Maggie O'Malley considered herself lucky, at least in the fact that her family's curse had not afflicted her. Then again until she started her graduate degree she had closed herself off to the possibility of romantic relationships. She joked that by earning another degree she was giving the curse another chance to work its magic. Here she was a few months from graduating and despite it all she felt just as bad as if she was cursed. Her family was thrilled and she felt like crap, and being at her family's bar was not helping this time. The curse was a simple thing, both of her brother's had gotten married before they graduated and their wives were pregnant before they finished college. Her uncle went through the same thing before he graduated college, her mother married first but was pregnant when she graduated college. Her grandmother was married and pregnant when she graduated college. Her grandfather never went to college, and it seemed to carry on through her grandmother who had been born four months after her parents married. There were no records beyond that, but considering her cousins followed the same pattern, it seemed inevitable.
Maggie was at the bar idly throwing darts with stellar accuracy, when her best friend Hailey strolled over. "So how is the writing going?" Maggie was home for Spring Break and trying to avoid pressure.
Maggie groaned, "If one more person asks me about Jeremy or my thesis I just might kill myself." She picked up her beer glass and drained it, at least she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Unlike Jeremy who had such a severe reaction to a single drink that he was practically allergic to the stuff. She pushed the memory of him from her mind. The last thing she needed was to think of his hot athletic body.
"Okay, so what shall we talk about? How about the cute guy over there." Hailey knew better than to ask about Jeremy. Sometimes she thought Maggie had loved him, other times she wasn't sure, especially as Maggie refused to talk about how things ended between them.
"Please, my life is complicated enough." She stood up and put her jacket on. Maggie half smiled, and promised to get together with Hailey when she was not quite so busy. She still had a lot of work to do, despite the break from college. Maggie went up to her empty old room, it seemed odd that it was just this last Christmas that things went so very wrong. Her family had tested Jeremy, and he had failed on so many levels. She recalled how things had progressed from friendship to lovers. She pushed the memories away, trying to control her bodies response to the images of his body. Of course none of that mattered now, he had called her the wrong name at an intimate moment. It was only then that she realized he was not over his former crush. It had crippled her emotionally for over a month, she had thrown herself into her thesis, and at least was ahead of schedule.
She looked over her research, and worked until her family interrupted. Then it was a mass of food and conversation. She avoided prying questions, sometimes she wished she had sisters instead of brothers. Then one of her sisters' in law would make a comment and she would be glad she had brothers. They were over protective, idiotic, and she loved them for it. Maggie managed to find time to spend with Hailey, avoid awkward questions from her family, and tried to stay away from 'the cute guy at the bar.' Unfortunately her family owned it and she ended up there on St. Patrick's day and the bar was a green haze. Her older brother was celebrating his anniversary and her parents were watching the kids. So she was stuck behind the bar, wearing an old tiny t-shirt that said something suggestive. Hailey had stopped by for lunch, but she had her own family to take care of, so she was basically on her own for the evening. That "cute guy" Hailey had pointed out earlier was back tonight. He seemed to be doing his best not to be obvious about ogling her. As closing time neared she found herself wondering who he was. He didn't seem like the collegiate type, and he didn't look like the typical barfly.
Luke had a thing for red heads, and this gal had beautiful flame kissed hair. He'd been watching her, trying not to be obvious, especially as she seemed to not want the attention. The other day she had accepted drinks, but sent polite declines back to him. She had this way about her, and he couldn't help but want to get closer to her. When she was closing the bar on St. Patrick's, he was upset and excited. Luke could get some time alone with her, but it would be obvious he was interested. When closing time came around his nervousness increased. His palms were sweating and he felt like he had too much to drink.
Maggie knew exactly how much he had to drink and noticed that his hand was shaking. "Forget your designated driver?" she asked. The way he looked at her made her feel strange inside, and danger bells were going off in her head.
