Jo Buckley + Christian Lambert
An unexpected reunion
September 23rd | The Lookout | PG (Some Language)
The Lookout had its usual stream of customers today. Those who saw the bar less as a place to drink and more as a place of work. Every bar she'd ever stepped foot in had its collection of permanent fixtures but even Jo had to admit that there was something unique about the ones around here. Like the demons they were trying to drown out were louder in this part of town. The kind who always went harder on the booze than the tips and yet could walk out of here at the end of the night like they hadn't just put away a fifth of whatever was cheapest. College bars were better if you were looking to make money but that also meant putting up with obnoxious shitheels. The Lookout was a dive, but it felt more like home than the house she was living in.
The blank postcard she'd been carrying around with her for days, peered up from beneath the keys to her bike. A reminder to finally get around to sending the damn thing. The picturesque scenery on the front made it look like she'd happened upon a quaint little town. Peaceful, welcoming. Not at all the kind of place where the sun would somehow disappear and unknown creatures came out of the shadows. She'd heard everything from pollution from a factory fire and rabid raccoons to global warming to excuse the strangeness. The comforting lies people liked to tell themselves rather than face reality.
"How's the hand?" Sliding in front of one of the regulars to top off his glass. The whiskey, his own version of pain medication for the heavily bandaged limb. He'd come in during the blackout, bleeding all over the bar and yet no amount of bitching or bribery could get him to agree to go to a doctor. She'd probably butchered her attempt to sew him up but considering the scars that littered his skin and the mess he'd been making trying to do it himself? Her rudimentary first aid skills couldn't have been any worse than his.
"Cause unless you want to learn how to drink with a hook, you should really see a Doctor." He wouldn't. "That or next time, I'll knock your ass out and drag you to one myself." The chortles of the guys he was drinking with, turned her smirk into a full-on grin. Her knuckles rapping against the bar as she pivoted away from them to serve another customer.