Maeve
Ileaned my elbows on the bar, waiting for Clive to fill my drink order. Tonight was pretty mellow, so I hadn’t had much cause to stop by and see him.
“Here you go, love.” Clive filled my tray without really looking at me.
“Everything all right?” I asked.
“Hmmm?” He looked up, giving me a twitch of a smile. “Yeah, love. Just got a lot on my mind.”
“I’m takin’ five after I deliver these drinks. Sit with me?”
He nodded. “Sure. I’ll keep you company.”
I checked in with all my tables, dropping off drinks and making sure everyone had what they needed. Most nights, I couldn’t take a break, but Tuesdays were our dead zone. I worked every shift I could get since I really needed the money, but Tuesdays never brought in the big bucks.
Clive was waiting for me when I sidled up to the bar, holding a mojito out to me as I took my seat next to him.
“Why thank you, sir.”
He gave me a warm smile, leaning his shoulder against mine. “You’re welcome, love.” He took a good long look at me while I sipped my drink.
“What?” I wiped my upper lip with the back of my hand.
“I’m looking at you, and I can’t believe you’re the same girl who was playing drums last night.”
“Did that make you uncomfortable? Seein’ a less-than-soft side of me?”
His brow pulled together, leaving a crease in the middle, and he swiveled in his chair to face me. “I don’t know if I would have put it that way, but now that you say it, yeah, love, it did.”
“You’re not the first man to say that, you know. It’s shitty, but you’re not the first.”
He exhaled through his nose, giving me another long look. “That’s what you want to do?”
“It’s what Ido. Ever since I was a little girl with only pots and pans for drums. I’m not gonna stop. I won’t ever sit still and be quiet.”
He chuckled. “No, I don’t suppose you will. I’ve never known you to be that way. But…uh…”
I lifted my drink, raising an eyebrow. “Friends, right?”
“Of course. That was never a question.”
“But you don’t fancy me anymore?”
I tried really hard to be blunt without hurting feelings. On a normal day, I’d let Clive slide, since I’d never been too sure about my own feelings for him. Tonight, I was feeling a bit prickly. Like I said, I’d experienced this with men before. They met me, heard my soft voice and pretty accent, experienced my manners, saw me dolled up and my overabundant curves, and that was who they wanted at all times. Some of them truly couldn’t wrap their heads around me being feminine while also getting sweaty and aggressive.
As much as I adored Karen Carpenter, I wasn’t her. I sat behind my kit, my legs spread wide and unashamed, steeled my spine, and went hard. The beat of my sticks on skins drowned out my mama’s voice while I played, and I played with all my heart.
Even in the dim lighting, I could see Clive’s face redden. “Was I that obvious before?”
“You were lovely,” I said. And it was true. He’d always treated me right.
“Good. I feel like a prat right now. It’s just…I saw you one way, got to know you here, and now I’ve seen another part of you, which makes me wonder if I ever knew you at all.”
I laid my hand on his knee. “I’m mostly givin’ you a hard time.” There was no sense in getting any deeper into this. Clive had always been a work friend with a crush and potential. Now, he was simply just a work friend.
“Are you going to be leavin’ us, darlin’?” he asked with a cowboy twang.
“That remains to be seen.”