cigarettes & alcohol [harrison]

[erica gwyneth marsters]

it's a crazy situation
but all i need are
cigarettes & alcohol

[/b] she said. "I really think you should call it a night before you have to start selling your possession to pay your bill," Erica suggested, and she showed the tab she had been keeping. The man owed a lot. Near fifty dollars a lot, and seemed astounded at how fast it had gone. "Sorry darlin', it doesn't matter how pretty you are, we can't just hand those drinks out for free," she said with a smile.

The man reached into his pocket and handed her his card, she took it with a sad smile, swiped the card and handed it back to him.
"I'll call you a cab if you like, love? Can't have you wandering the streets, can we?" Erica asked. It was fairly quiet in the bar, considering it was a Friday night, but the guy had been taking the drinks pretty hard and pretty fast, and it wasn't really that late yet. Erica had an hour left of her double shift, and she felt almost drained. She smiled at the man and picked up the phone to make the all too familiar call to the cab company to get the man home without any incidents. Erica worried he had a car, and she couldn't be dealing with the guilt that he'd killed himself or anyone else after downing whiskey she'd been serving him.

Hanging up she walked back to the bar and ran a hand through her hair; she couldn't wait to leave soon, and get the shift over with. She had turned up early to do stock checks before working on the bar, and quite a few people at the bar were already on their way to being drunk, but a man who could have managed to put triple figures on his bill was one she wasn't willing to let go for a casual stroll down the road. He seemed stable enough but she just couldn't trust it. Smiling Erica returned to her position at the bar, alternating between cleaning up alcohol that people had managed to spill and pouring drinks for other people. The man had gone, and she assumed his cab had arrived. Hoping he got home alright, for the sake of her own conscience, Erica exhaled hard and poured herself a cranberry juice to keep herself occupied, everything seemed so much more boring when she didn't have a drink in her hand. It wasn't alcoholic, sure, but it managed to keep her from getting a headache in the bar.[/ul][/size][/color]

[harrison blaze fielding]

I was looking for some action

but all I found were cigarettes and alcohol.

[/font]

Swaggering down the road with his normal laddish confidence, Harrison used the hand which wasn’t clutching protectively onto his cigarette to tousle his hand through his messy dark hair. For a guy that’d had no home for the past five months, Harrison still liked to think he kept himself looking pretty dapper. See that’s one of the reasons he resented the idea of telling anybody he was homeless. Apart from revealing just how much of a fuck up he was and just how much his family hated him, it provoked pretty unattractive images of dirty, unwashed men sleeping on the street with only a dog for company. Being a guy who was proud of his image, this was hardly the impression Harrison wanted to give people of him. His wasn’t after all what Harrison would consider a stereotypical homelessness. He wasn’t sitting under a bridge huddled in a sleeping bag, nor was he rattling cups of change at people to buy a cup of tea. No, Harrison liked to think of himself as a slightly more unconventional and trendy kind of homeless than that. The sort of homeless guy who nipped from couch to couch, bed to bed, never stopping in any one place for too long. He abused the homes of friends and of girls he managed to pull on his frequent benders, never letting on that he had no home of his own. All in all, he considered himself to be doing pretty well for himself under the circumstances.

As he reached the door of the bar, Harrison took a final inhale of cigarette smoke before stubbing it out on the pavement. The friend he had been staying last night with wanted a romantic night in with his girlfriend and, not needing to be told twice, Harrison had decided to made himself scarce. Considering that if he was going to have anywhere to sleep tonight he would need to worm his way between some drunken girl’s sheets, a bar seemed a pretty good place to spend his evening’s activities. Sweeping his long hair off his face, Harrison headed inside, eyeing up the potential ‘roomies’ as he made his way up to the bar. As the hot young bartender made her way over, Harrison couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in appreciation at her beauty. ”Wow” he admired shamelessly, smiling his cheeky smile in her direction. Okay, probably an inebriated girl desperate for a shag would be a more sensible place to start in his search for a woman to share a bed with, but then Harrison wasn’t particularly sensible. And what was the harm in a bit of flirting? ”JD and coke” he breezed confidently, leaning himself against the bar and gazing into the ice blue eyes of the woman in front of him. ”And whatever you’re having sweetheart”.

Harrison pulled his wallet from his pocket and removed a ten dollar bill from it, sliding it across the bar in the beautiful girl’s direction. Harrison was hardly loaded but he had enough from his dappling in drug dealing to be able to buy a pretty girl a drink. Not enough for a flat yet though, but it would come. Perhaps a more conventional job than a casual bit of dealing would have been a better idea for the boy but, with a dodgy criminal record behind him, finding that conventional job was proving easier said than done. So what, things were okay as they were, weren’t they? He wasn’t going to let something like having no home drag him down. That’s at least what he tried to convince himself, most freuently as he drank himself into oblivion to forget how shit his life was.

[/size]

[erica gwyneth marsters]

it's a crazy situation
but all i need are
cigarettes & alcohol

[/b] Erica muttered darkly, pouring the Jack Daniels shot into the bottom of the glass before filling it up with coke. She took the note and opened the cash register, handing the boy back his change without getting herself a drink. "No drinking on the job, I'm afraid, love," Erica explained to him, placing the change in front of him. He certainly wasn't going to be pulling anyone with that kind of attitude, and Erica hoped her frosty comeback would dissuade him rather than make him attempt to try harder. Sometimes people just wouldn't get the hint. Erica didn't consider herself incredibly pretty, but she understand being a bartender meant sometimes you just got tipsy people who thought they'd give it a shot.
[/ul][/size][/color]

[harrison blaze fielding]

I was looking for some action

but all I found were cigarettes and alcohol.

[/font]

A tough one, Harrison smiled to himself, watching as the bartender sharply returned his change without purchasing herself a drink. He couldn’t say he particularly expected anything else; girls in bars quickly learnt how to put up their defences and avoid the lures of drunken blokes trying to get them into bed. It was a requirement of the job really; if you couldn’t stand up for yourself amongst the swathes of unrespecting and inebriated customers, you stood no chance. But, being pretty in control still and with a high opinion of himself, Harrison considered himself neither inebriated nor unrespectable. And so he smiled back coolly. ”You’ve never broken the rules then?” he asked smoothly, giving her eyes which egged her on to be naughty. ”You know” he continued, sliding about the right amount of change back across the bar at her ”I won’t tell if you won’t”

She could probably lose her job but then, who was watching? Life was all about taking risks. Some of them paid off and some of them didn’t, but when all was said and done, accepting a free drink was definitely one of the lesser risky decisions Harrison could think of. He should know, after all, having spent most of his adolescence taking greater and greater risks in a foolish attempt to get one member of his shitty family to notice him. It hadn’t worked of course, as here he was now without a bed to go home to or anyone in life that cared where he was. But that was him, and the risks he took were far greater than the one he was asking the pretty bartender to take. ”Go on” he encouraged, taking a short sip of his JD and coke ”It’s only a drink, take a chance”. He smiled at the bartender confidently before raising the drink to his mouth and taking another slug of the alcoholic mixture.

Take a chance in not getting fired for accepting the drink or just take a chance on him, Harrison had deliberately chosen his words to infer multiple meanings. Ultimately though taking a chance at not getting fired was probably far more sensible than taking a chance on him. The kid who had gone from bad to worse and had been abandoned by everyone who had once cared about him. He was toxic, but he wasn’t going to let the pretty girl know that. He was just going to pretend he was your average cheeky chappy, just here to pass the evening before heading home. Little did she know though Harrison’s new found determination that tonight, he would be heading home with her.

[/size]

[erica gwyneth marsters]

it's a crazy situation
but all i need are
cigarettes & alcohol

[/b] Erica muttered darkly, though her intonation clearly indicated she felt otherwise, losing all affectionate language that she'd used before. 'Love' and 'darling' was reserved for the few customers she actually liked and met in passing, not those who had started harassing her to have a drink. "But I'm really not going to have a drink," she assured him, placing the money back down in front of him. "Believe it or not, drinking on the job doesn't earn me my pay packet," she informed him, trying to avoid sounding angry in her tone. "You know what does? Serving people," Erica explained. She wished she'd kept the money now and pocketed it, as a tip almost. Hindsight was a bitch, she thought, and turned away from the boy so she could serve another customer.

Erica poured a pint and a few shots for the woman she was serving and tried not to think of the fact the man might still be at the bar behind her. She hoped he would give up and stop trying to get her to drink. Her manager was around and one slip up and she'd be out the door so very fast it would make her head spin - his exact words. Erica wasn't going to push it or see how true those words may be. Closing her eyes to collect herself, she turned around to the other side of the bar, hoping he'd disappeared to hit on some other poor girl.
[/ul][/size][/color]

[harrison blaze fielding]

I was looking for some action

but all I found were cigarettes and alcohol.

[/font]

The girl couldn’t make it any clearer in her body language that she just wanted Harrison to go away but for some reason, this only made him want to try harder. Perhaps he just had faulty wiring in his brain, he mused; always having seemed to have taken the most difficult options in life. Perhaps it was his defiance he had built up to ignore the word ‘no’ and just carry on regardless. Perhaps though he was just stupid with no idea of what was best for him. Either way, the thrill of the chase appealed to him right now.

Harrison raised his eyebrow at the bartender as she called him sweet. She clearly didn’t mean it, but it was enough to make him smile to himself anyway- unable to remember the last time anyone had said he was ‘sweet’. Probably whilst he was a kid, way before his dad had walked out on them and his mum had had a breakdown. Before he started the drinking, smoking, drugs, shoplifting, joyriding and everything else in between. There was no way anyone would consider him sweet now, he decided. Harrison let her carry on with what she was stroppily telling him before piping up across the bar. ”I’m sweet for trying to get you the sack, hey?”

Out of the corner of eye he could see a scantily dressed and completely drunk young woman throwing herself at some guy at the bar. If he wanted an easy bed for the night, there was his answer right there. But Harrison knew that the easy option was rarely the most fun. ”If you’d rather my money than my offering of a drink, I’ll have a couple of vodka shots instead babe” he called, sliding the money once again back across the bar. Downing more of his drink as he admired her figure, Harrison wonder just how tough this one would be to break. However tough, he decided, the rewards would be worth the effort. Practically mesmerised by her firm ass and long legs, he began to make conversation, knowing full well she was trying to ignore him. ”What ended you up working in this place then?” He enquired casually, thinking that she could have probably done better than a slightly boring bar with looks like hers.

[erica gwyneth marsters]

[/i] being hit on by little worms,"[/b] Erica explained, placing the vodka bottle back down and smiling at him. "I mean, your lines are so unique and your offer to get me a drink. So chivalrous," Erica said sarcastically. "There just aren't enough men in the world who want to buy you a drink and think that will get you into their cesspit of a filthy bed," Erica added. "Better luck next time, champ."

Erica turned to serve another customer, pouring out two pints and taking the notes from him. She placed it into the cash register, but kept one eye on the boy sitting at the bar. He was still there, despite everything she'd said to him. Most people gave up, and those that didn't often started to get a little too handy at times. That was when Erica had to call security and have someone removed, but she couldn't justify a reason for having him escorted off the premises until he absolutely started harassing her. It was an annoyance to Erica, sure, but it didn't seem particular malicious to her, just a kid trying his luck with the bartender. [/ul][/size][/color]

[harrison blaze fielding]

I was looking for some action

but all I found were cigarettes and alcohol.

[/font]

With her worm comment, Harrison couldn’t help but let out a sudden unrestrained laugh at the pretty bartender. He’d been called a lot of things in life but couldn’t ever recall hearing this one, and it was a true gem. His grin failed to settle as she continued on in her rant at him, knowing that his cheeky and determined smile was probably the last thing she wanted to see as she was trying to give him a talking down.

”A worm” he repeated merrily as she once again took off, raising his voice enough so she could still hear him over the noise of the bar. ”It’s original” he noted ”But you know, if you ever get bored of calling me a worm, you could always call me Harrison instead. Just putting it out there”

He would get there, if it took him all night he would at least get the girl to raise a smile. He was an annoying kid like that really, never giving up or backing down despite however many times he was reprimanded. And he never took no for an answer. This wasn’t to say he should be of any concern to the barmaid, he definitely understood the difference between being a cheeky pest and something more sinister and just quite when no meant no. But she was alright, she was a tough thing and his playful banter definitely didn’t seem to be scaring her just yet. He picked up one of his vodka shots and downed it in one, smashing the glass back down proudly as he grimaced somewhat at the strong stingy vodka taste.

”And” he continued, having quickly recovered from the vodka ”I had higher ambitions if you must know, I was thinking your bed rather than mine. If that makes any difference?”. Harrison smiled over at her, giving her a cheeky wink and a tip of the head before downing his other shot. He had about another $30 in his wallet and at this rate, seeing as she only came anywhere near him when he wanted to order, he may end up using up all that money in the pursuit of a conversation with her. Whether that would even get him particularly smashed though, he was unsure. Having nothing better to do in life than get wasted, Harrison spend most of his time drinking and lately had developed quite a tolerance for the stuff. Whereas before a couple of beers would get him a bit merry, now he had to plough his way through most of the box to feel the effects. Such was life, he guessed, not wanting to admit quite how much of a problem he had.

[/size]

[erica gwyneth marsters]

[/i] much. It was exactly what he wanted from her, and Erica was handing him all the attention and he was lapping it up and asking for seconds. She couldn't help it though, the temptation was just irresistable.

"Harrison? Really?" she asked, with a short laugh. "Tell me Harrison, do you have special training or have you always been a sleazy worm?" Erica asked, cleaning a glass and placing it back down on the shelf with the others. Picking up the cloth she used to keep the bar clean, she cleaned up a few drips of vodka he'd sent flying after he slammed the shot glass back down. Erica cursed herself for beginning to enjoy their back and forth banter, but at least it kept him buying drinks. She didn't like feeding the trolls though, and often she ignored them when they were calling to her like Harrison had been. However, he irritated her to the point where she found it impossible to ignore him.

"You think you're getting into my bed?" Erica asked, with another curt laugh. If she told Harrison she was the sole carer of a six year old boy, he'd probably run a mile right now. Men tended to be like that, Erica noted. "You really are as stupid and delusional as you are sleazy and wormy," Erica said, and she took a drink from the glass of Cranberry juice that was underneath the bar, tucked into the shelf. That was something Erica had been told - never leave your drink out on top of the bar, because anyone could do anything to it. She stuck to the rules, for her own protection, and she didn't fancy Harrison slipping his spare vodka shot into her drink or anything like that.[/color][/size][/ul]

[harrison blaze fielding]

As he had hoped for but frankly not expected, even without him having ordered a drink the barmaid carried on throwing back the banter at him. If she really wanted him to leave her alone, she was certainly going the wrong way about it. This fact in itself gave Harrison renewed hope that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t be going home alone tonight. Well, he wasn’t going home at all of course, not his home anyway for such a thing didn’t exist, but he needed to go to someone’s home. And there were far worse people to go home with than the pretty barmaid.

Once again, Harrison laughed out loud at her fierce comebacks, more amused than offended by her insults. ”You just can’t learn sleazyness like this babe” he winked ”It’s a natural talent; one of many.” With this, he sipped his drink thoughtfully for a second, having planned out his next line already but deciding to let this one settle first. After a couple of seconds, he piped up ”I would show you some of my others but, to be honest, you would better appreciate then in private" For being only eighteen years old, Harrison sure made up for what he lacked in age with his self-confidence. Not once had he considered the stunning brunette out of his scruffy teenage league, merely as a challenge begging to be conquered. ”So maybe later instead” he finally added, taking another sip of JD and coke.

Harrison didn’t consider himself a manwhore by any stretch of the imagination, but equally wouldn’t say he had huge troubles wooing the ladies. There were too many perfectly groomed and perfectly boring men in Lipton in his opinion and there was, after all, only so much perfect and boring women wanted. Yes, they were maybe husband material, but who wants a boring one night stand? Girls were naturally attracted to the cheeky and confident naughty boys, however much they knew it was bad for them. And thankfully for Harrison, he filled this niche pretty well.

”Not think” he corrected her after she strongly objected to any idea of him getting into her bed ”And I don’t want to say know and make myself seem cocky” he continued with a cheeky smirk ”But more hope”. At least he gave an honest reflection of his intent, that had to be said for Harrison. None of these romantic niceties, just plainly and simply putting it out there what he was after from the girl. He didn’t after all want to appear to any girl he was chatting up like he wanted a relationship. It seemed like a good idea in theory; a steady girlfriend who Harrison could stay with full time, but the reality of having to explain his dodgy situation to them put the whole idea out of the question. For now, it was one night stands and flings only.

”I can’t help the stupid and delusion part babe, but I might sound less sleazy and wormy if I could call you by your name instead of making up pet names for you.” He suggested. Well, she knew his name now, it was the natural progression for her to reveal hers. He looked at her with a confident yet hopeful smile, holding onto his half empty drink.

[/size]

[erica gwyneth marsters]

[/b] Erica replied, dryly.

She moved away from his part of the bar to pour a few shots and serve some other customers. She was letting Harrison get what he wanted - he was getting to her, and he was distracting her, two things Erica hated when she was working. Erica glanced up at the clock again, twenty minutes left before she could leave the joint and go home. She was looking forward to getting out of here and putting this entire incident behind her. However, she wasn't tiring of Harrison's comments anymore, she was actually enjoying their little exchange. Erica hated herself for it, but it was, at the very least, something to interest her. Unfortunately, he was interesting her a little too much and she wasn't paying attention to the bar like she ought to be. Having served a few customers she turned back to him.

"You want a name? Good luck," Erica replied. "Attempt to smooth talk all you want, Wormboy, but you're not getting a name, and you're getting in my pants, either," Erica explained, bluntly. "You think I come to work, do double shifts and dream of going home with one of my sleazy customers?" she asked. Of course, she had done that before, but he didn't know that and he certainly wasn't going to find out. Erica wouldn't call herself free from all mortal sins, but she tried to keep herself respectable. She'd gone home with the odd customer, but she didn't allow herself to be dictated solely by their attempts to hit on her. Some guys were nice, and they made it clear they weren't looking for anything serious. Erica didn't hold sex as something sacred, but she knew not to consume herself with it. When she wanted to get lucky, she went out and tried to get lucky, simple as. Tonight wasn't one of those nights, and definitely not with Wormboy. She also realized that she got off work soon, and she didn't want him following her to her car or trying to hit on her when she was off work.

"Look, you're despicable, and you're foul, and you're just like all the other jumped-up jackasses that walk through that door thinking they have charm and flair," Erica explained, talking a little lower now. "I don't know your success rate - not great, I assume - but good luck, really Wormboy," she said, with a smile. "Now, you can either order another drink and we can continue this pointless cycle, or you can leave," she added, smoothly. This would have either two consequences; he shelled out for another drink and that was more tips and wages for her, or he left, which would leave her to do the next twenty minutes of her shift in peace.[/color][/size][/ul]

[harrison blaze fielding]

Harrison watched with an amused smirk as the barmaid tried her best to look pissed off with him. Her manner was cold and her comments sharp but Harrison knew better than to take this as a true dislike of him. ”Taking a hint isn’t a talent sweetheart” He told her confidently, forced to use the more sleazy pet name for her after her refusal to reveal her real one. ”What is talent is being able to tell the girl who really wants to be left alone apart from the girl who’s just playing hard to get”. With a wink, Harrison picked up his drink and took another gulp of the sweet and alcoholic liquid before setting it down on the top of the bar and looking back over at the girl. ”So I’ll trust my talents babe and have another of the same”. Harrison quickly flicked through the change on the bar, deciding it was a bit short of the price of the drink he wanted. Taking out his wallet and bypassing the fake ID which sat staring back at him proudly, he pulled out another ten dollar bill and put it on top of the bar to top up his change.

”What are you going home to then gorgeous?” Harrison asked, hoping his abuse of this cutesy nicknames would eventually make her give in and tell him her name. ”What am I competing against right now? he continued curiously, wondering just what amazing plans she had for the evening which bettered spending the night with him ”Cause going home with me may not be your dream, but I’m pretty sure you’d enjoy me more than a ready meal and some shit tv” he added with a suggestive smile, pushing the money towards the barmaid without lowering his eye contact from her pretty face. From noticing her glance towards the clock, Harrison decided that her shift must be coming towards an end pretty soon. This could either be seen as a concern in that he didn’t have much longer to work his charms but Harrison preferred to think of it as a positive. It meant, after all, that he didn’t have long to wait until they could leave.

Still undeterred by her words, Harrison kept his confidence and ignored the insults and rejections she was throwing at him. He may be despicable and he may be foul, but Harrison was confident that not everything the barmaid was saying about him was true. After all, he didn’t think he had charm and flair, he knew it.

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