Chương 5: Chapter 5: Following Her Number
Royce
After another long day, my eyes tired and my brain numb, I cleaned up my desk. I heard my phone beep beside me. It was a text from Nico.
NICO: So, what is the name of this bar, and what time am I meeting you there?
ROYCE: Southern Charm, and I guess in ten minutes? I’m finishing up now.
NICO: I’ll save you a seat.
After our phone call earlier, during which I mentioned Carrigan giving me her number, Nico demanded that we go back.
“You got a phone number from a bartender, and you haven’t even used it yet?” Nico had practically shouted at me, which caused me to pull the phone away from my face. “You’re an absolute mad lad, Royce!”
I rubbed my temples. “Please stop screaming in my ears, Nico.”
“Sorry, lad. I just meant I’m proud of you. I can’t remember the last time you got a girl’s number.” I let out a long breath. Nico’s accent grew stronger when he was excited, and I swore every woman within a ten-mile radius would tune in to it.
Being British had its perks.
“I appreciate it, but it’s just a phone number,” I told him.
“It’s not just a number. It means the girl likes you, and you should go back there with your sexy best friend, you bloody idiot.”
“You know, calling me an idiot isn’t going to make me think you’re any of the things you just described me as.” I looked over the papers that Mandy had given to me. “And I have work to do. Did you need something?”
Nico cleared his throat. “I was actually calling to check in on you, lad. I didn’t get to talk to you yesterday. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m okay,” I admitted. “It was another hard day. Mandy canceled my afternoon, so I went to the bar. But my parents are doing what they do, calling me to force me to come and have dinner with them.”
“Royce, you can’t ignore them forever. I know you’re busy with the app. But treating them like they’re not your parents and giving them the cold shoulder isn’t something that I’d recommend.”
“Is that your degree talking?” I scoffed, flipping to the next few pages. “Dr. Keating, please keep telling me what I should be doing.”
“I’m not telling you, twat. I’m trying to explain how your parents may be feeling. Besides, I don’t have much more time to talk. I will text you, and we’re returning to that bar tonight.”
He’d hung up the phone after that and was texting me at the end of the day. I don’t know if Nico had ever been to Southern Charm, but I was interested to see how he would do there. Nico was the least southern person I’d ever met.
I rolled my eyes thinking about Nico in the bar but began the trek there, interested in how the night would play out.
I reached the bar another ten minutes later and wiped the sweat from the back of my neck. I looked inside to see how busy the bar was and was shocked to see it was packed. It was a Tuesday night. Where was the fire? I couldn’t see Nico, but I figured he had grabbed something. His office was closer, even if he hadn’t been before.
I walked in, and a hostess greeted me before I told her I was meeting a friend. I just wasn’t sure if he had arrived yet.
I could hear him above the crowd before I could ask if she’d seen Nico.
“You cheeky bastard, Royce, I’m over here!”
I gave the hostess one of those looks that said, “Sorry, my friend is an idiot.” She nodded, and I made my way over to the only open spot at the bar, Nico beaming at me.
I jumped onto the barstool, and Nico slapped my back, laughing. “There you are! What do you want to drink? It’s on me.”
I looked around, not seeing Carrigan right away. But that was fine. I hoped I’d see her soon.
“What’re you drinking?” I asked, turning back to Nico.
“I ordered a Jack and Coke. Just needed a pick-me-up after today.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. “Why? What happened?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Nico groaned. “Just long days listening to everyone’s life problems.”
I put my elbow on the bar, balling my hand into a fist, and leaned my chin on it. “Oh, is that so, Dr. Keating?” My voice jumped a few octaves, batting my eyelashes repeatedly.
Nico pushed my arm so I would pitch forward, but we both began to laugh. “I’m debating getting a therapist, Royce. I listen to people all day, and I go home alone at the end with no one to make it better.”
I didn’t realize he was going to get so serious so fast. “Oh, Nico, I’m sorry. I thought this was us messing around.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t plan on bringing it up, but now we’re here. My folks are always asleep by the time I get off the clock. You’ve been busy fixing this app for the last several years. I can’t just expect you always to be available.” He turned to me, pushing some of his long blonde hair away from his face. “So, the psychiatrist is going to see a therapist. I just need someone else to speak to.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Nico, there’s nothing wrong with seeing someone to ensure you don’t feel alone or need someone to talk to. I'm still seeing someone last I checked.”
Nico shrugged again and picked up his drink, taking a long sip. But when he put down the glass, he turned back to me. “Enough about my sad shit. We’re here to find the love of your life.”
I rolled my eyes, and Nico lifted his hand so the bartender would see it. The woman, a tall and young Latina with two long braids running down her front, smiled at him, holding up one finger.
It took her a few minutes to get to us, but she stopped before us and put her hands on the bar. “Hey guys, what can I get for you?”
“Hi…” Nico glanced down at her nametag. “...Nina. I’m buying whatever my mate here wants to drink tonight.”
“Sure, what’re you looking for?”
“I’ll take what this idiot’s drinking, Jack and Coke.”
“Coming right up,” Nina laughed.
“Rude!” Nico said, pushing into me.
When Nina dropped off my drink, Nico turned back to me. “So, we’re looking for…” he started to snap, thinking. “What’s her name?”
“Who, Carrigan?”
He snapped his fingers. “Yes, her. What does she look like? That wasn’t her, right?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “She’s shorter. Her hair is that strawberry blonde color? I don’t know.”
“Okay, so look around. Is she here now?”
I did as Nico said, looking through the crowded bar to find her again. There was another tall female bartender with black hair, and I recognized her as the manager. Then there was Nina and a lanky man with a man bun behind the counter.
“I don’t see her. Maybe she’s not working tonight?” I questioned, still looking around the bar.
“It’s also bloody busy right now. She could be in the back or working another section?”
And that was when she came into view—coming in from the kitchen to put down a plate of wings for another person. Her shiny hair swished from side to side in its ponytail, and I watched her smile with her teeth, which I knew was something not many people did anymore. She was wearing another complete outfit of black, but I knew from the other bartenders that it was their uniform. She was just as stunning as she had been from the previous day.
I felt myself get warm, and I cleared my throat. I’d spoken to Carrigan only once, but I already felt nervous and tense as she stood maybe twenty feet from me.
“That’s her,” I said, nodding in her direction. “Carrigan.”
“Should I go flag her down?” Nico questioned.
I glared at him. “No. I’m not going to call her over when she’s busy. I can wait, Nico. If she wants to talk to me, she will. If not, then it’s also okay. But I’d rather not hold her up.”
My best friend scrunched his eyebrows. “I’ll never understand how you Americans flirt.”
“You don’t have to understand. But I’d rather her come to me. I’m not going to pull her away from this crowd.”
“Fine, then what do you want to do? She could be busy for hours.”
I pointed up at the multiple televisions in front of us. “Why don’t we actually relax and watch the Sports Network?”
Nico looked down the bar at Carrigan and then looked back at me.
“You bloody Americans,” he murmured.
We got lost in our conversations and drinks, and it was nearly an hour before a sweet, buttery voice filled my ears, even over the sounds of the crowded bar. “Well, howdy, stranger.” She spoke again with her thick Southern accent, and Nico and I turned toward her. She had her hands on her hips and was smiling. “Y’all been sitting here for a while. Did you need something that Nina didn’t get?”
Before I could talk, Nico stepped in. “Yeah, my best bloke here was showing me this fine establishment. He mentioned a waitress he’d met, and I bullied him into bringing me in to see just how beautiful you are.”
I rolled my eyes and squinted so Nico would understand he was a tool, but he didn’t seem to understand.
“Nico, you wanna give me a moment?” I asked loudly. “And not be here?”
Surrendering, Nico got off the stool. “I’ll go find the loo then.”
When my idiot best friend was gone, I let out a small sigh. “I’m sorry. I think the fact that he is British means he thinks everything he says is charming. But he’s harmless. Just a little dumb.”
Carrigan laughed a beat. “It’s all right. I figured you two must be close. I saw how intensely you were talking earlier. I was just coming over here to see if you guys were being taken care of before I finish my shift.”
Was she almost done for the night? Maybe this was my chance. “I know this is really lame, but uh…” I turned my neck from shoulder to shoulder, feeling the nerves coming off in droves. “I was wondering if you wanted to get a bite to eat?”
I felt like a complete and utter cliché. Asking the bartender to go out with me felt like I took a page from a script of one of Kit’s favorite 80s movies. It honestly felt kind of pathetic.
However, Carrigan broke out into a smile. “Yeah. I’m off in thirty. I’ll come to get you.”
She made her way back down the bar, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t wait to tell Nico.
I had a date for the first time in a very long time.
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