Work Text:
“And remember to do your daily sketchbook drawing for homework!”
Iris said as the door closed behind the last student in her class. The moment all of them had left the classroom she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Her eye bags were prominent as she scanned the classroom, trashed again with paint, clay, and other paper scraps. She pulled herself up from the comfort of her desk and grabbed a towel. She slowly started working the acrylic off of the desk, not bothering with the other small dried droplets. After an hour she got most of the paint off, but what about the clay? She looked at a now bone dry lump of clay formed to look like a volcano, paint having made the appearance of lava.
“At Least it's creative.”
she grumbled to herself as she detached it from the desk and set it aside in a nearby cubby.
She looked across the room at the other tables with various clay shapes strewn about, much work to do. She looked at the clock, 4:35 pm.
She scowled at the clock and started to clean the rest of the mess. Moving to a small town to teach ungrateful kids art skills was getting less and less worth it.
After 2 more hours she had cleaned the clay and paper scraps on the floor, her hair was messy, kept up in a barely surviving bun. 6:43 pm and the classroom looked..passable. She snatched her keys and her bag and walked out the door. She watched the custodian enter her room on the way out, he quickly left after seeing the room had already been cleaned. Iris didn't care for people who don't clean up their messes, a trait that many of her students had. She knew it couldn't be helped, they were fourth graders after all! Still the cleanup was not doing any favors for her back, which was now sore. She exited the building and hopped in her car. As she was about to make it back to her house she slowed down, In a split second decision she drove into a parking lot. She exited her car and walked up to the building in front of her, the town bar.
When she walked inside she noticed not many people were there, surprising for a Friday past 5pm. The place did not reek of beer like she had imagined, infact for a nearly cartoonish looking bar it was quite well kept and nice. She sat at the counter where the bartender stood cleaning a glass. He noticed her eyebags and messy hair almost immediately as well as some small bits of paint on her that she didn't notice before. He quickly finished cleaning the glass and put it in front of her.
“Rough day?”
He asked softly.
“A little bit.”
She mumbled.
He chuckled a bit before replying.
“Been there. What can I get’cha today? I dont believe ive seen you around before!”
She scanned a tall shelf of various liquors and other alcohol before pointing to a pink bottle with a black label behind him.
“Whitney, please.”
He nodded and poured out a glass in front of her.
“Good choice, we also have a menu with some food options;”
He said, handing her a nice old fashioned looking menu.
“Names rob, And you?”
“O-oh huh?”
She said, clearly having zoned out.
“Sorry, Iris Fullson.”
“I think I've heard about you.. Do you work at Littlewood?”
He said, handing her the glass.
“That's me.”
She mumbled back in response.
“I teach art there.”
“Oh, a buddy of mine has a kid who goes there! Is it difficult?”
“The classes?”
“No, The job! I can't imagine having to deal with 20 or more kids for hours on end, You're kinda a hero.”
He said lightheartedly, She cracked a smile in response.
“I cleaned up for three hours before coming here.. A little bit.”
She said with a small laugh at the end, Sipping her drink.
For a few hours she sat there and made conversation with the bartender in front of her. They discussed their jobs, The town, and anything in between. Pretty soon it was dark out before they knew it. Iris had a higher alcohol tolerance then most, having a few drinks and a sandwich over the course of three hours only left her tipsy at most. After finishing her last drink she pulled out her wallet.
“How much do I owe you?”
She asked, putting her dishes in a neat pile.
“Hmmm…It's on me, Consider it a housewarming gift! Or townwarming, not sure.”
He replied happily.
“Oh, uhm, are you sure? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble or anything.”
She asked timidly
“Oh no, I'm the boss, dont worry about it.”
He said casually.
“Wow, um, thankyou!;”
She replied in awe, she pulled out her phone and wrote something down.
“I'll be back next friday.”
She said with a smile.
“I'll be waiting!”
Rob beamed out in response.
And she was. And then again, and again, and again after that too. It became a routine every week to visit him. Eventually it wasnt that they were expecting each other othermore but anticipating the other ones there. A few weeks later she had shown up again. She stayed pretty late after and Rob had the closing shift that night. They had left the bar together, Iris having helped rob tidy up after the patrons of the bar. That night she hadn't even had a drop of alcohol, she simply ate and made conversation. She was never a social butterfly by any means but the bar was an incredibly welcoming environment, and Rob made sure of it. After they left the building, Rob quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment.
“Oh my god I forgot I had laurence carpool me here!”
He sighed and opened his phone ready to make a call.
Iris looked at him for a moment before asking;
“Need a ride?”
He blinked in surprise.
“Oh, um, if you have the time I suppose..”
It was well past midnight but she nodded in response and grabbed his hand.
“Alright come on then.”