Erika Waldera was in Darien for a short term contract; three months for certain, with an option to extend if she and the hospital both agreed. A recent nursing graduate, Erika was using the traveling nurses program to move around the country trying to find a place she might like to settle. She expected that she would probably move back near her parents, but for now she was traveling the country, living life.
The first couple of weeks in Darien she spent getting settled in, and this was her first real evening free. Due to the nature of her job, she had Wednesday and Thursday off this week, so she was out bar hopping. Not that she expected much in the way of nightlife, Darien was technically a city, but it was really not much more than a big friendly town. Besides, Wednesdays were notoriously slow everywhere.
She had had a bite to eat at one place, moved on to a second small bar, and was now on her way to a third. The meal had been nice, but the second place had too much of a sports bar feel to it so she knew she needed to move on. The third bar had been mentioned to her at work as a place the locals hung out, it was down a set of stairs in the driveway between two buildings. Erika had been looking for the stairs, otherwise she would have missed the sign for the Going Down Bar. The bar was completely underground in what would have been a basement elsewhere. The only window was in the stairwell next to the door.
The sign on the side of the building and the stairwell were well lit and inviting. Erika paused briefly at the door when she saw a small sign that said "Cash only, no credit or debit." She had an emergency twenty in her purse and was usually able to get a couple of drinks from admirers in bars, so she wasn't concerned about the inability to use her debit card. She wasn't planning to stay long in any case.
The Going Down Bar was a pleasant surprise. It was well lit, and very clean. It even smelled nice, which was a surprise considering it was effectively underground. There was quiet music playing from somewhere. To the right there were two bathroom doors, effectively next to the street. The bar room itself, to the left as she entered, had a bar down the right side, a loose row of small tables down the center, and booths along the left wall. The bar was typical, with a big mirror behind the bottles, and a handsome burly man leaning against the wall.
The other walls, and even the ceiling, though was what gave the place it's charm. There were framed photographs on almost all of the available surfaces. They were a mixture of recent color and older black and white photos. The larger photos were of buildings that she thought she recognized from town, but she hadn't been in Darien long enough to be certain. Most of the rest were of smiling people, and groups of people, a lot of them obviously taken here in the bar.
There was one older guy drinking quietly at this end of the bar, a group of three men and a woman at the other end, and there were two couples in different booths. At the far end of the room was an open area that might be considered a dance floor next to double doors that led into another room effectively behind the bar.
Erika smiled to herself at the lovely place and walked up to the bar, slipping onto one of the stools a couple of seats away from the old man, and several away from the group at the other end. The handsome forty-ish man pushed off the wall and step over to her. "Welcome to Going Down, what can I get for you?"
"Can I get a lemon martini?"
"I can make the drink, but I don't have martini glasses, if that is ok."
Erika shrugged, "Sure, that's fine."
The bartended started mixing the drink, "Can I see your id? And I want to let you know we only take cash, no debit or credit."
Erika handed over her license, "Yeah, I saw that on the door. Why not? Most places take cards."
"Debit cards and credit cards are a scam. Say you spend a hundred dollars with me, the credit card processors take a cut, not a lot, only one or two percent, but that is for doing nothing. Then I use the $98 dollars to buy supplies and the credit companies take another cut. Then that store buys their stuff and another cut. It doesn't take long before your hundred bucks is only ninety, and the bank has ten for doing nothing. It's just a scam." As he was saying this the man took her license, turned around and looked at it in a very well lit little cubby in the bar, he tipped the card back and forth to see it at different angles and then turned back around and handed it back to her. "Technology is not your friend."
The bartender went back to making the drink and quickly placed it in front of her. "Now, Erika, I have you at an unfair disadvantage since I saw your name and know you are from out of state. I am Damon McCall, this is my bar, and I am born and raised here in Darien."
Erika smiled and reached across the bar to shake his hand, he had a strong grip, and so did she, but Damon only squeezed as hard as she did. "It's nice to meet you Damon."
"So, what brings you to Going Down? Here to drink quietly before going home alone like old Virgil here, or are you interested in meeting people?" Erika glanced at Virgil as he raised his glass to her.
"I'm looking to meet people, and find a place to spend my free time while I'm in Darien. So far Going Down seems like a good place to be."
Damon introduced Erika to the other regulars at the far end of the bar. Linda, Trent, Rickie and Adam were all a couple of years older than Erika, and were all friends from high school. Linda mentioned, "Small town, you know, we've known each other since kindergarten. Except Adam, he came over from the Catholic school in third grade."
Erika spent the evening getting to know the group, and the guys flirted with her, and she them. Curiously nobody offered to buy her a drink, and she wasn't going to ask for one, so her evening ended sober, but happy. These people seemed like good people, maybe her people.
Erika came back the next night, earlier, and made sure to bring more cash. Damon was behind the bar, and Virgil was on his stool, and there were several other people at the bar. There were more couples and groups in the booths.
As Damon handed over her drink he said, "Linda is in the pool room, if you are looking for them." He pointed to the wide open double doors near the dance floor. Erika hadn't been in that room the night before, but it was also nice. The end near the door was dominated by a pool table, and the far end of the room was open for two dart boards. These walls were covered with photos, as well.
Trent smiled at Erika, "Oh, I'm glad you came, I've got to be leaving, and these guys need a fourth for pool!"
"Oh, I'm no good at pool!"
Linda laughed and said, "No worries, we'll play three rounds, you can play with each one of us. That way we will be equally handicapped."
Erika frowned, then laughed, "I'm not sure I like the sound of that, but I'm game."
As expected, Erika was by far the worst player there, she had almost never played before, and the others played regularly, sometimes for hours each week. The others did tease her a lot, but they also offered encouragement and assistance when they could.
Between shots Erika looked around the room, looking at the pictures, and noticed two white boards. The one near the dart boards was clearly meant to keep score of darts scores, but there was another near the pool table. At the top was "March: Linda," and beneath that was "April: Linda III". Linda was a good pool player so Erika assumed it was some kind of tournament.
