The Bouncer's Dilemma

Author Note: Thanks for checking out the first part of my first story. I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to leave comments! I promise I'll read them all until I can't anymore.

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"Got an I.D, kid?"

Lana felt her blood run cold. She scowled at the man who towered over her. He was no shorter than 6'2; his shoulders looked broad enough that he'd have easily been considered for a quarterback in any college football team. His arms were crossed over his chest in what looked like a comfortable pose, and the white button-up shirt that he was wearing did little to hide how his muscles demanded consideration from anyone unruly. He had curly brown hair that was long enough to sit at the nape of his neck. And he was looking at her expectantly.

The man was a bouncer at a bar, and the only thing standing between Lana and her goal for the night. "I didn't see you ask her for her I.D," Lana argued, scrunching her eyebrows together and gesturing to the woman who'd walked in before her.

The man shifted his weight onto his other leg and cocked an eyebrow at her. His expression remained largely neutral. "Is that a no?"

Shit, he didn't take the bait, Lana thought. She was hoping to just argue for a little and he'd reluctantly let her inside.

"It's not a no," Lana admitted, "I just..."

"Just what?"

"Well, I....lost it."

"Lost what?"

"My I.D," Lana said in an exasperated voice, rubbing the back of her neck. She glanced behind her -- no other patrons yet. Good, she could take her time to convince him.

"You lost your I.D?"

"Yeah, I did."

"So no entry." He shrugged once.

Lana groaned and her hands moved to mirror his arms-crossed pose. She glared up at him, her dark brown eyes meeting his hazel ones. "I'm 22. I'm not underage. I really did lose my I.D."

The bouncer's expression changed for the first time. He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "This is me, believing you."

Lana's scowl deepened. Great, he was a hardass. "Look, man, I really just need to get in there, it won't be long."

"Sorry to burst your bubble." He shrugged again.

"Why not? I won't leave your sight. It'll just be for a minute." Lana was now trying to bargain with the bouncer. "I won't drink, I won't do anything."

"You're startin' to annoy me, kid. What, Daddy never told you no growin' up?"

Lana groaned again and rubbed her forehead in frustration. Talking to this man was like talking to a brick wall. She turned on her heel away from him and paced back and forth a few steps each way as she wracked her brain for an idea. She didn't have her wallet. Inside her wallet was her I.D, her debit card, various other cards she'd signed up for or gotten handed by customer service workers...

The bouncer said nothing, and only watched her. Lana sighed and pressed her hands to the sides of her head as she paced. Think, Lana, she willed to herself. Suddenly, she patted the back pocket of her jeans. Feeling something hard, she felt her breath exit hastily. She had visited the university library earlier that day, and had shoved her Student I.D back in her pocket without thinking instead of putting it in her wallet. After a few moments, she turned back to him and met his gaze. She noticed his eyes held a bit of amusement to them. "Will you take a university I.D?" she asked quietly. "It's not updated, it's a little old."

The question took the bouncer off guard and he thought for a moment. He shifted his weight onto his other leg. "Yeah, I guess."

"Seriously? Even though it's old?"

"That's what I said."

Quickly, Lana fumbled into her pocket and pulled out the small card, presenting it to the bouncer. He took it from her, and she watched his eyes graze over the information.

"This is four goddamn years old, kid."

"You said you'd take it."

"I did, but four years is a long time, ain't it?"

"It has my birthday, isn't that enough?" Lana asked with another scowl. She looked up at him and took a step closer. "I haven't lied to you, I just need to be in there for a few minutes. Please."

The bouncer glanced up at her, meeting her gaze and taking a moment to look over her features. Lana felt as though she were being assessed, like he was doing some sort of calculations as he really observed her up close. They stood in silence for a few moments before the bouncer glanced back down at the card in his hands. On the photo, Lana had longer hair than she did now. Her face was more full and she had braces that she had tried to hide. This elicited a small chuckle from the bouncer before he shifted his weight again.

"Nice baby photo, kid." He paused for a second, letting his arm holding her I.D drop to his side while his other hand rubbed stubble that rested on his chin. "You're seriously 22?"

Lana felt her heart jolt with hope. She nodded quickly. "Yup, yup. My birthday is October 2nd. I seriously lost my I.D."

The bouncer paused again and exhaled a long sigh before handing her the I.D back. "Here. If I hear you got into any trouble in there, so help me god --"

Lana quickly snatched the I.D from his hand and shuffled past him before he could even finish his sentence. She didn't want to be in here any longer than she had to; it wasn't exactly going to be a pleasant experience for her. She just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

She entered the bar and her eyes scanned the room. It was bigger on the inside than it looked. From the outside, it appeared just to be some hole-in-the-wall spot with a scary-looking bouncer out front, but it was nicely lit on the inside. There was a stage in the corner of the room, but nobody was performing. Instead, patrons were scattered, some in booths and others on seats. It wasn't really a dancey vibe, and most of the patrons seemed to be in their late-20's or 30's. Lana was more used to the chaotic bars that tended to attract college students that were practically alcoholics.

Lana shuffled further into the bar and continued to scan the area. No, not him, no, no...

Eventually she found herself at the bar counter. She picked a seat near a corner where she could scan the area and have a good look at the front door to see who left and entered. The bartender, a heavily tattooed woman, approached her as she continued to scan the room. No, not him, not him either...

"You get your I.D checked by Jacob when you came in here?" She asked pointedly. Lana quickly nodded. Jesus, was everyone so strict about her age?

"Y-yeah. I-if Jacob's the big guy outside." Lana stammered. The woman gave a small snort at that.

"Alright. What can I get ya? Still need time to think?" the woman asked. Lana nodded her head.

"Still thinking."

"Take your time."

Lana was starting to get a little antsy now. No, no, no... Where the fuck was he?

Soon, a familiar voice cut through the crowd and it made Lana instantly turn around. There he was -- he was 6'4 and easily towered over the girl he had his arm slung over. His black hair was starting to get long now, it had been awhile since he'd asked Lana to cut it for him. And worst of all, that bastard was wearing a watch that she'd given him for their anniversary last year.

Lana had thought she wanted to see him quickly and be done with it, but the way her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach belied the fact that maybe she had acted on impulse when deciding to come to this bar tonight. She took out her phone and glanced around the room quickly, ensuring nobody was looking at her when she snapped a photo.

Found his ass. You were right, Em

She quickly texted it to her friend, Emily, who had seen Lana's boyfriend, Evan, leave a party acting extremely touchy with another woman. The closest bar to the party was this small hole-in-the-wall, and knowing Evan, he'd want to take his mistress there. Pretty soon, Lana's phone buzzed with a response.

Fuck. I'm so sorry, Lana. I wish I was wrong.

Lana felt a small smile threaten to tug her lips, but it didn't grow any more than that. She responded again:

It's fine. I'm going home now.

"Lana?" the familiar voice cut through the noise of chatter at the bar. Her head snapped up from her cell phone and met the blue eyes of the man she had been dating since Junior year of high school. She found it hard to hold back tears, but she willed them down with an extreme pounding against her chest. He quickly removed his arm from the woman he was with, who in turn acted confused. The man quickly approached her. "Lana, baby, hold on, before you react --"

"Fuck you." Lana scowled and stood, making her way quickly to the exit. Her boots hit the wooden floor with every hasty step.

"Wait, Lana!"

She could hear him quickly close the distance between them. A hand grabbed her arm and squeezed tight. She turned back to him. "Don't fucking touch me, Evan."

"Let's talk."

"About what? How you think it's fine to just hook up with girls at a party after telling me you were too busy to see me?"

"Lana, let's not do this here. Please."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Lana hissed out. "Let me go."

Evan's expression was stern and angry. As a few beats past, it shifted and his gaze moved behind Lana, his grip relaxing on her arm. Lana raised her eyebrows in confusion and craned her neck over her shoulder to see a familiar pair of arms crossed over a broad chest. A deep rumble came from behind her. "Kid, what did I say at the door? You tryinna piss me off?"

Lana's eyes darted to the bouncer's annoyed face -- the tattooed bartender called him Jacob. He was speaking to her, but his eyes were firmly placed on Evan. His expression was a lot darker than it was earlier when Lana was speaking with him, and she felt a small shiver run halfway up her spine. She could tell that his scary face was probably an asset to him during his job as a bouncer. Even Evan, who was slightly taller, albeit nowhere near as toned, felt threatened.

"Hey, man, it's personal," Evan retorted simply, trying to wave him off. "You don't gotta show up, she's my girlfriend. Right, Lana?"

"I don't know." Lana replied bluntly. "I thought that woman over there with the short skirt was your girlfriend. You seemed to be touching her an awful lot."

Evan's mouth seemingly went dry because now he licked his lips in nervousness. "Lana, baby, don't be a brat right now --"

"Listen, I don't really give a fuck," Jacob interrupted, running a hand through his curly hair. He closed his eyes and knitted his eyebrows together, trying to curb his temper, "but ya gotta take this elsewhere. Outside or somethin'."

"Good idea." Evan nodded, his grip on Lana's arm tightening as he tugged her towards the door. "Let's go to my car, Lana."

"Bullshit," Lana spat back, trying to tug her arm free, to no avail. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Baby, you heard the bouncer, we gotta go." Evan urged, shooting her an annoyed look.

"Hey, hold up," Jacob cut in again, "how about you let go of her first, buddy? She's a big girl, she can walk on her own if she wants to."

Evan shot Jacob a glare. After a moment, he squeezed Lana's arm tighter before releasing it reluctantly. Lana retracted her arm and rubbed where he had squeezed her. "I'm not going with him," Lana huffed, taking a step backwards and shaking her head.

"Come on, Lana, let me take you home." Evan urged her, pinching his nose in frustration. "Your parents are gonna freak out."

"How many times do I have to say it, asshole? I'm. Not. Going. With. You. Simple as that."

Evan clutched his fists in frustration and his eyes darted to Jacob, whose arms were still crossed as he stood protectively beside her. Jacob's expression shifted, raising his eyebrows in nonchalance and giving another silent shrug. After a brief pause, Evan's eyes darted back to Lana's scowling face and pointed a finger at her. "We'll talk later." He ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed, exiting the bar on his own, leaving Lana and Jacob there.

They stood silently beside one another for a moment before Lana turned her head to look up at Jacob. "Thanks."

"Don't think I'm happy with you, kid." Jacob grunted, scowling down at her. "You can't seem to listen to directions, can ya?"

"Yeah, well." Lana said, giving a shrug and gesturing outwards. "Things kinda didn't go as planned on my end, either."

"You're an annoying one, aren't you?"

"And you've got a scary-looking face, anyone told you that?"

"Many times, actually."

"Add now to the list, too."

Jacob gave a low rumble in his throat that sounded like a laugh. He uncrossed his arms and placed one hand on his hip, the other rubbing the back of his neck. "You good now? Or do I need to knock some sense into you for you to behave like a normal person?"

Lana thought it was rich he was calling her the abnormal one here, considering he'd make any baby cry with just a glance with that permanently scowling expression of his. "I'll behave, but..."

"Great. What is it now?"

"I'm a little scared to leave, actually."

Jacob didn't say anything, but looked at her with an exasperated expression. She continued, "I'm scared Evan's waiting for me outside. He can be a little crazy. And, well, my I.D? It's in his car. My whole wallet is, actually."

"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me." Jacob muttered. "You've gotta be the most annoying kid I've ever met in this goddamned bar."

After another pause, Jacob asked, "Did you drive here?"

"Well, no, I walked..."

"So how in god's name are ya gonna get home, princess? Gonna call a chariot to come pick ya up?"

Lana felt embarrassed. She supposed she didn't think the whole situation through with confronting Evan. She'd assumed he'd fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness, or something like that. Reality often proved disappointing. Eventually, Jacob sighed. "Go sit there," he pointed to the corner of the bar counter, "don't talk to anyone, don't even look at anyone. Wait for another hour."

"Why?" Lana asked with a scowl.

"Jesus fucking Christ, you really can't listen to directions, can you?"

"Fine, fine!" Lana relented, holding her hands up in surrender. She turned on her heel and sat at the seat he pointed at. Any patrons who had been watching her dramatic scene with Evan had long since gone back to their previous conversations by now, and she sat idly. Jacob soon came up beside her, but didn't sit on the stool. He leaned against the bar counter, facing away from it.

"Do you drink?" he asked.

"No, not really. I like fruity stuff, though. Why?" Lana raised an eyebrow at him. Just then, the tattooed woman behind the bar counter exited through the small opening separating it from the rest of the room and removed her apron.

"Hey, Jacob, thanks for taking my last hour," she told him, handing him the apron. "I'll make it up to you next week."

"Yeah, yeah." Jacob grunted, taking it from her hand. "See ya, Alice."

The tattooed woman, Alice, shot a glance at Lana before disappearing into the employee's-only area and not appearing again. Lana assumed she'd left through some back entrance. She watched Jacob move behind the counter, assuming the role of the bartender for just an hour. Before even taking an order, he pulled out a glass and added some ice cubes before grabbing a bottle and pouring a small amount of amber liquid into it. He placed it in front of Lana, looking at her expectantly.

Lana peered down at the glass. "What's this?"

"Drink it."

"You're trying to make me drink gasoline? 'Cause that's what this looks like."

"Instructions are a common challenge for you, aren't they?"

Lana shot him a scowl but sighed. She slowly lifted the glass and raised it to her nose, sniffing the liquid inside before making a disgusted expression. She glanced at Jacob who had a small smirk on his face now. He was watching her intently. He raised his hand and gestured to the drink, to urge her forward.

Lana hesitated before bringing the rim of the glass to her lips and slowly tilting it to take a small sip. As soon as the potent liquid was in her mouth, she felt a bitter and burning sensation. It took every ounce of her ability to not spit it out. She quickly swallowed and shook her head in disgust.

"That is putrid."

Jacob let out a chuckle. "It's whiskey."

"Yeah? Well, whiskey's putrid."

"Give it here."

Lana glanced and him and set the drink back on the counter. Jacob took it, tilting it up towards his mouth and downing the rest of the amber liquid in one go. He cleared his throat afterwards like an experienced drinker and went to make another drink.

"That was terrifying," Lana commented flatly, "and now I don't think you're even human."

Jacob let out a laugh and poured a few things Lana didn't recognize into a shaker, including some light colored orange liquid. He added some ice and closed it, shaking it. "Yeah, well. Wouldn't be the first time I heard that, neither, kid."

"I bet it was a woman who told you that." Lana leaned forward and placed her elbow on the table, her chin resting in her palm.

"You'd be right," Jacob said, throwing her another smirk as he finished shaking. "Here. Try this one." He poured into a small glass and added a cute little lime on the side, passing the glass to Lana.

"Am I gonna die? Did you make a second drink 'cause the first didn't kill me?"

"You'd be right," Jacob repeated again, his smirk still evident on his lips as Lana lifted the glass to her lips. She took a more hesitant sip than the first one, but didn't recoil at all. In fact, the pleasant taste surprised her a little.

"What'd you do to it? Why's it taste good now?"

"It's a margarita. Simple." Jacob shrugged, but Lana's narrowed eyes on his face told her that he looked pretty pleased that she enjoyed the drink. He tilted his head, spotting another customer. "Stay put and don't cause trouble," he grunted out to Lana before walking over to the customer. Lana watched him.

She took a moment to just watch as his figure leaned in to listen to the customer. He didn't even respond to them, just nodded and began adding various ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Lana sighed. She didn't really understand what she was still doing at this stupid bar; she had initially planned to confront Evan, get her wallet back and break up with him on the spot, but things seemed to have gone awry. Why did Jacob want her to stay until he was done bartending? She checked her cell phone: it was 11:30. As her mind wandered, she saw her text conversation with her college friend Emily. Lifting her eyes slowly from her phone screen, she hovered on Jacob's wide form again. She wasn't sure what possessed her, but she raised her cell phone discreetly and snapped a photo of Jacob as he was shaking the cocktail mixer. She sent the photo to Emily.

What do you think?

Lana nervously nibbled on her thumb as she waited for a response. The three bubbles appeared, signaling Emily was typing.

Hunk! What, you flirting with the bartender for a rebound? Maybe that's not such a good idea, Lan.

Lana huffed at the text message and suddenly felt defensive. She typed back:

I'm not flirting with the bartender. Was just asking what you thought. Also, he's a bouncer, not a bartender, I think he's just covering a shift.

Lana set her phone back down and returned her chin to her palm as she watched Jacob. He finished with the customer's drink and walked back to her. "What, entranced by me, princess?"

"Trying to figure out what species you are."

"Species?" Jacob repeated, a smirk forming at his lips again. "You got an annoying mouth, too."

"Seems like you're awfully fond of it, the way you keep coming back to chat with me."

"Watch it, kid." Jacob said pointedly, his eyes not meeting her gaze as he scanned the patrons out in the bar. But the smirk still remained on his lips. "I'm just makin' sure you're stayin' out of trouble, since you can't seem to be trusted with that task by yourself."