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   Lady Down on Love Heathen57 (MF, rom, bittersweet no sex)
NOTE: This is a submission to a story festival started by

   Girl_Friday_70.  The Song is Lady Down on Love and was written by Randy
Owen, and performed by the group Alabama.  I make no claim to any
copyright.



   Lady Down on Love

   It had been a slow night.  Many weeknights are, compared to the bustle
of the weekend.  I had a small rush of after-work regulars, but they had
already disappeared.  The remainder of the crowd had either paired off or
went home alone.

   I informed everyone of last call.  Part of being the owner of the
Clancy's Pub was that I could close early if I wished.  On the opposite
side of the coin I had no chance for a social life outside of the bar, and
decided long ago that I would not get involved with anyone who was a
customer.

   There was a young couple in a corner booth that had been lip-locked for
the past hour.  I had seen them here before a few times, and had checked
their ID's.  They were old enough to come in, but just barely.  They looked
like they belonged together and very much in love.

   I interrupted them as discretely as possible and waited until they
untangled themselves before telling them that I was closing up.  They both
mumbled an embarrassed apology and hurried out the door, arms wrapped
around each other.

   I was smiling as I cleared the table when I heard a soft voice behind
me. "That would have been Charlie and me many years ago." I turned to see
Chris standing in the corner.

   Chris and Charlie had met here just after I bought the place.  Chris had
been a friend since college even though there was no more than friendship
between us we had remained close.  My first night here, she had come in to
wish me luck and try and con me out of a free drink.  We had been visiting
when a tall, well-muscled man with blonde hair walked up and introduced
himself as Charlie Morgan.  He and Chris danced the entire night.

   It didn't take long for them to become a couple.  Within months they had
set the wedding date.  Charlie had always had a roving eye for the ladies,
but everyone hoped that Chris would be able to keep it focused on her.  She
seemed to have succeeded.  The wedding reception was held right here.  They
had danced their first dance as man and wife on my dance floor.  Chris
looked as beautiful that day as I had ever seen her.  All brides are
supposed to be beautiful, but I had never seen her as happy as she was
then. When I took a turn to dance with her, she absolutely glowed!

   For the first couple years they came in regularly, holding hands and
sharing discrete kisses.  And every year on their anniversary, they would
come in and dance, and it was always to one of Chris' favorite songs.  She
was a country music fanatic and the group Alabama was at the top of her
list.  Though not much of the regular crowd played it, I always kept some
in the jukebox for her.  The quarters would go in and they would dance
together until she had played every one of the group's songs.

   When Charlie got a promotion and a transfer, I felt the emptiness of her
leaving.  But she would send me a card or letter, letting me know that
things were going well.  These contained her hopes and fears, the same
things that she had been confiding in me for years.  Once in a while, on
days special to her and me, she would manage to get a phone call to me and
we would once again drift back to the times that we had shared.

   Eventually, we drifted apart as friends will sometimes do.  We still
exchanged Christmas cards, and birthday greetings, but that was the extent
of our contact.  Months turned into years, and I continued with my life,
never marrying, but feeling comfortable with how my life had turned out.

   I blinked again to make sure I was really looking at my friend.  Even in
that dim light, I could see that she had not changed much in almost 10
years.  The hair was now shorter but still the same curls.  Her body had
matured, but in a good way, womanly curves replacing the almost
non-existent figure she had had.  And she still looked beautiful.

   "Chris, why didn't you come over and tell me you were here?" I pulled
her into a hug that she willingly returned.  She pushed back just far
enough to be able to look up into my face.

   " I came in while you were trying to get rid of that drunk guy.  Last
time you wrote you said you still had the pub, so I came down hoping to
find you here." She leaned in once again and put her head on my chest.  "I
really wanted to see you."

   I released her and led her to the bar.  I poured her a snifter of my
best 75-year-old brandy.  I locked the front door and shut down the outside
lights.  She watched as I moved behind the bar, cleaning and getting things
ready for the next day.  We talked a bit about what had been happening in
our lives.

   She surprised me when she said that Charlie had passed away 6 months
earlier from a heart attack.  After she had recovered from the shock, she
found herself very lonely and insecure.  She had moved back a few weeks ago
to be near the places that she had known since childhood.  Here she would
feel safe and sound again.

   She held her snifter aloft to show me it was empty.  I poured again, her
eyes locked into mine.  "Do you remember all the times we came in for our
anniversaries?  How we would dance?  I think I miss that the most." There
were tears forming in her eyes.

   I searched my memory realizing that tomorrow would have been 20 years
that they would have been married.  I picked up one of her hands and kissed
the back of it.  "Chris, I am so sorry.  I just didn't know."

   "I know you didn't.  I knew you would have dropped everything to come to
me and I couldn't have you do that."

   Well, maybe I could do something that would make her feel a little
better.  I reached under the bar and turned on the sound system.  Back in
the corner, I found the disk I was looking for.  I found the song I wanted,
and then pressed play.

   Chris heard the opening notes and her tears started flowing more freely.
I came around to the front of the bar.  "Chrissie, I know I am no
substitute for Charlie, but a lady should dance on her anniversary." She
was beaming as the tears rolled down her cheeks when she took my hand and
stood.  The voice of Randy Owen sang the words as I pulled her closer and
started swaying in time with the beat.

   It's her first night on the town since she was just eighteen, A lady
down on love and out of hope and dreams.  The ties that once bound her now
are broke away, And she's like a baby, just learning how to play.

   She never thought that love could ever end so soon.  Her mind drifts
back in time to a mid-summer moon, When he asked her to marry and she
gladly said O.K.  And a woman came to be from the girl of yesterday.

   Now she's a lady down on love.  She needs somebody to gently pick her
up. She's got her freedom but she'd rather be bound To a man who would love
her and never let her down.

   "You kept that around all these years?" I could barely make out her
words over the music as I held her close to my chest.

   "My regulars don't listen to music much anymore, but I must have kept it
hoping to be able to play it for you again."

   Now she's a lady down on love.  She needs somebody to gently pick her
up. She's got her freedom but she'd rather be bound To a man who would love
her and never let her down.

   Now she's a lady down on love.

   As the last chords faded away, Chris reached up and gave me a kiss. 
Nothing passionate, but one that spoke of the love and appreciation she
held for me at that moment.  "The words of that song; is that how you feel
about me?"

   I looked into her deep blue eyes.  The more I thought about it, the more
the truth of those words came to me.  We had always been friends, and I
guess I had always been there to help her.  Maybe it was time to see if it
could be more.

   I reached down and touched her face.  As she looked up at me, I leaned
down to kiss her gently.  She must have liked the answer, because she
returned the kiss with passion.  Perhaps it was time for us to move our
friendship forward.  I don't know where it will go, but for now all is
right once again.

   ~~~~ FINIS ~~~~