such a terrible shame , stella

[sawyer liam knight]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #fff; width: 450px, bTable] WE'VE BEEN TO THE TOP wednesdays were a good night, or at least they were a good night for sawyer. they were the one night of the week that he closed up the bar early and sent everyone home before midnight. some of the regulars liked the complain about it every week, but it never changed sawyer's mind on the matter. it gave him the time to give everything a good clean as well as to take inventory and figure out what he needed to restock before the weekend rush. although rush was sort of pushing it considering that moss landing was incredibly small and he probably didn't get more than thirty people in on a good friday night. the weeknights were even worse, having only a few handfuls of regulars that came in, mostly the alcoholics of the town. the lack of business would probably hurt most business owners but sawyer had learned early on how to make things work and still come out with a profit at the end of the month, just as he was sure most business owners in moss landing had. he could have easily relocated somewhere else, a bigger more busy city, but sawyer had grown to love moss landing over the years. it was home for him, and when it came down to it he really did love the small town lifestyle. he'd grown up in los angeles and the crowded city had always stressed him out. life here was much easier. the last of the customers for the night had left only a short while ago but sawyer had already begun his normal routine. the stereo was set to an eighties station and sawyer found himself occasionally singing along. the music was a bit before his time, having only been a toddler when the nineties had started, but sawyer's parents had always played the classics when he was growing up and in turn he'd become quite fond of the music himself. the music back then had so much more depth that the garbage that he heard on the radios these days, even if his taste in music did make him seem even older than he already was. at twenty-six, sawyer felt pretty old compared to a lot of the people he associated himself with. it always amazed him that he was even that old considering that it seemed like only yesterday that he'd been a naive nineteen year old making choices that had affected the rest of his life. where had the time gone? as he softly mumbled along the words to a reo speedwagon song, sawyer began to wipe down the circular tables that were scattered around the room. with one hand he carried a spray bottle of some sort of disenfectant and in the other a well-loved rag that he wiped the wood down with. cleaning had never really been his forte, but sawyer did take a lot of pride in how well kept crazy eight was and so he'd forced himself to do it over the years. after each table was cleaned off, sawyer flipped over the chairs, placing them on top of the tables so that the floor would be clean for when he swept everything later in the night. when they were all completely wiped down, sawyer made his way over to the bar, grabbing himself a glass as well as a bottle of whiskey. with a very well-practiced motion, he turned the bottle over and filled the glass about halfway with the almost golden liquid. sawyer was never the kind to drink while the bar was actually open but he did enjoy a drink or two once the place was closed for the night. besides, it was always easier to get the place cleaned with that familiar warmth in his stomach and the always welcomed buzz he got. drink in one hand and rag in the other, sawyer began his way slowly down the bar, mopping up and particular sticky spots on the wood from spills. the familiar bell that chimed whenever the door was opened caused sawyer to startle slightly, but he continued his cleaning without actually looking up to see who had walked in. "we're closed," he offered easily, his voice calm. it wasn't uncommon for someone to forget something at the bar and come back for it, which sawyer was completely okay with. occasionally he did have a drunk come through that walked in after hours and refused to leave until sawyer had to get physical with them, which he greatly hoped he wasn't about to have to do. CODED BY LADY RAINICORN @ CAUTION 761 words wearing: [x] my starters are always bad, i'm sorry.

[katie]

WORDS, 582 TAG, sawyer NOTES, (:

stella was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe she drank too much coffee. it was either that or she was suddenly just a night owl. her fingers drummed the surface of the kitchen table in her apartment where she sat aimlessly flipping through a magazine. she really should be attempting to sleep right now, considering she had an early shift at greyhouse tomorrow, as usual. yet here she was, jittery and wide awake. with a sigh, stella tossed the magazine aside and glanced at the clock. nearly eleven. she felt that in order to ever get to sleep tonight, she needed to actually get out of the house for a bit and do something. unfortunately moss landing wasn't the pinnacle of excitement on a monday night. she thought about texting josh, but she didn't want to wake him if he was asleep, as he certainly needed his rest for the ridiculous amount of hours he always put in at work. and if he wasn't sleeping, he was probably working. the only other viable option in stella's mind? crazy 8 bar.

no, she wasn't a depressed and lonely person going to get a drink by themself. in fact, she knew that crazy 8 would probably be closed by now, but that didn't matter much since she happened to be good friends with the owner. stella was sure that sawyer would still be there, cleaning up and probably taking advantage of the emptiness of the place. crazy 8 was usually fairly busy for moss landing, since it was virtually the only bar, but she knew that it closed early tonight. hopefully sawyer wouldn't mind stella intruding on him while the bar was closed, but it wasn't the first time. besides, she kind of liked bothering him sometimes. it was too much fun.

after making herself presentable, stella grabbed her purse headed to the parking lot of her apartment building, rummaging for her keys as she walked. it really wasn't too far of a walk, but she preferred driving this time of night. the engine of her black jetta purred to life and in a few short moments she was pulling into an empty parking space on main street, right in front of crazy 8. she double checked her hair in the mirror and ran a comb through it quickly. why did she feel the need to still try and look good for sawyer after all these years? stella frowned at herself in the rearview mirror. you're an idiot.

the faint chiming of bells announced stella's arrival as she stepped into the bar. without glancing up, sawyer announced that they were closed, which she was already aware of, of course. "oh, you mean you usually have more business than this?" stella replied teasingly. "that's somewhat surprising." she could only make comments like that because she was his long-time friend, not to mention his business was actually thriving in reality. taking in the scene quickly, stella observed that sawyer was mostly done cleaning and had indulged in pouring himself a drink. she strolled over and set her pursed down on the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools. "still drinking that nasty stuff, i see," she commented with a grin. stella detested whiskey, gin and tonics being her drink of choice. depending on the person you asked, it seemed that a gin and tonic was either a girly drink or an old man's drink. whatever.

[sawyer liam knight]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #fff; width: 450px, bTable] WE'VE BEEN TO THE TOP when sawyer had first moved to moss landing he'd gotten a job at crazy 8, first simply cleaning up after people but eventually taking over at the bartender when the owner got too old to do the job himself. when sawyer had finally saved up enough money he'd offered to buy the bar, and it's previous owner had graciously accepted so that he could retire. that had only been roughly three years ago, but sawyer had become so attached to the place then that he was sure he'd eventually end up owning the place until he retired too. sawyer just hoped that when his time did come someone who loved the bar as much as he did would be willing to take it over. he'd be rolling over in his grave if someone changed the place into some tacky nightclub or stupid theme bar. the familiar voice caused sawyer too look up from his place behind the bar, a somewhat too large smile plastered across his face. he'd always had the terrible habit of that huge wolfish grin and a surprise visit from stella was seeming to make it worse. "just because you're my friend doesn't mean i'm above kicking you out," he threatened teasingly. "you are technically trespassing after all." not that sawyer would ever do that, but the two of them had always enjoyed a more playful banter sort of relationship. of course beneath all of his sarcastic remarks and jabs at her, sawyer did care about stella, and probably more than any of his other friends in moss landing. he wasn't even sure why but he'd always just felt protective over her. maybe it was the five year ago difference or the fact that she'd seemed so young when they'd first met, but sawyer had always looked out for her even though he knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. instead of responding to stella's comment on his drink of choice, sawyer merely took another swig of the strong liquid, letting it burn it's way down his throat before setting the glass down and rummaging around for a different bottle. "and i'm sure you think your gin and tonic is so much better, yeah?" he questioned as he pulled a bottle of clear liquid out. a few more moment of searching and he'd found the bottle of tonic water. with a few quick motions he had the drink poured over ice, although it was missing one of the usual components. "no lime since i'm sure you'll be wanting it on the house and i'm lazy," sawyer commented before sliding the drink across the bar to stella. he'd already put the limes away in the small mini fridge hidden under the bar anyways and he'd feel wasteful to chop one up and only use one slice of it. then again if stella was intent on getting drunk tonight then he'd probably be convinced to get one out if she really wanted it. he'd always had the worst time saying no to her. after pouring just a bit more whiskey in his own glass, sawyer moved down the bar so that he was directly across from stella and leaned against the bar slightly. "so i don't suppose you're hear to help me take inventory?" he questioned, although he practically knew the answer already. stella showing up probably had more to do with her being bored or lonely, but sawyer was sure that if he tried hard enough he could probably get her to help him. or at least just keep him company while he went through his stock. it was typically such a boring job but with her here it might actually be fun. CODED BY LADY RAINICORN @ CAUTION 618 words wearing: [x] (: