daniel steele

Did people actually like going to dive bars? He usually just went when all of the other bars in his neighborhood were full. “I don’t really see the appeal of the trend, if I’m being honest.”

“I mean, I know why I go to dive bars and it’s because it’s usually where people aren’t.” He didn’t mind a few other people in the bar but when it became crowded like this, it was preferable to drink at home. 

    [  “Anything is possible if you try hard enough, they say. Or if you’re desperate enough,” Bodhi stated. He had definitely seen some weird shit in San Francisco.

“I mean I can’t see myself particularly motivated enough or see myself being desperate enough to yodel with a mouth full of booze, you know?” 

    [  Lennon took a book out from her backpack and then took a pen and stuck it behind her ear. Giving him a glance, she smiled. “They’re full of people, see? Always something happening. It’s a perfect sort of drunken hum to let you focus on someone else,” she explained.

“Guess that makes sense,” he shrugged. Glancing towards the book and up towards the pen now tucked behind her ear, Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed together slightly. “What’s with the book?”

She kept quiet as he popped the car hood and got the tools out, trying to wrap her head around everything that was being said. Finally, when he mentioned not meeting many Steeles, she felt like she had to tell him. “Okay, this is going to sound completely crazy… but we might be related. My parents were never married. They dated on and off for a while. At some point my mom found out that my dad had another relationship and she was the side chick. I don’t know if he and this other woman were married or just dating. Anyways, my mom was, rightfully, pissed. So he’s been pretty much out of my life since I was four, only coming around once in a blue moon. My mom brought him to court a bunch to collect child support payments, and he still owes me some money. So back in February, I call him asking for the money because I was in a tight spot and needed it towards rent. He gave me his usual bullshit excuse, and then suggested I stay with his ‘other son who lives in California.’ Mind you, this is the first time I ever heard of said son, so naturally I had questions. All he really said was that he was named Daniel, and then said some other bullshit before hanging up on me. So yeah, I’ve been a little stumped trying to figure out how to find Daniel.”

Daniel paused as she started talking. At first, everything she said seemed crazy. What were the odds? But as the words started to sink in, he realized that maybe it did all make sense. Why his father would disappear for months at a time. The time his dad showed up with Christmas presents hastily wrapped and Daniel had received a Barbie doll even though he was in his teens. Pursing his lips, the man pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, scrolling through pictures until he found a picture of him and his father when he was young. He held the phone out to Taylor. “Uh, that’s my dad.” 

    She tried not to smile but hearing him say that had her stomach doing somersaults, “Stop that….you’re not playing fair by telling me I’m adorable.” 

“I’m not playing anything, Lenny.” He flashed her a crooked grin. “I’m just being honest.” It was hard to keep comments like that to himself when he was still in love with her.

    “Really? Then I must be naive or blind,” Sooyun jokingly said, laughing slightly. 

“I don’t know you well enough to speak to either of those traits.” His shoulders lifted in a shrug. Part of him was glad that not everyone seemed to find him grumpy at first glance, although he worried this might make him approachable. 

   “So should I just fuck up my car to give you a little project?” 

“I’m not that bored.” He laughed, flashing her a grin. “I got plenty of routine work to do at the shop.” 

After hearing shouting and watching someone with a tiara and sash walk through the door, it started to come together. “Out of all the places to celebrate your birthday, she picked this place?” It wasn’t a particularly fancy place. The best thing about this bar was the pool table. 

“What the fuck,” he muttered, shaking his head as the sashed birthday girl walked past them. “I swear to god, this new dive bar trend is ruining it for the people who actually ilke going to dive bars.” 

“Uh… no reason,” she answered, looking around nervously. This was all too weird to be true. What were the odds that she would find the person she had been wondering about through a casual conversation at the mechanic? “Nah, that has to be a coincidence. It’s a common name.”

His lips pursed together briefly. “Alright.” Popping the hood of her car, Daniel made sure that all of the tools he needed were nearby. “Is it? I haven’t met a lot of Steele’s.” Did he have a sister? His dad had never mentioned it but his mom had gone on a drunken rant about Jacob having other siblings but he’d never put any real thought to it. 

.

    [  Lennon gave a shrug, “I look wiry but I could probably take a linebacker,” she replied. “Drinking at a bar. It is definitely the expected answer, but it seems like it’s always a type of distraction. See, I’m trying to run from some thoughts. And here is as good a place as any to do the running,” she cryptically answered.

An eyebrow lifted as he looked over at the girl next to him. Daniel wasn’t the type to pry into whatever she was running from, but he was feeling chatty this evening. “And a bar is your place to run? This seems like a place for forgetting.” 

    “You grumpy? I can’t see that…then again, they say not to judge a book by it’s cover.”

“You know...you’re probably the first person to think that I’m not grumpy.” He didn’t get the name Dan Dan Grumpy Man for no reason.

    “Perhaps…if you don’t enjoy doing what you love, then yes, it can be quite boring.” 

“I mean, I enjoy working on cars but some days it’s still boring. Just depends on the day though.” 

    “Yes…I might have done that once but after that, I felt guilty so I just been having one have a mental break down and currently one of my sims is pregnant.”

The corners of his mouth curled up in a crooked grin. “You’re adorable, you know that?” It was just a video game but she was getting so excited about it. 

.

    [  Bodhi nodded enthusiastically. “Yep. It was kind of cool because the person didn’t choke. Gave them a few bucks,” he replied. “I feel like dancing is usually more popular but they get originality points,” Bo explained. Putting yourself out there was huge for anyone and it deserved recognition.

“I didn’t even know that was possible. I usually prefer to just drink my beer without putting on a show though,” he grinned. Of course, Daniel didn’t have any sort of talent. 

Blaine glanced over at the door and saw even more people file into the bar. If any more people came in, he was going to be at his limit. “I’m out. I can’t do this. How about I buy you a drink somewhere else?” This guy seemed chill enough to spend an hour or so with. 

Daniel sighed as the bar filled up even further. If it started being this busy in here, he was going to have to find a new place to unwind after work. Throwing some cash on the bar, Daniel stood up from the bar stool. “Sounds good to me. This is fucking ridiculous.” 

   “I might–don’t you judge me,” Lenny pointed a finger up towards Daniel and rolled her eyes, “Okay I do on my spare time…sometimes it’s interesting–like one of my sims just gave birth so I’m like…determined to make sure they don’t die.”

“I’m not...entirely judging you,” he teased. “Do they still have that thing where you can take the ladder out of the pool and let them drown?”