"Yes, okay. I'll be fine." Kris talks on her phone as she steps into Lager Lounge, one of the few bars located in the downtown district of Riverside. The music, both live singing and faint tunes playing from a jukebox, and commotion make it hard to hear her own words. "Taylor, I gotta go—I'm here. Okay, I will. Bye."

The bar is dimly lit, except for the neon blue lights bordering the room's ceiling. A platform is raised up on the left with a small crowd gathered in front of it, round tables randomly scattered among them. To her right is a bar that wraps around in a rectangular shape. Around it, people are laughing hysterically, some are cheering, and most are drinking. It's the first time she has ever been in a place like this.

On the stage, a slender young man—not much older than her—plucks at the strings of his guitar. He sings an acoustic cover of Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap.

"Sweet disposition..." He flashes a quick smile as he gazes at the audience and, for a brief moment, locks eyes with her. He looks back down at his guitar and continues to play.

She stares at him, mesmerized by his voice, before catching herself. She turns to look around the room as she slowly approaches the bar.

Cesar stands on the other side of the bar, the corner furthest from her, eyes locked onto her as he takes a sip of his drink. She glances his way, recognizing him but not quite sure from where. They've crossed each other several times in the school hallways—but that wasn't it. Hasn't she seen him somewhere else?

From the other side of the counter, the bartender snatches a bottle of tequila as he passes by.

"Excuse me." He turns to Kris, who leans halfway over the counter to attempt to talk over the music. "Can I get a coke please?"

He snags a whiskey glass and uses it to scoop up ice from a metal bucket. Among the many beer taps is a blank knob marked with the letter 'C' and he tilts the handle to dispense the soda, filling the glass up to its rim. With an eerie grin on his face, he slowly slides the drink to Kris as she digs through her wallet for cash.

"It's on me." He says, biting his bottom lip, and slowly sets a straw in her glass with his bare hand. He's in his late thirties, if not forties. Far too old for her.

She lowers her wallet to her lap as she reaches over to grab the drink. "Thanks." She looks away awkwardly, pulling the straw out and leaving it on the countertop as she takes a seat in one of the nearby barstools.

She swivels the stool to turn around, her eyes scanning the bar area. Ian had said he was going to be wearing a red baseball cap, but she isn't spotting one. From a corner booth, she notices a man wearing a red and white snapback, but he laughs as he leans across the table to kiss his wife.

Maybe he got impatient and left. After all, she is over ten minutes late. Most of that was spent outside in the parking lot as she debated whether or not to actually go through with this.

The musician looks up from his guitar, plucking the last string—the single chord echoing throughout the room. The audience cheers as he pulls away from the microphone and stands up from the barstool. "Thank you!" He shouts, smiling as he carries his guitar over to the steps to walk down from the platform and into the crowd.

The bartender leans forward. "So, what's a pretty young thing like yourself doing in a place like this?"

She cocks an eyebrow as she turns to him. She feels the embarrassment setting in. And the regret. "You know what, that's a great question. I—I don't even know."

"It looks to me like you're waiting for someone." She doesn't respond as he stares at her, his eyes peering down at her lower body. "A girl like you shouldn't be kept waiting."

"Okay." She says, trying to shrug the creep off.

"You know—"

"Larry," He's suddenly cut off as the singer leans his guitar against the bar as he climbs into one of the stools. "A Jack and coke please."

The bartender, or shall we say Larry, slips back toward the liquor cabinet centered behind the bar. "Coming right up."

The singer turns to Kris and the two smile at one another. She feels as if he had just saved her life.

"Ian?"

"Jesse." He smiles. "Good guess though."

Her cheeks quickly turn pink. "I'm sorry, I thought maybe you were someone else." She grabs the wallet from her lap, seizing the opportunity to flee, as she begins to lift herself from the barstool.

"Online dating?" Jesse asks as Larry returns with his drink.

Larry's face scrunches in jealousy as he notices the two talking. "Open tab?"

Shaking his head, Jesse slides his credit card to him. "Nah. Close it."

Kris blushes as she adjusts herself back into the seat. "That obvious?"

"Let's just say... Been there, suffered that." He laughs and takes a sip of his drink. "You have to be careful on those apps. You never know what kind of person you're gonna meet."

Anxiously, she runs her finger along the rim of the glass. "It wasn't an app. YouTube actually."

"YouTube? That's a new one."

"Just to clarify, I don't get on there for dating."

"Just dropped a comment and got lucky?" He smiles playfully.

Laughing, she gazes into his eyes and crosses her legs. "More like someone dropped a comment on me."

"Oh I see. Nice." He nods. "So what, you post a blog or something?"

"I sing."

His eyebrows raise and, if she hasn't already, she fully catches his interest. "Really? Let's hear it."

"Sure." Kris pulls out her phone and clicks the YouTube app. "I mean, I don't know if you'll be able to hear it in here."

"No." He laughs, turning to look at the stage. "Let's hear it."

"... Right now?" Her eyes follow his gaze and she reluctantly shakes her head. "No. I can't."

"Oh, come on."

"No. I'm not ready for that." She sighs, the thought of performing in front of one person—let alone a whole room pull of strangers—is dreadful enough. "I don't even have my guitar."

"Good thing I don't leave home without mine." He smiles, glimpsing at the guitar lying next to his feet. "Besides, looks to me like you got stood up."

She scoffs. "Gee, thanks for pointing that out."

"A move the jackass will regret." He stares at her, his tone serious but a smile still on his face.

"I can't. Like I said, I'm not ready for..." She glances back to gesture at the platform. "That!"

He takes another sip of his drink. "First time singing in front of people?"

"Other than my brother. Yes." Her smile fades as she lets out a disappointed sigh. This night was meant to be a distraction from everything. From Daniel. And she couldn't even go more than ten minutes without bringing him up.

Jesse notices something is on her mind and lightly nudges her shoulder. "Hey. If you want, I could go up there with you. You sing, I play. I can even have my drummer buddy over there join in."

"How would you know the chords?"

"I'll make them up as I go."

He's persistent, she'll give him that. She thinks about the lyrics she had finally finished writing the other night, but couldn't find the right beat to put to the song. Maybe she could use those, and this guy—this complete stranger she just met—could add life to the words.

It's a song she wrote about Daniel. About all the shit she's been through lately. Maybe singing it in front of an audience could be an alternative way of opening up to people. Without the actual talking part.

She smiles, trying to appear confident. "Okay."

"Okay?" He asks excitedly, his grin widening.

She laughs. "Okay, yes! Fine. When?"

He chugs the rest of his drink, making Kris wish she had one of her own to calm her nerves, as Larry returns with his card. He grabs the card, sliding it into his wallet as he rises from the stool. "Right now."

"Right now?" Her poker face quickly turns into a nervous frown as her bluff drops.

"Hey, I'll be up there with you." He grabs her hand, politely helping her from her seat. "I got ya, —" He cuts himself off, realizing that he doesn't even know her name.

"Oh, Kris by the way." She laughs, still holding onto his hand as she shakes it.

His smile widens. "Nice to meet you, Kris. Now what do you say we go kick some melodic ass?"

"Let's do it." She says, feeling a bit more calm, as she slowly slips her hand out of his grip.

Still smiling, Jesse turns toward the crowd. He leads the way as they cut through the small audience, and the closer they approach the stage the more Kris feels her nerves kicking in.

From the other side of the bar, a watered-down drink sits on the countertop. The condensation on the side of the glass makes a thick ring of water around it, as it's been sitting there for quite some time.

Cesar is gone.

♫ sᴡᴇᴇᴛ ᴅɪsᴘᴏsɪᴛɪᴏɴ / ᴅɪᴏɢᴏ ᴘɪçᴀʀʀᴀ ♫