At a corner table, Ben stood and waved. Strangely enough, his smile only grew at the sight of his bandmate beside me. I nodded to the gorgeous tattooed blonde girl on the front desk and made my way through the maze of customers chowing down. There were no evening gowns in evidence, I was dressed fine.
“Hey, Jim. Didn’t know you’d be joining us.” Big Ben grinned down at me. “Lena, you look fantastic.”
“Why, thank you, Ben,” I said. “You look very lovely yourself.”
He bent down obviously intending to kiss my cheek. And then he bent down some more while I craned my neck and went up on tippy toes (it’s important to be helpful). Besides my being a little under average height, the guy just was that damn tall.
“Good to see you, Ben.” Jimmy’s hand shot into the rapidly dwindling space between Ben and me, knocking me off balance. Before I could stumble, Jimmy grabbed my elbow, holding me steady.
“Yeah, Jim.” Ben gave his hand a hearty shake. “You too.”
“He’s just dropping me off and saying hi,” I said. “Which he’s now done.”
“Actually, I’ve got time for a drink.” Jimmy raised a hand and a waiter hurried over. “Bottle of Coke for me and a gin and tonic for her. Thanks.”
The waiter nodded and rushed off. A bottle of Bud already sat on the table in front of Ben.
I gave Jimmy a look as I sat. It was not a happy one.
“What? You didn’t want that?” Without waiting for an answer, he dragged over an unoccupied chair from a nearby table. Not bothering to turn it to face ours, he sat on it back to front. His arms rested along the high back. The man looked ready for a f**king photo shoot. This way he had about him, a natural grace, annoyed the living shit out of me. If only he’d be more like us little people, clumsy and inept. But no. “I know that’s what you drink sometimes, Lena,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Water would have been fine.” I smoothed the frown off my face with some effort. “How did you even know what I drink? I haven’t drunk in front of you. Not ever.”
What Jimmy was going through, beating his addictions, was hard enough without me being so thoughtless. Plus, there was respect, support, solidarity, things like that to consider.
“Dave and Ev’s second wedding,” he said. The pair had decided to tie the knot again for their six month anniversary. A very fancy do, much as you’d imagine. I’d been working for Jimmy a month or so then.
“I was talking to Ben out on the balcony for an hour or so, you were inside,” he said. “I guess the waiter came over, cause a while later I saw you nursing a gin and tonic. It was gone by the time I came back in.”
“How did you even notice, or remember?” I asked. “I don’t know if I should be touched or worried.”
“Don’t be anything.” He gave me the trademark jutting of the chin. “My name is Jimmy Ferris and I’m an alcoholic. I know what Ben drinks. I know what you drink. I don’t even know what the nine people sitting on the three tables around us look like. But I could tell you what every one of them is drinking.”
“The hell you can,” said Ben.
Jimmy smiled darkly and sat up in his seat, moving his face close to Ben’s to show he didn’t need to look around. “The table of girls to my left. Two tequila sunrises and one Long Island Iced Tea. And the poor sap with the plain OJ, guess she’s the designated driver. The couple behind me is easy—the bottle’s still sitting in front of them. Porters.”
“The challenge is the gents to my right—one of them is knocking back a lager, so that’s simple enough. But the other two? Spirits glasses. Amber liquid, but not straight. No fizz. No ice. The clue, little children, is the tall glasses of water. They’re proper drinkers, just enough of a splash of water to bring out the taste in their scotch. Since I know from past experience the top shelf here finishes somewhere in the attic. I’m guessing Blue Label Johnnie Walker.” He shrugged. “Unless they’re single-malt aficionados in which case I have no f**king clue.”
“Holy crap, man,” said Ben, “You should be on TV.”
“I am on the TV, you chump.”
“I shouldn’t have let you come in,” I said. “You used to drink here. This place is a trigger for you.”
He scoffed and spread his arms wide. “This whole world is a trigger for me.”
“Jimmy, I’m serious. You should go.”
“Not just yet.”
“He doesn’t trust me to behave with you,” said Ben, sliding his cell onto the table.
I scowled. “That’s ridiculous.”
Jimmy just gave me a cool glance. “I love Ben like a brother, but I’ve known him a hell of a long time. No offense, right Ben?”
“None at all.” Something pinged on Ben’s cell and he slid a finger across the screen, bending closer to read the message.
Calm as can be, Jimmy reached over and smacked the back of his head like he was some recalcitrant child. “Don’t be so f**king rude. You’re out with Lena, put it away.”
“Waiting for news on something, get out of my face.” Ben took a swig of his beer and winked at me. “So, Lena. What should we talk about?”
“Christ,” Jimmy groaned. “You’re going to make her do all the work? Really?”
Kill me now.
“Seen any good movies lately?” Ben asked without missing a beat.
“Ah, yes. We watched Thelma and Louise last night. I’d seen it before, but it’s always great.”
“You and Jimmy watched it together?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we often watch TV at night time. Have you ever seen it?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“It doesn’t end happily,” said Jimmy. “I can tell you that much.”
“Depends on your perspective,” I countered with a smile.
The waiter delivered our drinks. His eyes widened at the sight of Jimmy, and then he did a double take of Ben. To his credit, he didn’t make an issue out of who they were. I ordered a plain soda water and slid the gin to the side.
“You look smooth, Jim. Wish I’d thought to wear a suit.” Ben had worn a red sweater and jeans. It suited him. God bless a scruffy man in a pair of fitted blue jeans. Yum. Jimmy with his suits and smooth ways had never been my type. This attraction to him basically went against the very laws of nature. I could beat it, I just had to try.