Wallflower Ink

Chapter 4

· Jace ·

The low hum of a hundred muted conversations buzz around me, lulling me into a false sense of calm. O'Claire's is packed tonight, which comes as no big shock. On Saturday night, there's always a moderate wait for a table.

I sit at the bar--amid many of the other patrons waiting for their seats to open--nursing a beer and staring at the television on the far wall. A football game is playing, with the sound muted and closed captions rolling up the screen, but I'm not really paying attention to either.

Merri is supposed to meet me here at eight, so I've been here since seven thirty to wait for a table. It's five minutes to eight now, and as I sit silently on the stool, my eyes are finally drawn away from the ball game and back to the other end of the bar.

Perched on an identical stool--sipping a drink, with Kyle's brawny arm draped possessively over her shoulders--Katie meets my eyes and drops me a wink.

I shake my head and lift my bottle to my lips to mask a smile. There had been no talking her out of it. She wants to see the "mysterious crazy woman" herself, to be there for me just in case she indeed is stringing me along with some ulterior motive that will be anything less than profitable for me.

Though I feel I should be annoyed, I'm not. It's actually a comfort, knowing she has my back, even if I don't think I really need it tonight.

The more I've thought about Merri, the more I've leaned toward her having a reason for wanting what she does, and that it has nothing to do with me, my business, or the ruination of either. Whatever her motives are, she's sincere about it.

"Jace?"

Merri's appearance at my side jerks me out of my thoughts. I spin on my seat to face her and she takes a quick step back.

"I didn't mean to startle you," she says, offering me an apologetic smile.

"You're fine," I say, smiling in response. She's prettier than I remember, her pale skin glowing in the low light falling from above the bar. It plays with the natural highlights in her hair, making it seem to jump and sway like actual fire.

She's wearing a dark t-shirt, jeans, and a worn pair of sneakers--her attire and demeanor both very different than they had been just four days ago. She seems to be less nervous than she was at our first meeting, and the change makes me more comfortable too.

"Might want to pull up a seat. Could be a while."

"Should I go reserve a table?" she asks, even as she hops up on the seat next to mine and picks up a drinks menu.

"Already did. Shouldn't be much longer." I point to the round disk sitting on the bar in front of me, a flashing red dot indicating our wait status. When a table opens for us, the LED will change to green. It's a nice little invention, I think.

"What time did you get here?" she asks, her eyes widening in surprise.

"About seven thirty. This place is a madhouse on Saturdays, and if you want a seat, you have to get here early."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Declan. If I had known, I'd have asked you to meet me somewhere else." She frowns and looks down at the menu in her hands.

"The only somewhere else around here would be McDonald's, Arby's, or that greasy little pizza place on the other side of town. None of those are on my top ten favorite places to eat list. Don't worry about it, this was a good call. And it's Jace."

I offer her a warm smile when she glances up at me. As she nods, from the corner of my eye I see the light flash green.

"That's us."