Where We Belong

Love Action

As she predicts, the competition is over just a few minutes after 9pm and she is more than grateful for that. She is so tired and even though her feet do not hurt nearly as badly as they did yesterday, they are still very sore. Her calves also hurt and her lower back is killing her. She returns the towels and heads out of the building. The night air is cool and having the fresh air hit her face after a long day inside feels nice. By the time she makes it over to the street where the parking garage and the bar is, she feels more refreshed.

She walks up to the entrance of the bar and pulls on the door lightly, careful this time that someone might be on the other side. When she senses no resistance, she pulls it open wider and walks in. Declan is right. The atmosphere in the bar tonight is entirely different from last night. There are not very many empty seats at the bar and the tables are all nearly full. There is a DJ on stage that is orchestrating the karaoke event and a man that is singing a 90's country hit. Declan and Gillian are both behind the bar tonight but they do not seem to be super busy at the moment. They are talking with a man and a woman sitting directly in front of them. Declan looks up and sees her in the doorway and yells from the bar, "Hey, Harper!" Then he comes around the bar and walks over to her. "You made it."

She smiles at Declan and looks up to see that Gillian is looking in their direction now. She regards Harper for a second before going back to the conversation she is having. Harper turns back to Declan. "Yeah...well, you made it sound like it was going to be so amazing. I hope that I'm not going to be disappointed." She teases.

"Oh, don't you worry, I rarely disappoint. Come on over to the bar." He walks in that direction but turns to make sure Harper is following him. "Did you want something to drink?" He asks with a smile once he is behind the bar once again.

"Sure." Harper shrugs. "Same as yesterday?"

"You got it." He pours the drink and hands it to her. Then he interrupts Gillian and the conversation that she is having, "Gillian, you remember Harper from yesterday." It is more of a statement than a question.

The man and woman sitting there turn towards Harper as well and this makes her feel very self-conscious for a second.

Gillian subconsciously rubs at her wrist that still happens to be sore. She smiles tightly. "Mhm...pretty impossible to forget if you ask me."

Harper is about to apologize again when Declan introduces her to the others. "Dominic, Rebecca, this is Harper. She is new to the city."

Rebecca who is sitting closer to Harper turns her body so that she could reach out her hand. Harper shakes it. "It's nice to meet you Harper. Welcome to Seattle. This is my husband Dominic but everyone calls him Dom. He and I went to school with Gillian so we've all been friends forever."

Then Dominic reaches around his wife to extends his hand as well. "What brings you to the Emerald City, Harper?"

She hates this particular question and she sees from the corner of her eye that Declan is smirking at her. "I was just passing through. I haven't decided if this is where I want to stay.

"Oh, so you're like a vagabond? That sounds very exciting!" Rebecca says.

Harper shrugs and replies. "Something like that, I guess." She notices that the whole time they are having this conversation Gillian seems completely uninterested. So much for properly re-introducing myself. She pulls out her phone to check the time before asking Declan if she could order something to eat.

Declan smiles at her. "Ah, and you actually made it on time today," he jests. "What will you have? Do you need a menu?"

Harper shakes her head. "Nah, I will just take the burger again. With cheese..."