Beautiful Trauma

Prologue

"This had better be good." I muttered answering my phone still half asleep.
"Allyson. I'm sorry. I can't make it in." Shelia Hunt said for the second time this week.
"You know I'm coming off a 24 hour shift, right?" I almost growled.
"I know, Allyson. I'm sorry." She said again.
"You'll need a doctor's note to return then." I sighed forcing myself to sit up.
"Allyson..." She started.
"It's not a negotiation. The rules are clear just as they were when I hired you." I cut her off.
"If you're drugged up or hungover again then you're fired. I can't keep babying you." I hung up the phone tossing it into the center of my king sized bed.
I looked over at my bedside clock. 12:35pm.
"Fuck..." I sighed.
I shocked myself in a cold shower and dressed in a red tank top and dark blue jeans with my leather jacket and ran out the door.
I managed to pull up outside my bar; Insomnia just after 1:15pm.
As I climbed out of my car I noticed Jessica Whitly walking back to her SUV from the building she owned across the alleyway.
"Hey, Jess!" I called out to her.
"Allyson! Oh, it's been too long. I'll be right over!" She called back.
It paid off to have a rich friend in the neighborhood.
She wasn't popular. Not since that debacle with her husband in 1998. Over a decade before I opened this place.
I'd describe her as almost motherly.
I unlocked the front door as Jess walked up my side of the street.
"Oh, Allyson! You look exhausted! Shelia call out again?" She asked.
"Yeah. I pulled a 24 yesterday and wasn't supposed to be here until close." I answered.
"I'll send Adolfo to get us some coffee." She smiled at me.
"I'd love that. Thank you." I smiled at her.
"What's bothering you, Jessica?" I asked as we sat together at the bar drinking incredibly strong, over-priced coffee.
She looked up at me almost shocked.
"I bartended to put myself through med school, Jess. Bartenders always know." I teased.
"My son is back in town after being fired from the FBI. I'm worried he'll start seeing his father again. It's always been so hard on his mental health." She sighed.
"He's about my age, right? Thirty-ish?" I asked.
"He turned thirty-one in March." She nodded.
"Unfortunately, almost all you can do is let him make his own choices." I shrugged.
"Have I done the right thing?" She mused.
"I ask myself that every single day. Was it the right thing to let him have those visits with his father? He was only a child... Would it have been better if I shielded him like I did with Ainsley?" She looked up at me.
"I'm sure he's a good man. You did raise him after all." I smiled at her.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"Almost 2pm." I answered.
"Opening time. Is this place even busy on a Tuesday?" She asked.
"Oh God, no." I laughed.
"I have a few regulars that flutter in throughout the afternoons. If we don't open one day then they'll find somewhere else to hang their hats for two or three hours and that's business out the door." I sighed walking over to officially open up for the evening.
I flipped on the open sign and rejoined Jessica.
"You're a trauma surgeon. This place is paid for." Jess narrowed her eyes at me playfully.
"I gotta keep stocking the good gin for my favorite customer." I teased.
"You always know the way to my heart." She smirked.
"One drink then I must be off. I have a gala tonight."
"The Carter Berkhead Gala, right?" I asked pulling her favorite gin from the cabinet at my hip.
"Yeah. Rocks today, dear." She instructed.
"Of course." I smiled dropping three ice cubes into the glass.
"Did you get an invitation?" She asked.
"I get a few every once in a while. Never coincide with my schedule." I sighed.
"The brilliant young surgeon making her name in the New York social scene." She gushed at me.
"I just wish I had the time to enjoy it." I smiled sadly at her.
"Find some good help here and you will." She reminded me.
"I know. I just have such a soft spot for those who are struggling."
"It can be hard not to. Especially being an orphan, right?" She asked.
I could tell it was only curiosity that fueled her question.
"Yeah. It's not always easy to put it behind me." I nodded.
"You hang in there, Allyson. It'll all pay off. You're made of tougher stuff." She smiled at me finishing off her drink.
"Enjoy your gala, Jess." I smiled back.
I watched her walk away and sighed internally.
Just after she walked out, Mr. Richards walked in.
"The usual, Mr. Richards?" I asked as he sat down at the corner table.
"The usual, Allyson." He called over as if he hadn't heard me, which to be honest he probably didn't.
Mr. Richards was at least eighty and came in for a pitcher of beer every afternoon at open and stayed through the evening leaving around ten.
I wandered around the bar cleaning up after the various drifters and regulars.
"Hey, Allyson. I thought you weren't working tonight." Adam King said walking up to the bar around one am.
"Nope. I'm here." I sighed.
"Bourbon, rocks." He ordered less than politely.
"Sure." I dropped some ice in a bourbon glass and topped it.
"Better make it a double." He locked eyes with me.
"No problem. Six fifty." I answered.
Adam was the kind of man who thought he was God's gift to women.
He was, in fact, not.
He dropped seven bucks on the bar.
"Keep the change, darling." He smirked.
God, I hated him.
"Thanks." I sneered.
I rolled my eyes as he walked away.
I heard the jingle of the bell above the door and glanced back over to see a man I'd never seen before walk in dressed in a three piece suit under a long black trench coat.
His blue eyes scanned the entirety of the room before landing on an empty stool at the end of the bar, fairly isolated from the activity but probably the best vantage point in the entire bar.
"Hey there." I said once he sat down on the stool.
His eyes looked heavy, as if something weighed on him. Most that found their way to my little hole-in-the-wall bar looked the same.
"You look like you're looking for something strong. Wait... don't tell me." I said when he raised his eyes to order.
"You're a whiskey man. Top shelf. Yamazaki Twelve year Single Malt?" I asked.
"Sounds great." He sighed with a small nod.
"Rocks?" I asked flipping the glass onto the bar.
"Sure."
I dropped three ice cubes into the glass and turned to get the bottle.
"First one's on the house." I smiled turning back to look at him and pour his drink.
"My first drink wasn't on the house." Adam exclaimed from where he now stood with his empty bourbon glass.
"Well, you're a first rate asshole, so..." I shrugged.
"Another double." He said glaring at me.
"Another six fifty." I answered.
He sat another seven dollars on the bar. I poured his drink.
"Fifty cents back." I said cashing out his order.
"Keep it, whore." He growled.
"Ooo... pays the light bill." I smirked at him.
He rolled his eyes and walked away from me.
"Get a lot of people like that?" My newest customer asked clearly uncomfortable.
"Eh. I run a bar. Comes with the territory." I answered turning back to him.
"I'm Allyson." I told him.
"Malcolm." He answered.
"It's a pleasure." I smiled.
"The pleasure is mine." He smiled back.
"You work here or...?" He asked after a moment.
I paused looking at him. I could tell he wasn't an idiot so I waited for him to clarify.
"The way you said you 'run a bar'... I'm wondering if you just work here or..." He stumbled over his words a bit.
"I own the place, yeah." I nodded with a small laugh.
"Mrs. Whitly offered me the building at a reduced price." I continued.
"You know my mother?" He asked then caught himself and sighed.
"Yeah. For almost five years now. She owns the building across the street and she sold me this one at the start of 2015." I nodded deciding not to dwell on his 'slip' or his parentage.
"I just moved back into the loft at the top of the building." He mused.
"Hopefully, that means I'll be seeing a lot of you." I winked at him.
"Hopefully." He looked up at me.
He had his mother's eyes.
"Allyson? Can I get one more?" Leon White asked setting his empty beer glass down.
I glanced behind me at the clock.
"Yeah. Last one." I answered then dispensed the beer.
"Last call. We're closing in twenty minutes. This is the last call for alcoholic beverages." I called out as Leon left to enjoy his last beer of the night.
"Another for you?" I asked Malcolm after serving the rest of the patrons.
"Sure." He nodded.
"Twenty-eight." I told him.
He pulled a fifty out of his wallet and hands it to me.
"Thanks. Twenty-two back."
"No need." He nodded at me.
"Thank you."
As I worked through my closing tasks I noticed Malcolm nursing his whiskey and watching Adam King.
I stood at the end of the bar counting down the till.
"Would it bother you if I stayed to walk you out?" Malcolm asked.
"It wouldn't bother me but it's unnecessary. Adam's an asshole but he's all bark and no bite." I chuckled.
"It'd just make me feel better. Call it the FBI Agent in me." He smirked.
"You're mom told me about the FBI." I nodded.
"She hated it." He sighed.
"She's proud of you. She thinks it's beneath your abilities but that just shows her belief in you." I answered.
"You talk to her a lot, don't you?" He asked.
"Whenever she's in the area." I nodded.
"Hold on." I sighed catching sight of the time.
"Finish up! Time to go!" I called out to the bar moving around the bar to start collecting empty glasses.
"But, Allyson." Leon started.
"No. No, buts. It's time to go." I answered reaching for his glass.
He pulled it out of my reach.
"Finish up and hand it over." I said firmly.
"Aw! Fine." He sighed then downed the last of his beer.
"Do you need me to call Marianne?" I asked.
"No. I'm fine." He said.
"I took the bus here." He continued.
"Fine. Hurry up. Last bus is in five minutes." I reminded him.
I continued clearing out customers.
"How come he doesn't have to leave?' Adam motioned at Malcolm.
"He's my new bouncer. This time next week he'll be shuffling your ass out of here instead of me if you don't shape up." I answered pushing him gently out the door so I could lock it behind him.
I sighed leaning against it for a second.
"You finish up too. I wanna run these through the washer before we go." I told Malcolm walking back towards the bar.
He threw his head back finishing his drink.
I finally got the glasses cleaned and was ready to go a half hour after close.
"Come on, Malcolm." I sighed walking to the door.
I felt his breath on my neck as I flipped off the lights and set the alarm. It wasn't harsh or intimidating but almost anxious.
I locked the door behind us and turned to my car.
I couldn't have been more exhausted. Twenty-four hour shifts were rare but to turn around and have to open the bar less than eight hours later to then work the bar for twelve hours on my own... I'd have to fire Shelia if she didn't bring in a note.
"Are you okay?" Malcolm asked breaking into my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! It's just been a long day. Definitely ready to get home." I answered with an unplanned yawn.
I climbed into my car turning it on and lowering my window.
"It was good to meet you, Malcolm." I told him.
"Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get know one another." He smiled at me.
"You know where to find me." I teased.
I rolled up my window as I watched him walk across the road to his mother's building.
I sighed and bit my lip slightly before driving away.