The Worst Days of Our Lives

Chapter 19: Chance

Chance arrived at the Stress Free Moose Pub & Cafe at 9:15ish. It was a small bar that looked friendly enough. He decided to shut his truck off and wait for her inside. When he pushed open the door, he noticed instantly that the bar was rather empty, only the middle aged female bartender, a man sipping a beer on a bar stool in the corner and a girl with long, red curls tumbling down her back. Chance had learned from experience that small bars in the middle of nowhere were not the most likely to card. Hopefully, that was the case considering he was 3 years underage. With everything that had happened, underage drinking was the least of his concerns.

The bar stool to the right of the girl looked ready to snap at the slightest pressure, so Chance moved to the left of her and slid up onto the seat. The girl from the bakery looked up at him and flashed him a smile and instantly, he found himself smiling back. The girl pivoted towards him slightly and crossed her legs, extending her hand toward him. Chance grabbed it and shook gently, “Jessica,” The girl offered as she let go of his hand and slid her hand into the back pocket of her jeans which Chance noticed to be considerably tight. Jessica smiled again as she handed Chance his phone. A sigh of relief came from his mouth and he gave her an easy, relaxed smile, “Thank you so much. You practically saved my life, can I buy you a drink?” Jessica’s eyebrows raised slightly and she bit the corner of her lip tentatively. Chance continued on, “Just as a thank you for doing me this huge favor.” She acted like she was thoroughly thinking about this decision before you finally submitted and allowed him to buy her a cheap rum and coke.

As she sipped on the dark drink, she looked him over curiously, “So where are you from? Obviously not from around here.” Chance nodded and sipped his drink, just coke, he had many many miles to cover still and was not about to risk a DUI. “I’m quite a bit away from home, actually. Indiana, born and raised.” The girl laughed gently and asked, “So what bring you here to the great state of Maine,” She paused, “But more importantly, why were you in such a hurry to leave?”

The topic of Cassandra wasn’t exactly a good ice breaker so he decided to bend the truth, just a little, “I was trying to reconnect with an old friend, I had hoped they were here, but no such luck. I was just going to head back home,” He took another drink of his soda as she nodded, his response was acceptable. “I’m sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for then,” Punctuating her sentence with a kind smile, Jessica offered to buy him a drink this time, “Only to return the favor, of course.” There was a soft gleam in her eyes, a gentle excitement that Chance found intriguing.

He checked the time and it was nearing 11. He wouldn’t be able to get far anyways before he would have to pull over to sleep. There was no harm to be done, so Chance agreed, “Fine, but only one drink.” She smiled and ordered two more rum and cokes, they were simple and cheap drinks that almost everyone liked.

Within the next hour, 14 glasses were left empty in an array across the bar. The man in the corner had, at some point disappeared into the shadows. The old bartender was shooing the laughing couple out of the bar, complaining of the dishes and cleaning up. Jessica and Chance compiled with no fuss and wandered out into the bitter night. Immediately, Chance shrugged off his leather jacket and wrapped it around Jessica. She smiled at him and leaned into his side as they walked to their cars parked side by side.

Chance wasn’t too far gone to where he was soon to pass out, but he had drank enough that his words were slurring gently and the tense, intense edge had mellowed out. Jessica was indeed slurring her words harshly, but Chance couldn’t tell if she was leaning on him for support or because she simply wanted to.

When they reached their vehicles, Chance looked at her with concern, “I really don’t think you should drive tonight. Jessica smiled and twirled a piece of his around her finger, “Oh? What would you suggest I do?” Chance sighed and leaned against his car, “There’s a motel just down the road, I saw it as I pulled in, I could drive you there and pay for a room. Of course I would bring you back here in the morning, if you would like?” Jessica’s face became very serious, “Chance, I’m not the type of girl to get a motel room with a man I just met. You’re practically a stranger!” Chance chuckled as she crossed her arms defensively, “ I would never assume that you were such a girl, I meant for you to get a room to stay, alone.” Her eyes softened once again and she uncrossed her arms and awkwardly shoved them into her pockets, “Oh,” She cast her eyes to the ground and Chance sighed, taking a step forward. “You almost sound disappointed,” He was right in front of her now and she took a small step back but her truck was directly behind her, “Not hardly, I’m just glad you think of women in a respectful manner is all.”

She looked up now but being much shorter than he was her eyes landed on his chest and she remained completely still. Chance brought a hand down and tucked the hair that was whipping around madly, from the wind, behind her ear. His hand moved down her jaw line lightly and when he reached the bottom of her face, he tilted her head up so her eyes met his. Slowly, giving her time to say no or pull away, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on her small mouth. Thankfully, she kissed him back. They stayed like this, standing close together against the wind and cold, sharing small kisses and talking gently.

Finally, Chance forced himself to pull away and grab her hand, pulling her toward the passenger side of his truck and opening the door for her. Within minutes they were at the motel, Chance bought her a room and made sure she was safely inside before he went back to his truck, crawled into the back and laid down, with his hands behind his head. He stared at the top of his truck for a long while, thinking about the event of the night and how everything played out. Finally, he began to drift off to sleep.