happenstance

PROMPT:

happenstance: noun; an event that might have been arranged although it was
really accidental [syn: coincidence] (Dictionary. com)

use this word as the central focus or theme of your piece

Bonus Points: include music somewhere in your piece - as always this does
not have to be prominent or important in your story, just in there somewhere

Walking into the bar, Cate was immediately taken by the atmosphere. Beth had called it a club, but really it was just a bar. It didn't have the thumping music or the crazy, twenty-something crowd that Cate associated with a club. It had soft lighting, wasn't as loud as she had expected and had a blues band playing on the stage. From the outside it had the look of a gothic club and she was unexpectedly delighted as she entered.

"Well, what do you think, Cate?" Beth asked her.

"I love it!"

"I thought you might." Beth grinned at her. Turning around, she led the way to a table near the back of the room, flagging down the waitress as she passed her.

As they sat down, the waitress joined them, "What can I get for you ladies tonight?"

Glancing up at the waitress, Cate found herself staring. She was uncommonly pretty but not in an obvious way. She had short red hair and was wearing lipstick that almost matched the red of her hair. Her name-tag gave her name as Ella. Tilting her head to one side, Cate studied her trying to figure out what it was about her. She certainly didn't wear clothes to attract attention, her hair style was very basic and simple and she wore little makeup. It was almost as though she was purposely downplaying her beauty. Despite all that, she just had this....glow.

"Cate? Catelyn!"

Cate snapped back to reality and blushed, realizing that she had totally been examining this girl as she stood there waiting for her drink order. "I'm so sorry!" Cate exclaimed, "it must be the jet lag." Ok, so one little white lie. The waitress would never know that she was only one time zone away.

Ella smiled at her, still waiting.

"I'll have a, umm....," leaning back so that she could see around Ella, Cate looked to see if the bartender looked competent and sucked in a breath. The man was gorgeous! He looked up right at that moment and caught Cate looking at him, grinned and winked at her. Blushing again, she sat back into her seat normally and told the waitress she'd have a french martini.

As Ella walked away, Beth looked at her and laughed. "I did that the first time I came here too. Aren't they gorgeous? Wait until you see the owner."

Cate nodded at her friend and looked around. "I thought you were bringing me to a club. This isn't a club, at least not by my definition of it."

"Oh well, some nights it is. The owner is very....strange. Some nights this place runs as a goth club and then other nights, completely at random, he will have in a blues band, or some other local talent. He never even gives any advance notice of it, it's just whenever he's in the mood for something different I guess. I wasn't sure what we'd find."

"It doesn't sound like a very lucrative way to run a business," Cate replied. Even though as she looked around the club, it was obviously a thriving night spot. It was still very crowded. The band launched into a Jimi Hendrix song "Red House" and she started tapping her fingers on the table. She loved this song. "I love the atmosphere," she told Beth.

"Well, he doesn't seem to have any problems keeping his customers coming around. And speak of the devil..."

Cate glanced back at Beth to see what she meant, just as her french martini arrived in front of her accompanied by a smooth as silk voice saying "Good evening ladies. I hope you are enjoying my establishment."

Looking up to see who the voice belonged to, this time instead of sucking in a breath she seemed unable to draw one entirely. She found herself staring into the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen, attached to one of the most incredibly good looking men she'd ever seen.

Across the table, Beth grinned as she looked back and forth between the two of them staring at each other.

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