Pete's Pub

Pete smiled and said, "Of course, Sarah – you don't need to ask. Make yourself comfortable – I'll check on you later."

Sarah leaned over the bar and gave him a kiss on his cheek, which caused him to blush. But as she turned to leave, she saw the famous Pete smile shining through the red cheeks. As she made her way up the stairs, she pondered their relationship. She knew she had never felt more comfortable with any other man than she did with Pete. She knew he could provide what was missing in her life, and she felt he was having the same feelings as her.

So the question on her mind as she reached the apartment and went inside was this – what did she need from this man? She looked back over her life to this point. She realized several things were missing, although she and her mother had worked hard to overcome the missing points in their lives. Her father was out of her life completely when she was seven, but for some time before that, he really wasn't a father to her, preferring to dedicate his life to the struggles found in a bottle of alcohol. When he became abusive to her mom, she and Sarah moved out and started out on their own. It hadn't been easy, but living without a father had been one of the inspiration points she had used to strive for her own success.

Another sacrifice Sarah made as she studied and strived for success was that of a meaningful social life. Her opinion of men was largely centered on what she found to be deficiencies – the failure of her own father to be loving and nurturing, and the men who stood in the way of her fighting for her own success. Consequently, it had been easy for her to forego dating, or even establishing causal friendships with males. She just wouldn't let herself get sucked in to anything that might stand in the way. But she had to admit – the hugs and little kisses with Pete were comforting, if not more. It felt natural to walk up and hug him, to feel his strong arms wrapped around her. The kisses on the cheek were shown as appreciation, but they easily lead to kisses for more intimate meanings.

She realized Pete could provide her with both – he could be the missing father figure she didn't have, but he could also be the relationship partner she wouldn't let herself become involved with as she was fighting for her own success. One thing was for certain – she realized she liked having Pete in her life, and she didn't want that to change any time soon.

She went to the window and looked down into the pub, spotting Pete right away as he was with a customer. Both Pete and the customer were laughing, and she knew Pete was doing his job well once again. People couldn't help but like Pete. They were won over by his jovial personality. She knew that from experience, as she fondly remembered back to that first night she had stepped foot inside the pub. In three short weeks, Pete had grown on her, to the point that she was now spending time in his apartment at his suggestion when he offered it to her to ease the stress of working on the now-discarded project.

As she watched Pete in the pub, she also recalled their afternoon together this past Sunday. They shared their life stories with each other, and on the way back, she had locked her arms in his, as though they were a couple. It had felt so right and natural. But was that right feeling the result of Pete being the father she didn't have, or the romantic interest she had not sought before?

Immediately, she thought of someone who she felt could help her answer her question. She reached for her cell phone and dialed up a number. When the voice answered, she said, "Mom, can we get together tomorrow for lunch? We need to talk...

******

The lunch with her mom had gone well. They seldom had a chance to meet together since Sarah's work schedule usually didn't allow time for daytime casual lunches. Sarah had told her mom about the project, and especially the disappointment in the fact that it looked like it was all for naught. When she started talking about Pete, her mom had listened before offering any advice, and then the advice was limited.

"Sarah, first of all, I'm so proud of how you have turned out. You drove yourself relentlessly to achieve your goals, and it sounds like you're just about there. But you did it mostly on your own. It was your choice to do it that way, partly because you didn't trust others, and partly so you could enjoy the satisfaction of your success more completely.

"Because of that, I'm not sure you should change that method as you ponder what to do about Pete. I'm not saying I won't help, because a mother always wants what's best for her child. But in my opinion, you need to figure this out on your own, because only you really know how you feel inside."

Kate's answer frustrated her daughter a bit, so Sarah pressed on. "At least tell me what you think about him – what you think about this relationship. How do you feel knowing your daughter's new best friend is a divorced male who is old enough to be her father? Does that bother you at all?"

Kate thought about it for a minute, and then looked at her daughter and said, "No, it doesn't, because I know you're smart enough that you wouldn't get involved at all with somebody that wasn't going to be good for you. Even if he was 70, if he loved you and wanted to take care of you, I'd be fine with that. But the way you describe him...well, let me put it to you this way. If you don't wrap him up and make him yours, don't be surprised to see me coming around for a little of Pete's charm!"

Sarah had laughed at that. She didn't get the answers she wanted from her mother, but what she said made sense. It was up to Sara herself to figure this out. But she was certainly glad to hear she had her mother's blessings going forward.

Now Sarah was back in Pete's apartment above the pub. She was packing up the few things she had brought over from her apartment since the special project was finished. She was moving slowly – the thought of going back to her lonely apartment wasn't appealing, but she felt that since the project was done, her unofficial "contract" with Pete had expired, and unless he invited her to stay on, she would be overstaying her welcome.

She walked over to the window overlooking the pub once again. This was becoming one of her favorite places in the entire apartment. She loved checking on Pete, seeing what he was doing, watching him interact with customers. It was the same every time she looked. Customers were always smiling or laughing whenever Pete came near them. Other than the argument with Nora, Sarah had never seen even one cross customer when Pete was around. While she could never see herself quitting her job at the law firm to do something else, she realized Pete was absolutely justified to quit and open his pub – his pride and joy.

She went back into the spare bedroom and finished getting her clothes and other items ready to take back to her apartment. While she was doing this, she heard the Pete's feet on the stairway. Apparently he was coming up for something. When he stepped inside, he walked to the spare bedroom, and finding the door open, politely knocked.

"Good afternoon, Sarah! I'd come in, but I'd be afraid I might see something you wouldn't want me to see!"

Sarah laughed. "It's okay, Pete – I'm decent...well, I'm dressed, anyway."

Pete stepped in and saw what she was doing. "What's going on here, Sarah? Are you leaving me? Why have you packed up your things?"

Sarah stood and looked at Pete. "Tell me if I'm wrong, but our agreement was for the duration of the project. Since it has been completed, it's time for me to go back to my own apartment."

Pete shook his head. "I don't remember that being a stipulation. Tell me – has it been a burden on you to stay here?"

Sarah replied, "No."

"And have I been the perfect host, staying away from you and letting you sleep, which was the original intent of our agreement?"

"Yes, Pete, you have been a very gracious host."

"And have the accommodations been satisfactory? I realize it's not a big place, but have you lacked for anything you have needed during your stay?"

Sarah was smiling this time – she was hearing Pete in his best "lawyer" mode, as if he was questioning her as a trial witness.

"Yes, Pete, the accommodations have been wonderful. The smallness of the apartment is part of its charm!"

Pete moved over to Sarah for his final question. "Technically, we agreed for you to stay here until the project was complete. Now we know through reasons that were not your fault, the project wasn't delivered to the intended clients, so in effect the project is NOT complete. That means the agreement is still in force, and the room is still yours."

Sarah looked at Pete and smiled. He made a great argument, but she wanted to know more. She wanted to hear him say that he wanted her to stay.

"What are you saying, Pete? What do you want?"

Now it was Pete's turn to smile as he said, "I want you to stay, Sarah. Having you here has been such a breath of fresh air. I know we don't see each other much with our crazy schedules, but even knowing you're up here sleeping while I work to close down the pub makes me feel warm inside. It would make me sad if you go – please stay, Sarah!"

She reached out to hug Pete close to her and whispered into his ear – "Show me, Pete – show me how much you want me to stay!"

Pete leaned into her and kissed her – not on the cheek as had been their previous practice, but full on the lips. It was a kiss returned by Sarah. That first kiss was long, and then they took turns giving each other shorter kisses, one right after another. It was the most intimate contact of Sarah's life – it was the first such contact for Pete since the day he caught his wife with another man.

They stopped kissing, and looked each other in the eyes. Sarah smiled and said, "Okay, counselor – you won your argument. I'd be happy to stay, but we need to talk about the terms later. I don't want to be a burden on you that you can't evict if the need arises."

"Sarah, I can't possibly imagine how it would ever come that I would need to evict you! But we should have lots of time this weekend since you've been given a three-day pass from the warden at BH&H. Shall we plan a date to discuss this?"

"Why Pete, are you asking me out? How could a girl resist an offer like that?"

Pete laughed. "Believe me, that offer may not be as good as it sounds! The date may end up just being something from the kitchen at this quaint little pub I know. But I hear the atmosphere is wonderful, and the owner is a bit of a charmer!"

Sarah laughed, and then realized she had an unanswered question on her mind. "Pete, why did you come up here? What did you need?"

He looked down at the floor and said, "Well...I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing. I didn't know I was going to get the answer I did! I'd better get back downstairs – I wasn't planning on being gone quite this long!"

He turned to walk away, but she reached out and stopped him. "Pete – do you mind if I hang out downstairs with you this evening? Maybe even help out? I just want to spend my free time with you, if that's okay."

Pete frowned as he replied, "I suppose you could do that, but I'll have you know there'll be no hanky panky while on duty!" With that, he laughed, and headed back downstairs to the pub.

Sarah sighed as she thought about what had just transpired. Her mother had told her to make her own decision about Pete. Turns out, Pete had just helped her make the decision. While she knew how much of a wonderful father figure Pete could be, she now knew she wanted more from him – much more.

She went back into the spare bedroom – apparently now her bedroom – and started putting her clothes back into the little closet. She rummaged around through the bag she had used to pack her casual clothes and found the denim shorts and top she had worn on her walk to the park with Pete last Sunday. She hoped that would be ok – she figured she'd be wearing an apron over it, and if Pete didn't like it, she would find something else.

As she descended the stairs down into the pub, she noticed a buzz that she had not paid attention to before. The Friday night crowd was livelier than other nights of the week. When she peeked around the corner, she saw that the pub was nearly filled to capacity, and Pete and the other bartender were struggling to keep up. He looked up and saw Sarah approaching, and motioned her to come over.

"Were you serious about helping out tonight? We're packed, and one of my servers called in sick at the last minute. Do you think you could bus tables and keep glasses cleaned and dried? It's not glamorous, but it sure would help us out. It would let me get out from behind the bar and out to where I need to be – with the customers."

Sarah smiled – helping Pete would be wonderful, no matter what the job requirements were. It would be one way she could show him how much she appreciated what he had done for her.

"Yes, Pete – I would love to help! Show me what to do!" After a quick tutorial, Pete was confident Sarah could handle the work. He handed her an apron, and with a quick kiss on her cheek, he headed out into the crowded floor of the pub.

Sarah couldn't help but smile. She'd never really worked like this before, but she hardly felt it was work at all, because it was helping Pete out in a time of need. She liked the way that sounded as it rang through her head. She liked the little kiss as he left her to do her new duties.

As she worked, she couldn't help but thinking someone was watching her. She looked up and directly into the eyes of Brian, who was sitting in his usual seat at the bar. He smiled and said to her, "Looking good, Sarah."

She blushed and said "How can that be? I'm wearing this old apron and my hands are buried in this sink full of soap bubbles."

Brian laughed and said, "True, but that's not what I was talking about. I'm talking about the relationship between you and Pete."

Sarah stopped with the glasses and looked up. She sported a surprised/bemused/confused look all in one facial expression. Brian pointed at her and laughed one more time. "Look, you were the last one to see it. Everyone else who's a regular around here already knew long before you did."

Sarah picked up a wet towel and pretended to throw it at him. He ducked, and then just sat there and grinned. The teasing actually made Sarah feel warm inside – she knew she was being accepted as one of the regulars, but they were making it sound like there was much more involved, a fact she already knew as well.

She looked at Brian and asked, "What am I going to do about this?"

He shrugged, and answered, "I don't know what you are going to do. As Pete's best friend, I know how I would advise him. I'd advise him to do whatever he could to convince you to stay with him forever. Look at the evidence that has been presented, if I may speak in lawyer-ese for a minute. You came in here one night looking for a warm place to stay while waiting on the train. You were so enthralled, you came back the next night, and since then, you've moved into his second bedroom in his upstairs apartment.

"Pete is always the happiest guy in the place, but since you've been coming in, he's nearly skipping around, he's so happy! He was so enthralled in you that he offered you his second bedroom less than a week after he had known you. He even left the bar last Sunday afternoon to spend the day in the park with you. And I didn't have your tailed – he told me that himself! He's like a giddy school boy meeting the new girl and hoping she'd wear his class ring!

"Face it – you two are good for each other, and the time is now that you get this thing locked down. But before you do that, you'd probably better stop talking to me and go get your job done, or else Pete may take some of those stars from your crown!"

She faked a towel throw at Brian again, but this time he didn't move. He just smiled and watched as Sarah moved back to the sink. As she got back to her job washing the glasses, she thought about Brian's words. Everybody knew before she did? Did Pete know? Had he changed this last three weeks, which would be unknown to her since she didn't know how he was before that fateful night she wandered in from the cold?

She really hadn't taken much time to think about this from Pete's perspective. Maybe he wasn't as happy before as he seemed now, but his happiness had to be some of the reason of the success of the pub before she ever stepped inside. Would that mean that if he was happier in the three weeks since she arrived, would the bar become that much more popular?

She looked at all of the facts. From the moment she first came through the doors of the pub, she knew it was a wonderful place, full of warmth and caring. She grew to know that was in large part because of its owner. He was able to take her mind off of things that formerly would have controlled her life. She didn't go into the pub looking for a man like Pete. It happened as though it was fate – something or someone realized she wasn't going to find true happiness on her own, so it/they guided her into Pete's life.

True happiness – Sarah had misidentified what that really meant. While she was proud of her career and the hard work and determination it took to get her there, she realized that there wasn't someone with whom she could share those accomplishments. And she didn't know how badly she needed that until she stumbled upon the one who now she realized could provide that for her.

She glanced up from the sink where she was washing glasses and found Pete in the front corner of the pub, laughing with happy customers. Everybody loved Pete. He made their lives happy – he made their lives better. Customers who came in for an hour or perhaps more were affected by his charm and demeanor. Imagine the lucky person who got to experience that charm and demeanor every day.

Sarah realized she wanted that. She wanted to be the one who saw Pete every day, the one who received the love and warmth and concern and caring full time. She wanted Pete to be her man. Her mother told her to find out for herself what she wanted. She had done it. She wanted Pete.

Now it was time to make sure he was feeling the same way...

******

The pub had remained busy until well after midnight, when the live games had finally finished on the big screens on the side walls. Sarah was exhausted. She could not remember when she had worked this hard before, using her hands as tools for her work instead of her brain. She watched as Pete securely locked the front doors and turned out the main lights. He sat down at one of the tables and motioned her to come and join him.

When she got to Pete, he leaned over and gave her a kiss – not on the cheek, but again on the lips. It was quick but wonderful to Sarah. As tired as she was, that kiss sent a spark of feelings throughout her body. She sat down next to Pete and put her hand in his.

Pete smiled at her and said, "Thank you for helping out, Sarah. I don't know what we would have done without you. Well, I do know – I would have been stuck behind the bar with the glasses, which meant I couldn't be out with the customers. But you saved the day. You had the least attractive job at the pub, and you did it well."

Sarah smiled back and said, "I'll tell you, the job wasn't that much fun, but I was glad to do it for you. The fun part to me was looking up and seeing how well you interact with every customer – not just a few you know well, but every customer. You're amazing, Pete – I hope you let me help you out more. I would do it just for you."

Pete squeezed her hand. They stared at each other for a few minutes, and Sarah felt perhaps something special was about to happen. But Pete moved to stand up – he had his routine, and cleaning the pub before he went to bed for the night was his top priority.