All people and places are fictional. All characters are over eighteen.
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An Old Friend
Tucker had been wanting to turn Marsha and Liz on to the world of live blues, but each time there was a good show at his favorite honky-tonk something came up and they couldn't go. Finally, after two months of trying, the stars aligned and the three of them were up close and personal with Alligator Al and the Rockin' Reptiles, a hot, up-and-coming blues guitarist on his first national tour.
The band was already playing when they got there, and the bar was four deep waiting for drinks, so Liz didn't get to meet Kat and Lori until things thinned out a bit right before the second set. She'd heard plenty about them, mostly from Marsha, and was intrigued that Tucker kept the whiskey bottle with the black roses on his desk. She was anxious to meet the girl who captured his sentimentality in that way.
She wasn't disappointed. All she could do was smile when she saw the two bartenders work the bar β Lori, with her long, straight hair, bohemian peasant blouse and tight jeans, and Kat, dressed for maximum tips in short, cut-off jean shorts and a lace-up black leather bustier. The leather was so thin and well-worn it had actually molded around her nipples, adding to the tip-worthy effect.
The two girls controlled the action in a way that fascinated Liz β every man in the place seemed to be right in the palm of their hands, and she could tell right away why Tucker was so smitten with them, especially Kat.
"Hey you guys!" Kat said when they finally found a spot at the bar. "How's my favorite...business people. Oh my God, I almost blurted it out!" she chuckled.
"Hi Kat. This is our friend Liz," Tucker said.
"Hi Liz. Do you work with these guys?"
"No," Liz said, suddenly embarrassed.
"She's our..." Tucker said, looking at Marsha and Liz. "...what are we anyway?"
"Say no more," Kat said. She'd seen everything at the bar, and knew from the looks on their faces what Tucker was getting at. "Nice to meet you Liz," she smiled. "
Lori, look who's here!
"
Lori got a free minute and walked over to say hi.
"Dave and Molly come in now and then. Lori's been hangin' out with them," Kat said. Lori looked embarrassed. "You can tell 'em," Kat said to her. "They're doin' it too." Kat winked at Lori, but Lori didn't want to fill in the details. She shook her head at her partner and went to take care of a customer. "She's so cute when she's shy," Kat smiled.
A woman walked in alone during the set-break and made a bee-line for an empty stool down the bar a ways. Marsha had a strong feeling she knew the woman, an old high school classmate she thought, but it had been twelve years so she couldn't be sure. Adding to the doubt was the woman's tired, sad demeanor; it was just the opposite of the way Marsha remembered her.
The band started playing again and Tucker, Marsha and Liz made their way up near the stage.
"Andrea, right? I'm Marsha," Marsha yelled above the loud music when the woman forced her way through what was left of the crowd. It took a moment for it to register.
"Oh my God! Marsha! Hi!" Andrea said. She'd had a drink too many wherever she'd been before, and was a little tipsy.
The two women tried to have a conversation to catch up on things, but the music was too loud so they retreated to a booth at the back of the room.
"So what's up with you? How's life?" Marsha asked.
"It sucks," Andrea said sadly. "A real shit storm lately. How 'bout you?"
Marsha hated to say how wonderful things had been with Tucker and Liz, so she threw the bad stuff out there first.
"Fresh divorce. The ink's still wet on the final paperwork."
"Really? Me too," Andrea said. "Is yours as big a prick as mine? I'd love to fuck with his head somehow."
Marsha smiled, remembering how Andrea used to get in trouble at school for swearing.
"Who's the guy?" Andrea asked, glancing toward Tucker. "That's not your brother is it?"
"No. You remember Donnie?"
"Hell yeah! You probably don't know this, but he fucked Rica. Remember my friend Erica, everybody called her Rica? Freshman year. Donnie was a senior."
"Wow," Marsha said, processing the thought. "My brother was screwing freshman? I wonder how much of
that
was going on?"
"Maybe I shouldn't tell you."
"No, that's okay. But no, that's not Donnie. That's my boyfriend Tucker. He's my boss too."
Marsha felt a little odd saying that, like she was doing something wrong sleeping with the boss. It also felt odd when the realization hit her that Tucker did in fact look a little bit like her brother. More than a little bit.
"Dating your boss huh? That's cool. What do you guys do?"
"We, uh, we're in video production," Marsha said, wondering if she'd ever feel comfortable blurting out "porn".
"Oh, cool. Like commercials and stuff?"
"No...um...adult...entertainment?" Marsha said. After the words came out she wondered why she'd said it like a question.
Own it girl
, she said to herself.
Don't be embarrassed.
Andrea looked at Marsha with a blank stare as she put two and two together.
"What do you mean?" she said, her expression slowly changing. "Like...dirty stuff?"
"Do me a favor and don't tell everyone all right?"
"Wow! Marsha! How'd you get into that? Do you...oh my God are you..."
"I'm part of the crew. I do hair and makeup and wardrobe and that kind of thing."
"Yeah, I knew you wanted to get into cuttin' hair. Fuuuck Meee! So is it like...real porn shit? Where the fuck do you do it?"
"Right downtown. It's crazy, I know."
"No! Are you kiddin' me? That's the coolest job I've ever heard of!"
"Maybe," Marsha chuckled. "I guess it is."
"I'm buyin' shots. I gotta get you to talk," Andrea said as she slid out of the booth. The back end of the bar was pretty quiet so she got served by Kat right away.
"Jager," Andrea said as she slid back into the booth. "Remember we all used to drink this in high school?"
"I got so sick on it I haven't had it since," Marsha chuckled.