Broken Pieces (closed)

[BeachBum25]

Stephen worked his butt off at the new job. It wasn't a glorious job, but it paid the bills and actually allowed him to put some money in the bank. He continued to live frugally though. He didn't want to be in a position where he lived paycheck to paycheck.

He started to get friendly with the people at work. Several times they asked him to go out with them after work. Stephen always politely declined. He did not want to spend the money. Finally, after another payday, they asked Stephen to go out with them again. He agreed to go this time. They gave him the address of the club, and told him to get there early, so they could get in.

When they got to the club they were able to get a good spot at the bar. Being there early helped with that. He ordered a margarita, and he nursed it. He didn't want to get wasted. When he saw her across the bar, he was surprised. Stephen had not seen Sarah at the restaurant. He had actually been disappointed not to see her. When he saw her order a drink, he got the bartender's attention and told her that the drink was on him.

 

[zydrate]

As she waited for her drink, Sarah's friends gathered with her and they started to talk...well, yell about who was who, pointing at some guys...basically marking their territory and that made Sarah shake her head, laughing. She was never one for the club scene like this but it was good just to get out and let loose.

The bartender put Sarah's drink in front of her and as she was going to pay, he waved her money away and said it was taken care of. She had a puzzled look on her face as he pointed out who bought her the drink and it was then she saw Stephen. She gave him a smile and made her way to him where she gave him a quick hug while yelling "Thanks for the drink! I haven't seen you in a while.." she stepped back and check him out. He cleaned up good.

 

[BeachBum25]

He smiled at her across the bar when the bartender pointed him out. His eyes were glued to her as she made her way around to him.

"Wow. You look amazing. I am surprised to see you here. Mostly because I never expected to be here, but also because I didn't think this was a place you would ever come to."

He allowed his eyes to move over her; taking her all in. She looked amazing. To him, she was he best looking woman in the club.

 

[zydrate]

"Thanks!" She took a quick sip and nodded, "Yeah, a few of the girls from the diner invited me here and since I don't go out much...if at all, I decided to come out tonight."

She leaned in toward him, "This isn't really my scene but since you're here, let's finish our drinks and then go dance for a bit?"

 

[BeachBum25]

"I would love to dance with you. The guys at work have been bugging me to go out with them since I started. I finally agreed to go tonight. I guess I am the winner tonight."

He finished his drink and waited for her to finish hers. He was really happy to run into Sarah here, and he loved the thought of spending time dancing with her. When she finished her drink, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

 

[zydrate]

They danced and had a good time. Sarah couldn't remember the last time she had such a good time that after a couple of dances, the music was getting to her and she couldn't even hear anymore...

OK, maybe she was exaggerating but she felt it was time to go. Looking at her phone, she realized they had been in there longer than she realized. She motioned to Stephen and pointed to the phone's time, "I need to get going.."

She figured he was just going to say OK and let her go but he surprised her when he followed her outside. Once out of the club, Sarah realized they were still holding hands, "I'm so sorry, you don't have to go with me...it's just that music..wow..." she wasn't at all drunk after just one drink and the rest of the time drinking water, "I am not as young as I used to be."

 

[BeachBum25]

"Oh yea, I know. You certainly don't look that young either. You are really getting up there in years." He joked with her as they stood outside the club.

"I hope this doesn't come out wrong, but I am happy to leave the club. Not that I wasn't having a good time, because I was.... thanks to you. Clubs are not my scene though. I am not into loud music that prevents me from having a conversation with the person I am with."

He looked around. "So, where are you parked? I will walk you to your car and make sure that you get off safely."

 

[zydrate]

Sarah slapped Stephen's arm playfully as her hearing returned to normal, "be nice," she said, smiling. The night air felt really good. There was something about LA sometimes, the beat of the city was always around...

"Yeah, no, I understand, I'm the same way too..." He asked about her car, "Ohh..yeah... I came with some of the girls and I have a feeling they're planning to shut the place down. I'll just call a cab or something like, no big deal. What about you? Can I walk you to your car to make sure you're safe and such," she said, trying not to smile as she used his own words on him.

 

[BeachBum25]

"I would love it if you would walk me to my car. I could certainly use your protection. However, I came here in a cab. My car is back at my place. So, that would be one hell of a long walk."

He smiled at her.

"Why don't we share a cab. I will have him drop you off first, and then take me home."

 

[zydrate]

Sarah smiled at his suggestion, "That sounds doable.." she said as she hailed a cab and got in with Stephen following suit.

In the cab, after she gave the cabbie her address, she and Stephen talked a little bit about funny it was they ran into each other there at the club. It wasn't uncommon seeing as how the club was the nearest one to where she lived and worked. She could only assume he lived near by also.

Once they reached her place, she turned to Stephen, "Did you want to come up for some coffee or something? I mean the night's still young and tomorrow's Sunday..." she said, not really expecting him to say yes since he declined the last time.

 

[BeachBum25]

"I would love to come up and have a cup of coffee with you. I just don't want you to think that I am thinking about something else by taking you up on the offer."

He sat there for a second. He would really like to get to know Sarah better, but he did not want to be too aggressive with her. As he waited for an answer, he saw them. It was the guy and his friends from the restaurant that first night he had met Sarah.

"Pull around the corner driver. I changed my mind about the drop off point." Stephen was pissed. Why would the asshole he had beat down need to bring his boys. When the cab pulled around the corner, Stephen got out. When he got back to the corner, he saw there were three of them. The first one went down before anyone knew he was coming. This was the same guy whose ass he had kicked before. The second one took a shot to the throat as he rushed Stephen. The third one was obviously the leader. Stephen stood there and looked at him.

He smiled at the guy. "Three of you needed to come to her house? Well, I am going to tell you what. You can take your two pieces of shit with you and never bother her again in this life or any future life, or, you are going to experience pain like you never thought possible. If you think I am fucking with you, ask your boy over there. Oh, you can't right now."

Stephen waited. he listened to the guy as he uttered a lot of curse words in his direction. "You have like 30 seconds to decide."

The guy dragged his two boys up and started down the street where the got into a car. As they walked away, Stephen said to them, "Remember, anything happens to her, I will find you."

After they drove off, he walked back around the corner to get Sarah out of the cab.

 

[zydrate]

Sarah saw them too. Those were the guys at the diner from a few weeks ago. The rumors about them were they ran the neighborhood, nothing major, just a lot of petty shit. No one liked them at all.

Stephen told her to wait in the cab when he changed the stopping point. She wanted to call after him but he didn't give her a chance. So Sarah waited in the cab...impatiently, not realizing what was happening as he was taking care of them. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he came back to get Sarah. She had already paid the cabbie and he was on his way. Both Sarah and Stephen walked toward her apartment and she saw his knuckles on his left hand was bleeding. "What the hell happened?" she asked, shocked while she grabbed his hand and led her upstairs to her place, "What did you do?"

Once inside, she threw her keys on the counter and got some stuff to clean up his hand.

 

[BeachBum25]

He led her upstairs and waited for her to go into her apartment. she pulled him inside and threw her keys down. She was off in a flash and before he knew it she came back with a first aid kit.

"I will be fine. I just scraped my hand on the sidewalk when I took the one guy down. Then I had to have a discussion with their leader and let it be known that from this moment forward, if something happened to you or your property, I would personally hunt them down and they would experience pain that they never believed was possible."

He winked at her. "It was just a friendly discussion that ended with them walking away."

 

[zydrate]

Sarah had to laugh as he winked. She shook her head as cleaned up his hand as she held it in her hand. "Well, thank you very much...i really do appreciate it."

As she finished and put a bandage on it, she took a step back, "There, I think you'll live..." she started putting things away as she spoke, "Yeah, that was Frank and his crew... They like to think they own the neighborhood. Thank you again for what you did... I don't want to know what they would have done tonight..."

She was still on her knees in front of him, "so how about that coffee?" she asked as stood up.

 

[BeachBum25]

"I would love a cup of coffee. Only one though. I don't want to impose or keep you up. Fortunately, I live not too far from here, so I won't have to call another cab."

He watched her get up and go to make coffee. Still in her dress from the club, it was the first time he got to see her in a good light. She looked even better than she had looked at the club.

"Thank you for the coffee, and for being my nurse. I also want to thank you for a great time tonight. I didn't have any high expectations for tonight. I really only went out so my co-workers would stop bugging me. When I saw you, things immediately got better."

 

[zydrate]

"No imposition at all...don't even worry about it."

She measured the grinds and then the water, setting them into the coffee maker and turning it on. "Well, the first aid the least I could do..I wouldn't want you bleeding to death on my apartment door," she teased before getting two cups ready and setting them on the small table that came with the small apartment.

"I was glad to see you there too. Trust me, I know about nagging coworkers..but the girls I work with, they're great even with their quirks."

When the coffee was done, she poured them each some and sat across from, "So, how's the job these days? Are you liking it?"

 

[BeachBum25]

"It is the first real job since I got out of the military. I am liking it, because for the first time since I got out, I can pay all of my bills, and pay them on time."

He watched as she poured the coffee. He felt very comfortable with her, and he enjoyed her company.

"I like the work. it isn't taxing. The people I work with are pretty good. So, I can't complain. I guess if it was fun, they wouldn't call it work."

 

[zydrate]

"That's true..." she said as she sat down and fixed her coffee. "So how long were you in the military?"

She listened to him intently and paid attention to him. This was much better than the club because neither one had to shout at each other just be heard.

 

[BeachBum25]

"I served six years in the Marine Corps. I did 2 tours in Afghanistan. I am proud of the service to my country. What I saw during my time in Afghanistan keeps me awake at night sometimes."

It felt very comfortable sitting in Sarah's place talking to her.

"Tell me about you. Tell me about Sarah outside of the restaurant and the club."

 

[zydrate]

She could relate to his dilemma of being kept awake at night...she certainly suffered from that also...

"Well, there's not that much to tell. It seems that all there is is the diner and then home. It's the first and only job I've had since coming here..." Sarah was absentmindedly running her finger around the rim of the coffee cup, "Let's just say because of a bad past, I needed to get away and start fresh."

"So, this is where I am now...just working and trying to make a living," she said smiling, "taking it day by day..."

 

[BeachBum25]

"Damn, it seems like we are in similar places. Not the same, but we are both just taking it day to day." He smiled at her across the table. There was an awkward silence that enveloped them.

Stephen held up his hand. "Listen, it is getting late. Thank you so much for playing nurse for me and fixing up my hand. I really do appreciate it." He stood up from the table. "I am really happy I bumped into you tonight Sarah. Without a doubt it turned what could have been a miserable night at the club into a very enjoyable evening. I haven't had this good of a time in a really long while."

He moved over next to her and leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek. He didn't want it to be perceived as anything more than what it was.. just a little kiss on the cheek of a woman that he had a great night with.

 

[zydrate]

Sarah smiled when he kissed her cheek. It was all so sweet and just that one action made her like him a little more. He wasn't pushy...he didn't pry when she had mentioned her past. That was definitely something she wasn't wanting to talk about...at least not yet.

Giving him a quick hug, she walked him to her door and bid him good night.

After cleaning up, she crawled into bed and flipped through her phone for a bit before trying to see if she could sleep...

***

The next morning wasn't too eventful for Sarah. She had managed to sleep for a little longer than usual for once and that felt great.

It was a lazy Sunday for her, she was going to be off for the next two days so she decided to get some groceries and run a few errands.

 

[BeachBum25]

He said goodnight to her and walked out onto the street. As he walked home, he thought about Sarah. He really enjoyed her company and he wondered if he would see her again. Yes, he could go to the restaurant to see her, but he was thinking about outside of work.

When he got home, he showered and headed to bed. He slept well, and woke up feeling good. He decided that he would go for a run. He had been thinking of getting back into top shape, and it was a beautiful day. A run through the park would be perfect.

He was right. The warm sun beating down made sure that he worked up a good sweat. There were a lot of people out, which meant he had to weave in and out of the crowd, but he didn't mind it.... much.

 

[zydrate]

Almost as good as the warm weather was, it didn't last long because by the time Sarah returned to work, it was raining hard. By the time she got to the diner she looked like a drowned rat, luckily, she brought an extra set of dry clothes with her which she changed into immediately before starting her shift.

The weather seemed to put everyone in a bad mood...each of the tables she waited on were rude. Or maybe they were just like that all the time. But she tried her best not to let it get to her.

 

[BeachBum25]

Stephen stayed away from the restaurant for a couple of days. He ate his lunch in the truck. He did not want Sarah to think he was stalking her. He wanted to give her some space. It would be nice to see her, but Stephen had committed to giving it a couple of days.

Today, work was awful. The rain made it that way. People forget how to drive in the rain; either they go way too slow in an attempt to compensate for the wet roads, or they go way too fast. Stephen got back from his morning run later than everybody else. Part of the reason for that was that his route was the one that was the farthest away.

He decided today was the day he would got to the restaurant for lunch. He was not sure if Sarah was working today, but he had to get out of the truck. After backing his truck up to the loading dock, he ran through the rain to get his lunch. When he walked in, he looked around. All the tables except one were full. He didn't want the counter today, so, he took the one empty table.