I See-- Wait, You See Them Too? [Chatzy] || Jeff and Haley
It had been a long week for Haley. It had been a long month, actually. Fuck, screw that, it had been a long few months at this point. She needed-- no, she deserved a drink at this point. And it was her dad's birthday coming up fast. Drowning the sorrow was totally necessary. She'd never made it a point to go out to bars by herself, it felt kind of pathetic to her. But drinking alone at home while watching Law and Order on Netflix felt way more pathetic. Not to mention that she didn’t really feel all that safe in her house at the moment. So bar it was. One of her regulars had recommended the Empty Glass. He was a nice guy, and not like one of the ones with nice guy syndrome, so she was pretty sure it was a genuine recommendation and not just his attempts at hitting on her. Only one way to find out. Walking through the door, it looked like a pretty typical dive bar, which were always good in her book. The place seemed in full swing already. She wasn't looking to party hard (not sober at least), so Haley beelined to the bar and squeezed in where she could, and tried to get the attention of the bar tender.
Jeff was sincerely happy to be back in behind the bar. With the blue moon throwing his hormones out of whack, he had taken a almost a week off work just to be sure he wouldn't accidentally start an orgy in his place of employment, and after everything that had happened with the roots, it was the first full bar he had seen in god knows how long. And wow, did Jeff feel in his element. People crowded the bar, vying for his attention, and by extension, a steady supply of alcohol. An hour into his shift, Miranda joined him behind the bar just to keep people from climbing behind the bar to get their fix straight from the source. With a wide grin, he turned his attention to the young brunette who had just come in. "Welcome to The Empty Glass," he shouted over the din. "What can I get ya?"
Haley hadn't really walked in with a plan. She was totally sure it was going to take way longer to get served and she'd have time to make a decision. "Hi, uhh," Shit, she really had no idea. And it as the attractive bartender, too. This didn't help her concentration not at all. Yeah nope, no clue. "Something alcoholic and make it fruity." Bartenders knew how to make cool stuff right? That was totally enough to work with.
Oh, hell yeah. Jeff knew some bar tenders who absolutely hated when people came in without a specific drink, but in all honesty, he loved it. Getting to mix whatever he wanted was a rare treat, and he rarely got permission from his customers to surprise them. He smiled and snatched up a glass. "You got it," he replied, pulling various bottles off the shelves and creating the best goddamn tequila sunrise this girl would ever have. Sliding her the finished product, he said, "If you hate it, let me know and I'll get you something else. On the house."
Haley watched intently, trying to see if she could guess what he was making. She saw tequila. And bright colors. But nope, no clue what it was. Didn't stop her from taking it. "Thanks." She took a swig. It was freaking delicious. And she saw the amount of tequila, it was definitely stronger than it tasted. She was pretty freaking happy. But then that caveat. "Would you believe me if I said I hated it? Because I mean, free drinks are a thing I'm not above taking advantage of..."
Jeff laughed, made her another, and set it down in front of her. "You know what?" he asked, starting to mix another drink. "Take that one, free of charge and let it change you mind. Just don't let Miranda know. She'd literally drown me in the vodka and make me pay for the product lost." Eyes scanning the bar for any patrons in need of alcohol, he found none and settled for wiping down a portion of the bar that looked a little worse for wear. Well, worse than the usual wear. "So, what brings you in tonight?" Jeff asked.
Haley was so not going to complain about this development. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a saint?" She might have downed a little more of that drink in her hand a little faster than she would have if she didn't have a free one coming up. "Oh, you're going to be /that/ bartender, huh?" she teased "Alcohol, mostly. That and a customer told me this was the place to go so here I am." It was kinda loud there. Wicked loud, actually. She was weirdly both thankful and annoyed at having super hearing in this situation. Still, she managed to notice the guy next to her sort of talking to himself. Yup, going to so ignore that for right now.
The bartender snorted and shook his head. "No, you'd be the first," Jeff replied with a laugh. "Surprisingly enough, drunk people are pretty hard to please past 1 AM." He spared a glance at the man sitting next to his conversation partner, part concern and part curiosity. He'd gotten to know a couple of the regulars int he months he'd been here, but this guy seemed new. And also ashen and very much distressed. With a last look, he turned back to Tequila Sunrise. "Someone recommended us? Awesome," he said. "Where do you work? Clearly somewhere people have good taste."
"Yeah I can imagine that." Haley finished the first drink already. And would probably regret that later. Whatever, she didn't work tomorrow, it was fine. "I work at Flipped. You know, the pancake diner not too far from the Commons. One of the regulars told me this was a good bar to check out." She looked behind her towards the rest of the crowd. There was a scream and she perked up, eyes darting to the end of the bar. It was just someone getting drenched with water by the one female bartender. Okkaayy then. "He didn't really paint a picture of the atmosphere here." Then there was this guy still chattering to himself. "I don't know how you keep up with this. Waitressing tests my patience enough as it is."
Jeff snapped his fingers in recognition. "Oh, yeah!" he said. "I've been meaning to get over there. Someone offered me free pancakes if I sang a song about a unicorn on the ukulele." He looked over sharply at the scream, rolling his eyes at Miranda's antics. "In all my years as a barkeep," he said. "I have never once had a boss like her. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet." Jeff shrugged, turning his attention to the man mumbling beside the girl. "Hey, buddy?" he asked. "You okay there?
Haley nearly choked on her drink, half laughing, half in shock. Now mostly coughing. "Oh my god, that was me. Hi," she said once she managed to speak again. "I'm still dead serious about that offer, by the way." Sometimes she didn't understand her own life. Of all the bars to walk into. Then again, this is probably the most normal thing to happen to her in about three months. "Well she won't bore you, that's for sure. I'd take it for what it's worth." Not a boss she'd be into, had to say. She was totally fine with her boring old one. "My wife. She's-- I saw her, man," the guy next to her started mumbling. Some slurring there, too. "But she-- she died two years-- dude, it was her though. I don't know, I don't know but that was her." Okkaayyy, Haley may or may not have ever so subtly leaned a little farther away from the crazy man.
"Well, it's a small world after all," Jeff laughed. "I'll be the first to admit I can't remember if we traded names, so I'm Jeff. Nice to meet you." His smile faded slightly as he looked back at the other man. He was slurring about his dead wife. Jeff could sympathize-- he really could-- but this man... Something was definitely wrong with him. Sparing a glance at his would be pancake supplier, he continued on. "Maybe you should stop drinking for the night, yeah? Sounds like you might've had one too many."
"Haley," she offered. She wasn't gonna lie, she was kind of excited to meet someone in person who actually had a sense of humor. They seemed to be in short supply around here sometimes. But this drunk dude was definitely interrupting that. "No! It's not tha alcohol!" he slurred. "She was there I saw her! She was..." The guy slammed his fist on the bar. Most people didn't seem to notice thanks to how lively it was there. Jeff had her sympathies if he had to deal with this shit every night. The drunks who came into Flipped late were bad enough but she wasn't in a position where her job was to make them worse as the night went on. "Hey, just chill. I'm sure you saw her. It must've been really nice." It wasn't convincing, but she'd tried. Haley's brow furrowed as she caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye. She didn't get a good look, but something made her think it was someone familiar. Weird. Probably just someone she'd seen at the diner before or something, whatever.
"I watched her die again...and again and again," the man cried out, tears and snot running down his face. Jeff recoiled slightly. Whatever this guy was tripping on, it sounded like a goddamn nightmare. He smiled apologetically at Haley-- good name. It suited her-- and slowly, subtly moved the half-full glass of whiskey away from him and under the counter. "Buddy, do you need me to call you a cab? It might be time for you to get home, maybe get some fresh air?" he said slowly, trying to ease the man into the idea. "The bar's crowded. You might've just had a bad drink or somethi--" The man interrupted, standing quickly and frantically shouting, "She's back! She's right there!! Can't you see her, oh my god, Angie, I'm sorry!" The bar quieted, patrons shooting the dude worried and annoyed looks. Jeff took hold of his arm. "Hey, man, you need to calm down, okay?" he said fiercely. "There's no one there."
Haley had no clue what to do at this point to help. If she even needed to help? This wasn't her job, she was just a customer, but she'd been there. She felt bad leaving Jeff to deal with this shit by himself. Annnd she really just wanted to ship this guy home. For the moment, though, she was still unsure what to do, and so she looked down at her drink (like it was going to have an answer). When she looked up, she saw Becca. There was no mistaking it. That was her sister. Haley jumped and stumbled back, ramming into the dude. Ooops. Bad time to have super strength, he was on the floor now. Oh god, this was embarrassing. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I was trying to call a cab and I, yeah." Liar, but she had been thinking about it. Sort of. Either way she reached down to help the guy up.
Jeff watched as Haley knocked the man to the ground, her face-- this mixture of shock, guilt, and heartbreak... Well, Jeff had seen that look before. Mostly in the mirror after a particularly bad dream about Mal. Still, he had a job to do. He moved out from behind the bar quickly and helped the man to his feet. Or at least he tried to. The drunk lashed out the minute Jeff touched him, arms flailing this way and that as he quickly scrambled away and across the floor. "She's back, she's here!" he screamed, eyes welling up with tears. "She's dying, can't you fucking see her she's dying!" Jeff looked to where the shaky finger was pointing and saw... Oh god. He saw Mal. Happy, bright, beautiful Mal, walking toward him with her arms outstretched. Jeff felt his throat go dry and his eyes sting with the urge to cry. "This isn't possible," he muttered. But god he wanted it to be. Mal grinned and he almost smiled in return, but then he saw it. Her cheeks hollowing rapidly, her full figure thinning out to almost nothing. The light in her eyes dimmed and her skin grew sallow. He was watching her die again, and suddenly the crazy man's words were making a helluva lot more sense. He tore his eyes away and tried to think sensibly, to push past the roiling panic and fear and ache in his heart, but he found himself staring Mal straight in the face and watching her whither into nothing all over again.
No good deed goes unpunished, apparently. Haley had tried to help the guy up but alright, guess he didn't want any help. He was too busy losing his goddamn mind. Which she totally couldn't say anything because she'd just seen Becca. Again. If that meant she was turning into a werewolf again, fucking hell no. Still, that last glimpse had been way less ghosty and crazy hunter murdery than the last time she'd seen a figment of Becca. Haley glanced over to Jeff and he looked about as lost in a glance as that guy did. Her brow furrowed as she watched the emotions played on his face, then followed his gaze. She didn't know what he was seeing, but somewhere along the way was Becca. Really Becca, she was sure of it. It was her, the brunette hair bouncing as she danced with the music pumping, wearing that ugly dress she loved that Haley told her not to buy but she did anyway. Her sister gestured for her to come have fun, she was always doing that when she was alive. But she was alive now, right? Then when she turned around, her head whipped and blood started seeping out from a wound that emerged in her neck. The more she danced, the more her head slowly became unhinged. Haley thought she was going to hurl. She jumped back and ran into Jeff this time. It was enough to pull her out of the trance. What the hell was happening? It didn't stop her breath from being shallow. Either she was super drunk or this was a fucking ghost. "Sorry, sorry." Her eyes darted left and right, almost as if looking to make sure no one was watching, or that the ghost wasn't nearby or who knew what. Whatever she was looking for, it seemed all clear or something, so she leaned in an spoke at a whisper to Jeff. "Please tell me I'm not the only one losing it here. Because I saw you mix that drink and it wasn't that strong."
The shock of Haley slamming into him was enough to snap Jeff out of the hellish hallucination. He swallowed, shaking his head to clear it. "Yeah, no," he replied. "I'm not one for hallucinogenics and there is no way that what I'm seeing is happening in reality. It is literally impossible." He raked a hand through his hair and smiled apologetically at Miranda's curious look. He waved as an indication of his ability to continue work, before turning back to Haley. "Look, I get off in like 30 minutes," he said. "That guy said he saw his wife multiple times, and if you saw anything like I did, I get the feeling it only get worse form here on out. Two minds are better than one when it comes to-- To stuff like this." He took a breath. "You in?"
Haley held her eyes shut for a moment, hoping it would make it all stop. When she opened them, she could still see a bit of Becca in the distance. She breathed in sharply, trying to hold herself together and focused her attention back on Jeff. It was just her imagination. Or another ghost. But either way she was going to ignore it. Haley nodded at his words. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm in." Thankfully he didn't think she was crazy. Because this would be way harder otherwise. Thank god for small favors. "In the meantime, I'm going to need like three more drinks." She was afraid to look away in the direction where her dead sister was sure to be, as weird as that sounded. "At least. Maybe four."
