tell me to leave and I will! And I won't try to get you back!”

“Promise?”

“Promise!”

“Good! Leave!”

He studied her for several seconds trying to decide if she was sincere before he finally nodded to her, chugged down his last glass of scotch and stood up. “Whoa!” he said as he stumbled a little and steadied himself against the bar for several moments. Then, without another word he walked off unsteadily toward the exit. Chrissy reached for her glass and found it empty again. “S**t!” she muttered.

“Don't just sit there, go after him!” said a voice.

Chrissy looked up and found a much older woman looking at her from behind the bar. She had flaming red hair with grey roots and wore way too much make-up, even for Chrissy! She was dressed in a tight fitting zebra print blouse with the top three buttons undone and her ample bosom practically spilling out of a black bra. Chrissy didn't remember seeing her before and wondered where she came from.

“Huh?” was all Chrissy could reply through glazed eyes.

“I said go after him! Don't let him get away, you idiot!” The old woman nodded toward Ian.

Chrissy turned to see Ian heading for the door. She turned back to the old woman and said tersely, “Why don't you mind your own f*****g business?!”

“Look,” the woman responded, “Anybody can see he's crazy about you. And I know you're nuts about him, too. I can see it in your eyes when you look at him!”

“Just stay out of this!” Chrissy snapped, “You don't know s**t about how I feel!!”

“Honey, if you don't go after him... I will!” she said with another nod toward Ian.

Chrissy turned around just in time to see Ian walk out the door. She turned back to the bar, her eyes flashing blue fire! “You keep your hands off --!” But the woman was no longer there. Chrissy looked up and down the bar, but the old woman was nowhere to be seen. “Where the hell did she go?!” Chrissy wondered out loud. There was something strange about that woman. She seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared again just as quickly. A sudden fear took hold of her that the woman had gone after Ian. Well... Chrissy wasn't about to let that old battle-axe sink her hooks into her guy! She stood up and almost fell over. She grabbed the bar to steady herself for several seconds until the room stopped spinning. Then she staggered off toward the exit. She bumped into a table with several people sitting at it and nearly spilled their drinks.

“Hey! Watch it!” said a man angrily.

“Piss off!” Chrissy shot back as she continued toward the door.

The man stood up but the woman he was with pulled him back down. “Let her go, she's on her way out anyway.”

The cool night air was like a brisk slap in the face to Chrissy. She quickly looked up and down the street and found Ian about half a block away waiting for the crosswalk signal. “Hey!” she hollered.

He turned and looked at her as she staggered off toward him. When she reached him she immediately looked around for the old broad, but she was nowhere to be found. Ian looked at Chrissy expectantly and said, “Yeah?”

Not knowing what else to do, she said, “Give me a ride to my place.”

He shook his head. “I'm too drunk to drive. I'm walking home.”

“But... that's nine blocks!!”

“Then I'd better get walking.”

“Wait!... I'm coming with you.”

“I thought you were going back to your place.”

“My place is even further!”

He sighed. “Alright, come on then.”

They walked in silence for awhile. Chrissy watched Ian the whole time. She was beginning to realize that she couldn't break up with him after all. She had been all set to erase him from her life until that old broad butted in and started talking about going after him. That made something inside Chrissy snap! She found the thought of Ian with another woman to be intolerable!

She might as well face it - like it or not, she was hooked on the guy. “Damn you!” she muttered at him under her breath.

He stopped and turned toward her. “Huh? You say something?”

She looked at him for several seconds, then on the spur of the moment decided to tell him how she felt about him. “Ian, I... that is... I...” Say it you dumb a*s, just say it!! Tell him you love him!! “I... I...” She suddenly furrowed her brow. “I think I'm gonna throw-up!”

She ran to the curb and began getting sick into the street. When she was done she leaned against the lamppost and closed her eyes. She was momentarily startled when she felt something cold and wet touch her face. Ian had apparently dug into her purse and pulled out a Moist Towelette and began wiping her face with it. It felt so cool and refreshing against her hot cheeks and forehead. When he was done he tossed the towelette into the street.

“You just littered,” she muttered.

“So did you,” he replied.

She actually chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Come on, Babe. We've still got a long way to go.”

“Yeah,” she responded, “We do, don't we? A long way. But we're getting there.”

He gave her a puzzled look.

As they started walking Ian put his arm around her shoulder. She slipped her arm around his waist and leaned her head against the side of his chest and closed her eyes. Chrissy wasn't the lovey-dovey type and ordinarily detested such public displays of affection, but right then, for just that moment... it felt soooo good!

Author's Note

I hope the ending isn't sappy or mushy.

Reviews

[John Lauterbach]

What happened between them to start this fight?

I pictured this scene late at night to start, so when Ian and Chrissy are in the street together, I didn't think anyone was around them. I realized later that people on the street weren't mentioned, but an empty street plus Chrissy giving in to mushy feelings fits with my expectations of her. I continue to be impressed by her character, she's quite fully developed and I like how the story keeps introducing new challenges to her.
I had a good laugh at her throwing up in the street, it reminded me of when a friend of mine puked all over a random persons Audi.

[Craig2591]

Yeah, I kept trying to come up with a reason that they are fighting in the first place, but couldn't. I didn't think that it was all that important, so I left it out.

You're right. There weren't a lot of people around. Maybe just one or two. I should add that perhaps.

[Bella Luna]

I love how Chrissy is still so resistant of her feelings for Ian, but then something always makes her realize how much he means to her. Looks like things are getting serious! Great chapter!

[Tina Kline]

It's not sappy at all. It's a good ending. This is a really good chapter. I enjoyed it. Ian and Chrissy are very likeable characters.

[Craig2591]

Thank you. I was worried.

[Tina Kline]

You're welcome!

[Kaya]

I think its perfect.... Even the toughest most independ people have their softer side... You've shown Chrissys without losing her individual edge :) Thank you for keeping this story going... I love it!!!

[Craig2591]

Thank you, Kaya! That was exactly what I was trying to achieve!