Free Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens Page A

routine of going to bed later and later, it became harder and harder to wake up with him. Eventually, he got a “see-ya” kiss out of me in bed, and that was about it. Wanting to make a good impression with his bosses, he usually stayed past the time I had to leave for work as well. That made it pretty evident early on, that the only time we’d have together was the weekend afternoons before my shift, and the night or two I had off during the week.
    He did what he could to still spend time with me though. He’d come into the bar after work to see me, sometimes staying for dinner or a drink with Kellan and the guys. We would hug and kiss tenderly and the regulars at the bar would groan in mock-exasperation. Someone even threw a crumpled up napkin at us once. I had a sneaking suspicion that had been Griffin. I was glad it had only been a napkin.
    The month of June sped by in our easy routine and before I knew it, it was July. Denny had to go into the office on Fourth of July afternoon – I had been a bit perturbed over that, since we had planned on spending the day at Denny’s favorite beach here, Alki Point (a little sun and water for my water-loving boy), but he promised he would come into Pete’s that night and spend the entire evening there, even though I’d be working, and that cooled my ire a bit. I ended up spending most of the day reading a book in the small, sunny backyard and tanning. Well, tanning implies that my skin was the type that would darken into a beautiful sun-kissed color like Denny’s. My alabaster skin did not. My skin went bright pink then right back to pale white. So, I popped on a two piece swimsuit, slathered on the sunscreen, to at least avoid the bright pink 54

    part, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun, if not the color-changing side effects.
    I read my book and basked in the warmth tickling my thighs and lower back. I looked up and spotted a dainty dragonfly just inches in front of my face, resting on a long blade of grass. Its body and the very tip of its tail were the same bright turquoise as some of the Native Amer-ican jewelry I’d seen displayed in some of the local shops. It seemed completely happy, resting on its little perch and enjoying the perfectly sunny day, just like me. I smiled at it and then went back to my book. It was nice to not be completely alone back here.
    Eventually my body had absorbed its daily quota of vitamin D, and I stumbled into the house in a sun-drunken state, almost instantly falling asleep on the couch. I awoke a half hour before my shift was to start and hurried to change and get ready. I made it to the bus and to the bar, just in the nick of time. Well, at least I wouldn’t be tired during my shift.
    True to his word (as he always was), Denny came into the bar that evening, when he was done with work. It was oddly packed, considering it was a holiday, and he had to sit on a stool at the bar. Rita’s appealing glances at him were starting to really irritate me, when suddenly, Kellan and the band appeared. They confiscated their usual table when they came in and happily squeezed in an extra chair for Denny. Even in the packed bar, the laughter at that table was loud the whole night.
    A bit before the band’s evening performance, Denny and Kellan went over to shoot some pool. I stopped and leaned against the archway on my way to the kitchen, and couldn’t help the smile on my face as I watched their easy friendship. They joked around and talked while they played, like they’d been best friends for years, never having spent any time apart. I also couldn’t help the smile on my face at how bad at pool Kellan was. Denny would chuckle at his missed shots and try and teach him how to do it properly, only making Kellan laugh and shrug his shoulders, like he knew he was never going to get it. I wasn’t that great either, and Denny, who was actually really good, had tried to teach me a time or two. He had patiently told me on several occasions, “It’s