She's the Vodka to my Redbull || Katerina

[David Memphis Cameron]

4/14

Outfit

Escape

It was late, but that’s how David liked his weeknights, especially Fridays. Most people his age were off partying, which wasn’t a bad thing. David himself preferred to be busy in the office, even if he was just playing solitaire in his version of the Oval Office. It was more to distract himself from things and convince himself that his life is in order and he’s happy.

Today he had gone over a lot of different cases and paperwork. Most of them were pretty small things like robbery which were still fun to work, but nothing was as exciting as working as scandal and murder. That kind of mentality was seen as odd, but it was true. David, like the other prosecutors, liked working the big cases that required jury’s hours upon hours of deliberation. It was the feeling of suspense that riled him up. Being in the courtroom was his high, like crack to an addict. And the feeling was even better when a murderer or a high profile criminal was put behind bar. His father wondered if he would ever get threats, and David did, but he would never tell. It all came with the territory.

David purposely reviewed his paperwork a few times each to take up time. He also reorganized and cleaned his office down like he usually did. Barbara, his secretary, learned to not question her boss’ actions anymore. At first, the older woman was a bit worried, but now she just let him be. Barbara did check on him once in a while, dropping off coffee or tea, but she rarely interacted with him in the later part of the days.

She went home early on Fridays, which David preferred. She had grandkids to look after, and David knew she would prefer to be with family than be at the office on a Friday. At least she had family that was close, and she wanted to be with. David’s mother, on the other hand, was still in her cold area of Chicago. She was probably out screwing one of her employers. The two hadn't talked in a year which was common. Even if she was his biological mother, she ruined her chances for a better relationship a very long time ago.

His biological father was a lot better. Despite David not knowing him for so many years of his life, the man made the biggest effort to make up those years. He was the parent his mother should have been but wasn’t.

When the clock hit 9 pm, David sighed and figured he would go out for a drink before heading home. After double checking his office, David packed up his briefcase and locked everything else. He left his somewhat smaller office in Ellisville, bidding the doorman goodnight who often stayed until David left.

The tall man got into his Mercedes and drove into the night to hit one of the local bars. David wasn’t one to drink much if he went out with friends he always got a specific drink, but when home, he had some glasses of wine and beer. He would up his drink selection as well if he had a special lady of the evening over which had happened a few night ago. She was a pretty woman he had picked up in Boston while on business. Obviously years younger than he was, but still legal. David still knew her name, but he didn't expect her to remember his.

David finally parked. The bar was pretty packed, but it was Friday night, so it was expected. He moved his tall frame, dressed in a sharp suit to the bar top. David perched himself on a stool and rested his arms on the sleek and slightly damp top. Green eyes scanned the lines of liquor bottles, but he was dead set on his original. His friends often urged him to get another drink, but David always refused.

The tender at the moment was a pretty brunette. She looked focused and busy, and David thought it'd be best if he didn’t flag her down. He could wait. If anything, he would get one drink and be out of her hair in a few short minutes.

KATERINA AVERY BUCHANAN

[KATERINA AVERY BUCHANAN]

While most people would be winding down with a drink on a Friday night, Katerina was beginning her second job of the day. Five days a week Katerina was a lawyer, although this only meant practicing out of her house covering small cases, like getting people off DUI's on technicalities, since the last thing she wanted to do was begin an actual practice where she would be like most lawyers and have to travel a lot. Four nights a week Katerina was the bartender at Escape. This meant taking the time to change out of her dress pants and button down shirts and into jeans and low cut tops she knew would increase her tips from some customers, and then staying out well past the time a normal lawyer would remain awake. This was how Katerina liked to keep things. Busy. Being busy meant she didn't have to think about other things, like not having an actual direction for her life, or why she had run away from the perfect life and future she had thought she always wanted in Atlanta just to return to her old hometown where people never seemed to fully escape. Katerina used her nights at the bar to distract her from the thoughts that would swirl through her mind every time she closed her eyes to go to sleep.

Fridays and Saturdays were her closing nights, which meant Katerina got to the bar a little later than some of the other employees, but it also meant she would be one of the last ones to leave, along with the closing manager. Working Friday and Saturday nights also meant she would be exhausted and able to hopefully calm her mind and relax all day on her Sundays. Katerina was the kind of person who liked to have something occupying her mind at all times of the day. Whether it was her first job or her second, she liked having something to be focused on at all times. Having her mind on other things allowed Katerina to avoid the unpleasant thoughts that plagued her mind at times. She spent too much time on the long drive from Atlanta to Ellisville thinking about what she had done, so the first thing she did was find a job other than her career as a lawyer.

Bartending was not new to Katerina, who had done it for some time while she was in college for extra money, along with various other jobs including working at a waitress. Katerina had never been a stranger to hard work. She had spent her whole life working toward a goal, and now she found herself at a point where that goal was suddenly fading away. Where she had thought she would be working toward making partner at her firm someday, she now found herself bartending and taking odd cases where she could for extra money. Katerina never thought her life could take such a turn. She had even thought she would now be about to get married, or at least still in a serious relationship.

Throwing her bag on the couch in the manager's office Katerina took a moment to fix her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her way throughout the night as she was working. Most nights she worked she found herself pulling her hair back at some points, because it would get hot while she was behind the bar from all of the people around and constantly walking up and down the bar getting people drinks. She eventually found it was just easier to give up on having decent hair for the day and to go ahead and let it remain a mess.

Katerina, who during the day as a lawyer made herself appear as perfect as possible, was a slightly different person when she was at the bar. Her hair would be pulled back, she wore jeans and sleeveless shirts, and she would flirt with whatever customer was in front of her when she thought there was a decent tip in it for her. Of course the moment it was busy, she would just get people drinks as fast as she could, and hope people would tip well as long as she did her job.

Katerina walked behind the bar to find it relatively slow, but being early she knew things would pick up. The slow times were the times when she would spend the most time with a customer, while as soon as things picked up, she would find herself rushing between people while trying to make them all happy. Since it was early, Katerina took the time to pour herself a cup of water and set it on the back counter before going through and beginning to help customers. Katerina scanned the people around her, seeing familiar faces, but all friendly, which was a good way to start off her night.

As the night had gone on, Katerina had gradually gotten busy to the point where the moment she was done with one customer she would have another three waiting on her. It was getting warm in the bar, and Katerina herself was beginning to feel tired, and it wasn't even that late, just that she had worked the night before as well, and she had been up early to get an early start on some paperwork. She knew this was not something many people would want to do, but she liked the feeling of being so busy.

Finishing up with a customer who had ordered a series of shooters that appeared to be all for him made Katerina want to laugh, but she knew it was a bad thing to laugh at the decisions of her customers, but sometimes she came extremely close. Looking down the bar to the next customer, Katerina saw something familiar about his face, but everyone in the town looked familiar, even if she didn't remember who the person was, so he was most likely just another one of those people. Of course people had also changed a lot since high school, like she had. Still a type-A motivated perfectionist, but now she was also a workaholic who didn't like to ever take a break to just relax and live a little.

"Hi, what can I get for you?" Katerina asked, approaching the man, trying not to waste time with too much conversation. Normally she liked to ask people how they were, or make light conversation, but on a Friday night that was something that was rare.

words: 1087
tagged: open
notes: tired, kat is tired

[David Memphis Cameron]

4/14

Outfit

Escape

Green eyes scanned the crowds as their owner waited. David’s eyes continued to look back at the tender. There was a familiarity about her that he couldn't quite grip. Maybe it was because he was too tired or his brain was too focused on her beauty and the possibility of a good time in bed. No, he couldn't think about sex right now. He was here to get a drink and leave when he was done. There were other days and nights to fill his needs, with another person or by himself.

The tender had moved between people, two drinks in her hands for the most part. Most of the people were young teens with fake IDs, and young couples would most likely end up in the unisex bathrooms, groans seeping through the cracks because they just couldn’t wait. There would be no surprised if he saw a few of these faces in the courtroom after a bar room brawl.

David just chuckled under his breath as the memories of his young self-came flooding back. Memories of his stupid self. He would go into the bars, attempting to use his fake ID which was horrible made. There were a few people that gave no shits, while others, David was quickly booted to the side. How do you think he got that scar?

He was a rebellious bastard, up to sophomore year. David thought he was the king of the world until he met Kat. One could say she helped fix up a bad boy. Of course, he didn’t fully change, or at least not enough to have her stay by his side. Thinking of her made his lips fall into a small frown, but then straightened out to hide what he was truly feeling, even if the frown wasn't super noticeable.

There wasn’t anything he should be worried about. He was just another body to the people around him, and another paying customer to the tender. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice the tender approach until he heard her voice. "Hi, what can I get for you?"

The tender was tired, that was obvious. David could sense it in her voice, so following her lead – followed that clockwork behavior. Fingers pulled out his fine Italian leather wallet and pulled out a $50. “I’ll have a Vodka and Red Bull. Closed tab and keep the change as your tip,” David finished, giving her the $50. He wasn’t flashing his wealth. It was out of habit to do some good in the world, which meant over tipping. Plus, he could afford it. $50 was pocket change to him.

KATERINA AVERY BUCHANAN

[KATERINA AVERY BUCHANAN]

there's rust around the things i love
when it's fraying at the seams of reality and dreams all those dreams are quiet and dull

In the dimly lit bar Katerina's hazel, grey-blue and green eyes appeared to be more of a pale green than they would if she was standing outside in the sunlight. She knew there were most likely some circles underneath from how little she had slept the previous night. Thankfully in the dark none of her customers would notice. As she took a look at the man on the other side of the bar she knew how he most likely saw her. Like most customers he most likely wouldn't notice such small details, instead he was probably too busy looking at her body, but that had been the goal of her clothing choice. A low cut cross-front top showed just enough skin without coming off as being trashy, while her jeans stuck to the curse of her hips and all the way down her legs to the boats with a slight heel she wore to accentuate her legs. Katerina knew that things like this kept a man's face away from her eyes, which showed long nights and now sleep, which was a good thing, because no one wanted to flirt with the bartender who looked like she hadn't slept in days.

“I’ll have a Vodka and Red Bull. Closed tab and keep the change as your tip,” Katerina smiled as he spoke and reminded her of her own favorite drink. She never liked the taste of most alcohol, so she found something so sweet it would cover the taste of the vodka, but provide the buzz she enjoyed. One of her fondest memories from high school was a party where she first really talked to David. She turned down a beer, because she never enjoyed the taste, and ended up sharing her choice of drink with him. The rest of their relationship was history, and a fairly public history. The public history that made her never want to return to the town, and part of the many thoughts that would plague her mind most nights when she would close her eyes.

"An excellent choice, and one of my personal favorite drinks," Katerina smiled the way she did with every customer as her words were true, taking the money he handed and not paying very much attention as she slid it into her pocket to ring the drink in a minute when she was less busy, not pocketing it to keep the full fifty for herself. There were employees who would once in a while take money and not actually ring the sale, but Katerina was not that kind of person. She was just trying to go ahead and get the man his drink, because he clearly wanted to be done ordering with how he immediately asked to have the tab closed and paid along with the order.

Katerina was paused for just a moment to take a sip of her own plastic cup of water before beginning to make his drink. Vodka and Red Bull was a simple one. The brunette pulled a high ball glass from behind the bar, filling it with ice before setting it on the bar in front of the man before picking up a bottle of their house vodka. Sometimes she would try to upsell someone to a more expensive liquor, but that was only if it was a drink where the taste of the vodka made a difference, while this was something where the flavor came across more, and he was paying in cash, so the upsell would decrease her tip. She knew it annoyed people sometimes when she wasn't measuring the liquor before pouring it in the glass, but she could eyeball two ounces of vodka in a high ball glass better than anyone. With the vodka in the glass, Katerina reached down below the bar to the fridge to pull out a fresh can of red bull, opening it, and filling the remainder of the glass with the energy drink.

"Not enough people order this anymore. Fear of the caffeine or something, or it's too sugary," Katerina commented as she finished making the drink, adding the final touch that was a simple straw. Katerina kept her pleasure from the large tip hidden as she spoke, and acted as if this was just another customer, because she kew it would just get her hopes up for another, and most people tipped just a couple of dollars when she was working at the bar, if that.

741 words , David Memphis Cameron , outfit , notes here

this town's alright but it's not enough
i'm looking for a quick exit like a prisoner on the run

credit for this template goes to lexa, lyrics from embrace by chace and status

[David Memphis Cameron]

4/14

Outfit

Escape

When the tender commented on his choice of drink, he just smiled. “Yeah, I like it, and it’s the only drink I ever get when I’m out. I rarely go to bars nowadays, but when I do--it’s the same drink, and I tip well because I know how tough it is to scrape by with tips. Worked as a waiter and busboy through college. Plus, it's the drink my ex-fiancée enjoyed, but you’ve probably heard a lot of those stories already, the bride leaving the groom single at the altar. It is Ellisville after all, and I guess you could say I never got over her, either,” he slightly laughed, to make himself feel better. But deep inside he hurt a hurt that would never be fully healed.

Some teen pregnancies and teen marriages were on the rise in Ellisville, more than David ever expected. Adultery was also on the rise. So many divorces popped up into the courtrooms so much that David felt like he was flooded with other people's relationship problems. He wondered what his life would be like if he were married. Would be as successful as he is now, or would they fit into that percent of young couples getting divorced?

David carefully watched as the tender made his drink. It was a simple drink to make, nothing too fancy. Just vodka and an energy drink. When she was done, she slid the glass towards him, and he caught it with his large, tan fingers. “That’s a shame. But to each their own, right? It’s amazing how people get wrapped up into the trend of healthy eating to the point they starve themselves of small pleasures,” he softly replied, picking up his glass and taking a sip. David was a healthy man in some sense. Physically, it was obvious – but mentally, he was always jumping over the line. Sure, he could be considered a health nut to a few people, but there were some that went so hard on the healthy eating – that David honestly wondered if they were enjoying life. If you were Vegan or even Vegetarian, you could still enjoy small pleasures like desserts and alcohol. All in moderation, of course.

KATERINA AVERY BUCHANAN

[KATERINA AVERY BUCHANAN]

there's rust around the things i love
when it's fraying at the seams of reality and dreams all those dreams are quiet and dull

You’ve probably heard a lot of those stories already, the bride leaving the groom single at the altar. It is Ellisville after all, and I guess you could say I never got over her, either...The words stuck in Katerina's mind from the moment he spoke them, reminding her of her own life. She hadn't just heard the story, she had lived it, at least on the opposite side of the situation. Katerina had been the one to leave the guy at the alter, so she knew what her side of the situation felt like at least. It felt terrible. On one side she felt like she was making the right decision, because she knew she had a future by leaving the small town she grew up in, but on the other side she felt like a terrible person. She left the boy she loved at the alter, but that was just it. David was a boy at the time she left. He hadn't lived his life yet, just like she hadn't and was just a girl at the time she left. Katerina honestly wished him the best at the time, but she didn't think there was a way he would understand why she did what she did. She wanted them both to have a chance at a successful and filling career, which in this case, meant she had to leave and live her life.

"Your ex-fiance had good taste," Katerina commented as her mind continued to play back through the many times she had ordered the drink in many different bars and made it on her own in high school. The one other constant through many of the memories was David. He had been her one love in her life, and no one else had compared to this day, even her most recent boyfriend who proposed. It made her think about him more, and wonder about what he had done with his life after she left. Did he go to college? Was he happy? All of these types of questions played through Katerina's mind as she thought of him, but pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.

Katerina took a closer look at her customer. He was well-dressed, like he had just come from work or something, and he had green eyes that reminded her of someone, but the person his eyes reminded her of was not the type of person to be seen wearing a suit like this. David had always been dressed casually, which never bothered her. It meant he wasn't trying to impress her with his perfect clothing or appearance, and that the way he felt was real, but for her that made it all the more difficult when she left. It meant he really did want to marry her, whether or not she was pregnant.

From the moment the man mentioned his ex-fiance, Katerina was unable to get David out of her mind, placing what she imagined he would look like on to the man in front of her. Katerina was afraid of what would happen if David was standing in front of her. Would he be mad, or would he still love her? Would it be some weird mix of feelings toward her? Katerina knew one thing for sure. She was not ready to face the thing she had done ten years earlier.

There was something still so familiar in his mannerisms as he spoke and drank the vodka and Red Bull that had Katerina questioning herself. She should know what her own fiance had looked like, but now she found herself making more and more similarities of the man in front of her and David. The same jaw line, the same eyes, and the same features, just all cleaned up, something she had very rarely seen when in high school. She kept trying to talk herself out of what she thought she was seeing, but there was no denying in her mind, that she was talking to her own former fiance, who was standing in front of her, and couldn't even recognize the girl he almost married. Katerina was beginning to feel nervous, and like she should probably move on to another customer, but at the very same time, she wanted to hear him talk a little while longer, although she didn't want to hear anything he inevitably had to say about her.

"They don't know what they're missing out on then," Katerina let out a light hearted laugh, trying to convince herself that she was wrong, and that this man simply dated a girl who had the same taste in drinks, and also left a man at the alter some years ago.

781 words , David Memphis Cameron , outfit , notes here

this town's alright but it's not enough
i'm looking for a quick exit like a prisoner on the run

credit for this template goes to lexa, lyrics from embrace by chace and status