New Year's Eve Rescue

Audrey set two shot glasses on the bar in front of me and filled each with her special concoction.

"Give it up, Marc," she said. "She's not gonna show."

"She will. It's snowy out and it's a two-hour drive. She's been late before."

"Well, it's a two-hour drive for you too," she said. "In the two years you've been meeting up with her here, you've never been late. She always is." Audrey raised her glass. "Cheers, kid."

We clicked glasses and downed the shots. The sweet burn warmed me all the way down. Audrey liked keeping me company while I waited for Tara, charging me for my drinks but never for the special shots she mixed for us both, unasked.

Wiping my mouth I said, "You call me kid again and I'll start calling you ma'am again."

"I'll settle for 'mistress'."

"Yes, mistress," I said with a laugh.

"You have promise... kid." She grinned, bringing the faint crow's feet at the edges of her eyes into view. She was well-preserved for 36, with a handsome face, dazzling eyes and good-sized boobs. Colorful tattoos almost completely covered her arms, which she showed off by always wearing sleeveless tops, like the sleeveless blouse she wore that night.

God, I hated tattoos.

She said, "Well, the love of your life better show up soon. It's almost ten. It's always slow between Christmas and New Year's, so I get to close up early and throw all you bums out."

I turned to look around the dim hotel bar. The decorations left over from Christmas only emphasized the squalor. One gnarled truck driver with a massive beard slumped at a table watching sports on the TV. In a shadowy corner booth, two hefty lovers were necking and pawing each other.

Audrey took the shot glasses away, giving me a view of her delicious rump when she turned. I tried not to ogle her—it was disrespectful, as was thinking about what she would be like in bed. Though I had done that often enough. I found Audrey ridiculously attractive, despite her age and gritty, bossy manner. Or maybe because of it—but that would be weird.

"Tara will get here," I said. "She has to. We both had to work over Christmas and this is our last time to see each other for a while."

"So you told me, Marc. She's moving to the other coast. To go back to college or something."

"She's getting a law degree."

"You going to follow her?"

"Soon as I find a job out there," I said. "That might take a while in this recession, though."

Audrey looked like she was going to say something, then focused on slicing lemons behind the bar.

Tara and I had met in our second year attending a distant college. By third year, we were inseparable. When we graduated, we returned to our hometowns, a four-hour drive apart, where we had both landed promising but demanding jobs.

I drove to stay with her on long weekends and holidays, but every second weekend we each drove two hours to the hotel that happened to be exactly half way. I made sure to get there first to set up the room just the way she liked, then waited in the bar. When she arrived, we'd have a couple drinks, then head to the room.

The hotel was one of those generic places near an off-ramp with 'Hotel' in giant red letters on the roof—a place for drivers too tired to go on to spend a night. There was nothing nearby except forest, farmland, and a village on the other side of the highway where Audrey and most of the other staff lived.

Audrey said, "Since it's your last time together, why didn't you spring for something a little more romantic than this dump?"

"I tried. I found a listing for a B&B in the village, but it closed a few years ago."

"Heh. Emily's place. Yeah, you would not have liked staying there with that looney busybody."

"Anyway," I said, "this place has memories for us. The rooms are clean and there are walking trails in the woods and the village to explore."

Audrey snorted. "Not that you ever have. You stay in your room and fuck."

I feigned an indignant look. "Not true at all! We leave the room to eat."

"You get Joyce to bring you up sandwiches. Or get delivery from Wong's in the village." She smiled. "It's all right. When I was in my twenties, I fucked all the time, too." She turned to put liquor bottles on the back wall shelf and caught my eye in the mirror. "I still do," she said, "but I used to, too."

I chuckled. "You're shameless, Audrey. And on that subject, how did your Christmas getting railed by your new guy... uh, Larry... go?"

"I ditched him. Turned out he was a 'nice guy.' You know the type? Acts all considerate and charming at first, then turns out they think they're an 'alpha male'... all pushy and 'my way or the highway' who won't listen to anything a mere woman has to say. And only charming until they to get in my pants."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Audrey. You had high hopes for him."

She sighed. "Yeah. I always do. Why do guys think they have to lead and be in charge all the time? A lot of guys just aren't wired that way."

I nodded. "Like not every woman is wired to be dainty and submissive. Some are born to take charge. Like Tara."

Audrey smiled. "And like me?"

I laughed. "Oh, yeah. I realized that back when you threw that biker guy out. 300 pounds of mean beer belly and muscle and you marched him out by the belt and collar. All the way through the lobby and dumped him in the parking lot."

"He wouldn't stop bothering those two girls," she said. "You get one warning in this bar and that's it."

The trucker signaled for another beer. Audrey was supposed to wait on the tables, but she rarely did. He grumbled when she made him fetch it from the bar.

I texted Tara again, hoping for a reply, hoping she hadn't slid off the road in the snow.

Audrey wiped the bar in front of me.

"Do me a favor?" she said.

"Anything for you, Audrey."

She gave me a look. "You know, one of these days I'll take you up on that offer, Marc. Play something for me while I do the closing up, will you?"

On the narrow stage at the far end of the room sat a keyboard. The patrons turned their heads toward me when I sat down and played a flourishing intro, then groaned when I launched into a spirited rendition of 'Jingle Bells.' Audrey managed to bounce half a lemon off the side of my head—impressive given the distance from the bar.

"Just kidding, folks," I said. "I know everyone's sick of Christmas songs by now." I started into 'Brown Eyed Girl.' That earned me relieved nods plus a thumbs-up from Audrey.

While playing, I kept an eye on my phone, desperate for a message from Tara, but the screen stayed dark. Should I head out to look for her? There was good cell service the entire way. If she had gone off the road, she would be able to get help and let me know. Unless she was hurt. And if she arrived while I was out looking for her, she'd be furious. I decided to ask Audrey as soon as she wasn't busy: she'd know what to do.

Soon she announced last call and turned up the lights, bringing the stains and burns on the worn carpet into unsettling view. I played more old favorites while Audrey did the rounds with the card machine, then shooed the customers out the doors to the lobby.

"Any word?" she called.

"Not yet."

She closed and locked the doors.

Turning the lights low again, Audrey plopped beside me on the piano bench. She was warm and smelled like cinnamon.

"Tara know your room number?" she asked.

"Of course. Should I head out and look for her?"

"You think she's gone into the ditch? It's not that snowy outside. It's a major highway. They keep it well-plowed, you know."

"Yeah. Okay."

Audrey nudged me with her elbow. "I want to do it."

I smiled. "Okay. What do you want to play?"

"How about 'The Sound of Silence?' Seems appropriate."

I chuckled and said, "You remember your part?"

"Just watch me."

Audrey wriggled her rump into place. I played the bass, embellishing a little while she one-fingered the melody. Simon and Garfunkel eat your hearts out... she didn't land a single clunker through the entire piece.

When we finished, I said, "That was great! You've been practicing."

She shrugged. "Maybe. Now, let's play Over the Rainbow."

We did, and again Audrey didn't make a single mistake.

Over the months while waiting for Tara, when the bar was empty, Audrey asked me to show her a few easy piano pieces to play. At first it was the usual 'Chopsticks' and 'Heart and Soul', then when I helped with the right hand, she asked to learn more. So I taught her the duets music teachers often teach beginners for their first recitals. Audrey learned fast. We had a blast farting around in the empty bar, laughing while she learned new tunes.

My phone dinged.

"Not coming,"

the message said.

I texted back furiously.

"Where are you? What happened? Should I drive down?"

The reply bubbles danced for a long while before the reply came:

"Flew out after Christmas. We need to move on."

Audrey leaned close to read my screen. Her face darkened. She stood and walked off the stage to go behind the bar. I texted again and again. No replies. I called. No answer. What was going on with her?

"Here," Audrey said.

I looked up. She stood holding a tray with three shot glasses.

"Uh, thanks," I said. "Why are there three glasses?"

"I don't really like guys drowning their sorrows, but right now you need two."

I stared at the shots. It wasn't one of her usual mixtures.

"Go on. Drink them, Marc."

I downed one then the other, coughing and shaking my head at the terrible burn of their strength and Audrey downed hers, shuddering and making a face.

She sat on the piano bench and put her arm around me. She was so warm. I leaned into her.

"I don't get it," I said. "Our last chance to be together. We were going to celebrate New Year's together. 'Flew out after Christmas? She never even planned to come?"

Audrey was silent, then said, "Did she ever say she would?"

"What? Of course! I told her I had a room booked... for tonight, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day."

"Did she actually say she was coming?"

I studied Audrey's face then realized that no, Tara never did. I had assumed.

"Then... then why didn't she say?" I said. "And what's with 'we need to move on?'"

Audrey tightened her mouth. "I hate to say it, Marc, but she's dumping you."

"No no no no no..." I thumbed message after message. No reply. Then I noticed the "delivered" status wasn't showing up on any of them. Had she blocked me? I tried the "Find my" app—we always allowed each other to see our locations. She was on the other side of the continent at the college she would be attending.

"Put the phone down, Marc," Audrey said.

"But she... she wouldn't dump me by text message."

"Some people are cowards, Marc. Some people would rather run away instead of hurting someone face to face. And some people are too damn callous and self-centered to care."

"There's no way she'd..."

Then I remembered when we first hooked up, Tara had dumped the guy she had been with since High School by text.

Audrey took my hand. "I'm really sorry, Marc. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people break up. Especially this time of year."

"I did everything to please her. Everything she wanted."

"There's a good boy," Audrey said. "And what did she do to please you? I bet she hardly ever let you fuck her."

"Of course she did! I mean... when she was satisfied."

Audrey nodded. "Ah. I'm beginning to get the picture. I had a feeling that skinny bitch would fuck you over eventually."

"You never liked her, did you?"

"I never liked how she treated you. It seemed like she was always taking. Never giving. Not even a gentle touch or compliment to you. That's not how it works. And she was always really snotty to me."

"Was she? I never noticed."

"You wouldn't have noticed a bomb going off when you were with her. I've never seen a guy so devoted. She had you wrapped around her finger so tight I'm surprised you could even breathe."

"We've been together since college. Four years now. Almost five."

"That's a long time without moving forward."

"We were... we, uh..."

Audrey took the glasses back to the bar and worked on finishing her closing up routine.

I stared at my phone. I felt empty. I felt like throwing up.

Thinking back, it dawned on me that Tara had become more and more distant since we graduated. Impatient, spending our get-togethers fucking or sleeping and never talking. Never doing anything together.

I felt hot with rage. That miserable little... no, I wasn't going to say it. She had been stringing me along all that time! Using me for sex. She could have at least told me before I drove two hours through the fucking snow to meet her. I was going to text her what I thought of her just ditching me like that.

Oh, fuck it. It wasn't worth the effort. She was gone. And blocking my messages. Audrey was right: Tara had been treating me like garbage. Well, now I

felt

like garbage. I blew out the breath I had been holding. What should I do? I didn't know what to do.

"Put your coat on and come with me."

Audrey stood before me, holding my winter coat.

"Wha—what?"

"You're coming home with me."

I looked at her, confused. "That's... really nice of you, Audrey. I think I'll just go back to my room. Maybe I'll just check out and drive home."

"It's half-past ten and you're half in the bag. You're not driving anywhere, Marc. You shouldn't be alone right now. Trust me. Now stand up. Put your coat on."

I shook my head. "I don't... I don't want to impose."

"STAND UP!"

I stood.

She held my coat open. "TURN AROUND."

When I turned, she worked my arms into the coat, then spun me to face her while she zipped it up and adjusted the collar.

"You can check out in the morning if you want. No way are you going to wallow by yourself in a hotel room that only reminds you of her. Tonight, I'm going to take care of you."

My brain was a swirling mess. What did

that

mean? I felt I should argue—assert myself—but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I didn't have the strength, anyway. And frankly, being taken care of by Audrey, whatever that meant, sounded pretty damn good.

~~~~

We drove across the overpass, Audrey's old truck squeaking and rattling, and through the village. It was a single street lined with old two-story houses on both sides, each one completely covered in dazzling Christmas decorations: multicolor lights outlined every house and window, inflatable Santas and snowmen bobbed in the front yards, shimmering lights and garland covered every fence.

"Everyone tries to outdo each other every year," Audrey said. "It's tasteless as hell, but I like it. It's kinda magical."

Audrey's house was a small bungalow at the end of a bumpy dirt road far on the outskirts. Strings of lights in the windows were her only decorations. The place was so isolated no one would see them anyway.

The fresh chilly air felt great after bouncing in the too hot truck. Above, stars blazed and I heard the rush and gurgle of a stream nearby.

Inside was pin-neat and cozy—a large open space of rustic wood tones that formed the living room, kitchen, and dining area. A couch covered by a crocheted Afghan throw sat before a modest stone fireplace. To the right was a short hallway with doors on opposite sides leading to the two bedrooms with the bathroom at the end.

Audrey helped me off with my coat, hanging it from a wood peg coat rack on the wall by the door.

"You didn't eat anything since you showed up at the bar at 5:00," she said. "It's too late for a proper meal, but I'll make us some snacks. Know how to light a fire?"

"Uh, sure."

She tossed her chin towards the fireplace. "You do that. I'll heat up some pizza bites or something."

Firewood, kindling, and old newspaper were all ready beside the fireplace. I had a cheery blaze started by the time Audrey returned with a tray of warm snacks and two mugs of hot chocolate. We sat on her couch, eating and watching the flames.

"Great job with the fire, Marc. So what do you think of my little place?"

"It's very homey, Audrey. Really comfortable."

"Thanks. I need a relaxing place away from everyone. No noise. No neighbors. A stream to skinny dip in."

Seeing my reaction, she said, "Oh,

that

got your interest, huh? You bad boy."

I felt my face warming. "Do you... do that a lot?"

"Just about every morning in the summer. It's only a short walk to the stream. Some time around dawn I walk down there naked and take a quick plunge. It's shallow, so you have to crouch. Then I run back here and make breakfast. It's a great way to wake up. Really makes you feel alive."

"Uh, I bet."

"If you visit me in the spring, we could do it together."

Audrey smiled when my eyes widened.

She said, "I know you wouldn't mind seeing me naked."

My eyes immediately fell to her boobs pushing out her sleeveless top then to her arms.

She rubbed her hand up and down one colorful arm. "You don't like them, do you? My Tattoos?"

"No... they're—"

"Garish? Sleazy?" She chuckled. Looking her arms over, she said, "I didn't get them just to look like a badass. Each one means something." She pointed to one at the top of her right bicep. "This one commemorates the golden retriever I had as a girl. This tulip is for my best friend in high school. These daffodils are to remember my mom. This one over here I got when I bought this house. It was such a wreck... took four years to fix it up to the way it is now. And this one symbolizes my first boyfriend and the first time I fell in love."

"What does the big skull with the roses mean?" I asked, leaning closer.

"Oh, nothing. That one's just to make me look bad ass."

She fell back on the couch, laughing. I laughed with her.

We ate, sipped hot chocolate and chatted, trading life stories. Audrey had endless stories: she had tended bar at a high-end club in the city, spend two years working on a cruise ship, and worked one summer at a clothing-optional singles resort in the Caribbean.

"The ads all said it was a respectful naturist resort," she said. "Turned out it was way sleazier. Very educational experience, though.

Later, we sat in silence watching the fire, pressed against each other on the couch.

~~~~

"C'mon, sleepy. Let's get you to bed."

I woke to Audrey pulling me to my feet. She led me to her guest room with its double bed and a lamp on the nightstand glowing low.

"Didn't bring my luggage," I said sleepily as she began undressing me.

"You don't need clothes to sleep," she said. "I sure don't sleep in any clothes."

When Audrey had me down to my underwear I stripped them off, not even thinking it made me naked in front of her, and got in bed. The cool sheets warmed quickly. Audrey kissed my forehead, turned out the light and I was asleep.

It was dark outside when I woke sometime later. I tried getting back to sleep but couldn't, so pulled on my underwear and t-shirt and wandered out to the living room. A clock in the kitchen said 2:30am.

Audrey had closed the screen in front of the fire, but coals still burned, radiating plenty of heat when I opened the screen. I sat on the floor with my back resting against the couch.

Tara dumping me roiled my guts. I felt empty, lost, and a failure. And horny. I hadn't jerked off even once over Christmas so I would be extra horny for her.

"Oh, it is you out here, Marc. I heard a noise."

Audrey stood behind the couch, wearing a men's dress shirt that hung on her like a nightgown. She had buttoned it only at the bottom, exposing the curve of her ample breasts. Lit only by the glow of the fire, she looked magnificent.

"Can't sleep, either?" she said. "Put a log on, will you?"

The fire leaped to life when I laid a log on the embers. I returned to my spot on the floor. Audrey sat beside me, tugging down the hem of her shirt and stretching out her long bare legs. It didn't seem like she was wearing underwear.