Last Call

I thought of this story the other morning as I was showering for work. The moral of it? I don't know but I thought it would make a neat story.
"Last call," Joe, the big, thick shouldered bartender said to the last patrons still gathered at the Starlight bar and lounge. Merely saying it was enough. No need to shout, everyone could hear him just fine. It was a Wednesday night. Not crowded like it could get on the weekends. Tonight at closing time it was only the people who needed to be here. Needed the comfort of being with other people. Needed the comfort that the alcohol could bring. Needing to forget things that troubled them. Larry Martin was spending more and more time here at the Starlight. He sought comfort in the gin and tonics he downed on the nights he was here. Only the alcohol could numb him to the guilt and the pain he felt everyday. "One more Joe," Larry told his friend. "Come on Larry, don't you think you've had enough?" "Yes, I have and one more won't hurt" replied Larry. "Okay then, you got it" answered Joe. Larry WAS spending more and more time here at the bar across the street from where he lived. He had moved into a small apartment after the divorce and the Starlight was a short five, six minute walk tops. No driving involved. Walk over, stagger back. It was a routine Larry was getting familiar with. Every day, every night going over the same thoughts in his head. The guilt, the shame and the pain. The mistake that had cost him everything. Larry had it all at one time. A beautiful wife, a nice home with a two car garage and a swimming pool. Now, it was all gone. His wife had left after finding him with another woman. Her and her lawyer had taken everything from him. How could he have been so weak and stupid? He didn't even have any feelings for the other woman. She was just a new neighbor who had moved in across the street and she had paid a lot of attention to Larry from the beginning and Larry noticed. He also noticed her. She stared at him whenever he was outside washing the car or mowing the lawn. She was beautiful, no doubt but Larry was happily married. He should have known better when she knocked on the door that one day when his wife had left to go run errands in town and she introduced herself as Gina and then how she had moved closer to him and suddenly Larry felt that rush of desire start to stir inside of him. And why o why didn't he push her away when she reached out to embrace him and instead he took her in his arms and soon they were kissing and exploring each other with their hands as their kisses became more intense and passionate. "Do you want me Larry," Gina asked. "Oh yes, I want you," Larry answered in between kisses. Larry knew what he was doing was wrong but he couldn't stop. Somehow they ended up upstairs in his bedroom. On the bed he shared with his wife. Completely caught up in the moment, oblivious to their surroundings. So much so that Larry never even heard Carol come in the house and walk up the stairs and into the bedroom. Only when Carol started screaming for him to get out did Larry come to his senses and with horror realize what he was doing but by then it was to late. Carol filed for divorce soon after that and now this was the new Larry Martin. Living in a tiny apartment, having lost all that was dear to him, spending more and more time here in this place, getting comfort from his pain and guilt. So yes, he would have one more. Last call was also when the other patrons sized up the remaining customers at the bar and decided who they would hit up before Joe started chasing them all out for the night. Most of the people here knew each other but there were always a few new faces in the mix. Others here hurting, trying to forget about mistakes from their past, seeking comfort anyway they could find it. In a glass or a bottle or with someone. No one wanted to go home alone and last call also meant last chance. But Larry had no interest in going home with anyone. His hurt was to fresh, to painful. The gin was his friend, nothing else mattered to him. As the last drinks were being served and the people started coupling up, Larry noticed her sitting across the bar all alone, by herself. She had striking features and she caught Larry completely off guard. And she was looking at Larry. "Where did that woman come from?" wondered Larry to himself. He had been here since 9, sitting in the same spot, the same seat all night since he arrived. Had not seen her until now. Something about the woman seemed to capture Larry. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. And she was smiling at him! "Hey Joe," whispered Larry to his buddy Joe. "How long has that woman been here?" "She came in about a half hour ago," answered Joe. "I asked her what she wanted and she ordered a glass of chardonnay and said she was supposed to be meeting someone here. I wondered who that could be a 1:20 in the morning but hey, who am I to question her. Besides, shes a good looking dame, don't you think?" " Yes, she sure is" replied Larry. He had a heck of a buzz going from the gin but Larry could feel the woman's eyes going beyond just looking at him. They were piercing into him. Looking and seeing into his very being. Reading him almost. And there was something strangely familiar about the women. Larry couldn't help feeling like he knew this woman but he was quite sure he had never seen this person before. She had such striking features that Larry most certainly would have remembered her. "Hey Joe, wish me luck. I'm going to go introduce myself to her" Larry said to Joe. "Yeah, okay. Good luck but be careful, you've had a lot to drink my friend." "I'm fine" whispered back Larry. Slowly and steadily Larry stood up. Joe was right, he HAD had a lot to drink. "Don't mess this up Larry" he thought to himself. As Larry approached the woman she watched him intently as he made his way to her from the other end of the bar. "Hi there, my names Larry Martin. Mind if I sit here?" "Hi Larry, no I don't mind, please do. I've been watching you since I arrived here tonight. Your very handsome and you remind me of someone I once knew. My name is Sabina. Its a pleasure to meet you." And then Sabina offered her hand to Larry. Not so he could shake it but instead she offered it in a way that relayed that Larry was to take it, embrace it, feel it. Larry did and strangely enough, he raised it up to his mouth where he then kissed it. And when he did Larry felt a stirring inside of him that he had not felt in sometime. As Larry stared at the woman he felt carried away from the bar where they sat. They people and the noises around him faded out to where it was just him and Sabina. Was it the alcohol? Maybe. He certainly had consumed enough of it. But it wasn't. Larry felt very small, very insignificant next to this woman. Her presence overpowered him. Larry tried to clear his throat. "Uhh, my place is right across the street. Would you like to see it? We can have another drink there if you would like but I'm afraid I don't have any wine. Only the strong stuff." "I'd like that Larry," said Sabina in a very raspy, seductive voice. "But you never did get your last gin and tonic Larry. I saw you order it after the bartender announced it was last call but you made your way over here before he could serve you. Don't you still want it?" she asked Larry. "That's weird, how did she know what I was drinking, thought Larry to himself. "Maybe she asked Joe. Maybe she was going to buy me one" Larry thought to himself. "No, I'm quite fine without it" he answered her. Larry quickly paid his bill and escorted Sabina out the door and across the road. Normally, this was a very busy highway but at 2 in the morning there was not a car in sight. Four minutes later Larry was fumbling in his pockets for his keys to his apartment. Fumbling because Sabina was all over him, kissing him and pulling his face into her own. Finally, Larry got his hands on his keys and was able to unlock the door to his apartment. Going inside and shutting the door behind him only caused Sabina to kiss him with more abandonment. As they kissed and groped at each other they made there way into Larry's bedroom. Falling on the bed, Larry and Sabina ripped at each others clothes. Soon Sabina had Larry's shirt off. Larry returned the favor to Sabina only tearing it off instead of taking it off. Other articles followed and soon they were completely lost in the moment. Larry felt that familiar feeling of passion and desire return. At that moment he was out of control, no longer in control but powerless to the desires of this woman. And this woman seemed to desire a lot. She kissed Larry all over his body, starting with his lips and going down along his neck and then his chest. Larry was powerless to stop her as she climbed on top of him and took him. It had been so long since Larry had been with anyone like this. It had been Gina, the old neighbor to be exact. The moment when Larry had lost everything that had mattered to him. As Sabina continued to be on top of Larry she flattened herself across his chest and began licking and kissing his left ear. "Do you want me Larry?" whispered Sabina in Larry's ear. Larry's heart seemed to stop. Was it possible? And Larry suddenly knew that it was. This was her. He just knew it. That's why she seemed so familiar sitting in the Starlight. She didn't look like Gina the old neighbor but it was her, he was sure of it. He grabbed the back of her hair and tried to pull her head away from him but she fought him. He tried to push her away from him, off of him but he couldn't. Then terror started to rise in him as Sabina started to laugh, only it was a laugh like he had never heard before. Not a laugh like you would hear that would be a response to something funny but a laugh that said I WON! A scream started to form in Larry's throat but he couldn't release it. Fear had closed off his throat, making it difficult to breath. Plus his heart was about to explode out of his chest. Finally, the thing on top of him pulled away from the side of his head and raised up and looked at him. Then Larry knew true terror, true horror. This thing on him wasn't Sabina or Gina or any other woman for that matter. It's face was old, wrinkled, ancient. It's eyes burned like two red coals. The smooth skin was gone, replaced by what could only be described as a hard, dark shell. And then Larry understood. This was death. Death had taken him inside of her/it. Death had come to the Starlight looking for him, waiting to meet him there. And he had invited it to come home with him. "Last Call Larry" the thing said to him as it opened it's mouth to reveal teeth that resembled razors and bore down on him. And Larry Martin was no more.