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It was a quiet Saturday evening, with nothing much for me to do. I've recently moved to here and didn't know many people or places to go to. As I drove around, I spotted a place called Honcho's. The big sign said that there was a KJ there on weekends, so I pulled into the parking lot and went inside.
It was dark inside, kind of rustic looking with a couple of pool tables, dance floor with a bunch of tables around it. The bar itself was like a large "U", holding about twenty people.
I sat at an empty stool, and the bartender brought me a cold beer. As I was taking my first sip, a door opened from a kitchen entrance behind the bar. I watched as this vision of loveliness as she came closer to me. It was like the scene from the movie "10", where Bo Derek was running at slow speed on the beach only this woman was in black jeans with a black top, showing a lot of cleavage. Her hair was also jet black, straight going just past her shoulders.
I was immediately captivated by this woman as she just walked past where I was sitting and smiled as she passed. From that point on, I just drank my beer and watched her behind the bar. Next thing I knew it was closing time. I couldn't believe how quickly the time had passed, so I left the bar and headed home, but not before verifying that she worked every Saturday evening.
The following Saturday, I dressed up a little nicer and when I went to the bar, she recognized me from the previous week and had a beer waiting on me as I sat. I introduced myself and she said her name was Raina.
Again, she was in black, and I stared into her dark eyes and she smiled again. I told her that I thought she was a beautiful woman, she blushed and went to tend to another customer.
We spoke more that night, quite a bit and I let her know I was very interested in her. She blushed and tended to other customers, but always returned to talk with me in between. The night again went by very quickly, as did every Saturday evening for the last four months. Each night learning a bit more about one another.
I knew she had a boyfriend and began to think that her and I were just a pipe dream, with just pleasing conversation between us, that was until New Years Eve.
I had called her out from behind the bar that night and gave her a small bracelet and she hugged and kissed me and then went back to work. As I sat, her left side was to me and I saw a good size bruise by her bicep and asked her what happened.
"My boyfriend got a little rough, but he didn't mean to hurt me," She said.
Having a background in law enforcement, I got her to open up a little more and found out that this wasn't the first time he had bruised her and from what she was saying, it was escalating, slowly, but escalating nonetheless. I expressed my concerns and she assured me she would be okay, but gave her my phone numbers in the event she needed someone quickly.
Right at midnight, she came from behind the bar and I made sure I was at the door and made sure I got to kiss her and hold her in my arms, if even for that short period of time. After she finished her round through the bar, she returned and I again held her and kissed her.
The feeling I had holding her to me was something beautiful and her lips on mine sent flames throughout me. I didn't want to let her go, but I had to. I left the bar shortly after that and returned home.
As I laid in bed, she ran through my head, so I just placed my head on my pillow and enjoyed the "extra moments" I had with her before falling asleep.
The following Wednesday, my phone rang, "Hello!"
"Roger," the voice asked?
"Yes, who is this?"
"Raina,"she said with a treble in her voice.
I knew something was wrong, so I said, "What happen?"
"He got mad because I was talking to a guy friend on the phone and he shoved me backwards. I fell over the coffee table and I hit my head and I think I'm going to need stitches," she said.
"Is he still in the apartment," I asked?
"No, he took off."
"Okay, I'll be right over," I said.
I made it to her place in ten minutes and she answered the door holding a bloody towel to the back of her head.
"Come on, let's get that looked at," I said as I guided her to my truck.
At the emergency room the nurses took her history, placed her in a room and then called security to report what had happened, they in turn called the local police. Raina told them what took place and all the previous events and this time she pressed charges against him.
The doctor ended up putting three stitches in the back of her head and gave her some meds for the headaches and also pamphlets for abused women. We thanked them all and went back out to the truck.
Once inside, I said, "What do you want to do now?"
The look on her face told me that she didn't want to go back to her apartment, so I said, "How about we go for some coffee and we talk some?"
She nodded her head and I drove over to Denny's down the road. We just had coffee and I let her think about tonight a little and when she looked up at me I said, "Are you going to say anything?"
"I'm confused and upset and just out of sorts right now," She said. I know I don't want to go back to that apartment anytime soon."
"Do you have any place to go to?"
"I do have some friends, but it's late to call them, they have kids and all and get up early, so I don't know right now."
"Well, you know I live with my daughter and her boys, so there's no spare room there."
"Seems I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place right now," she said.
We asked the waitress for another coffee and drank that while we tried to figure something out.
I finally said, "Why don't we just get a room for the rest of the night?"