„Oh, wow! It's you!", Henry said startled as the platinum blonde woman behind the bar turned around.
„Why sure, who else?"
„What's with the blonde wig?"
„It's Halloween!", Roni replied with a beaming smile as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
„And who are you supposed to be? Marilyn Monroe?"
She sighed and threw up her hands. „Why does everyone think that? It's Sandy, from ‚Grease'!"
„Oh... I see. But then you need the, the... this tight black suit with, you know, the...", he was gesturing around his chest area and had obvious trouble saying the word ‚breasts' or ‚boobs' or even ‚cleavage' out loud to her.
She raised an eyebrow. „In your dreams! Plus, it's still early. You don't know what I got in store for later tonight. By the way..." She put a glass containing a fuming red liquid down in front of him. „This is my special cocktail creation for tonight, I call it the ‚Poisoned Apple'. Try it and tell me if you like it, I'm still experimenting."
He took a sip and said: „It could use a dash of cinnamon."
„Cinnamon? Huh... I never thought of that." She went back to mixing her potions behind the bar.
„And how about you? Which costume you're rocking today, gloomy writer who's unhappily in love?"
She instantly could have kicked herself for that insensitive comment after Henry told her about visiting his wife and daughter's graves yesterday. She walked around the counter to sit down on the bar stool next to him and tried to comfort him as best she knew how. After all, we all have to let go of our ghosts eventually. And moving forward doesn't mean we forget the dead.
He took another sip of her fuming concoction, then a deep breath and tried to put on a smile before changing the topic to her.
„And how about you?", he nodded towards the bouquet of fresh flowers standing on the counter looking somewhat out of place in a bar like hers, „You and Rogers, huh? He seems to be courting you just right."
Roni blushed and lowered her gaze for a second, smiling almost dreamily. Then she shrugged. „Yeah, he really does. I don't know, I mean, we're still trying to figure things out. But it does feel like it could really turn into something serious. Even though that thought scares the hell out of me. I really, really like him. I like being with him. And I think he likes me too."
Henry nodded. „Trust me, he does! But why does it scare you?"
„Oh well, for obvious reasons, we just talked about it. In a way, love is weakness, you know? Love makes you strong, but it also makes you vulnerable. You can lose the one you love, or you can get hurt by them. And... I've had my share of that just like you. I pushed it away so far that I don't even quite remember what happened, but I know that there still is a gaping hole in my heart that no one has yet managed to fill. And by putting my hopes on Rogers, I also open myself up to the potential disappointment of finding out that I was wrong. Also, I just don't want to lose him as a friend, you know? I don't want to ruin our relationship as it is by trying to force it into something that it is not."
Henry had nodded knowingly while she was trying to explain her thoughts and worries to him, then he asked: „You two have history together?"
„Oh yes. Rogers and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. And for just as long, we... well, let's just say, we've become accustomed to enjoying each other's company after dark, if you get what I mean."
He pulled a face and he wasn't even quite sure why. „I... I do! And... I don't need to know the details, please, it's alright."
She was relieved because for some reason it felt odd for her too, discussing her sex life with him, even though usually she wasn't shy about those things at all.
„Anyhow, we're good friends with benefits, but then he had been telling me how lately he started to wonder whether there could me more to this. Whether we'd have a shot at being happy... happier together and we were just being cowards by not trying. And that, both of us having been single and alone for so long, maybe it would just be nice to not be alone anymore for once. And", she smiled and shrugged again, „it actually is. I completely forgot how that felt like. So take this as my bartender-motherly advice, Henry..."
She leaned forward and reached for his hands while looking him in the eyes. „The only person standing between you and your happiness is yourself."
They heard the jingling of the door and Roni started to smile even broader when she saw her handsome detective walk in. Rogers reciprocated the gesture and greeted her with a gentle kiss, not caring at all about Henry sitting right next to them. Then she frowned. „Where the hell is your costume, you promised to dress up together with me? I need you to be Danny, otherwise no one recognizes me as Sandy."
„No worries, love, I have my leather jacket and hair grease at home, but for now I'm still on duty, and I can't stay for long anyway. I did want to show you one thing though."
He pulled his left hand out from behind his back and proudly presented her a cheap looking plastic hook on top of his stump instead of his usual fake hand.
„What do you say, milady, will you...", he theatrically raised an eyebrow, „hook up with me tonight?"
Roni wasn't really sure what to think of this. „What's that?"
„Well, it's a hook... get it? It's part of a pirate costume. I just need to figure out how to attach this thing properly because as it turns out, these are actually made for people WITH hands."
„You want to be a pirate? I thought we'd go as Sandy and Danny?"
„I can be both! I can be a leather-wearing one-handed pirate with grease in my hair and a hook. Isn't that cool?"
She sighed, shook her head with a smile and reached out to gently stroke his cheek. „No, honey... it's absolutely not. But if that's who you want to be, then I'm all for it."
She gave him another kiss. And even though his idea was ridiculous, it did make her proud and feel the butterflies in her stomach: she knew how sensitive and self-conscious he was about his missing hand. He had been like this for as long as she had known him, he had never told her how he had lost it, and she had never dared to ask him. He was casual about it when both of them were alone, she had seen him naked after all, many times, and they were frequently engaging in physical activity, so there was absolutely no way he would have been able to hide from her the fact that he was missing a hand. Without ever speaking of it, they had mutually agreed to not make a big deal out of it, but in public, like here in her bar, he was still very careful to pretend as best he could, with that fake hand of his, that there was nothing unusual about him in the hand department at all.
The fact that he now walked in here in front of Henry and the other guests, with a plastic hook for a hand, was a huge step forward for him, and she didn't fail to recognize the significance.
„And how about me? Do you like my costume? Do you like my hair?" She twirled around and ran her hand over the cheap blonde wig.
„You always look great, but I can't help it, I just don't have a thing for blondes. What can I say, I prefer brunettes."
After Henry had excused himself to give them some space, she served Rogers a ‚Poisoned Apple', this time with a dash of cinnamon. He took a sip and smiled. „Perfect!"
Then concern creeped up on his face and he looked down, absent-mindedly playing with the hook in his lap.
„What's wrong, honey? Is it that case of yours?"
„Aye... no... Roni, can I ask you something?"
„Sure!"
„And please don't take this the wrong way, this is not me being jealous, I'm just curious, you know... I'm a detective."
„Terrible way of starting this conversation, but please, hit me!"
„Who's Robin?"
„What?"
„Robin. You... you were saying that name in your sleep yesterday, multiple times, you sounded scared... terrified."
She diligently searched through her memory, then shook her head. „I don't know... I don't know anyone called Robin. I think... Are you sure that's what I said?"
„Loud and clear."
„I'm sorry, babe. I'm not trying to ditch a conversation about some tragic story with an ex boyfriend. I really have no idea! Maybe something in my subconscience, something I've read or some movie I've watched once? Please don't read too much into this, alright?"
„If you say so", he smiled, partly wary, partly with relief, then leaned over and kissed her, a little longer this time, until another customer, who was waiting next to them to place an order, audibly cleared his throat.
Roni whispered into her boyfriend's ear: „If you continue like that though, I'll be saying your name in my sleep soon, I promise!"
Then she pulled away, gave her guest an apologetic, but innocent smile and switched on the music – ‚You're The One That I Want' from ‚Grease' – before taking his order.