Melissa's Dancee

When he asked Melissa if she wanted to dance at the bar, she thought it was an odd question because they were nowhere near a bar. In fact, they were pitching hay to Levi’s horses in the barn. Levi was a nice enough guy, but they had known each other for fifteen years, ever since they met in the first grade. Melissa had a brief crush on Levi somewhere around the 6^th or 7^th grade, but quickly realized that they were better off as friends.

“Mel,” he said, “I mean dancing on the bar at the Crown Saloon.” “Uhm, no,” was Melissa’s response. Melissa loved to dance, had even taken many western dance lessons at the Crown Saloon, but she had never considered being an employee there dancing on the bar. The girls who danced on the bar at the Crown were in great shape and were cute or pretty. What they were not was awkward or shy, nor did they have hay tangled in their uncombed hair.

Levi reminded Melissa that she had asked him several days ago if he had any ideas about a paying job for her. She was tired of being stuck at home with her little brother, Jake, and her stodgy parents. Melissa was looking for something to do that would earn her enough money to get a place of her own now that she was twenty-one. Her parents were decent to her and Jake wasn’t too much of a brat, but it was time to move on. “Would you maybe even think about it while you’re still looking for a real job?” Levi asked. “Sure,” Melissa responded, knowing that she really would not. But the conversation did leave Melissa thinking about what her alternatives might be. Living in a small town in southern Arizona didn’t exactly offer a lot of opportunities for employment. There were about six small stores in Wyatt, and even a good-sized grocery store, but they had no openings and the people who did work there weren’t about to quit anytime soon. Two beauty salons graced the main road through town, but she knew nothing about hair or nails. One look at her tangled hay-strewn hair and her chipped nails would be all the owners needed to dismiss her as an employee. That left working as a waitress in one of the few cafes or at one of the far-flung bars in the area.

When Melissa realized she had been standing still and looking off into the distance, she shook her head. “Even though I don’t want to dance on the bar, let’s go to the Crown tonight and go dancing on the dance floor,” Melissa said to Levi. Though it was a Saturday, Levi didn’t have anything else to do as his sometime girlfriend was visiting relatives in California with her family. They decided to meet at the Crown at 9 o’clock and Melissa went home to have dinner with her parents and Jake. As usual, Melissa and Levi enjoyed many dances and a few beers together that evening.

Melissa’s head was full of questions about finding a job when she was attempting to sleep that night. It seemed that her options for a job were narrowed down to the cafes or the bars. As she wasn’t sure at that point that she wanted to work in a bar, Melissa planned to go to both cafes tomorrow to put in applications. With that decision made, she fell into a dreamless and peaceful sleep.

Jake startled Melissa awake at 6:00 the next morning. She had been dreaming a pretty good dream about dancing at the Café Wyatt when Jake pounded on her bedroom door yelling that it was her turn to feed the chickens. Poof! The café vanished and she giggled to herself about dancing in the café. It really was not that kind of place. The Wyatt served eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast to the local farmers. Those farmers wanted a good meal at a fair price before they started their long days in the fields. Dancing waitresses certainly were not what they were looking for at that time of the morning. Melissa quickly dressed and headed down to the kitchen for her idea of breakfast. . .a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice. Then she set out to feed the chickens on what the family referred to as their mini farm. It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining down on the family’s 20-acre property. Two horses, two milk cows, and an uncountable number of chickens were the entirety of the livestock. Ten acres were reserved for growing hay and corn for the livestock and various vegetables for the family. After she finished her chores, Melissa headed back to her room to shower and prepare to go to the Wyatt Café to turn in an application.

After she finished her chores, Melissa headed back to her room to shower and prepare to go to the Wyatt Café to fill out an application. “Is this what I really want to do?” Melissa thought to herself. Just thinking about getting up in the morning to feed chickens, clean up, and head to town in the family’s beat-up pick-up so she could serve bacon and eggs to farmers old and young was disheartening. But she gave herself a little pep talk just before she entered the café. “Do you want to get a place of your own, or do you want to continue to wake up to Jake pounding on your door so you can go feed the chickens?” This little talk enabled her to walk in to the café with confidence and a smile.

The café was full with numerous grizzled farmers and a few sleepy-eyed women. Four younger men who were sharing a table smiled and nodded to Melissa. She noticed right away that one of the younger men was Levi. There were several familiar faces at the tables, but none that she knew as well as she knew Levi. She wondered if she wanted to know any of them better. A harried and rushed waitress asked Melissa if she wanted to sit at the counter. Melissa told her she just wanted an application. At that, the waitress, Jessie by her nametag, produced a huge smile and a “Follow me.” Jessie sat Melissa down at the counter with an un-asked-for cup of coffee, an application, and a pen, followed by a wink. Melissa had planned to take the application home to work on it, but she got the impression that it would be best to fill it out at the café.

Melissa felt a presence behind her as she huddled over the application carefully choosing the best answers to the questions. When she looked up, there stood Levi with a somewhat smirky smile on his face. “Are you sure this is what you wanna’ do?” Levi asked her. Not waiting for an answer, he asked her to go to the Crown Saloon with him that night to go dancing. Melissa thought that would be a fun evening out after the torture of completing an application for a job she didn’t really want. “Meet ya’ there at 8 o’clock,” she replied, then bent over the application once more as Levi left the café. Melissa finished the paperwork and tried to hand it to Jessie as Jessie hurried by with an armload of dirty dishes. “Just stick it in my pocket,” Jessie said as she eased into the back of the café.

Jessie and Levi arrived at the Crown at the same time and yelled hello to each other over the sounds of country music being played at top volume by a local band. Levi immediately grabbed Melissa’s hand and pulled her onto the jam-packed dance floor. After a few two-step and strolling dances, they headed to the bar for a beer. Melissa noticed there was only one dancer on the bar that night and she looked tired and sweaty. The bartender caught Melissa’s eye and held up two fingers. Melissa nodded. Dave, the bartender, brought the two beers and asked Melissa was looking for a job. “Hmmm, this sort of feels like a set-up,” Melissa thought. But she responded that she was. Even though the Crown was crowded and busy, the atmosphere seemed to Melissa to be immeasurably more fun than the café. Three beers later, Melissa was clutching an application to dance on the bar at the Crown Saloon. The following night the customers at the saloon were pleased to see the new dancer up on that bar!