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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 4, 2009 1:14:21 GMT -5
Never in his life had Roland been so sexually frustrated. Riley had him so desperate that he could hardly even see straight. That kiss between them on Christmas was burned into his brain and it was beginning to haunt him. It was getting to the point where he couldn't even look at her without thinking about it.
And to top it all off, he had spotted Riley with Fabian Prewett earlier that day, and they were acting decidedly "coupley." The sight of it nearly made him throw up.
It was bloody ridiculous, that was what it was. He was not going down this path. He was not going to turn into some pathetic, lovesick fool, mooning over a girl who didn't want him.
What he needed was a good shag. Or a bad one. Whatever. He just needed to get this insanity out of his system. Then he'd be fine. Right?
So he found himself walking through the door at Stu's and silently scanning the room in search of Nathalia. Maybe she could help him forget....
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 5, 2009 17:24:34 GMT -5
Nat was just taking off her apron, showing the low cut jeans underneath, when the bell above the door chimed. She looked up and a smile spread on her lips. She told the other bartender that she'd take care of Roland... maybe she'd even drink with him, since she was off for the rest of the day. If he was even here for a drink.
"Hey stranger," She said, coming around from behind the bar, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The look on his face wasn't happy though, and she tilted her head. "Everything all right?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 5, 2009 17:36:56 GMT -5
It was good to see her. The fire raging in his soul seemed to get a little quieter at the sight of her. If only she weren't so damn perceptive.
Still, he smiled as he took a seat at the bar. "Hey, Nathalia," he greeted her. "I'm OK. Nothing a couple of Double O Sevens can't cure." And a little time alone with her... but that could come later.
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 5, 2009 17:42:30 GMT -5
Nathalia smiled. "You know, it's part of the job desription to ask, right? I pour drinks, I listen, everyone goes home happy."
She returned to her spot behind the bar and started working on a drink for him. She didn't mention it, but she was making it a little stronger that she normally did... he certainly seemed like he could use it, and he'd never know the difference til he was flat on the floor.
"Tell you what, the first one is on the house."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 6, 2009 16:00:10 GMT -5
He gave her a smile. "I know. I've just... never been big on sharing my secrets," he replied.
Although, lately, it seemed that, where Riley was concerned, far too many people had managed to get things out of him. She was ever present in his mind, obliterating all sense and reason that he possessed. She was, quite literally, driving him mad.
He watched Nathalia's back as she prepared his drink. From where he was sitting, he couldn't quite see what she was putting in there, which he was sure was what she wanted. So instead, he appreciated her figure, with all its curves.
That fire was still in his eyes as she turned around and handed him his drink. "Thanks," he said and took a sip. It was even stronger than he remembered, and he had taken a large sip. His eyes were watering as he swallowed and the liquid burned a trail down his throat.
"Wow... you put a little extra in that one, didn't you? A few more of these and I'll probably spill my guts for you."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 6, 2009 16:13:13 GMT -5
"It won't take more than two, sweetheart," Nathalia said, leaning on the counter with her chin in her hand and smiling at him. "And the goal, actually, is not to get you to spill your secrets, but to get you to forget whatever's bothering you." Her eyes narrowed a little assessively. "And there's something. I can see it."
Since she was off already, she moved and poured herself a shot of something. "I hope you don't mind if I drink with you. How have you been?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 6, 2009 16:27:08 GMT -5
He laughed, but there was no joy in his laugh. "It seems I'm a bloody open book these days," he said. Everyone, it seemed, was able to see that something was bothering him. And although he had a lot of things weighing on him--the notes, Natalie's prediction, the case, and of course, Riley--only one of them seemed to matter. She was always there at the forefront of his mind, so much that she might as well have been there in the room with him.
"Yeah, there's something," he said. "You came to me when you were troubled... and now I guess it's my turn." He took another sip from his drink, glad that she was joining him.
"Of course I don't mind."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 6, 2009 17:24:30 GMT -5
Nathalia lifted her hands. "Hey, you don't have to tell me." She gestured to his drink. "Forgetting, remember? But if you do want to talk about it, now or later, I'm pretty good with the advice. Of course, I'm pretty good at making people forget, too."
She watched him drink... the alcohol, for him, would probably start to kick in somewhere through the second drink, unless he drank slowly.
She stayed on her side of the bar, ready to make either of them another one, but waited for him to direct the conversation where he wanted.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 6, 2009 17:50:59 GMT -5
"Forgetting sounds good," he said, flashing her one of his crooked grins. He took another long drink from the glass, then looked back up at her with the pain barely hidden in his eyes. "Only I'm not sure I can."
He tapped the empty stool next to him. "If you're off duty, why don't you come sit with me for a bit? I won't need another for at least a few more minutes. I want to talk to you as a friend, not a bartender."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 6, 2009 17:58:31 GMT -5
Nathalia regarded him for a moment, and nodded. Something was definitely wrong, and he wasn't trying to hide it. She felt kind of honored, in honesty, that he was willing to share his troubles with her, after she nexpectedly showed up at his door one night.
She slid her own glass to the spot in front of the stool and then came around the bar, sitting next to him and facing him as she sipped her drink. "All right, I'm officially not your bartender anymore tonight."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 6, 2009 18:21:17 GMT -5
Roland smiled at her, but it still didn't touch his eyes. In his mind, he could still see Riley and Fabian kissing, and it cut him deeply. He felt as though he was bleeding, and he couldn't have imagined that anything could hurt like this. Ordinarily, he could have hidden his feelings better than this, but right now he didn't have the strength. A little more liquor... and maybe then he could erase the image from his mind.
He drank a little more, already almost halfway through his drink.
"I wish I could say it was something really dire, but it's not. It's really just the same old story... one I'm sure you get a thousand times a day. Believe it or not, it's about a girl."
He laughed and drank a little more. "I never thought I'd say that. I always thought love was something that only happened because you wanted it to. I don't want it, but the harder I try to fight it, the deeper I get."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 6, 2009 20:57:42 GMT -5
That news, surprisingly, stung a little. Nathalia almost laughed at herself... was she jealous? A little, and she could admit that. But hadn't she just talked to him about her problems with boys and all of that? Besides, they both knew they weren't right for each other, as much as she respected him.
Above that tiny bit of jealousy, she still felt honored that he considered her enough of a friend to come to about this.
"Well, all right. Tell me about her."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 6, 2009 23:16:10 GMT -5
He drank a little more, then looked back up at her, a tiny smile on his face. "Is this weird for you?" he asked. "I don't want this to be weird... it doesn't feel right telling you about another girl. And I wouldn't be here if I felt I had anyone I could talk to about this that wouldn't be pushy or nosy or anything like that. I swore... I swore this would never happen to me, and before I even realized what was happening, I was up to my neck."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 6, 2009 23:23:56 GMT -5
Nathalia sat up a little straighter. "Roland, I came to you almost crying about another guy. It's your turn, and I promise I'm okay with it." It was a little weird, but she was a girl and they always made these situations weird for themselves.
"Honestly, I'm glad you came to me. And you're wrong about love only happening when you want it to, or I would have married by sixteen. Love is always just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning. So... I'm all ears."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 6, 2009 23:38:02 GMT -5
Roland sighed and drank a little more. Already his head was starting to feel fuzzy, but not nearly numb enough. "OK," he said. "She's my partner. We work together... and we fight most of the time. I don't know what it is, but I start acting like a complete jackass whenever I'm around her... everything just comes out wrong. But sometimes... We have these moments where we get along, and it's really pretty great. We've kissed... three times. The first one was a mistake and the second one was forced by my sister. But the third one... It was pretty incredible."
He stopped and drank a little more, then looked up at her again, his eyes filled with pain. "But I guess it didn't mean as much to her as it did to me. I saw her today... she's seeing someone else. She kissed him."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 6, 2009 23:58:38 GMT -5
"Okay, wow, that's a lot of information to take in," Nathalia said, and she downed the last of her glass.
"Let's muddle through this one at a time, okay? Explain your first and third kisses. How was the first one a mistake... and what prompted the third?" Because he didn't have an explaination for the third, which clearly meant that was the one to focus on.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 7, 2009 0:16:52 GMT -5
Roland sighed and covered his face with one hand. "The first kiss was a mistake, because the timing was wrong. It was one of the rare times we were getting along. She invited me to her apartment--she lives next door to me, by the way, and she made me dinner. It was... I guess it was a peace offering. And I... I guess I misread the signs or something. I kissed her, but she didn't kiss me back, and she threw me out."
He paused and took another sip from his drink, which was getting close to the bottom by now. "The third kiss... I don't even have an expanation for it. It was right after my sister forced the second one... we were standing under mistletoe. After she left... I don't even know what happened. She said we needed to get it out of our systems... but it didn't work. Maybe it did for her, but not for me."
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 7, 2009 0:27:38 GMT -5
Nathalia frowned. It didn't exactly sound good for Roland, but then, she was hearing it from his perspective, so he was probably making it sound worse than it was.
"Jerry," she said, looking up at the other bartender... an older man, like most the bartenders at Stu's. She looked pointedly at Roland's drink, and he nodded. Within a minute or two, a full glass was in front of Roland, before the first was completely emptied.
"But that means she had it in her system too, right? Granted, I'm not the poster child for stable relationships, but I don't kiss a guy three times while I'm dating someone else."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Mar 7, 2009 0:36:41 GMT -5
He nodded gratefully at the refill, and he quickly finished the rest of his first drink. His movements were definitely slower, and some of the tension had gone out of his body. But he still wasn't numb.
"The first two hardly count," he said. "She didn't kiss me back the first time. And the second was forced. The third one..." He grabbed the second glass and started to drink from that.
"Look, it doesn't matter. She clearly doesn't want me. And why would she? We argue all the time. Why wouldn't she want to be with a guy who's sweet and makes her laugh?"
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Post by Nathalia Webb on Mar 7, 2009 0:40:52 GMT -5
Nathalia wanted to roll her eyes, but she refrained, and put her hand hand on his arm. "Roland," she said, nodding when Jerry placed a glass in front of her as well. "You're sweet and you make me laugh. So why not her?"
He kept cutting himself off when he mentioned the third kiss, which meant Nathalia needed to dig deeper there. "Who initiated the third kiss? You, or her?"
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