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All Roads Lead To Sol...Unless Stated Otherwise: Chapter 2
Posted By: S7N<n.j.r.jones@brighton.ac.uk>
Date: 12 June 2003, 10:58 PM
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Chapter 2
2030 Hours, March 16, 2547 (Military Calendar) /
151st Street, Downtown New York
Earth
Then they both reared back in laughter as the bigger man reached over the bar and nearly pulled Manny over it as he gave him a huge bear hug. Manny wrapped his arms around the other man's shoulders, slapping his back as he did so.
"I thought you were at boot camp you snotty nosed brat!" the barman said. He released Manny and let him slip down back to the ground.
"I'm on leave for a couple of days, so I thought I'd come and see how this dive is doing!" the bigger man laughed at the comment.
"How's the army treating ya?" the barman boomed. "You turned gay yet from showering with other men?" a grin lined the bottom half of his face and he rested his hands on the taps in front of him.
"Good, but it's tiring." He grinned back at the older man. "How's business?"
"As good as could be expected, I suppose." The comment was a joke. Callers had always been one of the most well-known bars in this part of New York and it was never short of customers. "What'll it be pal?"
"The usual, please, Tank." He said, then realised he had completely forgotten about Sarah. He turned around and saw she was standing with a bemused look on her face behind him. "Oh, Tank, I'd like you to meet someone." He pulled her forwards to the bar. "Sarah, this is Pete "the Tank" Bucannan. Pete, this is Sarah." Tank wiped his hand down his already dirty vest and stretched it out across the bar. Sarah paused for a second, then took his hand. He shook it gently, then released her.
"Hello there, little lady." Manny didn't think Tank's smile couldn't get any bigger but it did. "So, you Jonny boys new love, eh?"
"No," Manny exclaimed, and shot him an evil stare. "She is at boot camp with me." Sarah chuckled.
"Pleased to meet you Tank." She said, nodding in his direction, then shooting Manny a sly grin.
"What would you like to drink?" Tank asked. "Anything you want, I can get ya!"
"I'll have a beer please." Manny took a step back and stared at her in bewilderment.
"A beer? Don't you want a glass of wine or something?" she shot him a look of disgust and whacked him in the stomach. Tank chuckled and ambled off down to the other end of the bar.
"What?" Manny exclaimed. He grinned at her, as she stepped up to the bar.
"A glass of wine? I'm not the upper-class rich bitch you obviously think I am." The tone in her voice matched the angry look on her face.
"I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry." He widened his grin. She smiled gently at him, looking deep into his eyes. She leant close to him and moved her lips up to his ear.
"I know you didn't." she lingered for a moment then moved back to face the bar. Tank appeared a moment later with two frothy glasses of an amber coloured liquid. The glasses were surprisingly clean, betraying the dirty barman. He winked at them both. Manny reached for his back pocket but Tank held a hand out.
"C'mon, kid. You know you ain't gotta pay me!" Manny checked the motion and picked up one of the beers, handing it to Sarah.
"I'm gonna go see if I can spot our friends." She said, sipping at her glass. She brushed his arm with her hand and moved away from the bar and into the crowds beyond. Manny found himself staring after her, then shook his head and turned back to the bar.
"So where'd you pick her up?" Tank said, a sly grin on his face.
"I didn't pick her up anywhere. It just so happens that she lives two floors above me." Tank whistled.
"She must be loaded!"
"Hey, I live up there ya know!" many said. He sipped his beer, allowing the cool liquid to slide down his throat. The bitter taste caught in his throat and he closed his eyes in pleasure. He gulped down some more and felt the potency kick in. It was the first drink he'd had for three months and it tasted good.
"She's really something, Jon. You got yourself a good'un."
"Hey, we're just friends." Manny replied. He took a few more deep gulps of the beer then set it down on the bar.
"Hell, you said that about Sandra, and you nearly ended up marrying her four months later!" his comment was followed by a deep belly laugh.
"Yeah, well that was a long time ago!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a smallish cubic box. He flipped the top open and withdrew a cigarette. Placing the packet back in his pocket, he pulled the safety strip off and tapped it against the bar, igniting the stick. He placed it in his mouth and took a long pull on it. He inhaled, taking it in, then breathed out again, letting the smoke trail from his mouth.
"I thought you quit." Tank muttered.
"You try doing what I've been doing for the passed few months." He looked over at Tank.
"Well, I gotta get back to the thirsty people." Tank said, nodding towards Manny. Manny nodded back, picked up his glass and moved off into the crowds, puffing on his cigarette as he did so. It wasn't long before he noticed Sarah's dress from underneath a nearby table. It wasn't as if she stood out among the others, the mix of people in here ranged from the neat and tidy to the down right dirty. But it was like she had a presence, one he couldn't help but feel.
He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth with one hand and fed the beer into his mouth with the other as he moved over to the table where she was. She sat in the middle of two rather large men, who each had two girls either side of them. The four girls were dressed similarly to Sarah, sitting prim and proper, sipping various drinks. He recognised two of them; Tanya and Grace. Tanya had short black hair, down to her shoulders. She was pale, but attractive. Grace the complete opposite and was of African origin, dark black skin, which contrasted heavily with the pink streaks she had in her hair.
The other two ladies were sitting the other side of them; one had short blonde hair, the other had long blonde hair and he didn't recognise either of them. They must have been friends of Sarah's or something. They sat eyeing up the two lads like tigers eyeing up young deer. They were all beautiful young ladies, but none of them matched up to Sarah.
And the two men obviously thought so, too. There attention was wholly given to talking to Sarah. He recognised them both instantly; Greggs and Harris.
They were both big guys, but Greggs was more fat than muscle. He wore a plain white shirt, his belly slightly protruding from the bottom. His hair was the same sandy colour as Manny's but a little shorter. He was always smiles and laughs and Manny had warmed to him the first instance they met. He was one of the few people Manny really spoke to.
Harris, on the other hand was a different story. The man was pure muscle, and the tight black suit he wore made this all the more obvious. He hat jet black hair, closely cropped like every other male, but his seemed to have that arrogant style about it, just like the man's personality. He was handsome in a way, but his bullishness dulled it considerably. He and Manny hadn't hit it off so well. Through all the training exercises, Manny had come first, with Harris not too far behind, but whereas Manny put it down to the fact that it was mostly luck, Harris refused to say it was anything other than pure skill.
They had never exchanged a bad word, but Manny could tell the big man didn't like him. And right now, Manny couldn't help but feel the same back as Harris chatted to Sarah as if they were lovers. He brushed her leg every now and then, and sat with an arm behind her, as if to say "She's with me."
As Manny neared the table, Sarah was the first one to notice him. She looked up and smiled at him. "Hey there." She called to him. He stepped up to the table and pulled over a stool, setting it down next to Tanya. He put his glass down on the table and took a long drag on his cigarette as he sat. As he did so he couldn't help but notice all eyes turn to him.
"Hey" he said sheepishly.
"This is Jon, everybody." Sarah said. "You know Tanya, Grace and Greggs, don't you?" Manny looked at them and smiled. He got a warm grin from Tanya and a sly smile from Grace. Greggs stood up and extended a hand out to him. Manny took it and received a hard hand-shake from the man.
"How you doin' buddy?" Greggs said in a thick Australian accent. Manny winked at him and sat back down.
"You know Dan don't you?" Sarah said, motioning to Harris. The man looked disapprovingly at him, but managed a smile.
"Yes," Manny replied "we've met." Neither man went to offer a hand.
"These are my two flat mates," Sarah continued, pointing to the ladies to his right. "This is Hannah," she said, pointing to the one with the short blonde hair, "and this is Reece," he nodded politely at them. They both gave him a girlish smile, then swapped looks with each other. He couldn't help but feel their eyes on him when he turned to the other two women. As he did so, Harris and Greggs went back to talking to Sarah, and he heard Sarah's friends whisper with one another.
"So," he said, aiming his voice at Tanya and Grace. "How you finding training?"
"Tough!" Tanya replied. "It's exhausting at points as well."
"Yeah," Grace exclaimed, "Drill Sergeant Pom can be a real tight ass sometimes."
"You're doin' well though, aren't you?" Tanya said. "So far you've come top in everything!" she seemed to stare at him a little too hard. As he moved his stool forwards more so he could get into the conversation he felt her foot brush against his shin.
"Yeah, I guess so." He replied. "It's like I said, it's just luck. You guys aren't too bad yourselves." Tanya gave a sheepish smile and Grace shot him a bemused look, then broke into laughter.
"Stop bullshitting yourself." Grace barked. Manny had spoken to the two of them briefly before, but he found himself liking them more than he thought he would.
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