Caitlin
Caitlin stoodat the bar while she waited for Daniel, wiping down the dark mahogany of the bar with a white rag.
Despite the clean jeans and sweater she’d slipped into, Caitlin had a hard time neglecting the responsibilities of the bar while she waited. Plus, it gave her hands something to do. It gave her something to focus on rather than the worst-case scenarios that had started running on a constant loop ever since she’d agreed to a date with Daniel.
The scenario her brain replayed the most was the one in which her father found out about them—claiming that he’d known they were going to get together all along. She shuddered at the thought of her father being able to hold all of that over her head, being able to claim that he’d predicted the end of her previous relationships. She pressed the rag against the bar harder, wiping at the molasses-colored surface until it produced a soft noise.
Caitlin hadn’t expected to feel nervous about going on a date with Daniel, especially after the night they’d shared together, but the anticipation was starting to get to her now that the date was fast approaching. She threw the rag behind the counter—aiming for a bucket half-filled with a mixture of soap and warm water. It landed in the bucket with a weak splash, reminding her of the coastal walkways around town and the way the smells of oceanic water and seagull dung splashed onto the rocks with each gentle wave. She could see the two of them, her and Daniel, walking along the paved pathway there. She wondered if they’d dare to hold hands when they walked together, if they’d be in an area secluded enough to feel comfortable being close to each other. She doubted the idea had even occurred to Daniel, but she also hadn’t sensed him confessing his feelings of jealousy to her so openly. He continued to surprise her, even after all the years they’d known each other.
A dullthudsounded from the other side of the pub, echoing across the dark hardwood flooring. When Caitlin threw a cursory glance over her shoulder, she saw a glowing silhouette of a man in front of the double doors. After her eyes adjusted to the bright lighting near the entrance, she was able to make out the familiar features of the face—the angular jaw structure, the length of nose with a slight bend to the left, the brilliant blue of his eyes—it took a moment for Caitlin to take him all in.
The dark sweater and jeans hung around his toned body—she admired how the deep blue sweater seemed to enhance the appeal of his eyes. He had combed some type of gel-like product into his hair in anticipation for tonight, and Caitlin admired the way that his dark hair stacked on top of itself in fine, well-defined pieces.
She’d always known that Daniel was conventionally good-looking—he’d been popular among the girls at school; Caitlin had even heard about some of the older, female staff ushering their young daughters to get to know him better. Even back then, Caitlin had been irritated by the idea of her classmates being pressured into dating by their parents—especially the overly flirty girls who played ditzy in front of Daniel.
A blush rose, heating the rounds of her cheeks. He’d put in effort to look good to see her and—maybe for that very reason—he looked better than he ever had before. As he crossed the short distance between them, a wide smile spread across his face. His eyes took her face in first, sliding down to drink her in. The soft cashmere sweater was the exact color of emeralds—she knew it accentuated the forest green tone of her irises. As his hands reached out for hers just before he reached her, she held out hers, taking his as they paused in front of each other.
“Hi,” Daniel grinned, brushing a long strand of her red hair over her shoulder.
A shiver rippled down her spine when the tip of his finger dragged along the soft skin of her collarbone. She did her best to suppress it, masking it as part of her embrace as she wound her arms around his lower back.
“Hi,” she responded as she gazed into his eyes.
“You look incredible,” Daniel said, looking over the soft white skin, and golden freckles of her face. Her face shone brilliantly against the red of her hair, and she was grateful that she had thought to use bursts of golden sparkles at the corners of her eyes to widen them.
“Thank you,” she managed as her heart hammered against her ribcage, sending faint vibrations throughout her torso.
“Where should we go?” he asked as she focused on evening her breathing to slow her pulse, but each time that her eyes found Daniel, it quickened again.
“I don’t know, are you hungry?” she asked and swallowed hard. There was something intoxicating about the way his eyes clung to her figure, drinking in the complete sight of her as one would with a blended beverage on a hot day. “We should get dinner,” she laughed, the sound foreign to her own ears.
He pulled his eyes away from her body, offering her a restrained smile. “After you,” he said, gesturing towards the door.
She felt his eyes on her, and allowed her red curls to bounce in time with each of her steps.
Just before Daniel could pull one of the double doors open in front of Caitlin, there was a loud clatter from the back of the pub. Caitlin was certain she’d heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering against the floor. She turned around, looking to the back of the pub for the source of the noise.
“What was that?” Caitlin asked into the emptiness of the pub.
“What do you mean?” he asked, and she frowned. There was no way he missed that.
“We should go have a look.” She turned to look at Daniel, knowing she’d feel more comfortable confronting whatever was waiting in the back room with another person at her side.
Daniel stood still, his eyes on the front door. “I think we should get dinner, and not worry about work tonight. We work so much, especially with all of the festival planning. Really though,” he continued as she stared down the long hallway, “I almost lost you to that American because I was so absorbed in paperwork.”
She snorted out a laugh, but kept her eyes forward.
“Really, Cait, it didn’t sound like anything serious,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile.
“Why don’t you want to go look?” she asked with her brows threaded together with irritation. She’d already started towards the back room when his hand stuck out and grabbed her.
“Seriously, if you’re ever going to own a business of your own, you’re going to need to handle responsibility like this,” she gestured towards the backroom. She tugged her arm out of his grip, watching his hand to make sure it didn’t pull away from his body with the agility of a predatory snake.
Daniel shrugged, wearing a mask of nonchalance. “It was probably just one of the crates we stacked last night; they fall over all the time.” There was something avoidant—borderline defensive—about the way that he was speaking, and it set something off inside of Caitlin. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Caitlin placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at the blue-eyed man that stood in front of her. There was a gentle evening breeze that rolled into the pub, rustling the front of his hair. “And if it was just a box that fell, that means that product could’ve gotten damaged.” Part of her felt like she was explaining a basic concept to a child, but she did her best to keep any condescension from leaking into her tone. “That's a wasted product. I need to know how much that might’ve set us back before we go out tonight. I can’t leave until I know that the pub is secure, surely you know that.” She continued walking towards the storage room, throwing the door open and taking the stairs two at a time. Powering through the rotten stench in the air, Caitlin ignored the heavy footsteps that fell behind her, knowing it was Daniel once he started calling after her.
“Caitlin! Caitlin, come on! Let’s go have a nice date,” he teased her with the idea, trying to lure her away from the steps—the nervous feeling in her stomach began to mutate into something more sinister as the cold air crept up and around her neck. She felt as though she was descending into a pool of ice water, unsure of what was swimming around at the bottom of the water. “Caitlin, please wait—” he said, his voice just a few inches behind her as she rounded the final corner into the storage room. His arm reached out, pulling her back towards the steps, but she’d already seen them.
