Oops (General Hospital)

Pretty as a Picture

A Few Days Later

     Julian looks around his empty pub, not many people stopped in a pub in a dying neighborhood on a weekday after nine in March. "Ten minutes, if no one comes in then next ten minutes, I'm closing up." He tells himself, going over to the other side of the bar and sitting on a stool. He turns to the door and rubs his knee. Long days of standing had started to take their toll.
     The bell above the door rings, Julian looks up. One of his regulars, a beautiful black woman with a head of curly hair and perfect smile, walks in. He never served her, it was always during a rush hour so someone else would get her, but he knew her order. He gets up and goes behind the bar, mixing and pouring what he knows she'll order. She comes right to him, taking the seat he'd just left. He slides the drink to her.
     "How'd you know?" She asks, running a hand through her thick black curls. Julian smiles, shrugging. "I learn my regular's orders. You normally come during rush hour, so we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Julian, I'm the owner."
     "I'm Rose. We're gonna be seeing a lot of each other from now on. I took a different shift at the club I work at. I just got off and I could really use a drink. This is exactly what I need." She tells him, taking a sip and smiling. "Hm-hm-hmm, this is good. You make it better than that other guy."
     "Thank you. Don't worry, I won't tell him." Julian says. "Go ahead, I won't be seeing him nomore. Guess it'll just be you and me every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday."
     Julian chuckles. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
     "I'm a talker. I can talk your ear off." She warns. "Sounds fun."
     "You asked for it." She laughs. "I had this guy yesterday, total jackass. He come in wearing this old ass tourist shirt with like, gold chains. He got a pipe and he's all coughing and shit, like, come on, we know you fake. So he demanding we give him a free dance so he can see if we good enough to dance at some party he planning. My boss was all like, 'Hell no' but this guy like talkin' to him and so my boss tells me I gotta dance for him. Now this dude is nasty, he all slimy and greasy. So I givin' him this dance and-"
     "Rose," Julian interrupts, "you can talk normally, you don't have to put on a show for me." He tells her. She swallows and nods, a thankfulness in her eyes. "He was really gross, that's really all I had to say. I just needed to talk, I don't many changes to talk to another person. Especially one who's actually listening, and so cute."
     He swallows, looking down at the bar. "Can I, um, can I give you a dance. For free, of course."
     "What?"
     "I really don't have a lot of people skills, so I don't know how to make it not awkward between us. I usually don't have to talk to someone who hasn't seen me dance. It was a weird thing to ask, I should probably cut my losses and go." She says, grabbing purse and digging for money. "Wait, you don't have to go. If you really want to, I'm not opposed to a dance."
     She let's out a sigh and puts her purse down, taking off her coat and revealing her fuzzy pink crop top. "Can you, um, sit in a chair?" She asks. "I'm used to working with someone who's sitting."
     He nods and heads over to the tables, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. She starts by sitting on his lap, wrapping her fingers around the back of his neck. He can tell where she wants to go from there, but she doesn't. She kisses him, a well received kiss.
     He runs his hands up her back, not surprised to find that she's not wearing a bra. A groan escapes his lips, making him bright red. She laughs at him, going back for another kiss. "Wait, someone could walk in." He warns, looking at the door. She gets up and bounces over, flipping the sign to closed, locking the door, and closing the blinds. "Now they won't."
     He smiles, lifting his shirt over his head and throwing it to a nearby table. Before she's back to him, her shirt's already off too. He places a hand on either hip, the stark contrast between their skin colors almost funny to him. Against her skin, the tan line on his left ring finger is even more obvious. He'd tried to ignore it, waiting for more sun to even the color out, but it was staring at him, drawing his attention.
     Rose doesn't give it a chance to keep him for long, distracting him with her smile, among other things. He's happy for the pretty, young distraction. Any distraction would've worked, but this one was an added bonus.

     Rose zips up her jacket, looking back at Julian with a satisfied smile. "You're good, like, really good. I gotta get to work, but I'll see you Monday. Maybe we can do this again." She says. "Maybe, if the place is empty."
     "I enjoyed this, Julian. Not just the amazing, mindblowing sex, but your company too. You're a really nice guy. It probably sounds stupid, but I'll miss you." She says. "It's not stupid. I'll miss chatting and proving you wrong about who's the best X-Files character."
     "For the last time, tonight, Walter Skinner is the actual hero." She says. "Skinner is a second tier character, at best, obviously Scully is the best character." Julian says. "We'll continue this next week." She says. "Yeah, and I'll continue to prove you wrong."
     "In your dreams, Julie." She laughs, waving him goodbye. He laughs even after she's gone. Maybe working late during the week wouldn't be so boring after all.

That's four so far. When do you think it'll end? And with who?