Mood Board Short Stories

The Blue Room

I submitted this story to my local literary festival and I am excited to say it won special consideration. I hope you enjoy it!

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"Here you go Ellie," Lou slides a cocktail napkin towards me and places a glass of scotch on top. "Long day?"

"The term 'long day' is a masterpiece of understatement," I say, taking a sip.

"Hard one huh?"

I nod, unwilling to rehash the grim details of the last hours of my shift and watch as he takes the cue, grabs a towel, throws it over his shoulder and sets to work washing glasses at the far end of the bar.

My finger plays with the edge of the napkin and runs across the cobalt blue type that spells out The Blue Room. I take another sip and savor the smooth icy burn that slides down my throat and look around. Long gone are the after work happy hour social set, the ones meeting for a few drinks with coworkers before heading to their homes at a respectable hour. Now, it's peppered with those seeking a night cap and a quiet conversation or like myself, sitting at the bar sipping our liquid self reflection with our own thoughts and the occasional company of the bartender.

I close my eyes and focus on the velvety voice of Nina Simone as it pours out from the speakers and blankets the muffled sounds of conversations around me. I allow it to carry me off, away from the stark white walls of the emergency department and it's miles of cold linoleum. But the respite doesn't last long. I begin to feel the cold steel as it presses against my throat, my arms pinned to my sides as the desperate man behind me demands a fix and then a getaway. What follows is a jumble of movement and disorder that I'm told lasted only an hour but felt like an eternity. It projects across the theater of my mind like a sickening blur, until it rests on the pair of soft but commanding hazel eyes that provided a life preserver in the ocean of chaos. They silently promised me it would all be over soon and that I was safe, he would ensure it.

I open my eyes and roll my head from shoulder to shoulder desperate to relieve the tension that has turned my muscles into granite.

"Mind if I join you?" A low voice asks over my shoulder.

I sigh heavily and shake my head. "Actually, I've had a really rough night-"

"Yeah, you have."

I glance to my side to see what poor soul has been sent here from across the street to check on me.

"May I?" He asks, brushing his dark wavy hair back and revealing those familiar eyes.

"Um, yeah, sorry." I move my bag. "I didn't realize..."

Lou reappears, "What can I get you?"

"Guinness, please."

I watch as Lou pops the cap off the bottle and places it on top of the napkin in front of him.

"Thank you." He nods at Lou and then turns his body and attention to me. "We didn't get a chance to properly meet, you're Eleanor?"

"Ellie, I go by Ellie."

"Nice to meet you Ellie, I'm Griffin." He holds up his bottle and nods.

"Griffin," I taste his name and tip my glass in response. "Thank you for what you did back there."

"You did all the work. You remained calm, listened to instructions, you handled yourself remarkably well under the circumstances."

"I sure didn't feel like it on the inside. I can't tell you how many hours of training we've received in the ED for this exact scenario-," my voice catches in my throat.