The Hiking Writer

Suzy was a green eyed, five-foot-six brunette bartender who didn't take shit from drunks. Strangely, thanks to her looks and demeanor, drunks rarely ever gave her any.

She was the kind of bartender that could flirt without giving the guy buying drinks any thoughts that he ever had a chance with her. It was an art, and Suzy was very good at it. She also had the looks that inspired chivalry in her male co-workers and the bar patrons knew it. In fact, a few of the regulars would go to war for Suzy along with the other bartenders and bouncers if it ever was needed.

But it hardly ever was.

It was a normal Thursday night in almost every respect. The NBA playoff game had brought in a few more people than usual, but they were reasonably well-behaved beer drinkers that tipped, especially when their team was crushing the opposition, and tonight was a 20 point blowout. The tip jar was fairly bulging.

Suzy had been steadily serving drinks and taking orders for most of the night, but now that the game was over and closing time was only an hour or so away, the crowd began to dwindle. When the after-game highlights ended, most of the basketball crowd had bought their last round and were making the tell-tale signs of leaving: the jingle of keys, finishing off the last pitcher, and putting on their jackets. The rain of the early evening was over, but it was still cool for May.

As the bar was settling down, Suzy kept an eye on Dave at the bar. She’d never seen him before tonight and by the looks of him, she’d probably never see him again. He was not the type she thought of as a regular here. He was quiet, even a little reserved, he was balding slightly with a pointed goatee of jet black hair on a strong chin.

He could also drink like a fish. He’d come in a little before 10 PM and he’d ordered a vodka and tonic. Once he’d seated himself at the bar, he had ordered another drink every 15 minutes almost like clockwork. With midnight approaching, Suzy didn’t like the math.

On a break around 11:30 (after the game had finished) she’d mentioned Dave to John the bouncer. John was also a bartender part-time, but management liked to use him as a bouncer when a big game was on the tube.

“See the guy at the bar J?” she’d said in a low voice standing next to the bouncer's stool at the front door.

“Yeah Suzy, he giving you any trouble?”, John had said with a quick glance around the bar, his eyes pausing briefly on Dave.

“No, nothing like that. But he’s had at least 6 vodka-tonics in the last hour and a half and I might have to stop serving him if he doesn’t slow down”

“No sweat hon, you just give me a holler if says or does anything weird when you do cut him off. I got your back” John said and grinned.

Suzy liked John a lot, and she knew that he’d love to be a little more than friends with her. She liked her men a little smarter, but John was not a dummy or a bad looker, they just didn’t have any chemistry. She patted the back of his hand lightly “Shouldn’t be a problem J, but I just wanted to let you know. I’m gonna go to the ladies room and then get back behind the bar”.

“Thanks for sharing baby” John said and Suzy winked as she started toward the bathroom.

Back behind the bar, it was almost 12 and Dave motioned Suzy for what would be his eighth vodka and tonic. She’d made his seventh round fairly weak, but Dave hadn’t noticed. That in itself was a signal to her. She knew they’d had enough when they can’t even tell that their drink is watered down.

As she walked toward him to take his empty glass, Suzy shook her head slightly and leaned in toward him. Quietly, she told him the bad news with a smile. “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t get you another one. I can get you a cup of coffee or some water, but I can’t serve you anymore alcohol tonight”.

Dave looked up at her a little incredulously. His eyebrows raised in surprise at first and he calmly replied “Excuse me?”.

“Sorry, but that’s the law Dave. I’m not going to serve you anymore” Suzy said keeping her voice low. No need to embarrass the guy in front of the dwindling crowd.

Dave’s eyes narrowed for a moment and in that flash, Suzy felt some serious heat come off of him. In the back of her mind, she thought to herself, “Oh shit.”

But as quickly as it had appeared, the momentary tension in Dave’s eyes eased. He smiled at Suzy and said “How about a glass of water then?”. The warning bells in Suzy’s head stopped their clamor and her smile returned “No problem Dave” she said as she scooped ice from the bin below the bar and poured him a glass of water from the soda tap.

Sliding the glass of water to him, she winked and said “No hard feelings right?”.

“None at all” Dave smiled back.

In his head, Dave was screaming. The tendons in his neck were taught like steel and a vein in his temple pulsed hotly as he reached out and strangled this tasty little bartender. Like a wolf, he brought her neck to his mouth as he clamped down on her wind-pipe and tasted the hot coppery thickness of her blood.

But only in his head.

He would replay this scenario in his vivid imagination for the next week or so, but hopefully, it would stay there. Dave ached to act out one of his little dark theaters. But he only masturbated to them bitterly; he had never acted one out in the real world.

Vodka he’d found however, was getting him very close. It fueled his fire like nothing else, and tonight, for the very first time, that fire was roaring. Watching this bartender for the last hour, he was so hard he couldn’t stand up. She was just the kind of lamb he wanted, and she seemed to want to be taken. And when she cut him off, it was almost like a dare. He’d seen the recognition for just a moment, a microsecond in time, and he had felt her fear.

This might be the night.

Stay tuned for part two