A Fling for Life (Morten Harket x OC)

If it rains, it pours

The dive bar was almost empty. Sure, it was Tuesday, so no decent folk would waste their time in here, and on top of that the place sucked, so uh, no decent folk would waste their time in here. That was just fine with Willow; she wouldn't be here, either, if it wasn't for her life taking multiple crappy turns in the past few months, and today was just a fucking cherry atop the shit cake. After her boss, an obnoxious pig of a mid-age crisis-ridden halfwit fired her on a whim, she really didn't feel like going straight home. A cheap and desolate bar seemed like a fine compromise between needing silence to think of a way out of her financial rut, and needing a drink - and not just one.

Lowered voices of the barman and some guy who just walked it jerked her out of her stupor. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, noticed that her cigarette burned out in the ashtray, took a sip of the thin and bitter beer, and sighed. 

From her corner by the countertop, she could see the heavy rain beating against the bar's dirty windows. Classic Oregon. She loved the place, she did, but tonight rain seemed like a perfectly ironic background for her unenviable situation. Her college debts piled, her parents were focused on her much younger (and bratty) sister, and her side art career seemed to have faced a dead end. And she didn't even touch the topic of a jerk ex-boyfriend.

Willow fished out another cigarette from a crumpled pack in her jacket pocket and patted her sides in search of a lighter. Great. If it rains, it pours, and literally, from big things to the smallest annoying details, like the fucking lighter she must have misplaced again. She grunted angrily through her lips pursed over the smoke while digging in her bag when an unmistakable click of a lighter being flicked to life startled her.

"Here," someone said from the seat next to hers.

"Oh, Jesus, thanks! You snuck up on me," she said, turning quickly around, and just as quickly feeling awkward as hell.

The guy was about her age, twenty-six or seven, with a wild mane of hair now sticking in every direction thanks to the rain, and a very much disarming smile on his face. Willow felt mild heat rising to her cheeks and scolded herself for acting like a high schooler. It was just some dude. Handsome, sure, even quite familiar-looking, but still just a dude.

"Sorry," he said with a soft accent, studying her face. She cleared her throat and hastily leaned in to light her cigarette with the flame he offered, almost setting her hair on fire as it flew forward with her. He quickly reached and swept it away, and chuckled at her glance, a little embarrassed himself.

"It's a nice color, would be a pity to have it go to waste," he said, looking at her bubblegum pink strands.

"Thanks again," she laughed, taking a deep puff of smoke and leaning back, feeling more stupid than ever. If it all goes, then it all goes, on a day like this you wouldn't charm a trashcan, so whatever, she thought. Shame, though, now that she was facing her newfound companion, she could really appreciate his appearance. A strong jaw, warm eyes, high cheekbones - some absurdly good bone structure in that face, she smirked to herself - and a smile that could melt iron. A tiny gap between his front upper teeth somehow just added to how charming he was.

"I'm usually not this hopeless," she added quickly. "I'm just having a one fucked up day and if it goes, then it all goes, so."

"Mmm," he hummed, still tracing her face with his gaze, locking his eyes with hers. A shy, almost unsure smile played about his lips. "Mind me asking what happened?"

"Oh, you know, the classic, I got fired today, dunno how I'll afford college now and I was supposed to graduate in half a year." She shrugged, tapped the ash away.

"Damn, I'm sorry," he said. "What do you study?"

"Veterinary."

His face lit up in a wide smile.

"I love that," he said. "So, vet girl, there were no better places to drown your bad luck?"

She snorted. "And what exactly are you doing here instead of better places?"

He rocked on his chair and looked away.

"Sometimes it's overwhelming, what I do," he replied after a long moment of silence. "I kinda hoped to find a place like this. Empty. Quiet. But then I saw you, obviously in need of a lighter, and I happened to have one." The smile was back. She didn't even know she was smiling back until her lips stretched in a grin right after his did.

"And what is it that you do? Because you look really familiar." She frowned, trying to put her finger on where she could have seen him before.

"And thank God that's about it," he laughed. "I guess I sing. It's been a wild ride."

"Yeah, I suppose I'm too old for fangirling," she smiled wryly. "Vacation or gig in the rainy forests here?"

"I wish it was a vacation."

Willow sighed, feeling all the despair crawling back. Not that she thought the night would suddenly change into a fairy tale, but she didn't feel like becoming a one night stand for some apparent rockstar on top of everything else.

"Well, I better get going," she grumbled, slipping off the barstool, and froze in her tracks as his hand immediately reached for hers.

"Wait," he said quickly, looking a little sheepish about his gesture as well. "Please. I would love to make your day a little bit better."

"Yeah, thanks, not interested in going backstage," she muttered but didn't move.

"Not what I meant," he chuckled and squeezed her hand in his. Willow blinked, wondering why the fuck she would even let a stranger touch her, but decided she didn't care if her night goes any worse. "Come," he said, standing up himself and pulling her towards the front doors. "Let's see what you do for fun in the rainy forests!"

She shook her head in disbelief and let him lead her outside, into the furiously pouring rain.