“Fuck, she just got here, and she’s already going rogue. You’ve got ten minutes, Snow White. No more, no less. You can talk to him and convince him to leave. We’ll be waiting on the other side, and we’ll go in as soon as you and Austin are outside,” answered James in my place.
“What if I take longer?”
“Ten minutes. If you’re there for eleven minutes, we’ll already be inside to smash his face in.”
I understood from how my hands started shaking that tensions were getting the better of us, so I said the first stupid thing that came to my head.
“Where’d you put the baseball bat?”
“The baseball bat? Will, do you hear her? She’s gonna hand it to me on a silver platter. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“You’re the one who’s always thinking about the worst-case scenario!”
“Yeah, right, me?”
“Enough, you two!” William yelled to shut us up. We were already under the now-turned-off neon sign.
“I have to convince him to leave, and I have to keep him busy,” I repeated out loud, but I was actually saying it to myself.
“But how?” At that point even Will seemed a little alarmed.
“I told you. I have a plan.”
“Is someone there?” I called.
The sound of the doorbell took me by surprise. I hadn’t heard it when I went in the first time, maybe because of the deafeningly loud music. Now it was silent.
Everything looked clean and sterile to the point where it didn’t even look like the same place I’d set foot in before.
I recognized the long bar counter and the row of glass bottles arranged on the wall.
I noticed different locked doors. I checked the time on my phone. A minute had already gone by. In my mind, an imaginary countdown began. I went past the bar area to a big dance floor. I moved quickly and took quiet steps.
I entered a dark hallway lined with closed doors until I saw a small, dim room. Through the blinds, I saw a redheaded man hunched over a desk. This was definitely the office Will and James were talking about. I had to get him out of the office and make him leave the door open. I hid my hands in my hoodie sleeves.
“And who are you?” the guy asked when he saw me at the door.He doesn’t remember me, a point in my favor.
He’d actually seen me twice, but the smell of his breath both times told me that he’d been drunk or otherwise under the influence of something. His face was a lot younger looking than I remembered.
“I’m looking for a job,” I answered, trying to sound sure of myself despite my voice quivering.
“I’ve seen you before.” Oh no.
Intrigued, he got out of his upholstered chair and walked around the desk.
“I don’t think so.” I straightened my shoulders.
If I believed it, so would he, right?
“Where have I seen you before?” he insisted, getting a little too close to me.
The smell of the place, alcohol mixed with smoke, made my stomach turn. I tried to dodge the issue without breaking eye contact.
“Are you hiring?”
He looked me up and down from my blond bun to the tips of my black Vans.
“We’re always hiring. I’ll have you do a little audition. But I want to see you wearing something else.”
