Part Three of The "Tiny Victories" Series

Disclaimers:

The names Mel and Janice and the corresponding physical descriptions were borrowed, everything else is fiction drawn up from the recesses of my muddled mind.

Big time hurt/comfort here, people looking for the immediate gratification of a happy tale are encouraged to seek reading material elsewhere. Contains adult language and situations.

Thanks to ROCFanKat (Chief whip cracker and ego stroker) for being the primary Beta, and always thanks to Lyraine (Chief speller and comma putter) who goes back and fixes my f*k-ups even after the story is posted.

AND a big "Thank you!" to everyone who's taken time to give me feed back, because of you this series continues.

Watching the Ball Drop

by Rocky

Janice wished for the hundredth time that she had said 'No.'

Well meaning friends had arranged a blind date for the Christmas party, and while John was a pleasant young man, he had been slowly going Hyde from the free bar the company provided for the party. She cringed as he spouted yet another inappropriate story in a voice that was more than a touch too loud. It was some consolation that many of the people at the table were in almost the same state, but the Dutch courage was giving John a familiarity that was making her very uncomfortable.

Shrugging off the arm that had closed around her shoulders for the third time, Janice excused herself to the washroom. She made her way across the room in a zigzag fashion between the tables of celebrating co-workers and their spouses, most of which she only knew in passing. The custodial firm that she worked for was the largest in town, so for the most part, all of these people were simply familiar strangers. She waved and smiled to people she knew and finally crossed in to the short hallway at the far side of the room.

Thankfully the restroom was empty and it allowed a few moments of peace. As she washed her face and hands Janice stared into the mirror wishing that she had worn a pantsuit rather than the snug little red dress her sister had loaned her. 'You have to wear something festive!' Lilly had told her. She had to admit that it looked good on her but it left far too much skin exposed to 'John-Juan's' roaming hands. Inwardly she shivered at the thought. Steeling herself for the return journey to the table, she put on her best smile and pushed open the door.

"Mmph!" Was the startled expression that came from the far side of the door.

"Oh I'm Sorry!" Janice exclaimed in dismay. She took a step back as the door swung away, and then burst into a delighted smile. "Hello Mel."

The tall woman had her hair tied back, and was dressed in the dark slacks, red vest and bow tie of the bar staff. Her look of surprise dissolved into a warm smile as she took in the sight of her former savior. "Janice? …Hi!" The look of surprise came over her face again as she was immediately wrapped in a warm hug.

Janice released Mel and held her out at arm's length. "It's really good to see you again! How the hell have you been?"

Mel's mind reeled; she absorbed the warmth of the hug like a sponge and felt lost when it was gone, all in the span of a few heartbeats. It was amazing how the small woman before her put all her emotions in a tailspin with a simple hug. Mel shrugged. "Mostly just working my ass off." Then she added with a grin. "'Tis the season to make money."

Barely hearing what the dark haired woman had said, Janice had to pull herself back down to earth 'Damn she looks good!' She then realized she wasn't paying proper attention to what her friend was saying. She mentally rewound the tape of the conversation in her head so she could answer intelligently.

"Not for me I'm afraid, the offices that I clean have all shut down for the holidays and I don't go back until after the New Year." She replied with a sigh.

The words stumbled out of Mel's mouth before she could call them back. "You want some temp work? The hotel is looking for wait and bus people." A little voice in the back of her mind piped up, 'What the heck are you thinking?' But Janice's bright smile caused the little voice to quickly fade away to nothing. "The pay stinks but the tips are great this time of year."

"I could sure use some extra money for the holidays."

The door swung open to the jarring noise of the celebration. Two women pressed into the washroom, causing Mel and Janice to step apart. Mel smiled and kept the door open. "I'll give you a call at your house tomorrow and we'll talk some more about it."

Janice reached over and squeezed Mel's free hand, "Thanks, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Then she made her way back to the loud laughter at her table--and the blind date from hell.

Part 2

The evening couldn't be over fast enough for the little janitor's tastes. As it was, she was forced to be there until the very end, since she had offered to be the designated driver for her group of friends. She had run everyone else home, and was finally wobbling out to the parking lot with her date's arm slung over her shoulder. 'I'm gong to kill Bonnie if she so much as thinks about offering to find me a date again!' Janice fumed to herself as she leaned John up against her truck, to fumble in the pocket of her parka for the keys.

Her legs were cold, the freezing temperatures were reminding her why wearing a skirt this time of year was foolish, fashion be damned! She promised herself a hot bath--'Make that a bubble bath,' as soon she got this idiot home.

As she pushed the key into the passenger side door, a blast of warm liquor breath flowed over her ear. "Hey there, darlin'." She felt a draft as a large hand reached under her dress and gave a hard squeeze to her buttock. "Your place or mine?" John slurred into her ear, while leaning up against her, effectively trapping the small woman between himself and the cold metal of the door.

"John, you have exactly two seconds to get your hand off my ass!" Janice growled from between clenched teeth, her face pressed up against the glass of the passenger door. The hand was not removed, instead it moved down the back of her leg and then up the inside of her thigh to no-man's land.

The small blonde exploded.

Before he knew what was happening, John had the wind driven from his lungs by a well placed elbow, followed by a nylon-covered knee slammed hard up into his family jewels. He made a squeaky little whistling noise, and crumpled in slow motion into the snow beside the truck, holding on to his gonads with both hands.

Janice felt her distress leach away in the cold. Now all that remained was burning outrage. "Shit! You asshole, you made me tear my sister's dress!" She kicked some snow at the fallen drunk.

"Hey!" A voice cut through the cold air of the parking lot. Janice looked up to see a tall figure in a toque and a sheepskin bomber, come hopping over the parking blocks like so many low grave markers. "Are you okay?" Mel asked, her words rolling out in front of her face in a frosty smoke. "I was walking out to my car and I saw that guy grab you."

John moaned and started to stir, getting weakly to his hands and knees before spewing a torrent of free drinks into the snow.

The aftershock of the emotional outburst hit Janice like a punch in the chest. Suddenly she felt very tired, like she been up for a week of Sundays. Why did all her dates have to be either sniveling needy dweebs or insensitive jerks? It was ironic when she had thought at the beginning of the night, what a nice guy John was. 'Instant 'Jerk'--just add alcohol.' Closing her eyes she sucked in a sob. Warm arms enclosed her and she simply indulged herself in a good cry in a friendly embrace.

"Shh… It's okay." Mel reassured the top of the blonde head that was buried into her the soft fleece of her lapel. Her mitten making large circles on the back of Janice's parka.

"No it's not." Came the quiet little muffled voice. "I have only two speeds when I get mad, I either I'm unnecessarily violent or I cry my eyes out."

"I think you must be really mad then, 'cause you're two for two. …Here," Mel held Janice out where she could see her red puffy eyes in the glow of the streetlights, "before you freeze your face." and handed her a tissue from her jacket pocket. "Who's he?" She asked, using the thumb of her mitten to indicate the man who was still hovering on his knees over a steaming hole in the snow.

"That…" Janice rolled her eyes. "…Is my date."

"I hate to say this Janice, but you have a really crappy taste in men." The tall woman said with only the tiniest hint of sarcasm curling the corner of her lip.

Taking a step back, Janice discerned that her friend was indeed pulling her leg. She started to chuckle refusing to be baited. "I didn't pick him, the only thing I'm guilty of is having the poor sense to agree to another blind date. And believe me my friend Bonnie is going to get an earful."

"Look, are you going to be okay?" Mel asked, looking over at John, who had finally started to push himself to his feet.

"Yeah, I just have to get asshole over there home, and then I can go home and have a bath." Janice trudged resolutely back over to the passenger door of her truck and unlocked the door. "Come on asshole, time for you to go home." Janice called bitterly to her drunken date.

Mel reached over and placed her hand on Janice's arm. "Would you like to get rid of him right now?"

Janice frowned. "Huh? …How?" She hoped that her tall friend didn't have something nasty on her mind. John was a jerk …but gee.

"Let's stuff him in a cab and I'll buy you a coffee." Mel pulled off a mitten and put her hand into the inside pocket of her coat producing a duty card. "The Hotel gives me these so I can send drunks home. They figure a cab fare is cheaper than a lawsuit because some idiot who tries to drive home drunk."

The two women each pulled the young man up by an elbow and walked him back up to the lobby. By the time they had called a taxi for John, he had passed out in a chair. So that's where they left him, with the duty card tucked visibly in the front breast pocket of his jacket.

Part 3

Tinny Christmas music squeaked down from the speaker hanging from the ceiling of the coffee shop. At first, the two women spent an inordinate amount of time simply staring into the depths of their coffee mugs. Given the late hour and the time of year there were only a few other patrons in the 24/7 greasy spoon, that and a bored waitress who stared up at a re-run of "It's a Wonderful life" on the TV bolted to the top of the soda cooler.

"Isn't Oscar going to wonder where you are?" Mel teased raising a brow.

Janice tipped her head with a shy smile. "He's used to mom coming in late, in fact, he's probably passed out in the middle of my bed dreaming about eating the sparrows that tease him through the kitchen window."

Indulging in a deep breath of the warm glow, that inhabited her aura whenever the small blonde woman was in her presence, Mel let the real world fade away and belong to someone else for a moment. "So?" She inquired. "Feeling any better?"

Janice smiled forlornly back over the lip of her mug. "Yeah. So long as my sister forgives me for ripping her dress, I figure the night isn't a total bust." She flipped away the corner of her coat to display a six-inch tear in the seam of the shiny red material.

Leaning in to inspect the damage Mel squinted. "That's not too bad I think I could fix it."

A look of hope blossomed on Janice's face. "Oh God, that would great. Do you think you really could?"

"It looks to me like only the thread has given way, not the material." Mel replied, and then discreetly pulled her hand back from off of Jan's knee, trying her best not to blush.

Oblivious to the other woman's discomfort Janice chattered on. "I could pay you. You don't know how much this means to me. Lilly would kill me if she found out, I'm sure."

"Now what kind of a sibling kills her sister right before Christmas?" Mel teased.

"Well she might take my present back to the store."

Mel shook her head. "I find that hard to believe."

"Okay… okay. She trusted me with her favorite dress, I'd feel bad if I disappointed that trust."

"We can't have that." Mel said in mock seriousness, and then smiled warmly. "Of course I'll fix for you -- no charge."

"No I insist that I pay…"

Mel placed one finger over the blonde woman's lips, effectively silencing her. "'I' insist that you let me do this. Consider it a seasonal gift."

Grinning through the finger at her lips, Janice nodded and the hand was withdrawn. She waited a beat to let the subject pass. "So tell me more about these temp jobs at the hotel."

The waitress took advantage of a commercial break to refill the patrons coffee cups. Waiting until the girl went back to her perch in front of the TV, Mel stirred cream and sugar into her fresh cup. "Minimum wage, but they supply the uniform and they feed you for free." Mel looked up check Janice's reaction. Hmm, she didn't look put off yet. "This time of year though, you stand to pull in really good tips, so it's a great way to make extra cash."

"So you don't tend bar full time?"

The honest question was delightful. "No I don't." The small blonde was so obviously fishing. It was only fair Mel supposed, after all, she hadn't really been forthcoming about herself. "I work at the main library downtown as a materials clerk. The bar tending job is simply a way to pick up extra cash."

The smaller woman was intrigued. "What does a materials clerk do?"

"That's the fancy name for a stacks rat, I put away library books all day."

"Yuck! I think I like the title 'Materials Clerk' better."

Mel laughed, deep, rich and warm. What was it about the tough as nails little janitor that she walked through her carefully built walls like they weren't even there? She envied the way Janice was so free with her emotions, able to laugh and cry, be angry and happy all in the course of a single night. If only she knew how seldom spontaneous laughter like this fell from her lips. It felt good. With her it felt 'right'. It was safe to let a tiny sliver of happiness show and not worry about it being snatched away.

Janice enjoyed the light that filled the big woman's eyes as she laughed. 'I put that there.' She thought to herself. Most of the time, even when she was smiling, there was an indigenous sorrow that haunted the blue eyes of her friend. She vowed to herself that she would see that light more often.

Laughing until there were tears, Mel put a hand up to wipe them away. "Shit!" She said, as a contact lens came loose and flipped down under the table. "Don't move." She warned Janice. Carefully she slid off of her chair and knelt down beside the table. 'Crunch!' Mel felt something break under her knee. "Oh Fuck…" She muttered under her breath, lifting a knee to reveal what was left of her contact lens.

Watching with dismay Janice looked down over the edge of the table. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Mel."

Mel got back up into her chair and removed the other lens. She squinted at it on the tip of her finger. "Hmph… I needed to get my prescription checked anyway." She pulled a small two-capped jar from a pocket and dropped the contact into one end. "I knew there was a reason why I pack these around." Mel muttered taking a pair of black wire framed glasses out of a case from another pocket."

"Which one's got the rabbit in it?"

"Huh?" Mel asked puzzled, while she cleaned the glasses with a tissue.

Janice reached out and tugged at the sleeve of Mel's jacket. "You keep getting all sorts of stuff out of all those pockets. I wondered which was the one with the rabbit in it?"

The bright smile returned as the tall woman slid the glasses onto her nose. "I never got in the habit of carrying a purse." She grinned, "…and I left my rabbit in my other coat."

Sitting back and sipping her cooling coffee, Janice chuckled and regarded her companion. "You look so familiar in those."

"Okay, now you've really lost me."

"No, seriously, there's something very familiar about you in glasses."

Mel shook her head with an amused smile. "If you say so."

Part 4

Mel popped her head into the room, looking left and right. 'No one. …Good.' She slipped in through the door and hung the dry-cleaner bag with the red dress in it on the front of Janice's locker. Quickly, she pulled off her jacket and hung it in her own locker before brushing and trying back her hair. A fast look in the mirror on the inside of the door and then she settled in a chair at the far side of the room to wait.

The wait wasn't a long one.

She could hear the voices long before the door ever opened. The gregarious nature of the small blonde had garnered her several new friends in the few days she had been filling in at the hotel. The door swung open and three of the bar staff tumbled in, all talking excitedly at the same time about their preparations for the holidays. Mel watched from the corner enjoying their enthusiasm.

Janice saw the dress on her locker and pulled back the plastic to reveal a flawless repair of the torn seam. Grinning, her eyes searched the room zeroing in on her friend sitting in the corner. She literally bounced across the room and jumped into Mel's lap. "Thank you!" She said with a giant bear hug. "It's perfect, you can't even tell it was torn.

At this point Mel was the one that was thankful. She absorbed the warm human contact and let it fill up the empty place inside her. Her heart carefully recorded the event for replay later. Hugs like these were more precious than gold. "You're welcome." She replied returning the hug with a shy grin. When Janice smiled and kissed her cheek before hopping out of her lap, it surprised Mel so badly that she almost forgot to let go.

While the Janice and the rest of the bar staff got ready for their shift, in a flurry of talking, laughing and slamming lockers, Mel slowly came back up to the surface. Taking a big breath, she realized she was happy. Really happy. Christmas usually wasn't, and now, if just for this moment, she knew the joy of the season that everyone around her took for granted. She realized she was grinning like an idiot and sucked in her bottom lip while heading out the door to check on her stock before the gig started.

Five minutes later alone in the cooler, trying to count beer cases, she stopped. Putting her hand up to her cheek and closing her eyes, she replayed the feeling of soft lips on her skin. Hugging her clipboard to her chest, she sighed and then caught herself giggling. 'Back to work Mel!' She told herself, shaking her head. Finishing the count, she started filling the racks floating on the unfamiliar high of a good mood.

Janice dropped her tray on the bar and called out, "Two jugs of draft and a 'Sex on the Beach', please Mel."

The hotel ballroom was swinging as the live band blasted the crowd with a rock version of 'I Saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Claus'. Some large Investment firm had booked the room for the night and besides their staff, they had invited all their clients. With an older crowd and a cash bar, the drink orders were wildly more varied than the regular highballs and beer. Mel had to dust off her cocktail skills as some of the partygoers actually ordered old standards like Martinis and Alexanders.

"Drinks up!" Mel called back and set the jugs and the cocktail, complete with a tacky little paper umbrella, on the tray. Mel leaned out over the bar so that Janice could hear her. "How's it going?" She asked nodding her head in the direction of the crowd.

Rotating the tray horizontally on her hand and over onto her shoulder, Janice smiled and raised her voice. "Great! These guys aren't shy with their tips."

Mel returned the smile with interest and winked, before glancing down at her watch. 'Twelve thirty'. "Only a half an hour until last call. Start putting out the good word to the customers and maybe we can avoid a last minute run on the bar."

The last thirty minutes of the gig ticked away. The crowd was surprisingly well behaved. They ordered and received their last round of drink orders without much ado; this allowed the bar staff to get a head start on the monumental clean up. The wait staff circulated pulling empties as the last of the partygoers swayed out on the dance floor. As it grew closer to two am, they also cleared the tables left open as customers started filtering out.

Mel filled the belt on the glass washer and put the empty bus tray on the growing stack next to the cooler door. She watched as the assorted tumblers, goblets and snifters marched into the depths of the machine in a roar of rushing water. As soon as there was space she reached for another tray.

"Hey Mel!" the newest waitresses called over the top of the bar.

Mel looked up. "Yeah?"

"The Band is playing its last song. Bill says that if there's a live band and we get done clean up before they're all packed up, the bar buys a round for the staff. Is that true?"

"Uh huh. That is… if you guys have all the clean up done 'and' you've all cashed out."

The music stopped and the house lights came up and Janice blinked at the unaccustomed light. The last of the partygoers left in search of their coats. Watching them head for the coat check, she headed to the till to cash out. She had cashed in several times during the evening but was still surprised at the size of her cash out. 'Jeez! No wonder my feet are sore!' She thought.

When the tables had all been cleared and collapsed and the chairs were stacked, Mel helped the porters load them on to the transport carts to take back down to storage, and then watched as the band was wheeling the last of their large amplifiers out the back door. She turned to see that the wait staff was sitting around the last remaining table quietly chatting and counting their tips. "Looks like I owe you guys each a drink." She called out while returning to her station behind the bar. "Okay, what'll ya have?"

Being low man on the totem pole, Janice grabbed her tray and walked up to the bar. "Two Margaritas, a White Russian, a Monkey's Lunch, a Brown Cow, a couple of Bud Lights and a Tequila Sunrise." She rattled off in one breath and then grinned. "Almost everybody wants one of those fancy frou-frou drinks after serving them all night."

"They're called 'Cocktails' not frou-frou," Mel chastised with a grin, "they're named for the original swizzle stick."

"Eww!" Janice said with a grimace. "Don't you dare put a feather in my drink!"

Mel just laughed and made a show of mixing the drinks and setting them on Janice's tray with a flourish. After locking up the liquor she followed the smaller woman back to the table she sat and nursed her beer as the staff wound down in a chatter of bad jokes and gossip.

Watching out of the corner of her eye, Janice noticed that her friend always stayed on the outskirts of the conversation, never committing herself to being more than one more body in the group. The tall woman laughed when everyone else laughed, and commented when she was asked a direct question, but did nothing to be involved more than that. Still it was good to see her smiling and at least a little relaxed.

Then the life drained from her face.

The change was so startling, that Janice turned to see what could have stolen the light from the dark woman's eyes. Janice knew she had seen this look on Mel's face once before. The night she had taken her home, when she saw that car in her driveway, like someone had reached in and carved out her soul. Standing at far end of the ballroom was a short stocky woman, who simply stood and glared at the people sitting around the table.

'Oh shit…' Mel thought when she looked up to see Jo standing in the doorway to the hall leading to the lobby. The blood rushed from her face. Jo was supposed to be in the hospital, this could only mean that she'd eloped again. Reality holding hands with responsibility crashed in and all of the happy feelings that she'd been coasting on throughout the night evaporated. "Um… Guys I have to go." She stood abruptly and crossed the room in a quick walk.

Her back received a chorus of "Night Mel!" She waved one arm but didn't say good night back. Janice watched her go and wondered who the glowering woman could be, to steal the light out of Mel's eyes in a heartbeat.

Janice knew it was foolish but she felt abandoned. So far, Mel hadn't been one for the social niceties of being 'one of the gang', but the small woman was sure tonight had been different. As the night had passed, Janice could have sworn that the tall bartender was teasing, almost flirting with her in a friendly sort of a way. Seeing that light go out was depressing, it took the festive atmosphere from the room. She wished everyone a good night and hurried home.

Part 5

Christmas came and went, as it did every year, but magic of that one night hadn't returned. Working at the hotel became just a job. Mel was cordial but the winks she had given Janice, the night she had returned Lilly's dress, were gone and even the smiles were few and far between. Janice found herself looking forward to when she went back to cleaning offices instead of the loud smoky parties night after night.

Janice stood in her bathroom adjusting the bow tie that came with her uniform and sighed. She had almost called in and told them that she wouldn't be able to work her last shift before returning to being a janitor. The money had been nice, she was able to give nice presents to family and friends, and the best part was she wouldn't owe her soul to the credit card people for once. But the little blue cloud from a week and a half ago, returned every time she went back to the hotel, and it hadn't disappeared with the season.

'Oh well…' She mused into the mirror, 'one more night won't kill me.'

Walking into the small living room, she unplugged the tree lights and looked down at the single unwrapped present still sitting under the branches. 'I'll have to take down the tree tomorrow.' She told herself sternly. It was always a hard thing to do, it meant that the season was over and Janice truly loved the Holidays. The only fly in the ointment of this year's celebration was the apparent estrangement of her new friend. Bending down she picked up the small present and felt the weight of it in her hand.

Playing that night over and over in her mind she couldn't understand what had happened. Mel had been so loose and playful right up until that strange woman had shown up. 'So why did she stop talking to me?' …No, that wasn't really true. Mel still talked to her, but it was like she had taken a step back from the friendship. Perhaps what plagued Janice the most was being hurt by it at all, especially since they weren't really that close in the first place.

Mentally shaking herself to throw off the puzzle that kept creeping back into her conscious thoughts, Janice stuffed the small parcel into a pocket and zipped up her parka before locking up the house and heading out to the driveway and her idling truck.

Part 6

The New Years Party was a nightmare. The hotel had sold tickets for a dinner and dance. By the time bar staff had set up the cash bar the crowd was already half cut on the free magnums the hotel had supplied with the supper. Instead of a live band there was a DJ who seemed to have a demonic love for loud polka music.

Mel's hands flew fast and furious trying to keep up. The other bartender required for a big event like this had called in with the flu and she had to hustle to fill all the drink orders. Her knee was starting to ache and she knew that it would give out if she kept twisting on it.

When the small blonde came up to the bar, Mel had to shout to be heard over the tuba and accordion music. "Janice can you come back here and give me a hand after Sheila gets back from her break? This crowd is only sucking back beer and highballs so it shouldn't that hard for you to get the hang of it."

Shortly, Janice was pulling beer like a pro, …well, she still had the occasional jug or pint mug full of foam but for the most part she had helped to draw up the slack. Sliding a brace of two-liter jugs up onto the serving counter, Janice turned back in time to see Mel do a little hop-step to keep her weight off of her knee. "Mel? You okay?"

Mel looked a little pale; her lips were tight. "It's nothing, I just turned on my knee wrong." She went back to loading the glass-washer, purposefully staying off the sore knee until the blonde turned back to the taps. The pain had gotten steadily worse and she cursed herself for leaving the house without any ibuprofen, of course she hadn't needed it near as often these days. 'Damn!' The expletive was barely held behind her teeth when she shifted her weight to move back up to the bar and a fresh jolt of pain flamed up from her knee. Crushing her eyes down tight, she rode out the pain and then opened them, to find a pair of green ones looking back, filled with concern.

"You are not okay!" Janice stated with a frown and reached up with one finger to push Mel's glasses back up on her nose, from where they had slipped down on slick pain sweat.

"I forgot my pain killers at home." Mel admitted.

"I'll get some aspirin from the gift shop."

Mel shook her head "No… I'll be okay, besides I don't think aspirin could touch this." She leaned into the counter and shifted her feet. "See… it doesn't hurt if I don't put all my weight on it.

"Yeah right." Janice agreed sarcastically. She waved over the tall waiter doing a cash-out at the till. "Hey Bill, have you got any pain killers?" Being the friendly person that she was, Janice had come to know all the little ins and outs of all the bar staff. Including that Bill was going in to have a painful bunion removed later in the month and since his job kept him on his feet, he carried something to keep it bearable.

The young man dug in his pocket and produced a small bottle. He opened it and tapped out a large white tablet. "Here." He said and dropped the pill into her hand.

"What is this?" Janice asked looking at her palm.

"It's Percoset, a pain killer."

"Is it safe?" Mel asked over Janice's shoulder.

Bill smiled. "Oh yeah they're great, gets rid of pain in no time. My Brother took them too, when he had his back surgery."

Janice frowned and poked the pill in her hand with one finger. "I don't know Bill… It's for Mel's knee. You are sure it's safe?"

"It might make her a little drowsy, but she's a big girl so I doubt it."

Mel ended the discussion by taking the pill from Janice's hand and tossing it back dry. "Let's get back to work." She said, nodding at the other wait staff that was showing up at the bar to get their drink orders filled. "Thanks Bill." Was tossed over shoulder as she turned back to the taps.

Much to her surprise, Mel was pleased at how quickly that the pain dissipated and then disappeared all together. In fact, she was feeling down right mellow. Everything had a fuzzy edge to it; not enough to hamper her work but it still felt like she was stuck in second gear. Janice noticed the sluggish way Mel was acting but at least she wasn't limping any more.

Large screen, projection televisions had been placed in each corner of the ballroom. Janice glanced up at the nearest one and caught a glimpse of the ageless Dick Clark interviewing an animated young woman from a rooftop in New York. She looked at her watch and laughed, this had to be on tape, their New Year had come and gone two hours ago. The crowd didn't seem to care that this was a recycled event, their energy level continued to rise as the last few minutes of the year slipped away.

One good thing about the hotel providing free champagne to toast the hour, the need for bar service dropped off to next to nothing allowing the staff to take a well earned break and perhaps celebrate the New Year like everyone else in the room. Mel lined up a row of flutes on the top of the bar and opened the bottle she had smuggled in for the occasion. Unlike the cheap domestic that the hotel was serving, the staff each got a glass of the real imported stuff. She passed out the flutes and everyone leaned against the bar watching the patrons on the dance floor preparing to greet a brand new calendar.

The image on the screens all showed the 'Big Ball' at Times Square and numbers in the corner started counting backwards from ten… "Nine!" Shouted the crowd. The bar staff raised their glasses and counted along as well. "…Two! …One! …Happy New Year!"

Out on the dance floor there was a pandemonium of shouts, whistles, horns and noisemakers. A large net filled with balloons opened onto the crowd and the air was also filled with the loud bangs of popping balloons.

The bar staff cheered and toasted each other, draining their glasses. Janice made the rounds giving and receiving hugs and kisses from her new friends and looked around for the tall bartender who was responsible for the nice bonus, but she had disappeared from behind the bar. Slipping back behind the counter Janice stepped into the cooler to find Mel seated on an empty beer keg sobbing into a bar towel.

"Mel, what's wrong?" Janice asked softly in the quiet cool air, she could barely hear the noise from the party that hammered against the outside of the thick glass doors.

Mel didn't even look up. She simply turned away. "Jan, go back out. I just need to be alone for a couple of minutes."

"No."

Mel looked up and sniffed. "No?"

"No, you don't need to be alone."

Janice bent down and pulled Mel into a hug. "Happy New Year, Mel." The words rose up softly into the ear by her lips. Leaning back again she studied her new friend's face and placed a gentle kiss her lips.

They say that a desert rose can bloom from a single salty teardrop. The barren place in Mel's soul was suddenly suffused with clement rain. Her body responded without her permission and kissed back. Disobedient arms pulled Janice close, and pressed her to an aching breast. Every ounce of want and need gathered itself up and took form in a single heartfelt kiss.

Barely a couple of heartbeats had passed but Mel came back to herself and her eyes snapped open. Filled with embarrassment and shame she turned her head away and released the captive woman in her arms. "I'msorryimsorryimsorry!" The words all bubbled out in a rush. "I'm not like this… I don'no what’s the matter with me!" She said with another rush of tears.

Janice gave herself a little shake. She wasn't exactly certain what had just happened that would mortify her friend. "Mel, it's okay." Turning and putting one hip on Mel's cold aluminum seat, she rubbed Mel's back in slow friendly circles.

"You must think that I'm no better than that jerk in the parking lot." Mel said staring remorsefully down at the bar towel twisted in one hand.

Janice smiled. "Mel that was the nicest New Year's kiss I've gotten all night. Jimmy slobbers, and Bill's moustache could be used to scrape paint." She brought her hand up under Mel's chin, turning her face to where she could see the tear-filled blue eyes. "You're tired, you are obviously not used to the pain killer that Bill gave you, and you should never have had that champagne on top of it." She reached up and removed Mel's glasses holding them up to the light at the far side of the cooler. "See… You've gotten tear spots all over your glasses." Her light teasing was greeted with the tiniest essence of a smile from the tall bartender.

"Come on." Janice said cleaning Mel's glasses on her apron and setting them back on the brunette's nose. "I'm taking you home."

Rising to her feet, Mel started to argue. "No, we have t… whoa!" She quickly sat back down when the cooler turned into a merry-go-round. "Ngh? …I think I'm gonna be sick."

Janice frowned. "Mel how much did you drink?"

Mel reached down and held up an empty magnum.

Janice did some quick math in her head. When she subtracted the glasses for the staff, Mel hadn't really consumed much more than the equivalent of a couple glasses. "Mel did you have supper on your break?"

Her head felt like it might float away, so holding on to it carefully with both hands to keep it from doing just that, Mel shook her head no. "Too busy." She explained.

Taking the rag from Mel's hands, Janice wiped away the sweat that was beading up on Mel's brow and gently urged her to put her head between her knees. "You just sit here for a minute and I'll go get our coats."

"But…"

"No buts, I'll go get Mr. Trevor and tell him you're sick, he can supervise the clean up and cash out, plus he's got the keys to lock up." She said referring to the night desk manager."

"No… Trevor's an asshole. He'll find out about the champagne and everybody will get shit for drinking on shift." Mel turned her face and rolled her eyes up to meet Janice's. "Trust me on this Jan, I don't want to get anyone in trouble."

Janice looked at her watch, then rubbed her bottom lip for a moment lost in thought. "Okay. There's only a half an hour left until cut off, and because of the free bubbly, they won't need as much table service. Bill and Sheila can cover the bar, and Jimmy and the girls can cover the rest." She dropped an arm over Mel's stooped shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. "…And we will stay right here until lock up. Sound like a plan?"

Mel nodded silently and Janice left to set things in motion. When she returned a few minutes later, the tall woman still sat shivering on her aluminum throne. "Here…" She dropped the sheepskin coat over Mel's shoulders and handed her a Styrofoam cup. "I don't want you catching a chill on top of everything else."

Bill stuck his head in the cooler and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Mel, I should have warned you not to drink booze with the Percoset."

"Well they did make my knee feel better, I should have known better." Mel admitted, doing her level best to fight against the fogginess in her brain and at least to appear sober.

"Okee-dokee, Holler if you need anything." His words were immediately silenced by the cooler door slapping shut.

They sat for long moments, listening to the muted sounds of the New Years party, the hissing of the coolant tubes, and the occasional 'snap-clank' of the smaller doors of the beer racks opening and closing. Mel said nothing, preferring to sip her coffee and wait for the world to stop weaving around like a drunken sailor.

"Why?" Janice asked sliding one arm over Mel's shoulders.

In her misery, Mel had almost forgotten about the smaller woman who sat beside her on an upturned storage crate. She turned and tried to focus on Janice's face, finding that it took too much concentration she simply closed her eyes. "Why what?"

"When I first came in here, you were crying. Why Mel?"

Mel drew in a deep breath, she could tell her to go to hell, mind her own business… or she could tell her the truth. 'What is the truth anyway?' she wondered. Taking a swallow of the cooling coffee like it was pride; Mel made up her mind.

"It's stupid really." Mel's voice sounded thin in the cool air. "Watching the TV… It all came back… Last New Years Eve I was visited by a ghost."

Janice wasn't certain what to think. She hoped it didn't show on her face as she cautiously asked, "Ghost?"

"Yeah a ghost," Mel replied wearily, "of someone I loved, who was taken away. For a few short hours my lover came back." Her head felt heavy and she leaned into the smaller woman, letting it rest on the welcome shoulder. "For one wonderful night it was like we had never been apart, cuddling together in the afterglow and watching the ball drop on TV. We drank baby champagne and laughed together…" Mel's voice dropped off until Janice had to lean in to hear her. "I woke up the next morning with the changeling. …I'd made love with a memory."

The pain in the woman's voice was a huge and horrible thing. Janice's heart broke for the friend who trembled in her embrace. She didn't truly understand exactly what Mel was saying, but she also knew that, if not for the combination of the champagne and the pain drug, Mel probably would have cut out her own tongue, rather than tell her these things. Pulling the big woman close, Janice squeezed the shoulder under her hand and smoothed some of the stray dark hair that had escaped its tie, back behind Mel's ear. "Shh… you don't have to say any more if you don't want to."

Like a small child, Mel snuggled into the one-armed hug and sighed. "I used to get hugs like this. Then the hitting started. I'd try so hard to figure out what I had done--how I could make things better. Then all the bad stuff at the hospital. The hitting stopped, but so did the hugs."

Janice took the half-empty cup of coffee from Mel's hand and set it on the floor, when she started to cry in earnest. Gathering her into her arms, Janice rocked them back and forth. "Mel… any time you want a hug, you come see me, I always have extra and I love to share."

Mel didn't answer; she simply put her arms around the smaller woman and squeezed back. The fuzzy edge of her consciousness said 'Go ahead. This is only a dream, nothing like this would ever really happen to you.' Closing her eyes she fell to a dreamless sleep, in a cooler, at a bar, in the arms of a new friend that she barely knew.

Part 7

"Mel? …Mel wake up." Janice gently shook Mel, waking the woman who had been snoring softly on her shoulder for the past hour or so. Her jacket had kept her warm, but her butt was cold and the arm around Mel was starting to cramp. She was rewarded with the slow movement of her tall friend and deep groan.

"Oh man!" Mel sat up and rubbed her eyes. Running her tongue over her teeth, she grimaced. "What the hell?" She looked around the cooler groggily. "Oh fuck…" She murmured, as some very vague recollections tried to surface; something about the pill that Bill had given her and crying jag in the cooler.

"Hey," Janice inquired with friendly concern, "feeling any better?"

Painfully Mel stood up and rolled her head on her shoulders, wincing as the vertebrae snapped back into place. "Better, as compared to what?" What could possibly be worse? She had a dull head ache, her mouth tasted like cotton and she could feel the impression of a beer keg in her ass.

"Well," Janice began. "You were in pain, then you were feeling no pain and then you said you were going to be sick."

"…And you got stuck with baby-sitting me. Please tell me that I didn't puke on you."

"No you didn't actually get sick. You only drooled a little bit on my shoulder when you fell asleep."

Mel wished that she could crawl into the crack in the cement at her feet. "Janice, I am so sorry!"

Janice shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry for, as far as I'm concerned you had a bad reaction to some medication, that's all."

"What time is it?" Mel asked, rubbing at her face and wishing she could rub away the blush of shame that she could feel there.

"Late." Janice glanced at her watch. "It's just after two, they must be nearly done clean up.

As if he heard her words Bill stuck his head into the cooler. "What, You guys haven't turned into a couple of Popsicles yet?" He teased.

"Bill, it's a cooler, not a freezer--we're fine." Janice answered while standing to raise her arms in a stretch. "C'mon Mel, Let's do the lock up and I'll drive you home."

The final lock up and the drive home was mostly done in silence until Janice pulled her truck into Mel's Driveway. "Look's like no one's home." Janice observed and then turned to watch Mel undo her seatbelt.

Her mind still fuzzy Mel spoke without thinking. "No Jo's back in the hospital." There was a screech and a bang in the back of her mind as her lips tried to put on the breaks, but it was too late to call the words back. 'Shit!' She thought and fumbled with the belt.

The Panic on Mel's face was easy to read so Janice only responded with "Oh. …Mel?"

"Yeah?" Mel reached down for the door handle.

Janice turned on the interior light and held out a small wrapped gift. "Here."

"What's this?" Mel frowned but didn't take the package.

"It's a Christmas present silly. Go ahead, take it."

"I didn't get you anything." Mel still looked like the small parcel might bite her.

Janice sighed and thrust the present out again. "Yes you did, you fixed Lilly's dress …remember?"

Now it was Mel's turn to say, "Oh." She took the present gracefully, saying "Thanks, you didn't have to."

"I know, open it"

Mel peeled away the colorful paper to find a small chocolate box. "Thank y…"

"No it's not chocolates, I just used that box to wrap it." Janice grinned.

Sliding the top off the box, Mel found a small velvet bag, pulling the drawstrings the bag opened and a medallion on a chain dropped into her hand. "Leo." She said softy, running her thumb over the engraving of a roaring lion. A single tear escaped one blue eye when she looked up at the small blonde on the seat beside her. "I don't know what to say…"

Janice just smiled warmly. "You're welcome. Now get yourself in the house, it's late."

Mel got out of the truck and just before she entered the house she turned and waved. When Janice waved back, she felt the little blue cloud over her heart, lift and disappear.

She grinned at herself in the rearview mirror and said, "Yes!" and sang with the radio all the way home.

Note: This is the third in a series of Alt fiction dealing with recovery from physical and emotional abuse. Please let me know what you think. - Rocky

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