Where We Belong

Casanova

When the two women are both back on their feet, Harper apologizes again. She is so incredibly embarrassed that she can barely look the other woman in the eyes.

Gillian is not rude towards Harper but she is not exactly very pleasant either. "It's fine," she says to Harper but then immediately turns herself towards Declan. Gillian pats herself down so that she can get all the dust off of her clothing and notices a sharp pain on her wrist from trying to catch herself on it just a moment ago. She moves it around in circles and rubs at it to make sure it is still working properly. "I'm going to go wash up. Could you bring in the sign and lock up?" She does not wait for Declan to reply before pulling open the door and going back inside without another glance back.

Harper folds her arms over her chest and stares after the woman, completely speechless. Before she can clearly assess what had just happened, she realizes that the adrenaline rush has passed and her body feels more aches than it had previously. She sighs.

Declan chuckles as he folds up the chalkboard sign, ready to carry it inside and walks over to Harper. He gently touches Harper's elbow, "Are you alright? That was quite the exit you made there." He smiles and because he senses that Harper may be feeling a bit confused by her interaction with his boss, he adds, "don't worry about Gillian. It usually takes a bit for her to warm up to people."

"I'm alright," Harper says. And she is, but also still a little put off by Gillian's reaction to the whole thing as well.

"Hey, why don't you come by tomorrow night for karaoke? It is a completely different place in here on Thursdays. It is more energetic and a lot of fun. You could even call in an order ahead of time for food if you're going to have another long day." Declan says trying to lighten her mood.

Harper realizes that she does not really know anyone in Seattle yet and thinks that Skylar would be happy to hear that she is making friends. Or at least trying to, so she nods. "Yeah, maybe. It could be fun. I'll see how the day goes tomorrow. I really should head out though and actually try to make it to my car this time." She says awkwardly.

Declan laughs and agrees with her. They say their goodbyes and he watches as Harper walks across the street and into the parking garage. Then he shakes his head and walks back into the bar.

Gillian is behind the bar putting away the rest of the glasses. Her wrist is still bothering her and she hopes that if she puts some ice on it that by morning, it will feel much better. She hears the front door shut and looks up to see Declan watching her curiously. "What?" She asks.

"You could have been a little bit nicer, you know. Maybe show her your good side first and then wait until she comes in a few more times before you're a total arse." There is a hint of seriousness in his voice, but mostly he just likes to tease Gillian for how anti-social she is becoming with the bar patrons lately.

Gillian sighs, "Declan, I don't have the time nor the energy to play nice and befriend every single person that walks into this bar like you do. And especially not the ones that can't open a door without running someone over. That lady is a lawsuit waiting to happen."

"Right." Declan knows better than to force the subject any further. For awhile now, any particular conversation they try to have about Gillian meeting people and making new friends always ends poorly. He understands why she closes herself off so he decides to let it go for now. He sees that she is rubbing at her wrist and he frowns. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" He asks clearly concerned.

"That woman was solid muscle. I mean, she obviously works out or something. I think that I'm lucky that it is just my wrist that seems be a little bit strained." Gillian says her voice filled with exhaustion. "I'm sure that it'll be fine after some ice and some rest."

Declan nods. "It isn't even one yet. Are you really wanting to close early again tonight?"

Gillian feels so exhausted, both physically and mentally. She pinches the bridge of her nose and tries to compose herself. "Yes, I think so. I'm sorry, I'm just really tired." She thinks about how much she used to love every second that she spent at the bar. The long hours and work was very difficult in the beginning but once she got into the groove of it, the place quickly became her first love and her one true happiness. That was until she met Danielle Price.

Gillian remembers how Danielle started as one of her first regulars. She eventually became a friend and then with some time, a lot more than that. She did not even think that she could ever be in a relationship with a woman until Danielle came into her life but it all happened with such a natural progression that it never felt less than perfect.

Gillian recalls those late nights when Danielle would come into the bar just to sit around and talk with her while she cleaned and closed down. There were nights that they would talk until well into the morning. But right now, she does not really want to think about any of it. What she really wants is to be at home and in bed.

Declan sees that she is lost in her own thoughts. He thinks that he knows what she may be thinking about so he walks over to her and puts his arm around her shoulders pulling her close to him. "Hey..."

Gillian looks up and smiles sadly at him. "I'm alright, Declan. I promise."

Declan returns the smile. Gillian has become really important to him in the few years that they have known each other and he knows that she is still heartbroken and hurting over the events of the past few months. He cannot say that he has gotten over all of it either but he surmises that Gillian just processes things differently than he does. While he is a lot more angry than he is heartbroken, she is quite the opposite. He tries to remind himself that it will take time for her to heal even though she refuses to talk about it with him or anyone else. At some point though, that conversation will probably need to happen. Regrettably, it will not be happening tonight.

Declan rubs the shoulder that he's holding and feels her start to relax a little bit. "Hey, how about you just take off and I'll wipe everything down and lock up. I'll even open up tomorrow morning so you don't have to come in until after lunch time."

Gillian smiles weakly and nods. Then she hugs him, "All the girls are right. You really do say all the right things, you know that?" She says only half-jokingly.

"Yes, that's me. A regular Casanova." He squeezes her tightly before adding, "I just want you to get plenty of rest so that we can kill it on the mics tomorrow night. You know that I won't sing any duets with anyone but you."

"Oh, please! Don't think for a second that I will let you use me again to make all the girls squeal. I almost got into a fight in my own bar with that jealous, crazy woman because of you a few weeks ago."

He laughs because he remembers how hilarious it was that a drunken college girl had to be escorted out by the police after attempting to throw a beer bottle at the bar owner. And then he winks at her before saying, "She didn't stand a chance against you, Love."

This time, Gillian laughs. "Alright, I'm going to grab my stuff and go. Are you sure that you're fine with closing and opening tomorrow?" He nods reassuringly so she gives him her set of keys and takes her purse and jacket before leaving through the back. Declan watches her go but wonders if she will actually get any rest tonight.