Over the front door hung a curious sign that looked like it should have hung over a saloon in the Old West; it stuck out from the building's corner at forty-five degrees, so a good breeze from either of two directions could cause the sign to move. Without a breeze today, however, there was no trouble reading that this establishment was known as The Nook & Cranny. The solid oak door was heavy, and didn't open as easily as Sarah would have thought. She gave was able to open it by giving it a heavy tug and walked through.
The bar was on the back corner of a strip mall, and was about as crowded as you would expect it to be, given its name and out of the way location. In addition to the bartender, there were only three patrons. An old man wearing a Seattle Mariners cap was sitting at the bar, watching a baseball game on the medium sized television above the bar. There were two Hispanic men in a corner booth that appeared to have come straight from work; whatever their trade was, it appeared to involve a large amount of gray dust.
The room itself was about as big as you would expect a place called the Nook & Cranny to be. There was a fifteen-foot bar against one wall, lined by seven barstools; a dozen beer taps formed the centerpiece of the back wall. These taps were surrounded by a plentiful selection of liquor bottles; a door to a small office behind one end of the bar was casually left wide open.
The walls were lacquered wood, and the windows all had Venetian blinds, most of which were drawn. The eight tables and chairs were wood as well, and the place had sort of a rustic cabin vibe, although there wasn't a fireplace or an overabundance of taxidermy to complete the atmosphere. Four booths on the far end of the room completed the customer seating, with a small hallway between them, over which hung a neon sign identifying it as "Restrooms."
While it had some dive-like qualities, it wasn't dirty, nor did it feel particularly sketchy. However, those factors still didn't provide Sarah any clue as to why Katrina had asked to meet here, of all places, while Sarah didn't feel extremely overdressed in her dark blue pantsuit, she probably could have shown up in T-shirt and jeans and felt a little less conspicuous.
Sarah walked up to the bar, three chairs away from the old man, and sat down. The bartender looked like a typical Portland hipster; her black framed glasses and striped sweater top screamed "I knew it before it was cool," and her tattooed arm sleeves declared "I'm edgy, no really, I'm totally edgy." She was short with a slender, almost sinewy frame. Her straight as an arrow reddish-brown hair hung all the way to her waist.
"Hey there. What can I get for you?" The bartender asked, smiling.
Sarah peered at the bottles of liquor behind the bar, inspecting the various options she could see. "Do you have a full bar?"
"For the most part."
"Alabama Slammer?"
The bartender chuckled to herself at some inside joke. "No sloe gin, sorry."
"Hmm. Well, OK, what's your IPA selection?"
She rattled off a few names, none of which stood out to Sarah as particularly desirable.
"Oh. How about a screwdriver? Top shelf."
"That I can do."
The bartender turned around and got to work. The old man muttered an obscenity under his breath; she glanced at the TV and noticed the Mariners leading the Orioles in the fifth inning. Sarah checked her phone, and noticed her messenger had popped up with a message from Katrina - "sorry last client ran long. 10 minutes late. First drink on me."
Katrina's Facebook friend request had arrived before Sarah had gotten home from their eventful first meeting. Other than that, it had been radio silence for the better part of two weeks, until a Facebook chat message arrived today. "Want to get a drink after work today?"
Sarah had let the message sit for a good fifteen minutes, trying not to seem too eager. "Sure."
"Great! 5:30 @ Nook & Cranny in Tualatin?"
"OK."
"C U then"
Sarah was surprised by how nervous she had instantly become. She'd only met Katrina the one time; saying they hit it off was an understatement, so there was no real reason to be anxious, but still....she was. She checked herself in the bathroom mirror about five times over the course of the afternoon, wondering if she should stop by Fred Meyer or Kohl's or even Victoria's Secret to pick up something new. Any possibility of that, though, got thrown out of the window when a prospect called at 3:30 and asked for a house visit at 4:00, eliminating any possibility of shopping before they met up.
Sarah had never heard of the Nook & Cranny, but the name appealed to her well enough It was as hard to find as its moniker might suggest; it was buried in a strip mall behind a grocery store, a rent-to-own place, and some other miscellaneous shops. She had to drive back and forth up the strip mall twice before seeing the service road beside it, and realizing where the bar must be.
The bartender put the drink down in front of her. "Pay now or leave it open?"
"Umm...leave it open." Sarah handed over her card, and the bartender went back to surfing her phone. The old man swore under his breath; the Orioles had gotten a base hit. Sarah took a sip of her drink; it was very well made, which Sarah found pleasantly surprising for some reason.
Sarah watched the baseball game disinterestedly for a couple of minutes, nursed a couple more sips of her drink, then walked beneath the flickering neon sign to the restroom.
There were two bathrooms, both of them unisex and single occupant, in that weird Portland way that seemed bizarre to anyone not of a progressive mindset; most Oregonians didn't seem to bat an eye. In situations like this, Sarah had a personal policy of always taking the further restroom, as she felt it likely got less used and was, therefore, less disgusting.
She need not have worried about the cleanliness of this bathroom, though. It was probably eight foot per side, leaving plenty of room. The walls were wood paneled in here as well, but for some reason the Paul Bunyan vibe the main bar got from that effect didn't come across in here. A toilet, urinal, and sink were lined up neatly against one wall, and everything was spotlessly clean; there was even a white wicker bench where paper towels, bar towels, and other toiletries were stocked. Or, presumably, someone could sit and chat if the old 'Girls Only Go to the Bathroom in Groups' stereotype was in play. Sarah couldn't help but be a little impressed; the restroom felt like it belonged in a significantly higher class of establishment than the Nook & Cranny.
After concluding her business and washing her hands, she returned to the bar. In her absence, the Hispanic men had left, but Katrina had arrived, and was sitting at the bar, having a friendly conversation with the bartender.
"No, that wasn't the only place we went, there was also the other one over off T-V Highway, I forget the name, but it has the dolphin statues --- oh, hi Sarah!"
Katrina jumped up from her barstool and gave Sarah a big hug. Katrina looked as striking as she had during the first encounter; today she was wearing a tight pink workout leotard underneath black gym shorts. Her sneakers and ankle socks gave the impression she had just come from the gym, although her purse struck Sarah as a little larger than expected, given her outfit. Her make-up was minimal, but pristine, which Sarah found unsurprising given what she knew about Katrina.
The hug lasted just a little longer than casual, which made Sarah both nervous and excited. She had spent a lot of time thinking about the evening she had spent with Katrina and Ryan, and many of her fantasies since had been filled with thoughts and memories of the activities of that evening.
"Find the place OK?" Katrina asked.
