Page 1 of King from the Sky

Chapter One

“Ok, Emily. It’s your turn!”

Emily Dyson looked up from the French fries she was scarfing down and feeling super guilty about to see the entire group staring at her. She had no idea what they were looking at or what it was her turn for, because for the last five minutes she had been in fatty food heaven. She had been on a crazy diet lately that forbid her to eat potatoes, rice, or bread and she was about to go insane. She had only lost a few pounds and she felt like total crap. So when her girlfriends had suggested that she go out with them tonight to have some beers, she said “Hell Yeah!”

She had missed her beloved fries so much that she had become oblivious to the world around her as she stuffed them into her mouth and savored every salty, fatty, and carb filled morsel of them. She thought that she could actually hear her waist line expanding, but she really didn’t care. She worked hard and she felt that she deserved to indulge in some great junk food every now and then. Diet be damned. Viva la Fat!

“Earth to Emily!” Ellie said. Ellie was currently holding up an empty beer bottle and as she glanced around the table the others began to follow suit holding up their own empty bottles.

“I think she is having a cardiac arrest,” Amber piped up with a goofy grin. Amber was the cut up of the group typically, but sometimes she over did it and you had to tell her to keep a lid on it. There was definitely such a thing as Amber overload.

“Maybe a stroke?” Laura added.

“Nah, she is just spacing out thinking about that drop dead gorgeous bartender!” Ellie said as she slapped Laura an affirmative high five.

Emily had noticed the bartender as well. He was tall, gorgeous with bright blue eyes, a great smile, and an amazing, tight body. So Emily figured he had to be gay. He was too well groomed and neat, but she had wondered that just maybe he wasn’t. Of course that would put her back on the hot seat and she would have to talk to him. He had openly flirted with her a few times when she was at the bar with Ellie and she had of course read way too much into it. He was a bartender; he was flirty with everyone because he wanted tips. That was all. He could never be interested in her.

She had been told that she was attractive, but she had always been on the curvy side and she felt frumpy and fat. Of course she had eyes and she could see that she was actually quite attractive—she had been blessed with fat in all of the right places—but for some reason she had never been able to embrace it. She felt like she was on display and that she was going to be groped all the time. So she wore baggy clothes and tried to hide herself the best she could, even refusing to wear contact lenses instead of her thick glasses. Emily was well aware that she sent a message to the world to leave her alone, but that was the way she liked it.

Emily had always been very shy and introverted. She wasn’t sure why, but she preferred her books and she preferred her animals. That was why she had become a vet; she had loved animals since she was a kid and had never dreamed or thought of doing anything else.

“Oh, man. I think she may be in a coma or something,” Ellie said, sounding worried for a minute.

Emily snapped out of it quickly. “I’m ok. I was just really enjoying these fries.”

“Damn. She needs a man real bad,” Laura cracked.

The whole table burst out laughing.

“It’s your turn to get the next round of beers,” Ellie said. She handed Emily the now empty bucket.

“Oh, ok,” Emily said as she scooted out of the booth towards the bar.

She hardly ever drank beer but she had to admit she was having a great time. She never got to hang out with the girls much anymore since she had taken over full time vet duties at the animal hospital she worked at. Emily had been Dr. Rouch’s assistant for the past two years and he had retired a few months ago and left the business to her. She was flabbergasted when it happened, but in a way she kind of expected it and always had the idea that Dr. Rouch was actually grooming her to take over since she had started working there in high school. Her first job was at the animal hospital handling billing duties, scheduling appointments, cleaning cages and exam rooms, and pretty much every other boring job that an animal clinic required to keep functioning. But she loved it and asked the vet as many questions as she possibly could, constantly.

And she got to see and work with her beloved animals. That had been the best thing. Emily had continued working there all the way through college and then when she became a licensed vet she was shocked when Dr. Rouch offered her a job. He had lost his previous assistant six months before when they decided to open their own practice and moved out of the area. During that time, he had not hired anyone else, but basically told her that the job was hers when she graduated. Emily had never been happier.

But it was a lot of work. Especially, since her officer manager had had a stroke and been forced to quit a month before. So she had been running the office and doing her veterinarian duties. This had left little time for any sort of a social life.

Emily ordered the beers and tried not to lock eyes with the gorgeous bartender this time. He made her weak in the knees anytime she looked at him, especially when he flashed that smile at her. Oh, she wanted to take him home and give him a tongue bath.

She felt a blush coming on as that idea popped into her head. It felt like everyone could just tell what she was thinking. As she glanced around at the other people all having a great time and enjoying life she had to wonder how people did this so often, because she recognized several of the patrons from the last time she came to the Morocco’s bar. And Emily found it fascinating how the bartender remembered everyone and their go-to drink as he worked from one end of the bar to the other.

The bartender Larry—all of the ladies knew Larry—sat the bucket of beers on the counter and smiled at her with an added wink as she started to walk away. She had started a tab earlier and had totally lost count of how much was on there now. She thought that she might want to keep an eye on that, but that thought was pushed far back into her brain as she tried to keep from passing out at the amazing smile of the sexy Larry.

When Emily made it back to her table she found that all of her friends were pointing and laughing at her. They had apparently been keeping a close eye on her and how the interaction with Larry had gone.

“We saw the wink!” Ellie said through a fit of laughter.

“So?” Emily replied as she sat down and slid back into her spot on the booth.

“That guy wants you… so…bad” Laura moaned as if she was riding something.

“Oh, you guys are so messed up. I’m not sure getting another round of beers was a good idea. I think you girls need to be cut off!” Emily said. She was starting to feel the embarrassment drop off of her shoulders. She was aware that a lot of the time she just took herself and everything else much too seriously. It was nice to have friends like these to relax with and to remind her of how much of a goon she was being sometimes.

“What? We must have beer!” Ellie replied with a fake demon voice that set the other girls back into a new fit of laughter.

Emily had known all of her group since college. She and Ellie had been roommates and instant best friends since freshman year. You would never know it to look at her but Ellie was great at her job as a crisis counselor.