Feliz Navidad

Joe didn't like snow. Being a former resident of Denver, he'd had his share of snow and ice. Now, he hadn't seen a lick of winter's presence, save for the gradually colder waters. Hell, he was more caught up in watching Morena clip-clop from table to table in her white Christmas blouse; sometimes catching a glimpse of her firm horse butt too.

Yup, it's Christmas already.

It's been three months since he met Morena on the beach, and goddamn, Joe loved every minute of it. It wasn't anything like his previous girlfriends had been, nagging about where he's been, who he was with, and why do you smell of alcohol. The answers were always simple: been at the beach, with the buds and Jose, and we were drinking. If anything, she'd join him when she wasn't working.

Speaking of her work, a few things had changed and Joe was mostly to blame. The way Joe saw it though, was that it gave him more time with his flor de la playa. He got up in his Sunday best, slicked back his hair and put on his signature Ray Bans and made his way over to Juan San Juan, Morena's boss and owner of The Sombrero.

They hadn't met just yet, but Joe introduced himself as just Joe, and got to talking with Juan about the Sombrero. Come to find out, Juan wanted to sell the place, and thats just what Joe wanted to here.

"Amigo, I'll be happy to take this place off your hands, but I only have 14,000 on me, and I bet that too little for what you're asking for."

The light in Juan's eyes shown like too little suns, "14-14,000, senor?"

"Why yes sir, that's all I've-"

Juan had clasped his hands and shook with great approval, "I'll take it!"

Joe wrote him a check and gave it to Juan, who then gave him the little deed to the diner and ran away like a giddy school boy. Morena spotted him just as they closed the deal and asked what was going on. When she heard the news, Joe was hoisted up and down in her arms as she hopped and galloped all over the the dining floor, knocking over a few chairs in her happiness.

It was slightly short lived, as Juan came back with a police officer. Sadly, Juan just heard 14,000, but it was 14,000 in pesos, not American. After a brief recount of the events, the officer turned to Joe and said, "Give Mr. San Juan a good beer, because I can't help him." And that was pretty much right, Juan screwed himself over. The poor, little Mexican ran off cursing his head off.

And now, its Christmas.

No snow, no shovels, no holly on people's doors, very few trees in the window, and no need for a coat. People were still in their shades and sporting jackets, while the only difference on the beach was that there was nobody swimming or sun tanning. The once odd Sombrero was now the homey tiki bar, called Gringo.

The name was Morena's idea, since it took a sly gringo to steal it from under Juan's pencil thin mustache.

Speaking of that sun-kissed vixen, Joe spied her eyes starring him down from her customer's table. Caught red-handed again looking at that shapely centaur ass. Her green eyes weren't looking too friendly, and that meant back to working the bar.

Jose, a regular and Joe's friend, passed down his glass and chuckled from under his big, black handlebar mustache, "That's why you don't mix business with pleasure, my friend."

Joe refilled it with Jose's namesake, "At least I get pleasure, unlike someone I know."

He laughed, "Oye, that's below the belt, amigo."

Joe stole a sip of Jose's drink before giving it back to him, "Hey, all's fair in this bar, amigo."

The bushy browed Mexican shotgunned his shot drink, "Ye, but is this the life for yah, amigo? Could you not wish for anything else in the world than to be right here?"

Joe stole back to looking at his black haired mare and put his hands on his chin like a love struck, school boy, "Well, all I can say is, so far so good, amigo."

...

Almost 12:00 and someone thought it'd been a good idea to hook up the, what was presumed dead, jukebox, and start playin some records. Joe caught on, and set up a mic and gave the bar residents a go at singing. Karaoke in a tiki bar. Not the most out there idea, but not one you often see. But for Joe, that wasn't the highlight of his Christmas Eve. Making his way to the