***alright...I'm posting again as Catherine...I'm playing her until anyone decides they are interested.***
She pulled her vehicle to a harsh stop outside the Highball Bar, and noticed that it seemed a bit full for this early at night. Usually by this time, only a few regulars were hanging out, but then again it was football season. Opening the door to the bar, she bypassed the bouncer and took a seat at the bar.
"What can I get ya?"
"A gin and tonic, but make it a double," Catherine spouted at the bar tender.
"A double huh? Coming right up."
She looked up at the television and was grateful that in fact a football game was airing instead of the gossipy news. How did her life suddenly get dragged down to mere nothingness. She smiled at the bar tender as he set her drink in front of her, and she downed in one gulp as her mind heedlessly thought about what this could all mean for her. This was a nasty mess, and if Ecklie hadn't gotten wind over this it would only be a matter of time. Her job could easily be on the line because her past life was leaving a dingy after affect on the LVPD.
"Another one please."
The bar tender looked at her with a raised eyebrow as he poured her another drink.
"What?" Catherine asked as she made herself more comfortable on the bar stool.
"It's just been a long time since I've seen a woman down liquor like that."
"Then don't watch me. Look, if I need to get a cab at the end of the night... I will."
"Who shit on your day?" The bartender chuckled as he slid the drink in front of her.
"Who didn't... is more like the question. It's just been a long day."
"Call me Buzz," the bartender whispered as he wiped at the counter in front of Catherine. "I will have your next drink ready before you finish this one."
"Thanks," Catherine mumbled as she noticed a woman staring at her. She just chalked it up to someone recognizing her from the news, and did her best not to start a fight. Sitting back in her chair, she noticed a man a few chairs down from her ogling at her. She looked away as the woman moved to a table closer to where Catherine was sitting.
"You drinking alone?" She jumped momentarily as she felt a finger trace down her arm. It seemed everyone was playing musical chairs tonight because the guy that she noticed before was now sitting right next to her.
"What's it to you?"
His eyes moved to her lips as his hand moved bolder, and his fingers left circled marks on her thigh. "If you drink with me, me and my buds can show you a really... really good time."
Catherine chuckled at his come on, and motioned the bar tender for another drink. "I don't need you or your buddies to have a really good time. I'm very capable of that on my own."
"Tom... you've managed to piss the lady off already," came a light jovial voice from behind her. Whirling around in her stool, an older grayed hair man stood in front of her. "I'm Franklin, and this here is Tom. I hope he's not bothering you too much."
Catherine looked between the two men as she sipped on her drink. What the hell was going on she found herself wondering? But she decided to play along. "Tom seems a few too many gone, and you seem to be trailing right behind him!"
Franklin chuckled as he took a seat next to her. "Sounds to me that someone just needs to catch up! My friend Jim, whose over there needs to catch up himself. Why don't you join us?"
Catherine looked over at the table he gestered at, and his friend Jim looked a bit uncomfortable as he sloshed his straw around in his drink. He didn't really match his two other friends that were dressed in business suits minus their jackets. Jim had on a pair of blue jeans with a plaid polo shirt, and his loafer shoes seemed like they had been through many miles. "What the hell," she whispered as she sighed hard, and picked up her drink.
They bypassed the table that the woman was sitting at, and Catherine could not help but feel as though she was being watched.