Page 7 of Rebel

He shot me a disparaging look. “You’ve got a cruel sense of humor, woman.”

Someone called his name, so he rushed back to the bar. It was only then that I saw his vest said ‘Prospect’ on the back. I made me wonder if that’s why he didn’t have a kooky name like the others.

Zoe had her chin resting on her fist and was lazily sipping her margarita through the straw. “That prospect is right. Having a one-off with one of the brothers in the basement doesn’t turn you into a club girl.”

“Life’s been pretty rough lately and I haven’t had sex in months. That handsome prospect is all kinds of tempting,but I’m not being judgmental, I don’t think faceless sex in a basement is what I need right now.”

“Yeah, I get that, though Benny’s a great guy. And by the way, what did you mean when you said your life had been pretty rough lately?”

I waved her away. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear all my problems.”

“What if I do?” she responded lazily. I could tell she’d drunk enough to be feeling good without being drunk. “I’m interested in what my friend has been through. So, spit it out. I told you all about my life. Now, it’s your turn to tell me what’s been going on with yours.”

I glanced away for a second to gather my thoughts. “My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years ago and my parents never told me. Now, it’s progressed to the point that he can’t work, and my mom needs to stay home with him. Unfortunately, the person they chose to run their business has been skimming money off the top, not responding to customer complaints, and letting the other employees get away with doing shoddy work. I moved back yesterday to take over the family business and spent all day digging through the paperwork and found things are much worse than my mom or I thought. Come Monday, I’ve got to fire two of my three electrical technicians and unless I can find a top-notch replacement, our family business is going to go bankrupt, and we’re not going to have enough money to take care of my father.”

Zoe just stared at me for a long hard moment before saying, “Damn! That was a lot.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty heavy stuff. Bet you’re sorry you asked, aren’t you?”

She made a little circle in the air in front of me. “No, I mean that was a lot of words. Girl if you can say all that and use good grammar, you aren’t drinking nearly enough.”

I couldn’t help but smile because it was becoming clear to me that Zoe probably had just as many drinks as her sister. She was just better at holding her liquor and she had me fooled there for a minute. As I sat there watching her slurp away on her margarita, one thing became very clear to me, I could not let my drunk friend lead me into doing something my sober friend might not have advised. That prospect sure was cute, but a one night stand wouldn’t solve my problems, and if anything it might make them worse.

I stopped drinking the nicely mixed free drink so I could drive myself home. I needed to be at home to get ready to go back to the office tomorrow. I only had one more day of no one around to go through the rest of the information, lock up the important stuff, and get the termination letters written for the two employees who had violated my father’s trust when he was medically compromised and at his lowest.

Zoe put her head down on her arm, which was draped across the table and closed her eyes like she didn’t have a care in the world. I didn’t know what to think of this situation. The bartender, Benny, walked back over and asked, “Is your drink okay? I’m only asking because I noticed you stopped drinking it. I can make you something else if you want?”

“It’s fine. I decided not to stay the night but thanks for the basement offer. I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now and can’t afford to get distracted by hot bikers and booze.”

“That’s too bad. Most women consider a tumble in the hay with a hot biker a stress reliever,” he said before giving me a panty melting wink.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s true. The problem is I need to get outta here but obviously I can’t leave Zoe asleep on the table in a crowded bar.” When he didn’t immediately respond, I asked, “Is she even safe here?”

A booming voice said, “She damn well better be safe among my club brothers. If they let anything happen to my old lady, I’ll gut the lot of them and burn down the place.”

“She was just asking, Storm. She didn’t mean to insinuate anything,” Benny told him quickly.

Storm knelt down and pushed a strand of hair out of Zoe’s face. “My beautiful wife does not normally conk out on tables. She’s exhausted from chasing after our kids.”

Benny murmured, “I guess the welcome home will have to wait.”

“You got that right Prospect.” Standing up, he carefully scooped Zoe up into his arms and turned towards the stairs. “I’m putting her to bed and I’m gonna catch some sleep myself. See that no one disturbs us unless it’s a matter of life or death.”

“Or something to do with your kids.”

“Damn straight, Prospect.”

“Roger that, Prez. Have a nice sleep. We’ll have hot coffee and breakfast on the grill waiting for you when you wake up in the morning.”

“Like always,” Storm muttered as he walked off with an armful of wife.

Glancing at Benny, I asked, “Do you think Storm hates me?”

“What?” he responded in a surprised tone.

“They say first impressions are hard to overcome, and I just made a bad one with one of my best friend’s husbands.”

“Look, I don’t know anything about women, but I do know a thing or two about men because I am one. We don’t typically hate on women for stupid shit like what just happened. Storm is a battle-hardened veteran who doesn’t take crap from anyone except Zoe and his kids. I wouldn’t count on him to remember you, much less harbor resentment over a misplaced question.”

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