AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Benny and Marco each made a beeline for the back. Marco headed straight to the bathroom to clean himself up, and Benny looked to get them a table.
Romeo was about to follow, but he was momentarily distracted by the bright red neon cocktail glass on the exposed brick wall to the right of the bar. The color was so deep and so striking it totally took him out of the moment.
He also noted the hot green LED glowing beneath the glass shelves, illuminating the bottles of Johnny Blue and Louis Tre. Not to mention the flickering yellows, oranges and reds coming from the perfectly set votives on top of the bar and on each and every table.
He thought briefly about how he might use that color combination on something new. Then he flashed on that rejection letter that was still sitting on his coffee table and wondered just how he was going to make his art better. That triggered the memory of painting those petals on Ant’s belly.
It might not have been his best piece of work, and it certainly didn’t last long enough for him to really evaluate it. But he’d really felt something deep and powerful while painting it. A connection, not just to her, but to his art. To the process. To the moment. There was something there, he knew there was.
Yeah, the artist in him saw all the cool colors in the joint - the neon reds, the glowing greens, the fiery yellows and the sapphire blues. Noticing things like that happened all the time to him. It was kind of an occupational hazard. About the only thing he didn’t notice in there was Patrick, tucked into the farthest, darkest corner of the bar, enjoying his second dirty martini.
But Patrick noticed him.
Romeo made his way back and found his friends at a table. Marco had cleaned himself up as best he could, but he still looked like he’d gotten hit by a bus. They had taken the liberty of ordering for him so there was a shot and a beer waiting. He didn’t feel much like drinking, but he downed the shot anyway.
“Hey Benny, doesn’t your cousin work at the hospital?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you call him and see if he can get any info on that guy.”
“Screw him. Look at my wip!” Marco said, as he pulled out his lip, making the word lip sound like wip because he now had his fingers in his mouth.
“Just try.”
Then Romeo pulled out his phone and started texting Ant. But he stopped. What was he going to say? Sorry I knocked out your brother, wanna hang? He regretted hurting anyone, even a jackass like Tyler.
Marco knew what was going on. He’d known Romeo a long time and he knew exactly what he was thinking. “Wouldya stop.”
“What?”
“It wasn’t your fault. Look at my face. That prick got what he deserved. Now, put your phone away and drink with me.” Marco raised his glass.
Romeo halfheartedly picked up the beer and clinked Marco. Then he took half a sip and breathed heavily. This whole night was a total disaster, he thought.
Marco flagged down the waitress. “Hey, could we get another round here?”
“The same?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh… You want some ice for that lip?”
“No. Just make sure the beer’s cold.”
“Hey, can we get a drink too?” asked a frisky blonde named Bree, who seemed to appear out of nowhere with a friend in tow.
“Sure,” said Marco, excited by the prospect.
“Two Cosmos please,” Bree said to the waitress.
“And two Cosmos…” repeated the waitress.
“Hey. What happened to you?” asked Bree’s friend Alex, a coltish brunette in a short skirt and tight white top.
“Oh this,” Marco began. “It was the darnedest thing. Why don’t you guys sit down and I’ll tell you all about it.”
There was one empty seat at the four top and Alex took it.
