We've been open for almost an hour and business seems steady, but manageable. The section of the bar I’m responsible for is in the far corner and I run back and forth between there and the bar earning a good amount of tips. More than I ever made in one night at my previous jobs.
Taking a deep breath, I lean against a near wall during a lull in the action and scan the room, taking in my surroundings. My eyes immediately search for him, like I’m a pathetic little girl with a school girl crush, and then I seeher.
Fucking Amber, leaning over the bar causing her ass to practically spill out from underneath her barely there leather skirt. And she’s touching Ryker’s arm like it belongs to her.
I stand up straight, watching the scene unfold. Something deep inside of me starts to heat and I don’t recognize the sensation because I’m not sure I’ve felt it before, but I’d like to punch her in the vagina for making me feel this way.
My eyes drift to Ryker. He’s got a smile on his face and seems happy to talk to her. My shoulders sag and I suck in a breath when it occurs to me how different she and I are. She’s thin, tall and beautiful. I’m–not.
Seconds later, a familiar sensation creeps into the back of my throat and I know what’s coming.
I don’t want to cry.
Not here.
Not in the middle of all these people.
But I just got this job. I don’t want to waste this opportunity that's been given to me and risk disappointing anyone.Ryker. I don’t want to disappoint Ryker. I also know what it’s like to be left in the dust by someone flaking out on their shift, which is the last thing I would ever want to put on anyone.
So I do the only thing I can think of. I suck it up. All the emotions, the tears. Everything. I finish my shift, and then, as soon as Ryker slips into his office, I sneak out, like the coward I am and get a ride home from a co-worker.
30
Ryker
Jesus, could she be any more vapid? I put on a smile for all our clients, because it’s good for business, but I have no idea what Amber is even talking about and I’d really like her to remove her arm from my bicep. She’s been trying to get in my pants for the last year, and I’ve never taken her up on her offer for various reasons. Mainly because she’s as shallow as they come, but she’s also not particularly my type.
If you’d asked me six months ago what my type was, I might have told you it was tall, slim, and leggy. Now, I’d say short and thick, blonde, big green eyes. The thought causes me to search the room for her as I pull my arm away from Amber before she gets the wrong impression. When I find her, her back is to me and her blonde waves cascade down her shoulders. A surge of pride fills my heart as I watch her work. I had a feeling she’d do well with our clients and the other servers already love her. They’ve told me as much, every chance they get.
I’ve spent the remainder of her shift watching her dance about the room, making conversations with guests, laughing. Doingher job. I almost forgot I have my own work to do, when I look at my watch and see it’s almost midnight. Most nights, we have two shifts to split the time, while allowing double the staff at our busiest time. It also means that everyone doesn’t have to openandclose every time they work. Less burnout and the girls haven’t complained that they aren’t making enough money, so it’s working.
I, thankfully, make quick work of office duties and head downstairs to find my girl, so we can go home. When I don’t see Arabella anywhere, I look to Roxie.
“Have you seen Arabella, Rox?”
“No, Boss. She was cleaning her section, but I haven’t seen her in about twenty minutes. Maybe she went to the ladies room. Someone brought her tray over because she left it at a table. Remind me to spank her for that later,” she rambles.The only one spanking her will be me.
Where the fuck is she? I wait another ten minutes and decide to send someone into the women's restroom but she’s not there either.
Panic starts to rise in my chest as fear takes over. I take the stairs up to the offices, two at a time. I need to check the security cameras. Hopefully, our new computer guy is in there, because I know fuck all about any of it.
The door swings open and all I see is the back of his head as he watches a wall full of screens.
“Hey,” I greet him. “I need you to find someone for me on the feeds.”
He turns around and I almost fall on my ass. I haven’t seenhimin years.
“Axel? What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Ryker,” he smirks. “How is it that you own half of Gravity and you’re still so oblivious?”
He has a point. I don’t keep up with day to day hirings, but I should have paid more attention to who Hayes hired to run our very high level security. The person who holds the position is basically number three in the chain of command. It's my own fault for being so–distracted lately.
I choose to ignore his obvious attempt to get a rise out of me. “I need you to check the feed for your sister. She’s missing and was seen about thirty minutes ago in section three, right over there.” I point to the far right screen.
He stares at me for a beat, clearly processing the information. “What the bloody hell is my sister doing working here and why are you looking for her?”
“She needed a job and I gave her one. Just fucking find her,” I order, intentionally trying to avoid his line of questioning that could lead somewhere I’m not quite ready to go just yet. Right now I just want to find her.
