AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This suggestion only appears to make them madder, and I'm still not able to make anything of the madness.
I feel my own anger and frustration start to build, my head aching. After everything I have been through, I'm in no mood to take this shit, but I also need this job, and I doubt smacking the customers around will get me a second shift. So instead, I take a deep breath and focus on one customer at a time, straining to hear but managing to just make out an order.
I work through each person, concentrating on my task until I can no longer hear the yelling anymore.
It isn’t until I turn around to take the next order and no one is there. I blink, realising I have done it. I screwed up a couple of times and almost dropped a beer bottle, but I did it!
I take a relieved breath, letting myself sink back into the shelves of alcohol behind me, careful not to put my whole weight on them as I lift a hand to run it over my tired face, trying to relieve the ache building in my head.
I stay there, knowing I should get back to it, when a throat is cleared before me, and I drop my hand, blinking up at an older gentleman dressed in a green polo, his thinning dark hair combed to the side.
Not the usual patron I see here, but he's not yelling, just simply smiling, so I offer a smile in return as I ask, “What can I get you, sir?”
He doesn't answer me, but asks, “Bad night, huh?”
I chuckle, shrugging. “I’ve had worse.”
“A girl like you shouldn’t be working in a place like this,” he says, looking me up and down, and my back stiffens at the remark. A girl like me? A place like this? I decide to let the first part go, thinking he didn’t mean anything by it, and shrug. “This place isn’t bad.” He continues to look at me, the kind smile slipping slightly, making me shift my feet. “Did you want a drink?”
He continues to look at me, shaking his head. “If I had a girl like you on my arm, you wouldn’t need to work ever again.”
My smile drops now. This is the second time he has said it, and I honestly don't like the things he'd saying when I'm trying to do my job. Clearly, he doesn't want a drink. I tilt my head. “A girl like me?
Then he smiles a big toothy grin that I would’ve seen as friendly, but there's a dark edge to it I don't like that makes me feel uncomfortable as he explains, “Beautiful. A girl that needs to be shown off to the world.” He taps the bar before leaning in as if to tell me a secret and says, “I could show you the world.”
My brows reach my hairline as I regard the man before me. Middle-aged, maybe has a family at home he doesn’t want to deal with and has come here looking for young pussy to make him feel good again. But now he is sitting there, promising the world without even knowing my name. Ballsy. So instead of slapping him like any normal person would, I decide to have some fun, leaning my forearms on the bar. “Really? Where would you take me?”
His smile grows, thinking he’s got me. “Anywhere you want.”
I think for a minute, pretending to consider, when I gasp, followed by a look of disappointment as I lie. “I would, but I can’t. I’ll need to talk to my parole officer.”
At that, he sits back, his own brows going up as he takes in my words. “Parole officer?”
I wave it off as if it’s nothing to worry about as I continue to explain, “Yeah, I’m on parole, so if I want to leave, I’ll need permission.”
Now he was looking nervous as he asks, “What did you do?”
I shrug before looking him in the eye as I say, “Oh, just beat the shit out of my ex when he tried to leave me. He promised forever!” I exclaim, with a ‘can you believe it’ expression as the man starts to shift on his stool.
He gives me a nervous laugh, looking around the bar to see people starting to come back for more drinks, and he stammers out, “I gotta head home.”
“What about wanting to show me the world?” I raise a brow, knowing I won’t be seeing the world with this guy and happy when he leaves, telling me he will call me when he doesn’t even have my number.
Maybe he will think twice before going to pick up a random woman in a bar, or maybe he will go home to the family he probably has and be grateful for what he’s got. Or maybe he will just go to a different bar. Either way, I got him away from me.
Shrugging, I move to start serving a new customer, when warmth grazes along my back and my breath gets stuck in my chest as Riley’s deep voice whispers in my ear just loud enough for me to hear it. “I saw that.”
I watch him walk away, looking over his shoulder at me with a knowing and amused look in his eyes, and I shrug again, giving a coy smile. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I hear his chuckle as I go to serve my next customer, and this time they're not yelling at me. Much.
CHAPTER 18
RILEY
The night went by in a flash of broken bottles and pissed off customers. Now, with the boys and I wrapping up the night with clean up duty, Mia is going around all the tables and cleaning the spilt alcohol and trashing the scraps left there by the crowd.
We are each focused on our tasks, when Danny tells Malcom and Travis to go talk to Mia, show her around the place.
