Again she rolled her eyes, and barged him. He was knocked a little sideways this time and he only just managed to avoid bumping into a young couple walking beside them.
The two outlaws stepped into the bar, Dante held the door open for the people behind him and they thanked him. He smiled and continued to the bar with Tess.
The bar wasn’t the biggest in the world but for such a small town it was huge and it served it’s purpose. A pool table in the corner and a juke box at the side of the bar, of course surrounded by a bunch of bar computer games and finally a dart board at the back made up all the entertainment that they need. Dante leant back against the bar while he waited fpr pne of the bar tenders to come and serve him. As he looked around he found that the bar was styled as more of a sports bar than the pubs and clubs Dante was used to. It was nice, even if he did loath watching sports.
“Hey, hun, you being served?” a woman asked, tapping Dante on the shoulder. he turned his head to the slightly older buxom brunette serving the bar.
“No, we’re not.” Dante said, smiling and turning to the bar. He leant forward as the music grew a little louder and shouted their order to the lady. “A coke, a beer, whatever larger you have, and... oh hey and a kit-kat.” Dante turned. “You want a kit-kat?” he asked Tess, who smiled and nodded her head. “Make that two.” He smiled, pulling a twenty dollar bill from the wallet that had made it’s way into his hand. The woman moved away, to collect the order and left Dante and Tess to smile stupidly at each other while the drinks were collected together. The barmaid placed the drinks on the bar and hurried off to get the chocolate bars. She placed them on the side, eyed each purchase, calculated the price in her head and smiled. “nine dollars eighty.” She called to Dante. he passed her the twenty dollar bill and received his change, pushing it into his wallet and shoving that into his pocket.
“Thanks.” Dante said, smiling, picking up his glass.
“No problem hon’.” she smiled, looking up the bar at a group of guys harassing a young woman. She sighed. “You’re new in town.” she smiled, sadly. “Do yourself a favor, get out. Nice young couples don’t do well in this town. Not a threat, hon’. Just a state of fact. You’re welcome in my bar but... there are some people...” she looked across the room again, at the harassed girl. “I’m sorry, excuse me.” She said, bustling off down the bar to the men.
Dante was frozen, surprised by the warning and by what was going on down the bar. It took him a few moments of Tess tugging his arm for him to come. He had completely glossed over the word couple and was now judging everyone in the room and whether or not he needed to fight them in order to protect his friend. He frowned and conceded to the tugging, grabbing the kit-kat bar he followed Tess to a small corner booth and sat down.
“Wow...” Tess said, her cola in hand. “... Never thought we’d be in a situation like this again.” She smiled and sipped her coke, dancing a little as the music of the juke box played out ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.
“Yeah... it has been quite a ride.” Dante agreed, looking around at all the people in the bar. he put his bottle of beer to his lips and took a swig, not taking his eyes off the people for more than a second. He watched the barmaid walking back up the bar, she had successfully intervened with the group of men and the harassed young woman had disappeared through the back door. The group of guys returned to their game of pool, but Dante continued to watch them.
“Oh hey, you wanna play pool?” Tess asked, resting her head on Dante’s shoulder, snapping off a stick of the kit-kat and eating it.
“Maybe in a bit.” Dante responded, turning to look at Tess.
“Ok. I just figured you were staring at the table for a reason.” she said, a little bemused.
“I was staring at the players.” he said, “The Barmaid said something before going over to sort them out.”
“What?” Tess’ voice was filled with curiosity, her eyebrows raised and she eyed the barmaid contemplatively. “She ask you on a date? We’ve been over this, thirty or younger. your way too young for people in their thirties.” Dante frowned at his friend and she grinned at him. “Ok, I admit she’s quite pretty, but dude... you’re twenty-four years old, you should date someone within five years of your age.”
“She said...” Dante powered on, “... that nice couples don’t do well in this town, and you’ve already allowed the town to believe we’re a couple.”
“Was it a threat?” Tess asked, concerned.
“No, she made that clear, we are welcome in her eyes and in her bar, but... she made it seem like there were some people who were less agreeable.” Dante motioned at the people at the pool table. “She seemed to be talking about them... but they were hassling some young girl at the time so it may have just been split focus.”
“Oh... Well...” Tess raised her eyebrows and looked away from the pool table, turning back to her drink. “Maybe we should go, Hide out back at the house?” She said, sipping the cola.
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