The Sin Bin Ch. 01

After she was done with her narrative, Stephanie just stared at her. Then she frowned. "So, I'm sorry. I still don't get it. What's so embarrassing about all that?"

"I know." Maria looked down and picked at a loose thread on her robe. "I woke up this morning and just felt so... I don't know. Weird, about being in his place."

"Why? Did he have shrunken heads on the wall or something?"

Maria snorted out a laugh and shook her head. "No. It was a really nice apartment. His bar must do really well."

She sighed and rubbed her face for a second. She couldn't put her finger on what had made her feel so off in the morning. She'd slept well and woken with a typical cotton-mouth after a night of drinking. After a tall glass of water, she'd walked back into the bedroom and seen Damien in bed. That's when the embarrassment had started seeping in. She'd felt exposed and silly for her behavior at the bar the night before and the way she'd behaved in that bedroom.

Even now, thinking of what had passed between them, the way she'd gone to pieces for him, made her skin crawl with humiliation. She'd never had such a strong reaction with a man before.

"Maria, stop thinking that you've done something wrong."

"I know I haven't." Maria sighed again. "I wish I hadn't thrown myself at him like some drunken tart."

Stephanie giggled at her phrasing. "You sound like my grandmother."

"Your grandmother would have thought I was a tart, I'm sure."

"Stop worrying about it." Stephanie patted her shoulder. "You were drinking, sure. He's no stranger to that, and he's a big boy. If he'd wanted to just drop your drunk ass at home, he would have. Instead, he ripped your clothes off and..." She paused and waved a hand around to indicate what had followed the clothes-ripping. "Well, whatever. You know what I mean. Maybe next time, you should stay away from the Crown Royal."

Maria did understand what Stephanie was saying. It was a somewhat surprising to hear her friend talk this way. Usually Stephanie was the one who shied away from taking chances with guys. Still, even after talking with her friend, Maria couldn't shake the feeling of immense embarrassment.

Stephanie stood up. "I'll let you shower and everything. We can order something in for dinner tonight and I'll even let you pick the movie."

Maria smiled. "Thanks, Steph."

Her roommate nodded and walked out of the room. After wallowing for another minute, Maria got up and stripped out of her soiled clothes before crossing to the washroom to shower.

****

Damien avoided Lucas for the first few hours when he got to the bar that night. He had a feeling his friend would want to discuss his night with the blond. He knew that might lead to a question and answer period about Maria, and Damien wasn't up to brushing it off. And he wasn't about to tell Lucas the truth. Lucas was his oldest friend but there was no way he was going to have that conversation in the bar, where the other employees or patrons could overhear. Damian hated gossip.

He closed himself in his office for the first couple hours, going over the receipts and books instead of working the front end. It was almost three in the afternoon when he'd arrived and he wasn't going to be needed on the front end for a few more hours at least.

His mind kept wandering from the pieces of paper in his hands. He couldn't help but recall the night before and his time with Maria. He still didn't understand why she'd been so withdrawn and cold in the morning. It was true, they didn't know each other, in spite of his attempt to lighten the mood when they'd arrived at his apartment. Maybe she'd realized the same thing and felt weird about overstaying her welcome.

Damien sighed and rubbed his eyes. He'd headed back home after dropping her off in the hopes that he might be able to catch some more sleep. Instead, he'd tossed and turned for two hours before giving up. He wondered if she'd slept any better.

A knock sounded on the office door, interrupting his brooding. "Come in."

Lucas sauntered in with a smug grin on his face. "Are you hiding in here because you failed to score with that brunette last night?"

Damien let out a surprised laugh at Lucas' blunt question. "You're a real asshole, aren't you?"

"I learned from the best." Lucas tipped his head in Damien's direction. He walked over and sat down in the worn chair across from Damien. "What did happen after I left with Stephanie?"

Damien shrugged and sat back, rocking his chair a couple times. "Nothing. Closed up, made sure everyone got home safe. Same old."

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

"Even if I am, I'm not going to have a giant brag-fest with you, bro."

Lucas scoffed. "Nothing to brag about on my end. Steph was nice but stone-cold sober. She let me drive her home and gave me her number but that was it."

Damien chuckled. "You sound crushed."

"I'm not. She's making it more interesting for me."

"Don't you ever get tired of chasing blonds?"

"No. Don't you ever get tired of running this bar?"

"Hell, no. I love it here." Damien smiled and looked around his office. The room was small with a single, small, smudged window to the alleyway. He had a few photos in frames on the wall, hung in haphazard patterns. On the shelf behind his desk, he had a few mementos from his short-lived career on the ice.

"You need to get a life." Lucas rolled his eyes. "When did you last take a day off?"

Damien opened his mouth to say last week but realized that was a lie. He'd intended to take last Monday off but one of the girls had called in sick. He cast his mind back and couldn't remember the last full day off he'd taken.

"Exactly." Lucas stood up and waved a hand at him. "Come on out. It's starting to fill up already."

"Really?" Damien glanced at the clock over the door. It was already after six. He'd been trying to balance the books for hours and having no luck. With a sigh, he put everything away and got up to join Lucas in the front end.

Out in the front, the bar was more than 'filling up', as Lucas had put it. The tables were packed and every stool at the bar was taken. Damien looked up and checked the TVs, wondering what game had everyone packing The Sin Bin that night.

Ah. Game five of Toronto vs. Carolina. The Leafs hadn't been in the playoffs for a couple years so this first series was a big deal to the hometown crowd. No wonder it was a zoo in there already.

He watched for a minute as the pre-game hoopla went on. He'd started in exactly one playoff series before the end of his career and it had been the best time of his life.

And the worst. He sighed and moved behind the bar to start working.