The bar sounds good

About ten minutes later you pull into the parking lot of a small bar. You can smell the aromas of barbeque from a smoker behind the building and decide that you approve of Monica's choice before you even step through the door.

Inside are perhaps twelve blue-collar men standing by the bar and sitting in the booths, but it looks like the Saturday night crowd has yet to arrive.

"Sit where ever you like." Calls the tall woman behind the bar, "I'll be with you in a sec." She's the only other woman in the place, and with the tattoos on her arm and her ease behind the bar you guess she can handle pretty much anything that comes up.

You lead Monica to one of the empty booths and sit opposite her. From your seat you have a pretty good view of the bar and front door but you can only listen to the murmurs from the group of men by the pool table as they check out the pretty blonde sitting across from you. Privately you agree with Alice, this is not a good place for two pretty young teachers to come to unescorted.

You order a pulled-pork sandwich and a Coors from the bartender, Monica gets a Sam Adams light and a chef's salad and the two of you settle down to get to know each other. Over the course of the next hour you learn she's been at the Rose for three years the same as Alice and that there is one other new teacher Christina who's been at the school for the past two years. All the rest of the teachers, she explains are really old like Miss Swanson and Mrs. Somersby-Walker who have been their since forever.

She is a wealth of information about the teachers and staff at the school, and from her you learn that Miss Naylor has been the Headmistress for about four years now, and is 'a tight-assed bitch who never has any fun and doesn't like it when her teachers have any either.' All-in-all though Monica thinks it's a pretty good place to work, but it takes over an hour to get to Boston, Providence or Hartford and without a car, she is completely at the mercy of whoever wants to give her a ride. She does concede that it's just as well that the students find it as difficult as her to get to the city night clubs, because they get into enough trouble as it is just in the sleepy little towns that surround the Academy.

As you talk, the bar gets noticeably more crowded and louder, and by the time Monica finishes her second beer you are more than ready to go. There are a few other women in the bar although the ratio is still about five to one, but when the jute box starts a Taylor Swift song several of them drag their dates out onto the dance floor and start grinding against them in rhythm to the upbeat lyrics. You notice Monica watching them and wonder if you should invite her to dance. It would be nice to feel that firm young body wiggling against your chest, although if you got back on the bike, you'd feel her against your back with out the trouble of being on that undersized dance floor.