"Congratulations," Sarah said, tilting her beer towards the victorious June.
"Eh, I sort of cheated," June shrugged, tucking the five dollars into the front pocket of her jeans. "I was on the receiving end of your stares all day yesterday,"
Sarah could feel herself blush a little. She'd tried to been discreet and was disturbed to learn she'd failed so completely.
"Sorry, I just--"
June shook her head. "Don't apologize, I'm hot, " June said with absolute confidence in her words. "People stare at me all the time,"
Sarah had to smile. Both at the exchange and at the confidence on display. Sarah knew that many people considered her attractive. She'd certainly turned down enough fellow soldiers over the years to know she could turn a head if she needed it. Not in a million years, however, would Sarah have stated her own hotness the way June just had. Coming from a woman as gorgeous as June, though, it didn't strike Sarah as conceit or arrogance, just a simple statement of fact.
"Hey June," Jim broke in, "any chance you could lend me five bucks? I need to pay for my drinks."
June nodded and produced the same five-dollar bill from her pocket, sliding it across the bar to Jim.
Sarah laughed. She didn't know why but just being in this bar seemed to put her in a better mood. Even if June wasn't in her future, Sarah still liked the interplay between June and Jim and especially liked having permission to look at June. Sarah found herself thankful she'd found the place. Looking around the bar, Sarah had to admit that her initial impressions of the place might have been a bit unfair. True, some of the fixtures and furniture looked old and worn but it looked authentic, worn-in. It looked like the place that had seen many a good time over the years.
"So, Sarah Conover," June said, "What's your story? The abridged version, if you like."
"Like I said--"
"Like I said," June interjected, "We're going to get to know each other if you're going to be a regular. You can leave out the drinking parts, I just need backstory,"
Sarah thought it over. She could manage revealing something. She tried to give the Cliff's Notes of her life.
"Well, I'm twenty-six. Grew up in Southern California. Mom left when I was three. Dad raised me in his auto-body shop. Died when I was nineteen. Joined the Army as a mechanic. Served for five years. Have a sixth to go. Found a bar with a nosy bartender."
"Fair enough."
"How about you?" Sarah asked
June shook her head."Wasn't part of the deal."
"Fair's fair," Sarah insisted, putting her empty beer bottle down on the bar. June nodded and grabbed another from the fridge.
"Uh, raised here. I'm twenty-two. Pretty normal I guess. Went to art school. Realized photography was not the get-rich quick guarantee I'd always assumed it to be. My Uncle Pat died and left me his bar," June recounted.
"To Patty," Jim interjected, raising his whiskey to a small framed picture behind the bar. It was of an older, heavy-set man with a small girl that Sarah recognized as a younger version of her bartender. "He knew more about baseball and was a faster pourer than his wastrel of a niece."
June reached back for a bottle of the stuff and took a swig herself. "Yeah, but I'm better scenery." June winced at the straight shot of whiskey, even as she nodded her agreement with Jim. She turned back to Sarah to continue, "So anyways I decided to go with struggling small business owner over starving artist which means technically you found a bar with a nosy owner, not a nosy bartender,"
Part 2
Start from the beginning
