Next, I take a moment to look around the bar and see a group of guys in the corner staring at me. They range in age and are surrounding a table of older men. One of them looks really familiar to me, but I can’t quite place him. I give them a little nod and receive nothing back.
I turn back around to smile at Savannah and feel someone put their hand on my shoulder. I know it’s one of the guys from the table before I look. My shoulder tenses but I stay still waiting to s
ee what he’s going to do.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming in here tonight, Maxwell.” He says and I push his hand away and stand up.
I’m not exactly known for having the most level head when confronted, but since hiring Thomas as my agent, I’ve really tried to work on the whole turning your other cheek thing. Most of the time. This guy can kiss my ass. I don’t even know who he is but I hate him already.
I try to keep my cool while at the same time sizing him up. Thomas would be proud of me. For how long is yet to be seen. He's the one who can speak rationally when his blood is boiling. If he were here, the situation might not be as dire.
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t know you.” I say as I look at him and the other three guys he’s brought up with him. The older men still sit at the table looking my way and I feel a bit threatened. I’m not one to back down though, even though I know this is not going to end well.
The man’s face is blotchy with anger. His ham-like fists are curled in at his sides. The threat in his eyes very real. He leans closer into my personal space. “Your father. He just thinks he can lay off people for no good reason. We’ve got families, we’ve got mortgages.” His breath reeks of whiskey and cigarettes.
I frown at him, trying to think of the best way to defuse the situation. There’s really not one so I do the best I can. The bouncer’s words making more sense. My father would screw up my night without even knowing it. “I don’t have anything to do with what my father does,” I sit back down at the bar. “Let me just enjoy my drink, and we can all just go about our lives.” If only this would work, but my day doesn’t seem to be going the way I want it to. In my experience people already itching for a fight will follow through, the testosterone has already taken over their whole body.
Savannah brings my drink over and looks concerned. “You okay here, honey?” she asks, her blue eyes darting from me then back to the men. I shake my head to tell her it’s fine. She scatters away and I hope she is getting help.
Rage tints the guy’s voice as he speaks. “No, we don’t have a life to go to anymore, thanks to your asshole father, and the best I can tell is that if we can’t enjoy our lives, neither can you. We’re going to send a message to your daddy about laying off people who’ve dedicated their lives to his company.”
Okay, things are about to get way out of hand. I toss back the rest of my drink and slide off my stool to face him. I guess I am a glutton for punishment because instead of just walking away, I open my mouth. “What message do you think you’re going to send using me, huh? I barely talk to him.” And as soon as I ask the question I know the answer and I know it’s going to hurt.
He smiles and punches me in the face hard knocking me completely backward. I knew he was spoiling for a fight, but damn, that was one hell of a punch. I don’t really have time to contemplate anything as I climb to my feet. I work my jaw back and forth, making sure it’s not broken and then take a swing, but I’m not quick enough. Two of the dude’s buddies have stepped forward and grabbed a hold of me, slinging me around trapping me for more punishment.
People are chanting around us most of them not on my side. Savannah screams for them to leave me alone, but it falls on deaf ears. I should have made her meet me when she got off work. I shouldn't go into bars without security guards I know and VIP sections that I can hide in.
Because I know I need to keep my mouth shut but often lack the ability, I pipe up. “If you wanted to dance, all you had to do was ask. You’re not my type but . . .” That’s as far as I get as they hold my arms back and the first guy pummels me again. This time he gets me in the eye. Stars explode around my vision as my neck is snapped back. Thomas is going to kick my ass when he sees my face. He’s scheduled for me to get new headshots this week and I’m sure he was not going for the ground meat look.
I’m getting pissed. Not just because this guy and his lackeys outnumber me, but because they have a valid reason to be pissed at my old man. However, that is not my fault. I’m sick of getting treated like an asshole because of my dickhead father. I’m enough of an asshole in my own life not to need any extra. I stiffen my spine and spit a stream of blood on the floor. “You’re a real big man, gotta fight with your cronies holding me back,” I smirk at him because there’s no way I’m backing down now. Even though this is my dad’s fight.
“He’s right. Let him go,” the guy is really amped up now. “I’ve wanted to hit this dickhead since high school.”
Great more of my past is coming back to haunt me. I wasn’t that big of a dick in high school that I remember. The other guys let me go and I put my hands up ready to defend myself.
“Nope, get the hell out of here now,” a large man is coming from the back of the bar. I assume he’s the owner or an angel. “Doug get in here and get these men out.”
The bouncer comes in and grabs me by my shirt. He laughs as he pulls me towards the door. “I told you to watch your ass, dumbass.”
“Well next time could you be more specific? “I spit out my jaw aching.
“Doug all these men have to go,” I hear the guy screaming at the bouncer behind me.
“He didn’t pay for his drink,” I hear Savannah screech as she points at me. Everyone stops for a fraction of a second to stare at her outburst. I’m the only one who knows what it was really about. She doesn’t care about that or me. She cares that she can’t get her fix if I don’t give her the twenty.
The bouncer pulls me away from the bar and we go by the table of older men and they still sit there just observing. One of the older gentlemen sitting around the table nods his head at me.
I hear Savannah screaming, “Let me go, Vince. He didn’t pay. Let me go get the money.”
He must be holding her back. I don’t care for coke, it’s not my drug of choice. I have no problem getting it for her anytime and letting her have it, and it is a fun time when we get high together. She needs to stop acting like a fool if she doesn’t get her shit together, however, they’re going to catch on. I will her to calm the hell down as the bouncer makes it outside with me.
“Those guys get to stay and drink?” I mutter as I rub my jaw.
“They’re regulars, rich boy, they come in all the time. You’re the outsider here. Whatever you were bringing the bartender, take it with you. She’s a nice girl, and I will call the cops.”
I snort when he says, nice girl. He has no idea how deep in the nose candy she is. The threat of the cops is what stops me from running my mouth. She has never gotten it from me before, and the guy I got it from told me he's seen her hanging around his dealer. She's no stranger to the scene or the high.
The older man from the table walks out into the parking lot. He's smoking a cigarette and flicks it at my feet as he walks towards me. I ignore this disrespectful gesture because I'm curious what he has to say.