Joel
Joel walkedinto Savage Hell to find Axel and Melody sitting up at the bar, the last thing he wanted was a night out, but he had promised his former partner and her new husband that he’d meet them for a beer to celebrate them getting hitched. Actually, they had been married for almost six months now, and he had been promising to meet them at Savage Hell, for weeks on end, but he was always too tired after his shift to join them for a few beers. He planned to cancel on them again tonight but then, he ran into Melody, and she threatened to hunt him down and drag his ass into the bar for a night out. He protested, saying that he was tired and just wanted to collapse into bed, but she reminded him that tomorrow was Saturday and he’d be able to sleep in. She took away any argument that he had and not showing up wasn’t an option.
As soon as Axel and Melody saw him, they smiled and waved in unison, and he could feel his eyes roll. He found what everyone else thought of as adorable, to be annoying, although he kept that to himself. He’d never want them to think that he was jealous about the two of them being together. Melody was not just his partner on the force, she was also his ex-girlfriend. She was the one who had gotten away, and he might be over losing her, but he still didn’t find her and her new husband to be cute, adorable, or a perfect couple as others had called them.
“Good to see that you could make it,” Melody said.
“Well, I didn’t like the alternatives presented to me earlier today, if I didn’t show up,” he grumbled.
“Tell me you didn’t threaten the guy, honey,” Axel said.
“She came into my office today to let me know that turning down your invitation again would end up with a manhunt—involving yours truly and your new, blushing bride.”
Axel chuckled, seeming to miss the point of Melody telling her new boss that she’d hunt him down and drag his ass to the bar, to be completely inappropriate. “I think your idea of funny and my idea of funny are very different,” Joel grumbled. He waved down the bartender, asked for another round of beers, and sat up on the barstool next to Axel.
“Well, getting you here tonight was kind of important to us,” she said.
“Why’s that?” Joel asked.
“We have someone that we want you to meet,” Melody said.
“No,” Joel simply said. “No setups. I thought that we’ve been through all of this before. I don’t want to date right now. I just don’t have time for it since my promotion. You know how many hours I put in at the station. I don’t have time for any extracurriculars,” Joel insisted.
“I know how hard you work, Joel,” Melody said. “It’s why I want to introduce you to my friend, Trista. She’s perfect for you and you can’t be serious about not dating. Work can’t be your entire life. You need to find a work/personal life balance, or you’ll wake up one day, all alone, and it will be too late.”
“I have some time before that happens, Melody,” he assured.
“You’re turning forty this year, Joel. You need to diversify, branch out and maybe, just maybe you’ll realize that work isn’t everything,” Melody insisted.
“Just give Trista a chance,” Axel chimed in. He knew that he wasn’t going to get the final word in all of this. Once Melody set her mind to something, she’d find a way to make it happen. And with Axel taking her side, she’d be relentless.
“Fine,” Joel mumbled. “I’ll meet this friend of yours, but I’m making no promises,” he said.
“At least have a beer with her,” Axel said. “Talk to her, maybe even get to know the woman a little bit. She might surprise you, man.” He hated surprises, and he had half a mind to tell Axel that, but it was too late. They had roped him into the bar only to ambush him with a fix-up. This whole evening was turning into one giant surprise, and he hated everything about it.
“I know that this is way out of your comfort zone, Joel,” Melody said. “But I worry about you. We were close once, and just because that didn’t work out doesn’t mean that I don’t still worry about you.”
“While I appreciate that, Melody,” he said. “I hate surprises—you know that. Remember how I reacted to that surprise birthday party you threw me at the precinct?”
“Oh, I remember that birthday,” Melody said. “You shouted at me for about ten minutes and then stormed out of the break room. You were a jerk, but we ate your cake anyway, and eventually, you got over it.”
“I’ve never gotten over it if we’re being honest here. I hate surprises, and now, you’re having me meet a complete stranger at a bar and you think it’s a good thing?” he asked.
“Just don’t throw a fit and stomp out of here,” Melody said.
“No promises,” he said.
Melody popped up from her barstool and squealed, clapping her hands. “She’s here,” she gushed.
“As if we couldn’t tell,” Axel teased. She ran across the bar and hugged her friend. “Trista’s not bad looking, right?”
He turned around to look her over, knowing full well that he was going to find her wanting no matter what she looked like. He was being an ass and that had everything to do with how tired he was. “She’s not bad,” Joel admitted. She was more than not bad but admitting that out loud would be equivalent to admitting that Melody might be right and that was a dangerous game to play. She loved to make him tell her that she was right, at any cost, and he usually tried like hell to avoid having to do it.
Melody and Trista walked across the barroom and just about every guy in the place watched them make their way over to the bar. Trista was a beautiful woman, but that didn’t make any of this setup feel right to him.
“Joel,” Melody said, her arm around her friend, “this is Trista Stonewell. Trista, this is Joel Swensen.”
“It’s good to meet you,” Trista said, holding out her hand to him. He took her hand into his own, noting the way his skin felt a bit tingly just by her touch.