Wine and Spirits

"Oh god, just stop already."

"Fine. But seriously, I'm really happy for you. I hope it all works out and stuff. But last night seemed pretty special, so good for you."

"Thanks, Eddie. Do you mind opening? I probably should go clean up. I'll be down in a little bit."

"Sure, no problem."

Eddie pulled all the chairs off the tables and wiped them down again. He was pretty much done prepping for opening when the bar's phone rang, which it rarely ever did. It took him by surprise.

"Doc's Place," he answered, but no one spoke. "Hello? This is Doc's Place."

"Um..." It was a man's voice.

"Hello?" Eddie asked again, then it hit him. It was only one syllable but he thought he might have recognized the voice. "Nick?"

CLICK—The line went dead.

He second-guessed himself a few times, but eventually made up his mind—it was mosty definitely, probably, Nick. But he wasn't sure what to make of Nick trying to call and then hanging up. Perhaps it was his own past still haunting him, but Eddie was suddenly feeling wary again of the man at the corner table. Still, he decided not to mention it to Lily.

The rest of the week was uneventful—just a typical week at Doc's Place.

But leading into Friday, both Eddie and Lily were on edge. Lily was hopeful—Eddie, concerned. He really didn't want Lily to get hurt, but even though he didn't want to witness it, he pledged himself to be there for her no matter what.

And when Friday finally arrived, he went out of his way to make it an easy night for her, just in case things went sour later.

Nick showed up on time, as if a customer had an assigned work shift. He made his way to the back, avoiding eye contact with Eddie as he walked past.

Well, something's up. Eddie's concern increased. Maybe he's just embarrassed. I mean, he WAS sporting a boner the last time he was here. He hoped for Lily's sake that's all it was.

Lily saw him come in and tried to contain her enthusiasm. She walked over to Eddie, who was already getting Nick's drinks ready.

"Hey, Lily...maybe take things slow with him today, okay?"

"Okay...wait...why?" She instantly grew concerned. "Why did you say that?"

"Nothing, no reason in particular." He lied. "I'm sure everything's fine." He lied again. "But, just in case, you know. Don't rush him. He's still hung up on Sarah, or he might be, I don't know. Anyway, I don't want you to get hurt, okay. So just...take it slow, that's all."

"Yeah," she calmed herself down again. He made sense, she decided. "Okay, you're right." She took a deep breath and let it out, then collected his drinks and headed over to see him.

"Hey Nick. Got your usual."

He didn't look up at first, which concerned her. Then he peeked up at her, tentatively. "Thanks, Lily...How have you been?...Did you have a good week?"

She smiled in relief. "Yeah, it was a pretty good week." She reminded herself not to rush things. The night was still young, and the first part of it was likely still off-limits. "Well, I'll leave you alone, but...would it be okay to visit you later...if you don't mind, I mean?"

"Yeah, Lily. That would be good."

"Okay, good...Well, I'll be over there." She turned clumsily and returned to the bar.

"Well?" Eddie asked.

"He said we could talk again later. So, that's good, right?"

He wasn't sure if it was or not. "Sure. I mean it's definitely not a bad sign, right?"

"Yeah. I'll take it." She let out a pensive breath before heading out to welcome a few customers entering the bar.

Eddie looked over at Nick. So help me, if that guy breaks her heart... And this time, he wasn't posturing. Nick would be in serious peril if he hurt Lily. Eddie really had started thinking of her as a sister—sometimes annoying as all hell, but someone he still cared about very deeply.

Doc arrived a few minutes later, looking for Eddie. "There you are!"

Eddie looked a little confused. "Where else would I be, Doc?"

"Oh...right...never mind that. Listen, a couple of our regulars have been asking me about Halloween."

"What about it? We're not doing anything, right? Besides, it's still a couple weeks away."

"Yeah, good. That's exactly right. I just wanted to make sure you remembered we don't do anything different for Halloween. They were worried you might, since you're new."

"Oh, no, definitely not. I wouldn't go and do something you clearly don't want. You know that, don't you?" He seemed a little hurt that Doc might question that.

"Of course, I do. I know that, Eddie. I just wanted to remind you and to let you know a couple of them might try to interrogate you a little, just to ease their worry. It's just a heads up, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, Doc. No worries."

Doc left the bar as quickly as he'd arrived.

That was weird. "Hey, Lily!" he yelled to her from behind the bar. "I've got a question for ya whenever you're free. No rush!"

"Yeah, okay," she called back and a few minutes later visited him between helping customers. "Hey, what's up?"

"So, Doc zipped in here earlier."

"Yeah, I saw him."

"All he wanted to do was remind me we don't do anything for Halloween."

"Yeah?"

"Well...isn't that weird?"

"That's weird?" she joked. "Did you forget where you work?"

"Seriously, Lily. Do you think he still worries about me? Do you think he's afraid I'll mess something up? Lily, why would he do that?"

"Hey, hey," her face turned serious. "Don't do this. Remember what you said to me about getting in your own way? That's what this sounds like, right now. Don't go there, okay?"

"I don't want to, Lily. It just, I don't know, it caught me off-guard."

"Listen, can I tell you what I know?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I know Doc thinks the world of you. I know Doc hand-picked you to be his bartender. I know he saw the promise of something really special in you. And I also know that he was right. I didn't see it at first; you know that. I wouldn't have batted an eye if you'd quit that first week. But, I'm glad I was wrong."

"You mean that?"

"I wouldn't have said it..." she patted him on his back, looking out toward the bar room. Only a few customers, but the night was young.

"Thanks, for saying all that." He soaked up the feeling of acceptance she gave him, simply with a few kind words and some pats on the back. It felt like family. "Hey Lily, I have one more question. If Halloween is no big deal, doesn't it seem weird that he'd make a point to not make it a big deal?"

She chuckled. "I don't know if that question even made sense, Eddie, but I think I know what you're getting at. So, Halloween actually is a big deal around here. It's just really important that we don't do anything to draw attention to it. I know it sounds crazy, but it would be a catastrophe if our customers came in on Halloween and saw ghosts and black cats and cheesy decorations all over the place. And god only knows what would happen if they walked in and heard the Monster Mash playing on the jukebox." She joked.

"We don't have that song," he said flatly.

"That was a joke, silly. I know we don't have that song. We don't have any holiday songs. And that's on purpose. So yeah, Halloween is still a big deal. It's just incredibly important that we don't act any different than we would any other night."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense. I think. Only using Doc's Place logic, though."

"Yeah, that's probably true. Also, do me a favor and don't do any drinking that day either. Not that I think you were going to, but I'm just saying...not even one drink, okay? We need you to be on the top of your game. We'll probably have a pretty big crowd that night."

"For a holiday we're not even going to acknowledge? Yeah, that makes perfect sense...again, only at Doc's Place."

She chuckled. "Now you're getting it!"

Lily kept herself busy most of the night, only occasionally checking on Nick. There were no signs of Sarah, just as she expected. She tried to decipher his expression. Was he maybe a little less upset than normal that she hadn't showed? Was that just wishful thinking on her part? And had he been sneaking peeks at her throughout the night, like he unwittingly confessed to her a week prior?

She glanced at the clock: 9:30 p.m. I wonder if it's too soon...no, don't rush things...don't rush him. She dutifully waited until the clock struck ten before pouring herself a glass of water and heading over to the corner table.

"Hey Nick...do you mind?"

"No, not at all." He stood from his seat.

"I've got it, thanks. That's really sweet, though."

"Oh...sure." He sat back down.

"So, I see she didn't show again. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I, uh...I tried to call you last Saturday."

"You did?"

"Yeah, Eddie answered the phone."

She turned quickly, catching Eddie watching them intently from behind the bar. She shot him a glare before turning around again. "Hmmph. He didn't tell me."

"Well, no. I mean, don't be mad at him. He didn't know it was me, not for sure, anyway. All I said was 'Um' and then I hung up."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to hear your voice...make sure you were real."

"Make sure I'm real?"

"I...I don't know. I'm so confused."

"Well, I can assure you, I'm real. And I'm right here." She reached out and placed her hand on top of his. "So...if I had answered instead of Eddie...what would you have said?"

"Hopefully, more than um."

"Nick," she spoke reassuringly, "was there something you wanted to say?"

"I don't know...I've spent the last year trying to get something back that, at one point, I didn't even want. But then after I destroyed it, I thought maybe I did want it. By then it was too late. So, now she doesn't want me back and I'm just not even sure what I want anymore. I'm so confused."

"Nick...what happened that night?"

"I can't, Lily...I can't...but it was my fault...If I hadn't said those things..." He pulled his hand out from underneath Lily's, as if he didn't deserve to be comforted. "And I know she keeps saying she wants me to move on...that things worked out the way they were supposed to. But that doesn't make me feel any better. So, on top of feeling guilty for all that...now, I'm feeling guilty for..."

"For what?"

"well...for you."

"Nick...don't say 'no' right away, but I want to ask you something, okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you think Sarah might consider talking to me? If you asked her to, I mean?"

"Oh," he wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't that. "I don't know, Lily. I don't know if she would."

"I know it's really hard for you to talk about what happened. And I'm not trying to pressure you about it. I wouldn't want to do that to you. But I thought, maybe, you'd let her tell me...if that's okay, I mean."

He nodded tentatively. "I can ask...if I ever see her again."

"It would mean a lot to me, if you did. And I have a feeling she'll come back in a couple of weeks."

"Why's that?"

"Well, just a hunch, I suppose."

"Okay, we'll see, I guess. In the meantime, I have a question for you."

"Sure. Ask away."

"Does that jukebox over there work?"

She smiled. "Are you tired of talking?"

"Just for now."

"Yes. It works. Every song in there was hand-picked by Doc. So, if you don't find what you're looking for..."

"It's there. I just didn't know if it worked. I've never heard anyone use it."

"Ha! You should be here after-hours. Eddie over there loves this thing." She reached out her hand and he took it. "So, should I try to guess the song? Is it 'Love Shack' by the B-52's? 'Eye of the Tiger', maybe?" she joked.

"Stuck in the eighties, much?" he chuckled. "No, I'd be embarrassed to tell you, actually. Why don't you pick something?"

"Oh...I'm not allowed to, sorry."

"What? No, really, pick a song."

She looked back at him with a squeamish expression.

"Wait, you're serious? You're really not allowed?"

"Sorry. House rules. Only customers can pick songs from the jukebox while the bar is open."

"Hmm, interesting. I guess it's back on me, then." He studied the list of songs available—a surprisingly wide variety considering only one person picked them all. "Sorry, Lily, I don't see 'Eye of the Tiger.' I guess that's not the vibe he was going for here."

"Why don't you just play the song you wanted?"

"Um...are you sure? Are you going to laugh at me? I mean, it's a great song, but you might think it's kinda cheesy, too."

"I won't laugh at you. I promise."

"Okay, but...only if you dance with me. You still sure?"

"I was actually hoping. But god help me, I hope you didn't find 'Love Shack.' I wouldn't want to break a promise."

He started the song and led her out to the 'dance floor'—a six foot square area that just happened to not have a table in it.

She recognized the song right away—Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers. "Well, it's not the Love Shack." She grinned as she reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders.

He settled his hands on her waist as they swayed.

She loved this song and knew it by heart. It was one of her dad's favorites. Oh, I miss him, so much. She lowered her head and leaned in closer.

Her favorite line was coming up. She closed her eyes and leaned even closer, until her head was nestling into his chest. He felt warm and soft, yet strong. She felt safe. But she still felt tears forming in her eyes. Why the hell am I crying?

She wasn't sure if she was just overwhelmed by the moment, slow dancing to a beautiful song with Nick, or maybe, she just desperately missed her family. Even though she knew they'd always be near, she also knew it would never be the same. Sure, she might hear their voices or even see their faces. But they could no longer wipe away her tears, or stroke her hair, or hold her—the way that Nick was now. Or maybe it was all of those things combining.

The song ended too soon and at just the right time.

She raised her head and took a half step back. Cooler air breezed between them, reminding her of the warmth they'd just shared. She looked up at him, through tear-blurred eyes and saw him reaching to her face. She closed her eyes, just in time to feel him gently wipe away the tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying, Lily?" he asked softly.

"I was just thinking about my dad. I miss him. I still see him sometimes, you know...here and there. But I know, someday, I won't see him like that anymore...or hear him speaking to me still. I don't know what I'll do then. I barely know what to do now."

"Yeah, I think I understand that. If it's any consolation, I think he did a great job. I'm sure he's incredibly proud of you."

"Yeah, I know he is. He's told me so. But it's still hard to move on without feeling like I'm leaving him behind, you know?"

"Yeah, I do know."

"And...my god, I'm so lonely..."

He pulled her back close to himself and again started swaying with her—as if the jukebox had started again on its own, though it hadn't.

She swayed with him, silent dancing in an empty bar room full of strangers, letting his warmth ease her pain.

Eddie watched from the bar, as Nick and Lily danced. He smiled. There would be no ass-kicking needed tonight, no reason to 'have a conversation' with him in the back alley. Maybe this Nick guy was the real-deal after all—just a little bit stuck as Doc would say. And maybe Lily was the right person—the only person—to help him get unstuck.

Eddie was lost in thought and didn't notice the customer at the bar trying to get his attention.

"Excuse me, young man...hello?"

"Oh!" he startled. "I'm so sorry. Hi Mrs. Whitley. Your usual Gin and Tonic?"

"Yes, please." She grinned a little before asking him what he'd been so distracted by.

"Oh, yeah. That's my sis over there...I mean, technically, we're just...well, we're kind of like family. Anyway, she's happy right now. She hasn't been that way much since I've known her. It's just nice to see...really nice to see."

"Hmm. So you're the kind of man who finds his own joy in the happiness of others?"

"Wow."

"What?"

"Well, you made me sound like a pretty swell guy, just there."

"And you're not?"

"Oh, no, I'm not perfect—not by any stretch. But I am getting better...becoming a better man. And that's not just wishful thinking. I really am. Thanks to Doc...and my currently giggly 'sister' over there."

"So, you're also honest and dare I say, a family man?" She smiled at him.

"Oh my, you're really laying it on thick, aren't you?" He smiled back at her. "No ma'am. I've not been in a family long enough to say something like that. I am hooked though, on the family part. I can honestly say that."

"And humble."

"Okay, now you're embarrassing me. Do you mind if we change the subject?" He set a cocktail napkin on the bar and placed her drink on it.

"Actually, I do kind of mind. But that's okay. I've already learned quite a bit about you and we've only talked a couple of minutes."

Doc somehow snuck up behind him and settled into a spot just to his right. "I see you've met Mrs. Whitley." he whispered just loud enough that only Eddie could hear him.

"Yeah, Doc. Good to see you," he whispered back. "She's nice, but she keeps asking about me. It's kinda freaking me out. I'm gonna say something stupid if I keep talking about myself. I always do, you know."

"You're doing fine, son. Just be yourself, not a made-up version to try to impress her, okay?"

He nodded.

"Why don't you ask her about her daughter? Tell her you saw her visiting the other night."

He nodded again. "So, Mrs. Whitley, I saw your daughter with you the last time. Is she all done with school now?"

"Good job, Eddie. That was good." Doc encouraged.

"No, she's only in town for another couple of weeks. She had to come back home to help with some legal stuff. She's the executor on an estate and needed some help getting through it all."

"Oh, yeah? I imagine that would be difficult."

"Indeed. It's been very emotional and taken a real toll on her."

"You're doing great, son!" Doc whispered again. "Keep asking about her daughter. Don't talk about yourself unless asked and you'll keep doing great, I just know it."

"So she still has some school left then?"

"Yes. She took a short leave from classes, but she's already a senior. She'll be graduating in the spring."

"You must be proud."

"Oh we are. She'll be the first person in our family to get a college degree, you know. But even if she didn't, we're still proud of her. She's become a fine young woman, you know—smart, funny..."

"Pretty," he added. Oh, shit!

"Yes." She laughed. "She's pretty, too."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Whitley. I didn't mean to say that out loud." He was blushing from embarrassment.

"Oh, it's alright, Eddie," she said reassuringly. "It's quite alright."

"Eddie, come over here a minute." Doc whispered again.

"Excuse me just a minute, Mrs. Whitley." He grabbed a couple of glasses that weren't even dirtied and carried them to the sink where Doc was waiting for him. Then he started washing them, as he spoke with Doc. "Well, I just screwed up again."

"No, you didn't! I just wanted to tell you how incredible you're doing. Making mistakes isn't screwing up. They're not the same thing. So long as you concentrate on those around you and not yourself, you'll always be successful, even if you do take a few missteps here and there. Just remember that, okay? You'll be a better man for it. Always think of others first. And that's exactly what you're doing, son. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Doc. I really appreciate that."