Hatchetfield and Friends

2 - Paul Won't Do Karaoke

The bar wasn't very full when Paul and his friends arrived. There were a group of people, and a few loners. One girl stood out to him, even looked kind of familiar, although all he could see was her back. But Hatchetfield was small, so of course she looked familiar.

"C'mon, Paul, we're gonna go get some drinks!" Melissa, one of his coworkers and sort of friend, exclaims while putting a hand on his shoulder to lead him to the bar.

"Bill I can't believe you let your daughter sneak in here!" Ted laughs, being loud enough for some other people there to hear.

"Ted, shut up! I only let her come because I didn't want her to stay at home alone! She's eighteen at least..." Bill mumbles.

"Uncle Paul," Alice, Bill's underage daughter, squeals, "will you come do karaoke with Melissa, Charlotte, and I?"

Paul looked at his best friend's daughter and her hopeful blue eyes. "Uhm, maybe. I'm not really good at signing."

"That doesn't matter, Uncle Paul! The point is to have a good time. Maybe you'll feel more encouraged after a few drinks," she persuades.

Paul laughs to himself a little after that statement, but why not loosen up and have a few drinks? He most likely won't have to be the designated driver since Bill usually doesn't drink. Worse comes to worse Alice will have to drive us all home since there's no way she's drinking.

Alice, Bill, Ted, Charlotte, Melissa, and Paul take up the remaining seats at the bar, except for one, which separates Paul and that girl. She still faces the opposite direction from him, so he still can't get a good look at her.

"Ooh, look at that girl over there," Melissa cooes. "She looks pretty."

"Mel, she isn't even facing our direction," Bill points out.

"Yeah, but she has a good back," she defends.

"Everyone is beautiful in their own way," Charlotte says.

"Uh, Char, I think it's the other way around. Everyone's pretty until they show you the ugly parts of 'em," Ted replies.

"Wait...isn't that the barista from Beanie's?" Alice asks. "The one Uncle Paul totally has a crush on."

"A-Alice! No I don't!" Paul stutters, now flustered.

"Well, if you really don't, then you won't mind if I go talk to her, now will ya Paul?" Melissa giggles.

Paul silently protests in his mind, but says nothing, only sending her a still-flustered dissaproving look.

Melissa slides off the bar stool and goes to sit next to the other side of Paul. He watches the barista as she turns to grab her drink and notices Melissa. Yep, definitely the barista from the coffee shop.

"Hello, I'm Melissa," his coworker greets. "And who might you be?"

The barista looks surprised. "Oh, Emma. Nice to meet you."

Emma. What a pretty name. Emma is pretty, despite her messy frizzed hair, the dark circles under her eyes, and the fact it's incredibly clear she came here right after her shift. She still has chocolate brown eyes, a wide smile, the cutest of laughs.

Melissa talks to Emma, who is now smiling and laughing a little more. I try not to listen to their conversation.

I order a random drink and sip it quietly, everyone else laughing and chattering away. After Melissa finishes flirting and everyone seems to be drunk enough, not including Alice, Charlotte suggests we start doing Karaoke.

There aren't many people left in the bar, so no one will get too disturbed. Hopefully. The pretty barista, Emma, still sits there, drink after drink, somehow not completely wasted. Unlike his friends.

Even Ted stands up there, singing his heart out to the soundtrack of A Monster In Paris, arm wrapped around Charlotte's shoulders. Charlotte stumbles around, dragging Melissa and Ted with her, almost running into a giggling Alice. Bill watches from the side of the stage, keeping an eye on his daughter who dances dangerously close to the edge.

Paul notices that Emma has been laughing at his friends' antics. She stares warmly at the group of drunken friends, who are now all clinging to each other, arms around their shoulders.

"Drunk as shit, aren't they?" Paul chuckles nervously, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, but they're sure as hell having a good time," she sighs.

"Aren't you?" He asks.

"Well, considering I came here right after my shift and I'm somehow not completely wasted, not really," she groans. "But I mean, now that you're here it's better."

"O-oh," he stutters. "That's good."

She laughs, a cute, sweet laugh that shouldn't make Paul's heart flutter but it does. "You know, your friend Melissa gave me a little tip"

"She did?"

"Yeah. She told me you had a crush on me, which is why you come into Beanie's so much."

"She...did?"

"Yep. And you know...I kinda like you too, Paul."

"You do?" His voice raises significantly.

She laughs again. "Yeah. I do."

She hopes off the bar stool and takes his hand. He follows her, dumbstruck, and looks behind him as Emma drags him out the door.

Melissa shoots him a wink.

_______________________________________

Oh my gosh, I'm having a blast writing in third person. And what I really mean by that is I've never actually written in third person before so every once in a while I'll reread this and see that partway through the chapter it's switched to first person.

Here's to accidentally challenging yourself!!!

:D