Overdue Drinks - For nerdherdchuck

[literary_james]

Chuck was a nice guy. No, Chuck was an awesome guy. He and James had connected at their first conversation, and had been talking so long about catching drinks together that for James, it had almost become a running joke. He figured that it was about time they actually do something about it, and so James had sent Chuck a text with the address of his

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[nerdherdchuck]

"All right," Chuck began with a sigh. "But be prepared for a ramble." He took a sip from his bottle and then placed it on the table. Then he began, "So, you see...back in college, I was friends with this guy Bryce. And Bryce was going to introduce me to this girl he knew named Jill. Well, Jill and I ended up meeting on our own cuz come to find out, we were in one class together. So, anyway, Jill and I start hanging out for awhile and were good friends, but I wanted to be more than friends. So I...okay, this is going to sound crazy, but I took her to a carnival and paid the guy who ran the Ferris Wheel to stop it at the top so I could ask her out. And she couldn't believe I did all that seeing I wasn't keen on heights. I'm still not, but anyway...she said yes. And we were going out for several months. But then, Bryce told a lie about me cheating on a final exam and I got expelled. Shortly afterwards, I started working at the Buy More. And it had been a few weeks since I've seen Jill. And she was upset when she heard I was expelled and all that and I wanted to prove I was a good guy and win her back and all. But I drove all the way back to Stanford for nothing. Jill told me she was seeing Bryce now. So...heartbroken, I drove back home. And it was a long drive, let me tell you. It...took me years to forget about Jill. Well, I never did really. Even nearly five years after I went to see Jill again, I still was thinking about her. But last year, I met Sarah. And the two of us have a nice relationship. Kinda complicated but, yeah. And, so anyway, I see Jill a couple weeks ago and it was like...like everything came back again. But Jill seemed changed. She felt badly about how things ended and I told her I wanted her to know I didn't cheat...and we sorta reconnected and went out to dinner and all. She found out about Sarah and seemed a bit jealous of her. Anyway, one night a couple days later, I went with Jill to carnival and....Jill wanted to confess to me she hadn't been all that honest with me. She told me...she lied about ever being with Bryce. That she knew the easiest way to get rid of me then would be to make up that lie. And that hurt, really. But I still wanted to believe she was sorry. But I saw her start to march up to Sarah while her back was turned and looked like she...was going to take a swing at her or something. And I couldn't have that either. I mean, finding out Jill lied like that and the fact she was going to hurt Sarah...it just all sorta clicked that Jill wasn't...I dunno...but there was no way I could ever think about starting over with her."

[literary_james]

James listened to his friend tell his story, sipping his drink over so often, his brows furrowed and his ears perked. He rested his head on his good hand, save for when he was thirsty, and his brows had found a seemingly permanent home in a perpetually frightened position by the end of Chuck's story. James exhaled an overwhelming huff of air, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned in his chair.

"Shit, Chuck," he commented, shaking his head. He raised his eyes to his friend with a look of disbelief. "-- Shit." He laughed. "I can't even think of something else to say to all that." He leaned forward again, wiping some of the condensation off of his glass with his thumb. "I can see why you wouldn't want to be with Jill anymore. And I could see why -- God damnit, Chuck, we need to get you some tequila or something. You've been through fucking hell."

[nerdherdchuck]

"S-sorry for the ramble, James. I just, yeah, that's the whole story there." Chuck then shook his head. "But, thank you for listening to all that; I appreciate it."

He gave a bit of a grin when James mentioned the tequila. "Maybe you're right...maybe I could use some of the harder stuff. Just no scotch. I've seen...weird things happen with that drink. Maybe I should go with the tequila, huh?"

[literary_james]

"Dude, don't apologize, seriously. I'm happy to listen. I just wish .. I could say something more than 'shit,'" James laugehd. "And honestly, Chuck, any time. I'm good at listening to the rambles and the rants. I do enough of it that I've mastered the art of being on the other end." He offered a supportive, warm smile and then nodded at him.

"Tequila it is!" He got up from the table and walked over to the bar. He returned with a bottle of Cuervo Gold, two shot glasses, a small plate with salt, and another small plate of limes. In two trips, he had brought all of it back to the table; having one fucntional hand was bothersome. Sitting back in his seat, he opened the bottle and poured them each a shot. He took the salt, gave the meaty part of his hand a little lick, and stuck the salt to it. He grabbed a wedge of lime in the other hand, with effort. Looking to Chuck he held his glass up. "Want to toast to anything? Or just get blasted?"

[nerdherdchuck]

Chuck smiled and nodded. "And thanks again for listening. I will gladly return the favor whenever you need to rant or ramble too. Anytime."

He looked over all the items needed for the tequila shot and followed James's lead, licking his hand and placing the salt on it. He then took a lime in one hand and shot glass in another. "Um...I dunno. Last toast I made was pretty bitter about Jill being out of my life for good. So...maybe this time...like...we could toast to better times?"

[literary_james]

"Better times!" James echoed, clinking his shot glass with Chuck's. He licked the salt off of his hand, tossed the tequila back, and then quickly bit on a lime. His face showed the strength of the alcohol, but he grinned happily once he had a second to adjust. "Woo!" he shouted enthusiastically. "I always forget how fucking strong these things are."

[nerdherdchuck]

Chuck followed James' lead and did his shot the same way. He blinked a few times, feeling the booze go down. "Wow that's-" he began before coughing slightly, "Strong stuff."

[literary_james]

James nodded, laughing a little.

"I can never keep a straight face doing it, no matter how hard I try." James filled their shot glasses again. He paused for a second, his fingers gripping the shot glass. "Shit. It hits you right away, too. Whew! Alright." He forgot to put the salt on his hand again, so he licked and sprinkled again. "You ready?"

[nerdherdchuck]

"Yeah...it definitely does," Chuck said, blinking again. He then took a breath. "I'm ready." He licked his hand and dashed it with salt again before picking up the shot glass and the lime.

[literary_james]

"Alright." James clinked his shot glass against Chuck's, licked the salt, tossed back the shot, and bit on the lime. His face contorted into shapes and things it hadn't ever done before, until James' body shuttered. He slammed his glass back down, wiping his mouth with his forearm. "Shit!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "It's no wonder bad decisions were made the last time I had this shit."

[nerdherdchuck]

Chuck threw back the shot and bit the lime. After doing so, he slowly sank lower in his seat until he was nearly halfway to the floor.

"Yeah...real bad...decisions could be made on this stuff. Wow."

[literary_james]

James attempted to focus his eyes on the slowly descending figure of Chuck in front of him. He started with a low snicker, which steadily grew into a laugh, which finally exploded into hysteria. James couldn't stop laughing, wiping tears from his eyes. He finally managed to bring himself down to a few residual whimpers of laughter, then exhaled a big breath.

"Chuck. You're awesome. I just had to throw it out there."

[nerdherdchuck]

"Thanks man," Chuck replied, still slumped in his seat. "But you wanna know who's really awesome? My future brother-in-law, Captain Awesome." He then laughed. "Have I told you of Awesome and the Awesomes?"

[literary_james]

James' body started to sink down like Chuck's, his head resting against the back of his chair. Picking up what seemed to be a 20-pound mess of confusion, he looked at Chuck, lolling to one side.

"No -- Awesome and the Awesomes?"

[nerdherdchuck]

Chuck gave a goofy grin. "Captain Awesome is the nickname I have for my sister's fiance. His real name is Devon Woodcomb an he's a doctor who like is an exercise addict and stuff. He's a jock who's a doctor, and he uses the word 'awesome' a lot. Thus my nickname for him. And since he is 'Captain Awesome,' his folks are, as I dub them, 'The Awesomes.'"

He then shook his head. "But they weren't so awesome to Ellie, my sister. They basically tried to plan her wedding for her without her say."

[literary_james]

"Captain Awesome!" James laughed, perhaps a bit too hard, and started sputtering and coughing. Once finished, he shook his head with a glazed-over kind of grin on his face. "I wish someone had given me that kind of nickname. I wish I had a family for someone to call The Awesomes, come to think of it." He laughed again, if only for the absurdity of his statement. As Chuck continued, James' face fell into a frown. "Well, that's not right. Isn't it a huge deal for the woman as it is?"