A Saint's Savior

2

Finley stops by the bar Friday after work on her way home. She figures Murphy wouldn't be there that early in the day and she's right. It's relatively empty when she walks in. She finds the old man behind the bar, with his head down and she walks over towards him "hey, you're Doc, right?" She asks, wanting to make sure she has his name right.

He jolts up and stammers "c-c-cock, cock, shit. Wh-why you sneakin up on on on old man like th-th-th-that?"

"Sorry" she mutters "if I leave Murphy's jacket here, can you make sure it gets to him?" She places the dark peacoat over the bar, next to his arms.

He looks at it, then back to her and says "wh-why don't ya give it to him ya-yaself. He'll be here to-to-to-tonight."

She shrugs "I have plans. Thanks, doc!" She decides to just leave it there and walk out of the bar. Finley heads straight home and changes into a comfortable pair of sweats and a t-shirt before making dinner and sitting on her couch with a glass of white wine. At around 10:30 there's a knock on her door and Finley cautiously walks to the door. She's made a few friends since moving here but no one knew where she lived. She peaks through the hole and smirks when she spots Murphy's face "are you stalking me?" She opens the door and says out to him.

He smirks and chuckles "nonsense, I just wanted to thank you for returning my jacket." He holds open his arms for her to see that he's wearing it.

She squints and questions "how'd you know where I lived then, huh?"

He answers "you said you lived about 8 blocks from the pub."

She pushes "yeah, and there's 5 apartment buildings alone on this street, how'd you find me?"

He doesn't hesitate when he answers "knocked on every damn door askin' for yah. Knew I'd find ya at some point." He has a cocky smile on his face and Finley shakes her head, a smile forming on her own lips.

She puts her hands on her hips "and what if I wasn't home?"

He replies "then I'd just try again tomorrow."

"You wanna come in for a drink?" She pushes her door further open to see if he wants to come in.

He looks past her but doesn't move to enter "I could, or yew could come to tha bar with me and the guys. Sure they'd love to see ya again." Finley pushes her lips together in thought. Maybe she's being too forward with this guy, maybe she should slow it down and let him take the lead. Sure, he's throwing out one hell of a signal, but maybe she's reading too much into it. Before she could answer though, Murphy walks forward and into her apartment "fuck tha guys, whatcha got to drink around here?"

Finley shakes her head and shuts the door, following behind Murphy as he makes his way into the kitchen. Finley lives in a studio, so the layout is open and obvious. She tells him what she has "I got some beer, wine and I think a bottle of vodka somewhere in the freezer." Murphy opens the freezer and digs around a bit for the vodka. Once he finds it, he puts it on the table and Finley already got out two shot glasses. He pours them each a shot and they lift to toast. Finley says "sláinte."

But before she could down her shot he returns with a a language she is not familiar with "iubentium."

They down the shot and she asks "what was that?"

He smiles and explains "it was latin for cheers."

"Latin, huh?" She replies, impressed. Not many people in America know Latin. "How many languages do you know?" She asks, knowing he at least knows three.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He teases her before pouring two more shots.

They down them both and she then takes a seat at the small bistro like table she has in the kitchen "so, Murphy. Tell me about yourself."

He sits across from her, pouring two more shots and replies "whatcha wanna know?"

He slides the glass towards her and she downs it before he can even pick his up then says "well, how long have you and your brother been here?"

"Boston?" He replies, then taking his own shot.

She shakes her head "America."

He shrugs, pouring himself one more shot "over 15 years, I spose."

She asks "how old are you?"

"33" He answers then downing his fourth shot.

"What, none for me?" She pushes her glass forward.

He raises an eyebrow and asks "ya sure? Yew don have to keep up with me."

She takes it as an insult, but not in a harsh way and coyly replies "maybe you'll have to keep up with me." She bangs the glass down on the table so it slightly echoes through the room and he smirks, pouring her another glass "thank you" She smiles proudly before downing it. Finley knows she won't be able to keep up with him, but she also knows her limit and will stop when she hits it. Finley asks a ton of questions but Murphy never asks any back. After 1 more shot on her end and 4 more on his, it's clear they are both moving from tipsy to drunk. Finley finally asks "so, is there a reason you're not asking me any questions?"

He grins "I don't need to ask questions, I know every thin' I need to know."

She tilts her head "like what?"

"Well, ya Irish" he starts and she nods to confirm. He goes on "Catholic" he points to the cross hanging on her neck. She looks down at it then smiles and nods again to confirm. "You handle your liquor just fine" he lifts up the bottle of vodka to offer another shot. She shakes her head to decline while keeping a smirk on her face. He goes on "ya got a nice mouth on ya, and ya confident." She doesn't nod or respond and just waits for him to continue. "And your single."

She responds to this one, leaning back in the chair "and how did you come to that conclusion?"

He doesn't skip a beat when he answers "you invited me in, didn't you lass?" She tries to hide the chuckle escape her lips but nods to confirm his last statement.

She now leans up and closer to the table like she's going to tell him a secret. He leans in as if to listen and she asks "alright then, and what does all that matter to ya anyhow?"

He bites his lip for a few seconds then says "rare combination, been lookin' for a girl like you for sometime."

"Well, here I am baby" she confidently replies.

She sees it, his face blush just slightly and he drops his head before uttering out "here you are." He leans back in the chair then says "so, let me take you out to dinner then, I? Tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night? Yah, sure, I can swing that." She nods.

Murphy stands up "alright then, I'll pick you up at 7?"

"7, yeah." She agrees standing as well.

He walks to the door and she follows behind. He opens it, steps outside her apartment and turns around "so, I'll see ya tomorrow Finley. Have a good night."

He tips his head as if he's wearing a hat and goes to walk off "that's it, no kiss goodnight?" She calls after him.

He turns back and says "naw, not tonight."

He walks off again and she calls after him "maybe tomorrow then!"