Jaded Anchor: The Human

Chapter One - Ivy

“Come on, Ivy, you need this more than anyone else we know.” Stella was so dramatic sometimes, but her words brought a smile to Ivy’s pink lips. She should have known something was up when three of her favorite co-workers cornered her in the breakroom.

“Yeah, Ivy, you need to get drunk, or laid, or both. Yeah probably, no certainly, both. You absolutely have to come with us tonight. We aren’t taking no for an answer.” Juliet told her placing her hands on her hips in a playful manner. Her stance showing that she wouldn’t be taking no for an answer. Dramatic much?

“You have a babysitter for Everleigh. This is your only chance to let loose. Really you have no excuse not to come this time. If you don’t want to drink you can just sip water like me. Either way, you should come. It’ll be fun.” Alexandra pleaded, her hand holding her still tiny baby bump.

Ivy rolled her eyes at her co-workers/friends. Sure, it had been several months since she had gone out with them, but to hear them now you would think Ivy had been locked up for years in a convent. It wasn’t like she hated to go out, it was just more like she had too many responsibilities to go out. Unlike her friends, Ivy Rae Sutton wasn’t your typical twenty-three-year-old. She was a single mother and a nurse, “free time” was a phrase that simply didn’t belong in her vocabulary. Things had started to change now that she had settled into her new house, an action that showed herself that was finally ready to call Silverport home. She and her daughter had been in Silverport for almost a year, and Ivy had just now bought a house. Ivy had started to feel safe again and knew it was time to add some much-needed stability to her two and half year old’s life. She had found the best babysitter on earth, so she knew her daughter would be in good hands. Emily, her superhero babysitter, had been the one who told Ivy she would keep Everleigh overnight so Ivy could go out for her birthday.    

“Finnnnne,” Ivy sighed dragging the word out before she turned towards her friends, hands on her hips, “I will go. I mean maybe you guys are right. It has been months since I went out. Plus, you only turn 23 once, right?”

“Right!” The three women all said in perfect unison as if they had practiced that all day.

“You are so getting laid tonight,” Stella told her in a way that only Stella would be able to manage. In a way that she couldn’t take offensively even if she tried.

The comment made Ivy roll her eyes, despite the heat she felt burning in her cheeks. Honestly, the blonde couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten “laid”. It wasn’t like she was a prude or anything, just dating was hard for single mothers, especially when the mother had trust issues. Ivy was the queen of trust issues. Her ex had been a monster, in more ways than one. Plus, when the men she could possibly like found out about Everleigh they would run away before they made it to Ivy’s bedroom. If she was being completely honest, she did miss s*x. She had her vibrator but still, a woman had needs some toys just couldn’t fulfill. 

“I will meet you at the bar. What’s it called again? Jade Flower, Anchor Flower, Bloody Jade something…?” Ivy questioned trying to pluck the name of the bar from her memories. She’d heard the girls talking about it several times over the year she’d known them, but the name seemed to escape her memory.

“Come on Ivy. It’s called The Jaded Anchor.” It had been Alexandra who answered almost as if Ivy’s guesses had been annoying. If anyone else had overheard their conversation they would have thought just that, but Ivy knew Alexandra enough to know that was just how she spoke, always matter of fact.

“Okay, okay. Sorry, Lexie. I didn’t mean to mess up the precious name of your precious bar.” Ivy teased her friend holding her hands up in mock surrender. She didn’t know much about the bar, only that Alexandra and her husband owned it.

“You can’t remember the name because you never go. Once you go, you’ll never forget. The Jaded Anchor is a bar like no other, and I’m not just saying that because Rowen and I own it.” Alexandra smirked her eyebrows wiggling playfully. Ivy liked Alexandra Blakesley. She was the only one of her friends who had a child, besides her. Alexandra’s daughter was almost three. Lux was older than Everleigh by five months. The girls always played well together, and Ivy and Alexandra got them together anytime they could.

“I will meet you guys there. I have to go get ready and call Emily so she can come over to stay with Everleigh” Tossing her things into her backpack, Ivy waved to her friends and walked out of the hospital headed to her house. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t just a little excited about going out. It would be fun to have a few drinks and flirt with some men. Wait, did she even know how to flirt anymore?

Three hours, and a lot of self-pep talks later, Ivy was ready to Pa- Part... Damn it she couldn’t even say the word inside her own head. She was ready to go hang out with her friends. Although she was only twenty-three, she felt too old to use the word ‘Party’.

The blonde checked her reflection in the mirror, her green eyes staring back at her also in a disapproving way, as if they were judging her for leaving. “I deserve this. I haven’t been out in months, close to a year.” She defended herself to herself before she realized how stupid she sounded. Huffing she ran her slender fingers through her long blonde hair trying to give the flat look a little life. It was no help though; her hair fell back perfectly into place like a blonde wave down her exposed back. She could have taken the time to curl it, but she decided against it.

She was just going to hang out with her girls and get a few drinks to celebrate her birthday. It wasn’t like she was actually going to find a man who would meet her list of impossible criteria enough to take her home. Giving herself a once over in the mirror she straightened her top and adjusted her favorite pair of ripped jeans. She was going for sexy but still casual enough that she didn’t need to go buy something new. Her wardrobe was severely lacking in the sexy department. At least she’d made sure to shave and managed to pick out a matching set of borderline sexy undergarments. Undergarments, who the f**k says undergarments? Ugh, I am a hot mess. A 50-year-old trapped in a 20-year-old body. Thankfully, the doorbell interrupted her internal self-doubt and she rushed downstairs to let the babysitter in.

An hour later Ivy found herself at The Jaded Anchor bar having a good time. The drinks kept coming, and the laughter continued rolling. The bar was crowded, but she was told that was typical for a Friday night. The girls never had to pay for refills. Either some man was very interested in the group of nurses or Alexandra’s husband, Rowen, had an open tap for them. Either way, Ivy was drinking on someone else’s dime and it felt good.

“I am going to step outside and call Emily to check on Everleigh. I will be right back.” Ivy added the last part when she saw her friends were about to object to her leaving. “Promise! I will be right back!!”

It was nice outside, but not that much quieter. A large group of people had gathered around the corner in an alley behind the bar. It looked like some sort of not so underground fight club. Curiosity got the best of her, though, and after she checked on her daughter, the blonde walked towards the fight, like a moth drawn to a flame.