Chapter 6 "One Headlight"

Chapter 6

“One Headlight”

As Jordan walked past the table, Lance reached out and ever so lightly brushed her bare arm. Jordan stopped and looked at Lance and with a whimsical smile said, “Yes, sir. How may I help you?” Lance gazed deep into Jordan dark eyes and softly said, “Another round for my friends please and another Coke Zero for me too?”

Jordan looked at Diane first and said, “Bloody Mary?” Diane simply shook her head in acknowledgement. “Beck’s for you sir?” To which John said, “Of course!” “And do you want anything Nancy?” “No thank you Jordan, you know that I’m still on the clock.”

“Oh, right. I forgot you’ve been sitting here with them so long that I thought you got off hours ago.” Jordan snapped as she stomped off to the bar area.

The “One Headlight Bar and Grill” was one of our favorite places to meet and we met here nearly every single Wednesday night. John would usually show up shortly after I arrived then Diana would make her grand entrance showing off her stuff as she paraded to the table, then Kieran would stop by for a short time just to catch up with the events of the week.

This week was no different from any other one except for the fact that Nancy joined us and I knew that if I kept playing with Jordan, she would be sitting beside me before the night was through.

I had been listening to a local radio station playing “One Headlight” just as I was pulling in the parking lot and I knew that the song was a sign of things to come and a remembrance of things past and a feeling of Déjà vu swept over me.

After I parked the car and walked in through the front door I found what I find every Wednesday evening, Nancy’s smile greeting me and her moist lips smiling with that come hither smile. “Table for four tonight Lance?” She asked. “Nope, tonight I will need a table for six.” “Six?” She asked. “Yes, six.” “Tonight I will be having some special guests joining me and two of them will be you and Jordan.”

Nancy looked stunned as she stammered, “I won’t be joining you tonight, I’m on duty until ten and Jordan doesn’t get off until eleven.”

“It doesn’t matter, you will be joining us.” I countered.

Nancy looked at me, took a deep breath and mustered up her strength to say, “And what makes you so sure that I would want to sit with you?”

“Nancy, if you spend just five minutes listening to my story tonight, you won’t be able to leave the table AND you will want to invite Jordan to join in.” “I know how much the two you love a great story and I’ll be telling one that you won’t ever forget, that’s how I know that you will be joining us.”

“Don’t hold your breath Lance.” Nancy chuckled as she led me over to a table that could easily seat eight people.

“I guess you subconsciously believe me after all Nancy.” “What do you mean?” Nancy asked. “Well, you put me at a table that could seat eight and not six, so I guess you think that we may even have more people joining us when I start telling my story.”

Nancy dropped the menus on the table and said as she turned to walk away, “Jordan will be your server tonight.”

“Ah, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.” I said.

I would usually have some snacks and appetizers ordered before anyone else would show up so when Jordan came over, I ordered a basket of the fried mushrooms, chili cheese fries and a Coke Zero for me. Everybody else would order their drinks when they showed up.

I felt Nancy’s stocking foot running up the inside of my thigh and it startled me back to the present.

“What were you thinking about Lance?” Nancy coyly asked. “And what are you thinking about now, big boy?” She chuckled.

“The story, I was thinking about the story, that’s all.” I said.

Diane leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips and asked, “Where do you get your material and how do you decide how the characters evolve into who they are on paper?”

“Well, a very long time ago a very successful writer told me that you have to live life to be able to write about it, so that’s what I try and do, live life and then take snippets of it and roll it into a cohesive story.” “I don’t dwell on peoples faults and issues, rather these become the springboard along with their life experiences that define the characters in the story.” “So, if I say that Alice had a failed marriage or adulterous relationship, those aren’t slams, but rather experiences that helped develop her character into what it is.”

“I’m also a very detail oriented writer and I never forget even the most subtle of details that most other individuals would overlook or never even notice and I like to bring these out in my characters, it helps bring them to life.” “Even the name of this bar comes from an event in the past that I never forgot and it taught me everything that I needed to know about protecting myself.”

“By the way Diane, last week you were wearing a leopard print demi-bra with black scallop edging. You also were wearing the new Chanel perfume that I gave you and you had multicolored eye shadow on tan, brown and copper.”

“How do you remember all of that?” A shocked Diane asked.

“Physical aliments are also often part of life and they help to mold, shape and manufacture people and characters into who they are, how they grow in the story context and what strengths they can draw from to overcome challenges.” “Also, all of my current stories draw upon a supernatural element, hence the rabbit hole.”

“So, does that help a little Diane?” “I really don’t want to tell you more right now, because it may ruin the rest of the story.”

Diane shook her head, leaned over for another kiss and said, “Let’s get back to it.”