TITLE: A night at Mike’s
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Can Jason convince Harper not to quit the swim team? He has a lot at stake, personally and professionally, and a night at Mike’s Sports Bar might change one of their lives forever.
Jason took another sip of chilled beer as his eyes followed the hot blonde who had just entered the bar. She walked over to the pool table, kissed the guys who were playing, and took a cue stick. Jason swiveled on the barstool as she bent to take a shot. His rugged features crinkled into a smile. This was what made Mike’s worth coming to, despite the expensive drinks. It was a great place for bird-watching, and being a sports bar, the wife always assumed he was out with his buddies so he was spared the third degree.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Jason was jolted out of his musings. He’d told Harper that they could never meet in public. Jeanette might not mind him sitting at the bar and leering at the goods, but she always suspected his students of trying to seduce him. For good reason too.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, putting his glass down casually. He’d do best to get this conversation out of the way and make the bitch leave him alone. She’d become so clingy, ever since she’d found out…
Harper took the seat next to him and placed a pair of swim goggles on the bar.
“I’m quitting the team.”
Jason’s eyebrows knotted together.
“Why?”
Harper was one of the best swimmers on the team, their best shot at making the state championship.
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t come in every day and face you and act like…like it doesn’t matter. I don’t blame you. I wanted this, I decided to along with it and…I don’t want anything from you, but I’m keeping the baby.”
Jason’s hands balled into fists. This was what he got for screwing stupid underage girls. He exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He could handle this.
“Harper, honey, I know you’re emotional about this, but consider the long term consequences. You’ve a real shot at a swimming career. You give it up now, and you’ll never get it back. No teenage Mom has ever grown up to be an Olympic gold medalist, you know. I already told you – I’ll take you to this place I know. It’s quick and it’s easy, in and out. It’ll be like it never happened and your life can go on as planned.”
“Shut up, shut up! I don’t have to hear another word. You think it’s that easy for me to … to kill this gift that was created by our love? You said that you’d leave her, that you’d marry me – as soon as I was legal. But then you accused me of sleeping around and denied that this could be your child. And now you want me to kill my own baby. I may be stupid enough to believe that you ever loved me, but I’m not a murderer.”
She was crying now; big round tears streamed out of those gorgeous blue eyes and onto the bar. For the millionth time lately, Jason regretted the day he’d decided to have his fun with her. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; she’d had a crush on him, and hell, she was sixteen and toned and gorgeous. He’d be a fool to let that go. But every good thing came with a price, and with Harper, it had first been the starry-eyed clinginess and now this insistence on ruining everything. He couldn’t let that happen. If she kept the baby, Jeanette would eventually know and he’d be cut off. The damn pre-nup he’d been forced to sign clearly stated that he would get nothing of her estate if he cheated on her. Despite her claims that she loved him, the bitch had known from the beginning that he couldn’t be faithful.
Jason took another deep breath to steady himself. He knew what he had to do. He would make this work. He picked up the blue goggles, stared at them for a minute, and then handed them back to Harper.
“Okay,” he told her, managing a smile. “We’ll do it your way. I’ll leave Jeanette and we’ll get married and raise this baby together.”
Harper stared at him disbelievingly.
“You’d do that? Really?”
“Of course, sweetheart. Come on, you know I’d do anything for you, and if you want to keep this baby, you can. We’ll do it. Together.”
“Oh Jason,” Harper cried, jumping off the stool toward him.
He pushed her away quickly. “Not here,” he said. “Don’t forget the rules. Nothing in public, ever. Go to our place and wait there, I’ll be there in ten. And don’t tell anybody about the baby yet. Let me figure out how to break it to Jeanette first. It will hurt her, I’m sure, but it will be for the best.”
“Yes, yes,” Harper said, softly, wiping away her tears. “Okay, I’m going there now. You’ll be there soon, right?”
“Yeah, see you there, honey.”
Jason watched her leave the room, clutching the goggles in her right hand, almost bounding out the door. He finished his drink and asked for the check. The bartender handed it to him with a smile. Luckily, she’d been in the kitchen when Harper had stopped by.
“Have a good night, Jason. I’m working the night shift on Wednesday, so maybe I’ll see you then?”
Jason nodded as he put a couple of bills down and got off the stool.
He walked to his car and opened the door. He revved up the engine, enjoying the beautiful sound. Then he turned up the music and started driving. Shaking his head to the beat, he opened the glove compartment and took out his trusty revolver. It was only the first murder that made people squeamish, he mused. Swaying to the music, he pulled into the motel parking lot. He’d better get this done quickly so that he’d be in time for dinner.
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