A New Day (open)

It was a breezy day as Melinda stepped onto the driveway outside their beach front house. In one hand, she held onto Noelle’s small, fragile hand and in her other arm she carried Evangeline towards her car. It was about midday as the small trio piled into the black SUV, the smell of the salt water filling their nostrils. They hadn’t been on the island long but Melinda found herself already in love with the place. She had always been a beach kind of girl, enjoying watching and listening to the waves crashing on the shore. There was nothing more relaxing than that. Mel strapped Evangeline and Noelle into the car, closed the door and stood there, staring out at the blue water. It was so beautiful. She heard a tap on the window that brought her back to the present. She looked down to see Noelle waving happily at her from her seat. Mel waved back with a small smile on her face before sliding into the driver’s seat of the car. It all felt natural for her as her routine didn’t seem to change with the move. Wake up, shower, dress, make breakfast, see Blake off, keep up with the house and children, lunch then off to work on a daily basis. For Mel, routine was good. It kept things in order and on track, nothing to be confused or forgotten about. Sure, she enjoyed a little change here and there like a day off that she could spend with Blake alone or a day at the beach with the girls, but the routine had to remain relatively the same for most days.

Mel looked in her rearview mirror to see Noelle having a babbled conversation with Eva. What they were talking about was beyond her adult mind but it was cute. She began to make the extremely short drive to the day care where Blake would pick up the girls and keep up with them until it was bed time. That was possibly the only thing Mel hated about her job, the hours. Yet, through it all, she and Blake managed to find time to spend together and keep their marriage alive. Her mind filled with him as a smile spread from ear to ear on her face. He was definitely the sugar to her tea. She pulled into an empty spot at the day care center and pulled the girl out, checked them in and was back in her car in a matter of minutes. She really wished she could walk but walking with two little children was like a death wish. Then again, at some point in her life, having children was exactly that. She stopped walking, closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind of the negative thoughts. She didn’t want them on her first official day on the job. No one liked sad or grouchy bartenders.

She pulled into the back parking lot behind the inn and walked inside. She could hear the muffled chattering from the back as she made her way to the bar and noticed a few people there. She had completely forgotten it was karaoke night but it wasn't like that mattered. She might even get up there and sing something herself if given the opportunity. She pulled a towel and set it on the counter, not liking having it on her shoulder. That was what the men did, not her. She set herself immediately to giving refills and taking orders from those who hadn't been helped before starting to clean out some glasses.

Settling to a new place always took sometime it would seem. For a single woman Bea had a lot of items; boxes of them though what took up most of those boxes were books and photographs. She had items from her trips, keepsakes from her time spent in Africa and more books on the places she had been. The woman had really wanted a three bedroom house, like one of the ones on the beach so she could have a guest room and a library, but there was that rule about what houses you could have. So, she went with what she could get and it would work. Though now she was stuck with a ton of books and really no place to put them.

Her car had arrived not too long ago though the brunette had figured she wouldn’t be using it that often. It seemed like walking would work or bike riding and she did have a ten-speed with her. The backyard was nice enough that she had plans for that as well. The woman might even grow a little garden, which made her think of her friend and wonder what the other woman was doing now.

It hadn’t been that long ago since David’s death, a few weeks had past in that time though Bea had lost track of everyone who hadn’t been right there in New York with her. She hadn’t meant to but between him growing worse and then his suicide the woman had gotten honestly frazzled; an uncommon state for her but it had happened. The funeral had been a nice one not too many people but the ones who really cared about her brother. She had planned it despite her state at the time as it had been a good outlet for her.

After enough time spent living with her brother that between the PTSD and the heath problems constantly needed her attention, her penthouse felt cold and lonely. There were also the constant reminders of David and even worse of that night. Basha had needed to get out of there and New York which more baggage and memories than just David’s death. While she loved the city it had gotten to be just too much for her.

She was unpacking one of the boxes, when she came across a few pictures in frames ones from her brother’s time spent in the military, a few of her parents and she found herself wanting to cry or drink or do otherwise. Her brown eyes looked towards the clock; it had been hours since she had taken a break. That was like her though; work until the job gets done and don’t really end before then, except maybe to eat.

This time she made an exception because she really needed to and decided to wander around for a little while to see what she found. The woman got cleaned up and changed and headed out the door. She past a few places though it a night so some weren’t opened. A few she might have to check out later. It was then that a sign caught her attention, a bar…well tavern. Just a step inside to see wouldn’t hurt anything right?

Doing just that the woman stepped inside and glance around, it seemed pretty much like a typical one though was fairly nice. Getting up to the bar she took a seat at it and while part of her, a rather loud part, was saying to get a drink just one maybe, it would make the pain go away if there was just that numbing sensation. She was trying hard not to listen to it. The woman just waited for the bartender to take her order.

Julie could feel the blood rushing through her veins; she could hear it pumping in her ears. But she continued to reassure herself. It’ll be fine, honestly, it’ll be fine... she continued to recite the words in her mind whilst he circled her like a vulture circling a dead carcass. Forcing herself to look up she found herself staring into two deep crystalline pools of turquoise... his eyes always did look like jewels.

She forced herself not to shiver or cry as his slender fingers pulled back her hair and soft lips scorched her throat. Each caress felt like little injections of poison straight into her veins, she was paralyzed completely.

“You drive me crazy you know that?” His breath was hot at her ear and she could only whimper in response.

“I’m sorry,” she hadn’t meant to, honestly she hadn’t but she should’ve known better than to get caught talking the way that she had been. His fingers were at her hair, lightly running them through it.

“You like this, don’t you? You like making me jealous and flaunting yourself about like a little whore. Don’t you?” His voice... how could it be so steely cold and yet his touches so gentle and warm? When Jeremy wasn’t angry with her he would treat her as though she were a porcelain doll that would break easily with clumsy movements. He was angry now, she could feel it... radiating off of him and she knew that she had to move extremely carefully. One wrong move would set off the minefield.

“No...” she had just been talking, that’s all, she had just been talking and joking around with the man in good humour and yet Jeremy acted as though she had been propositioning herself.

“No? Good,” suddenly his fingers enclosed in her dark locks, bunching them in his fist. “If you ever make a fool out of me like that again...”

“I’m sorry,” she cried out unable to prevent the shaking “I’m sorry I never want to make a fool out of you, I promise...”

“Good,” he released her hair and snatched her arms in his hands, fingers digging into her arm in a way that would surely bruise. “Now, kiss me,”

Julie surveyed her appearance in the mirror critically before she finally deemed herself presentable enough. The dark purple of her dress was one of her favourite colours, it was so rich and deep and it complimented her skin tone and dark red lipstick beautifully. Perhaps Julie looked edgier than usual, she didn’t think she did but she certainly was proud of the outfit she pulled together to go to the karaoke night. She just hoped that it wasn’t too formal for the night... she tried to be careful with these things or else she seemed like she was trying too hard.

As she picked up the little black box in her hand she sighed as she looked at it. She didn’t know why she had been thinking about her ex-fiancé as of late. But she never really could shift the man from her mind even now; the scars of their “relationship” had cut into Julie deep, so deep that she had spent seven years of her life unable to let any man near her for anything other than a platonic sense and sometimes not even that. As soon as it threatened to turn romantic, she panicked and she bolted terrified that it would end up the way it always ended up. With Julie used, abused and discarded like an old tissue... but she had run from this relationship. Flipping open the lid she gazed into the dazzling oval-shaped jewel on the platinum band... and she felt sick to her stomach. That ring was more than just a promise of marriage; it was a symbol... a reminder. Mine. It just reinforced that much more of how Julie was more of a trophy to Jeremy than she was a person... and yet she had kept this. What did that mean? That, even now, she still thought of herself as Jeremy’s in a sense? The thought terrified her and at that moment Julie wanted nothing more than to toss that ring into the ocean and let it wash away along with her sordid past.

But... it was not that simple.

Her hand snapped the box shut and placed it back in its hiding place before she fluffed up her hair and left to go over to the Tavern. If there was anything that put Julie in a good mood it was music, and between all that had been going on in her life recently she truly did need some cheering up. It was only then that blue eyes fell upon a familiar brunette. A very familiar brunette. Julie’s squeal could probably be heard from the west coast at that point as she scuttled over to Bea as fast as her heels would carry her to reach over and hug the woman on the barstool. “I can’t believe it! What are you doing here?” Julie was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, if there was anything she had needed right now it was a familiar face. She wasn’t sure if any of the people she had befriended had come to the island, there was Lorenzo whom she hadn’t seen in a while. As for Cam... well she had to admit she more than wanted to be in the company of the man again.

For a karaoke night, things had been rather slow. Mel was nearly finished cleaning out the glasses and had listened to only a handful of people get up and attempt a song. Most of them had been new age pop or mainstream songs that Mel hadn’t been familiar with. She couldn’t help hoping that maybe someone would get up and do a classic and get her dancing. Dancing was always a great way to relax and loosen up, especially at a job like this. It seemed to brighten her and made her job more entertaining than it already was. She wanted to dance even more since it was her first day there and she was already uptight and nervous, though she had no reason to be with all the experience she had in bar tending. Then again, everyone had first day jitters at new jobs; it was part of life. She finished cleaning the last glass and listened to the song that a guy had gotten up to do. It made her bop her head here and there a little but nothing more. She took the break to pour herself a glass of coke and took a long sip of it. The man finished singing and she turned to look at the bar.

A young, dark haired woman was sitting there alone, looking up at the list of drinks. Mel studied her for a bit, trying to figure her out. She had really learned how to read people from her time in the industry. It was something that she clinged to tightly as it seemed like her only power. She watched the young woman closely taking in everything from the lines on her face, the way her mouth curved and the way she was dressed. It was rather casual, almost as if she hadn’t really planned on coming into the place. She was quiet and reserved, not talking to anyone and not even waving Mel over to her. If she had to take a guess, the woman was probably new to the island as she didn’t talk to anyone there like the others were; of course she could always be wrong about that. The way she neither smiled nor frowned gave her the impression that she wasn’t exactly in the brightest of moods. Judging by it all, Mel took a stab and guessed she was looking for somewhere to get away to and this had been the only welcoming place. She knew the feeling well and couldn’t help but want to lend her heart out to the woman. She turned around, to put down her coke and go take the woman’s order.

That was when she heard it. It was possibly the most girlish squeal that could probably be heard across town. She jumped slightly as she turned her head and watched a very pretty young lady approach the other dark haired woman excitedly. Now this girl, was dressed rather nicely in a beautiful purple dress and her hair was done. Clearly she was here for a reason, probably the karaoke if she had to guess. Obviously the two knew each other or the new pretty one wouldn’t have acted as excited as she had. Right away Mel knew she wouldn’t like the new girl as much as the other. She was far too bubbly for her liking but, it was her job to be friendly with everyone and take their orders. She walked over to the two and gave them both a friendly smile. “Sorry to interrupt ladies, but can I get some drinks started for either of you?” She wasn’t too sure if they knew what they wanted and was more than willing to come back once they had decided but she figured it would be best to at least ask them to be sure.

The brunette sat there staring at the bar menu as if it held a life or death decision. Maybe it did. Bea knew how this would work; she would tell herself that just one drink would be all right, something to pass the time. One would become two and she would tell herself she wasn’t even feeling the first one so one more would be no big deal. Then two would turn into three because, well, the woman would have an excuse for every drink until the excuses just didn’t matter any longer. The thing was she knew that it would happen that way, it was the way it always happened. Still, she didn’t feel strong enough to resist.

She had spotted the young female bartender though didn’t really notice her noticing Bea or more like reading Bea. Nor did she know that the bartender had hit it on the head, well, some of it anyway. Bea wasn’t in a good mood; she hadn’t been in a good mood since that night and really had no idea if she would ever be herself again. The memory of it still haunted her, still played though her mind repeatedly and still woke her up in the night in a cold sweat. She had hoped that moving here, away from that penthouse would have helped and it did to a point but still, this seemed like too much even for Bea.

Her eyes continued looking at the bar menu, reading each drink over carefully, really wanting to order on but then again… How she just wanted to feel numb. Though she didn’t call the bartender over. She sat there in her expensive but casual outfit and continued to decide between taking that drink or leaving the bar , as those seemed like her only option at the moment. Bea clothes were more often than not stylish but understated; she didn’t flaunt her money but always look nice. She was dressed a little more casually than she would have been had she known she would end up here but that was all right.

The drink finally the woman was about to order, a good regular old fashioned martini sounded really good right about now. About to call over the bartender as she wasn’t able to hold off any longer, that was until she heard a rather loud squeal and looked up. Julie She was just about knocked off her stool more from the surprise of seeing her friend and hugged the woman back before her mind was able to process that it was really Julie. “I…I ….” Damn she couldn’t even get the words out. She smiled at her friend, it was good to see Julie; she had really missed the other woman.

Before Bea really had the chance to say much of anything the bartender came over to take their orders. Well, despite Bea really wanting to, she couldn’t order alcohol in front of Julie. Julie knew about her past and her addiction problems and would probably stop her in a heartbeat. At least Bea assumed so. So, she looked at the waitress and simply said. “I’ll just have a Coke.” Unlike Bea she completely didn’t think to pay for Julie’s drink , not that she thought Julie would expect it, it was just the way Bea was with friends.