Walking home from work one evening, the skies suddenly opened up in a torrential downpour and she was almost immediately drenched.
“Dammit!” She yelled up at the clouds as she dashed to the nearest open door she saw and went inside.
Once safe from the rain, she realised she had run into the bar she passed every evening but would never dare enter. She sighed and found a seat at the bar as far from anyone else and undid the tight bun on her head, letting her golden locks spill down her shoulders. As she dried off her glasses and placed them back on her nose she realised that her arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed, but only to the two most unsavoury looking men in the bar and one other guy, whose brilliant green eyes distract her so much she didn’t realise the bartender standing right in front of her.
“Hey there Girlie...get caught in the rain did ya?” She laughed. “So...What can I get ya?”
“Uh, Um...just a coke please.” Sarah replied.
The bartender filled up a tall glass and placed it in front of her and went back about her business. Sarah scanned the room and her eyes fell back onto the green eyed man who is now staring into his beer intently. She studied him for a moment but found her view became blocked. She looked up to find a tall lanky blonde man leering at her, one of the unsavoury ones.
“Well hello there baby” he slurred. “Don’t remember ever seeing you in here before”
She looked back down at her drink only to feel another presence behind her, the equally unsavoury guy.
“Uh. No, never been here before” She replied, trying to not make eye contact.
He sneered and gripped her shoulder turning her to look at him as he spoke.
"Hey now didn't your mother ever teach you that it's bad manners not to look at a person speaking to you?"
“Sorry” She stammered, her whole body shook in fear.
His eyes were burning with a frightening lust and she could feel his friend move in closer, blocking any chance of escape.
"I'm not sure that's going to be a good enough apology. How's about you give me a kiss to show how sorry you really are?" He grinned drunkenly.
As he lowered his head in, the stench of his unwashed body, cigarette smoke and stale booze assaulted her nose and she visibly shuddered. Just as his lips began to smear themselves against hers his head was jerked away by someone behind him.
She looked up to see the green eyed man, backed up by the bartender holding a baseball bat. The two men turned and ran out the door as fast as their drunken feet could take them.
The bartender smiled, went back behind the bar and placed a drink in front of Sarah.
“Gin and Tonic, it’ll help calm your nerves, on the house.”
Normally Sarah wouldn’t drink a single drop, but she felt so shaken she picked up the drink and downed almost half of it in one mouthful. She sat there for a while, trying to work up the courage to thank the green eyed man. He seemed to have sensed this as he suddenly appeared on the stool beside her.
“Are you going to be ok Miss?” He asked.
She blushed at him, “Oh, um, yes thanks.”
She stared down at her drink and finished it off. Just as she did someone in the room called out.
“Hey the rain stopped!”
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. She could go home, but part of her wanted to stay and talk to the green eyed man. She smiled at the bartender and slid off her seat, only to have her knees buckle. One drink was too many.
“Shit” She mumbled as she started to fall, but the quick moving green eyed man caught her in his masculine arms.
“Heading home Miss?” He smirked at her, “Need a hand?”
“Oh...I think I can handle it” She blushed, wriggling free of his grip, only to stumble again and grab him for support. “Well...maybe I do need help.”
He only nodded in reply and helped her out the door.
“Shall I flag you a cab Miss?” He asked.