A Bartender, Drinks, and a Date Pt. 01

"So, what do you suggest?" Renee asked, breaking him from his thoughts. She had been pouring over the menu as he daydreamed.

"I don't have a clue," he answered. "I've only been here once, but I remember the manicotti being very good. Oh, and don't try the house salad unless you want garlic coming out of your pores for the next three days."

"Ooh and I love garlic," she cooed. "That's too bad. Maybe I'll try it some other time." Renee smiled to herself as she looked at Nick over the top of her menu. She had been there many times, but she wanted to hear what Nick would say. She liked him, too, and didn't want garlic breath to get in the way should she decide to kiss him later.

The waitress arrived shortly thereafter and took their orders; veal for her and manicotti for him. After she left, Renee decided to delve a little further into Nick and perhaps learn more about him.

"So, Nick, what do you do for a living?" Her elbows were on the table and her fingers were interlocked under her chin.

"Oh," he said evasively, "a little bit of this and a little bit of that." He smiled at his own private joke. "What about you?"

"You already know what I do," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Is it a secret or something? Will you have to kill me if you tell me?"

"There you go again, asking all kinds of questions. You would think we were on a date or something checking each other out."

Don't bet against it, Renee thought to herself. "What's wrong with a few innocent questions?" she asked.

"Nothing, I guess," Nick conceded. He was enjoying talking to her. "If you must know, I'm a parole officer for the state."

"That sounds very interesting," Renee said. "What do you have to do?"

"I have a clientele of about seventy-five people I have to keep track of. I have to make sure they're adhering to all the rules and regulations regarding their parole, be it their jobs, aftercare, meetings, and the like. I try to meet with them once a month or so to keep in touch and answer questions. Of course, I have to keep track of whether or not they're staying out of trouble. That's the main thing."

"It sounds like a lot to do."

"There's never enough time," he admitted, "but I do the best I can. My list keeps growing and growing."

"Do you like it?"

"What?"

"Your job."

"Yeah, I still like it, but I think I'll get burned out within the next few years. I've seen it happen to other officers and I can feel it coming."

"How so?"

"I can feel the tension slowly building. There are too many parolees to keep track of and then there's the time I spend in the field trying to track down the absconders."

"Absconders?" she asked.

"Parole violators," he explained. "I have to try to find and arrest them and they don't like to be arrested." He tried to relax, but thoughts of his job kept him on edge.

"That sounds pretty dangerous. Why...."

Nick interrupted her. "I really don't want to talk about my job anymore, if you don't mind too much," he said curtly. He then smiled. "I just like to keep my job away from my personal life. I try to leave it at the office. It'll be there for me on Monday." He took a sip of his water.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to pry."

"You weren't prying, you were asking and that's okay. I just don't like to talk about my job too much. It's a depressing job at times. I really don't mind you asking me questions."

"I'm sorry," she said again, looking down at her lap.

"No need to apologize," Nick said softly. "You didn't do anything wrong." He looked at her through the flickering flame of the candle that separated them. Her eyes were still downcast as if she hadn't heard him. His eyes traveled from her face to her blouse. It was sheer, but she had a camisole or something underneath. He remembered watching her from a side angle and noticing her nice shape. Her bosom fit her frame nicely. His eyes went back to her face and he studied it momentarily, taking in her high cheekbones, her glossy brown hair, and her brown/black eyes that were beautiful and expressive. She had a small mouth, but had full blood-red lips that always looked like they needed to be kissed.

Why hadn't he noticed her before? He had seen her before, but had never really looked at her as he was doing now. He liked looking at her and he did wish to know her better. For whatever reason, for the first time in his life Nick wanted to be more than just casual friends with a woman. And it was all because his date didn't show up. He smiled at the thought.

Renee looked up and saw him staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You seem to know something about me, but I know nothing about you except that you're a bartender and I'm a customer keeping you company for a while."

"Well," she countered, "I don't knowthat much about you. As for me, there's not much to tell." She stopped and didn't go further.

Nick waited or a few seconds, but she remained quiet, contemplating her next move. She felt her little charade had gone on long enough, although it had been fun pretending. She had gotten to know him a bit better because of it, but it was unfair to him to continue the ruse.

She looked at him and smiled. "I have something to tell you, a confession if you will."

"A confession?" Nick was intrigued.

"Yeah," she said, nodding her head. "I haven't been completely truthful with you about myself."

"Well, you haven't really told me much about yourself at all," Nick replied. It wasn't meant to be a reproach, but merely a statement of fact.

Renee smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Well, the truth is, I'm really Shannon, your date for this evening. Shannon looked at him warily and wondered if he was going to be angry at the revelation.

Nick face went from a puzzling frown to a slight grin as the truth began to sink in. He shook his head back and forth. "You're kidding. I can't believe it. You're really Shannon?"

"I'm really Shannon Renee Flannery. Connie asked me if I'd be interested in going out with you a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure how you'd react to me being a bartender, so we came up with this plan. I knew I couldn't get off work until late, so I made sure I was the one to serve you. Luckily, you sat down at the bar and I didn't have to trade with anyone. Connie showed me a picture of you so I'd know what you'd look like. I really liked your voice when you called and I really wanted to meet you. I hope you're not mad at me." Her eyes had a sadness in them as if she expected Nick to reject her.

Nick laughed out loud. "This is too funny for words. Here, I thought my date stood me up, but I was on a date with her anyway! This is a first. This is a definite first." He shook his head again. "Believe me, Renee, I...." Nick burst out laughing again. "You're Shannon, right?" he giggled. It took him a few seconds to compose himself. "Shannon," he emphasized, "believe me, I'm not mad. I think it's funny. I really do. You got me good on this one. I'll yell at my sister-in-law later. By the way, how do you know Connie?"

"We've been friends for years," Shannon explained.

As their food arrived, Nick thought about the whole situation again and smiled to himself. For the first time, he didn't feel the need to lay down his law about dating and commitment. If Shannon went to all this trouble to meet him, maybe it was worth his while to see how far it would go. He would definitely have to thank Connie for this one, after he chewed her out. It mattered little to him that a bit of deception was played on her part. She came clean at a good time and there was nothing wrong with that.

The food was excellent as Shannon knew it would be. In the back of her mind, it still worried her that Nick was upset with her little indescretion, even though he had assured her to the contrary. She wished she had been up front with him from the beginning because she knew how much she disliked head games when it came to the dating scene. But, he said it was funny and he wasn't mad, so she would just have to accept his word for it. She looked at him from time to time and it was quite apparent he was enjoying his time with her.

"How's your manicotti?" she asked.

"Excellent, just like the last time," he replied. "And yours?"

"It's fine."

Nick took a sip from his water glass and watched her over the rim. "So, whose idea was it? Was it yours or Connie's?"

"Oh," she sighed, "it was a little bit of both. A collaborative effort."

He shook his head again. "I had no clue, no idea. I was so focused on you coming through the door, and yet, I was talking to you the whole time. Unbelievable!"

Shannon merely smiled demurely and continued to eat her dinner. Although they talked little, they were very comfortable with each other, stealing glances now and then and liking what they saw.

They each declined dessert and waited for the check to arrive. Every time Nick looked at Shannon, he thought she looked prettier, if that was possible. From the start, he thought he was cute, but being with her and talking to her and having her right across the table from him gave him the opportunity to really look at her and study her features. If she did have Irish blood coursing through her veins as her last name suggested, she didn't show it. She looked like she came from Mediterranean descent as in Italian or Greek. Perhaps her mother's family had that background. Nick was finding he wanted to know everything about her; her likes, dislikes, and what made her tick.

The check arrived and Shannon snared it before Nick had a chance. "My treat," she smiled, as she reached into her small, black purse. She still felt a bit guilty.

"But..." Nick began to protest.

"No arguments," she retorted. "You can pay next time."

"Next time?"

"Yes. I hope there's a next time." A look of uncertainty crossed her face.

"I'd like that," Nick said. "You will be Shannon next time, right? No more Renee?"

Shannon laughed. "Yes, I'll be Shannon next time and every time after that."

"Good." Nick reached into his wallet and started to pull out money for the tip.

"No, I've got it," Shannon insisted.

"At least let me pay for the tip."

"Oh, alright," Shannon relented. She looked at her watch and was surprised to see it was almost ten-thirty.

Nick checked his own watch. "The band's already started. Do you want to head back?"

"I'm in no hurry," she replied.

Nick looked at her closely. "Would you want to do something else instead?"

The thought of taking him home crossed her mind, but she didn't want to send the wrong signals to him. She wasn't ready to bed him and she didn't want to give him the impression that was the reason. Shannon merely wanted to be alone with him for a while. And she wanted to be away from her job.. She had been there enough over the past week.

"I really don't know," she answered. "Would you want to take a walk or go for a drive?"

A walk sounded good to him. He had been in his car most of the day trying to locate a recent parolee, a baby rapist who hadn't met with him since his release, and that had been almost a month before. He wasn't going to arrest him, yet, he needed a warrant from a judge to do that, but he wanted to find out why he hadn't kept his appointments.

"How about a walk? I need to stretch my legs."

"Okay," Shannon agreed.

Shannon paid the bill and they stepped out into the warm May evening. They walked past O'Reilly's and could hear the band playing. It was loud and lively and from the looks of it from the outside, the patrons were having a good time.

"Where do you want to go?" Nick asked when they rounded the corner past the bar.

"Let's just walk around here," she suggested. "The neighborhood's pretty nice and there are streetlights everywhere."

"Okay," he shrugged indifferently.

They walked to the nearest corner and turned to the left and made their way down a tree-lined street. A stiff breeze started to blow and the limbs swayed back and forth from the force. Nick could smell a hint of rain in the air and he had a feeling a storm was approaching.

"We shouldn't go too far," he warned. "Rain's coming."

Shannon turned her face upwards and noticed the difference, too. "My house isn't too far from here. We can make a run for it if it starts up or we can go back. Whatever you want to do." She decided to leave it up to him.

"It shouldn't be here for a while," he said as they continued to stroll down the sidewalk.

It was but seconds later when Shannon felt the first droplets upon her face. She glanced at the sky, then to Nick.

"Okay," he shrugged, "or it's going to start now." He laughed lightly at his inability to predict the weather.

"Which way do you want to go?" Shannon asked. "My house is fairly close or we could go back to O'Reilly's." Just then, the rain began to get a bit heavier. Shannon made the decision for him. "Come on," she said, grabbing his hand without thinking. "I know a shortcut." She led him between two houses where they went to a gate. Shannon opened it quietly and listened for a second. Hearing no dogs, she and Nick hurried in the darkness through the back yard until they came to a fence. The rain was coming down harder as Shannon expertly hopped the fence with Nick following close behind. "This is my yard," she explained as a low rumble of thunder could be heard. They trudged up the slight incline to a screened patio where Shannon let them in. Wet, but not soaked, Shannon led him to a padded swing where they sat down in the dark.

"If you don't mind, let's sit out here and enjoy the rain," she said. "I love listening to it."

Nick said nothing and sat with her, moving the swing slowly with his right foot.

"Do you like rain?" she asked.

"Only when I'm not out in it," he replied, although he was enjoying this.

"I like it a lot. I like walking in a soft, spring rain, especially when there are no cars or traffic to spoil the sound of it coming down."

Nick made no reply, but he began to listen to the rain and the distant thunder. It did sound good to him, soothing and relaxing. Shannon's hand inched over and found his resting against his thigh. She put hers over his and gave him a tender squeeze. Nick enjoyed her touch as they listened in silence.

A few minutes later, Shannon shivered slightly from the breeze that accompanied the rain. Her clothes were still wet and she would have to change them before she caught a cold. Reluctantly, she rose from the swing. "Come on," she said, "I need to change out of these wet clothes." She unlocked her back door and they entered into the dining room.

Tossing her keys on the table while flipping on the lights at the same time, she said, "It's not much, but it's home."

"It's nice," Nick said as he looked around. It seemed to be about the same size as his house. Most of the colors were either beige or light blue, with a hint of yellow mixed in.

"I'll be right back," she announced as she walked towards the living room. "Make yourself at home."

Nick nodded and went to the living room, catching a glimpse of Shannon as she turned right to go into one of the rooms at the end of the hall. His clothes were a little damp, but not overly wet and he figured they would dry quickly. Shannon came out within a few minutes dressed in jeans and a pullover top. Nick could see the faintest indentation of her nipples poking through her bra and the thin top. He smiled as he tried to focus his attention elsewhere. Even though she wasn't very big, he loved what he saw, but he knew well enough not to stare.

"I feel much better now," she said as she plopped down on the sofa next to him, her right leg tucked under her left. She had pulled her hair back into a pony tail away from her face. Nick thought she looked much better with it hanging loose and on her shoulders, but he said nothing. Shannon noticed something amiss and saw the slightest of frowns appear across Nick's face for just an instant.

"What's the matter?" she asked as she turned her body to her right to face him.

"What? Oh, nothing," he said.

"Come on," she said, "I know people well enough to know something's wrong. If it's nothing, why did you frown when I sat down?"

"I guess I need to hide my face next time," he said. "It's nothing, really. "It's just that you look much prettier with your hair down and loose. I was kind of surprised to see it pulled back, that's all."

Instantly, Shannon reached back and tore the hair tie out and shook her hair free, combing it with her fingers to put it in place.

"You didn't have to do that," Nick said. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your hair."

"That's okay," she said. "I don't need it pulled back." She was very pleased that he noticed and stated his preference. She liked her hair either way, but for some reason, it was important to her to know how he liked it. And it made her feel good to know he thought she was pretty. Almost unnoticed was the chiming of her clock announcing eleven o'clock.

They sat in awkward silence as the ticking of the clock seemed to get louder and louder. Nick almost began to speak, but stayed quiet, looking at the pictures on the wall near her television. Finally, Shannon broke the silence. "I'm having a really good time with you tonight."

Nick broke into a smile. "So am I," he said sincerely. There were many things he wanted to ask her, many things he wanted to know, but he didn't know where to begin. He looked at her face as she calmly looked back. Why was she having this effect on him? Henever felt this way about a woman this soon. If he did, it was much further into the relationship. He found he wanted to know everything about her and wouldn't be satisfied until he had the answers. "I'm going to have to thank Connie for setting this up," he said softly, still enamored with her expressive eyes.

Shannon blushed slightly and looked down. "You're not the only one who needs to thank her. I'm just glad I was able to stop you before you left O'Reilly's."

"I never would have thought of leaving if I hadn't seen those rings. I liked you from the start."

"When Connie showed me a picture of you, I thought you were very handsome, but you look even better in person." She hesitated for an instant. "But," she said, poking his arm with her index finger, "I like you, too." As she watched him, she had the overwhelming desire to be kissed by him, to feel his lips against hers and to be tickled by his mustache and beard. In a fleeting thought, she shamelessly wondered what it would be like to have his face between her thighs. It had been a long time since someone had done that for her.

Nick didn't catch the signal, but merely grinned at her. He noticed the rain pounding on her roof as the deluge had just begun. The moment was broken for Shannon and she was disappointed. Sighing, she noticed the sudden change, too, and pulled the curtain back to watch the rain streaming down the glass.

She let go of the curtain and focused her attention on her date once more. His eyes were studying her and his stare was intense. "See something you like?" she asked nervously. Maybe the moment wasn't gone after all.

He inched closer to her until their hips touched. "I liked what I saw four hours ago. That hasn't changed in the slightest."

"I may need some convincing," she purred, her lips pouting and aching to be kissed.

"You're very pretty," he said tenderly, his hand touching her face. His face was now just a few inches from hers. "So very pretty." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly for but a second or two. He then pulled back to see if she approved.

"Don't stop," she sighed, her eyes locked onto his.

Nick moved forward again until their lips met. Her lips tasted like sweet honey and he wanted to explore them more. Shannon's hand moved along the back of the sofa to the back of Nick's head and held him in place for fear he would stop and pull back again. His kisses were wonderful and she never wanted him to stop. Her lips parted and accepted his gentle assault even more as she tilted her head. Even the tickling of his soft mustache felt good and right. Her hand toyed with his hair, running the black locks through her fingers and gently massaging his scalp with her nails. A small groan escaped her lips as they parted again, much too soon for her satisfaction. Her eyes opened slowly to find him staring at her, grinning from ear to ear as if he had just discovered the most wonderful thing in the world.