Six years ago.
Friday nights at THE Ohio State University weren’t a party for Derek Pace. He’d had enough drunken stupors to last a lifetime while he’d been in the Marine Corps. Doubling down on classes was first and foremost on his mind. His brother, Mike, had told him he was crazy for the amount of classes he’d taken every summer, but Derek was bound and determined to complete a master’s degree in history in a short amount of time. His parents had left them both a sizable trust when they died, but the trust was not to be accessed until each brother had started college. Which was smart on their part, since Derek knew he’d have blown through that sizable amount of cash in a year or two partying up and down the Carolina coast.
However, tonight Derek needed to get out. He would’ve called Mike, but he knew every other Friday evening, Mike had a three-hour class at the same university. Through a family friend, Derek secured a rather tasteful apartment at the Uncommon Apartments complex and though one could say that he was living the life at an exclusive apartment near one of the more respectable colleges in the country, Derek’s nose was in his books, day in and day out. He talked to no one other than his professors and the other students he may have to work with on group projects. If he saw a girl smile at him as he walked the campus, he simply nodded and kept walking with the chiseled stone look he gave everyone. He did not look angry, but determined. Seeing some of the horrific slaughter that had been done in Afghanistan in the short time he’d been there; Derek wasted no time on relationships. No time on foolish prospects. No time on drunken one night stands. He wanted to better himself. Granted, he knew this wasn’t all there was to college life, but he wanted to make the most of the time that was given him. Simply put, a woman just wasn’t in the cards right now.
It was a little more than a mile to The Library Bar from his apartment. The autumn air and the colorful trees, in his third year in Columbus, were simply too refreshing to not enjoy a brisk walk. He grabbed a light khaki jacket on his way out the door. He tucked his phone in his right jean pocket and headed down North High Street. Cars passed slowly as traffic was bustling. People were walking and talking in groups of fours and fives. He looked up at the stars and then at his watch. It was a quarter after nine. The breeze was light and the rustling leaves reminded him of Minnesota. Ohio wasn’t all that different. He didn’t miss Minnesota; just the summertime and the short autumn season, and of course, his late parents. He reconnected with his brother after Mike’s enlistment ended two years after Derek had finished his own four-year commitment. Though Derek was fortunate to not have to spend much time in combat; Mike, on the other hand, had seen some shit. Though he rarely talked about it, there had been a few drunken nights when Mike burst into tears and spilled the beans. They had stayed close throughout their time in the military and even after Derek had gotten out and moved to Columbus. Without their parents, they had one grandmother left in Wisconsin, but no one else. They made a pact to always be there for each other and they both had honored that agreement.
Derek walked by the Pharoah’s Hookah Café, then Barnes & Noble, a museum, and finally he took a short detour onto West Lane Avenue before making his way to The Library Bar. It was a dive bar that Derek enjoyed. He’d only been to a couple bars in the district. He enjoyed a pizza place in the German district and a few of the Asian eateries, but by and large, Chipotle was his home away from home before heading to the library.
He slipped onto a bar stool at the far left side of the room. As much as he was hoping to jump in on a game of pool, he’d just downloaded GK Chesterton’s Heretics to his Kindle and he was anxious to dive in. He ordered a Samuel Adams Oktoberfest from the bartender and pulled out his tablet. He was roughly three chapters in when he had stopped to order one more beer. He set down his tablet and looked around the place. The bar was packed. People shooting pool where a heavyset Latino groaned as he missed a shot and people were laughing in español. There was a KISS pinball machine at one end where a couple of guys in Browns jerseys were screaming at their friend who was furiously smashing the buttons. Derek ran his fingers through his dark, brown hair as he began turning his stool back toward the bar.
“Ya know, most people read at the library, not The Library Bar,” someone called out.
Derek turned around on the barstool. A trio of beautiful women was sitting nearby at a wooden bench with cocktails in front of them. They were all smiling, but the two brunettes on the left and the right were looking at the blonde in the middle as she smiled a solid, pearly white smile right at him.
“You’re probably right about that,” Derek said with a firm nod. He didn’t smile, but his heart was racing and he didn’t know what to do, so he turned back around on the barstool and took a swig of beer. He attempted to pick up his tablet and pretend he was going to hop right back into a book on Christian apologetics, but he was only fooling himself.
“Okay then,” the blonde called out. Derek could hear the disappointment in her voice, but he’d been hurt before and that wall immediately went up and that’s when he realized that this was why his heart was racing.
Suddenly someone else called out in a completely different tone of voice.
“Holy shit. As I live and breathe,” a thundering male voice called out. “Derek fucking Pace.”
The bar seemed to stand still for a moment as Derek looked over at the bar’s entrance to see one person he never thought he’d again see in his life. Lance Corporal Charlie Croker. The biggest asshat he’d ever met in his life and one who, at least to his acknowledge, should never have walked away with an honorable discharge. He had contempt for everyone. He wasn’t just a racist prick. If he didn’t think you were also an inbred sonofabitch from backwoods Kentucky, like himself, you had no business in the Corps. He still had one of those stupid high and tight haircuts that should’ve been disavowed by the entire military establishment.
“You think that dark head of hair would cover that smug mug of yours, Pace?”
Derek took another swig of beer.
“Croker, what’s up, man?”
“Don’t what’s up me,” Croker snapped. The man was as big as an ox. Derek knew Croker played lineman in high school. Only because the dumb ox would never shut up about it. Derek was amazed Croker hadn’t walked into the bar wearing a seven year old letter jacket.
Derek didn’t move. He sized up the man. He wore a tight black polo, blue jeans that were also tight, and black loafers. The hick was actually stylish and didn’t have an ounce of fat on his body. A hillbilly version of The Rock approached him. Derek cursed to himself as his eyes darted to the exits.
“You need to get the hell out of here before I call the police,” the bartender hollered at Croker, pointing at the main entrance.
“Outside Pace,” Croker snapped.
“What’d I do?” Derek asked. He knew full well what he’d done. A few years back, he’d broken Charlie Croker’s nose. Why? Because Croker started a fight with someone else on the dock at an Italian port and rather than see their liberty pass revoked while on a short week’s leave, Derek snuck up on a drunk Croker, put him in a full Nelson, and slammed him face first into the dock. The problem here was Charlie Croker clearly wasn’t drunk.
“Excuse me,” the blonde called out. She stood up and walked over to Derek, putting her arm in the crux of his and leaning into him. “We were actually having a conversation.”
“Oh yeah,” Croker demanded. “About what?”
The blonde looked past Derek at his Kindle.
“We were talking about the theologian, GK Chesterton,” she said. Derek tried desperately to hold in a groan.
Croker laughed.
“Theologian? Ya found Jesus, did ya Pace?” Croker smirked.
“More or less,” Derek said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Croker asked in spite.
“It means I apologize for breaking your nose. I was trying to keep us all out of trouble, but you’re a big bastard and your weight took us both down.”
“That was my fault?” Croker looked at Derek in disbelief. “You’re almost the same size I am!”
“The point is, I didn’t mean for that to happen. I don’t want any trouble, especially with this nice lady right here between us.”
The blonde looked at Derek in surprise as if she wasn’t sure he was going to defend her honor.
“I tell you what,” Derek said standing up and stepping in front of the blonde. “We both leave as the bartender requested, and I’ll buy you a beer elsewhere and we can catch up. Or---.”
Derek leaned in so fast it caught Charlie Croker off guard and he stepped back as Derek grabbed his neck, whispering into Croker’s ear. Croker’s face turned beet red. He looked at Derek and nodded slowly.
“Forget it, man,” Croker said with a sudden change of heart. “Sorry I bothered ya.”
Croker turned on his heels and walked out of the bar. Apparently, he had two companions, that Derek hadn’t noticed, who looked on in disbelief before following him out.
“Apologies, sir,” Derek said to the bartender who simply nodded back. Derek slammed the rest of his beverage.
“Thanks for stepping in, miss,” Derek said gratefully as he zipped up his coat. “No, seriously.”
“Wait a minute,” she said. “What’d you say to him?”
“It’s best you don’t know,” Derek said with a grin.
She smiled back at him though she still looked confused as to what just happened.
“You’re just going to leave?” she asked.
“I’m not looking to get into a bar fight,” Derek said. “You were right. The library is a better place to read than the bar.”
“I didn’t say that,” she said. “I said most people read at the library. I didn’t say it was better.”
“But wouldn’t that be the implication?” Derek asked.
“True, but if you’re going to quote me, get it right.”
The blonde was smiling at him and they locked eyes for what seemed like, at least to Derek, an eternity.
She wore her hair just to her shoulders. She was naturally blonde, sparkling blue eyes, with a tweed, unbuttoned jacket over an olive colored turtle neck that showed just enough of a fit physique. Her dark blue jeans completed the rest of the outfit with what looked like mahogany hiking boots. He looked up again into her eyes and they never left his. She slipped onto the stool next to him and ordered an Americano. Derek asked for a glass of water.
“Where are you from?” Derek asked.
“Michigan,” she said. “You?”
“Minnesota,” Derek said.
“So what exactly did I just witness?” she asked.
“We had an altercation a few years back in the marines,” he said.
“Is he from Minnesota too?” she asked.
“No. In fact, I never thought I’d see that guy again.”
“Well, he left in a hurry,” she said. Her facial expression was giving off the vibe that she eagerly awaited a good story.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” he said bluntly.
She looked hurt.
“Maybe another time,” he said after a moment’s pause.
He forgot the time. Her smile and warmth made his wall slowly crumble. About an hour went by and Derek hadn’t noticed that he’d moved onto history, finding out the blonde’s father was an archaeologist and she was fascinated with history as well. They talked about politics, philosophy, and pop culture before her two friends rudely interrupted them.
“Elizabeth, we’re gonna take off,” one of the brunettes said looking a bit tipsy.
“You gonna be alright?” the other asked looking at me and then back at the girl next to me on the barstool.
“I’ll be fine,” Elizabeth said with a warm smile. “Are you two going to be alright?”
“We got a cab,” the first brunette mumbled as she moved toward the door. “See ya tomorrow.”
“See ya, girls,” they both called out simultaneously before laughing at themselves for having done so.
“So,” Derek said. “Elizabeth. It’s nice to meet you.” Derek lifted his right hand to shake.
She took his hand and squeezed it.
“Nice to meet you, Derek,” she smiled that warm smile again. She didn’t let go of his hand. “But I want you to call me, Lizzy.”
“Nice to meet you, Lizzy.”
They kept holding hands while staring at each other grinning. He didn’t want to let her go. The way she squeezed his hand; he knew she must’ve felt the same. He’d never experienced anything like this before.
“So are you going to tell me what you whispered to the big guy?”
“Lizzy,” Derek began. “I’m going to be really honest with you when I say that it’s best you never know.”
