I want one more lunch, two dinners and then the heat. At least now I know he’s capable of heat. Today’s lunch empowered me, but it also terrified me. I don’t think I’ve wanted anything so badly in my life and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room with a man who can turn all rational thoughts into a stuttering mess of incoherent words.
I push open the shower door and step out onto the mat. Cold water drips from the wisp of hair over my shoulder and runs down my chest. Quickly, I reach for a towel and wrap it around my body before turning to face the mirror. At least my cheeks are no longer pink and my eyes are round instead of thinned and glazed. I tilt my chin a little higher. Today is going to be like every other day at work. You will go, you will have fun and you will tuck all of your dirty secrets behind a fake, red lipped smile. A twitch tugs at the corner of my lips. It’s the very first rule in the ‘How to Handle your Problems like a Woman’ handbook I’ve been mentally compiling. It comes in handy when I’ve done something I’m not proud of…
Like now.
***
The hotel is buzzing. It’s busier than I’ve ever seen it. I move quickly, careful not to bump into any drunken customers as I make my way to the bar. Marise, Sadie, and two new girls man the main bar. It hardly seems like I’m needed. If they’re pulling another ‘call her into work when she’s not needed’ prank, I’m going to be pissed.
“Alix!” Marise calls as he slides a beer across the bar. “Go to the lounge bar. They’re all new and need to be supervised.”
Instinctively, my shoulders slump. I really don’t want to work the lounge bar on a day I don’t have to. The drinks in there always take longer to make. Lounge bar customers are only there to relax so they tend to skip the beers and go straight for the Lemon Drops, Manhattans and Cosmos. I hate making Lemon Drops, Manhattans, Cosmos and any other beverage that takes more than four ingredients to make.
I feel the fake smile slip from my face as a scowl quickly falls into place. Who sticks new bartenders in the lounge bar without supervision anyway? I hug my coat tighter around me and press on toward the other bar.
Thankfully, it’s not as busy in here. No one is really lingering around the bar and I hope it’s because they already have drinks, and not just because the service sucks. As the thought passes and I approach the bar, a boy from the night Jesse and I met, drops a cup of ice, sending the cold cubes scattering across the bar. I slip out of my coat and hang it over my arm before running the palms of my hands over my pencil skirt. Please, don’t let him remember me.
“Clean it up and wipe down the bar. It’s filthy.” I say, glancing away from his face.
And by filthy I mean wet. The bar is wet and it shouldn’t be. No one is going to want to rest on a bar that is wet. With a nod, the boy scoops up his ice cubes and drops them in the bin. If it weren’t for the groomed facial hair, I’d have thought him too young to work here… he barely looks older than seventeen.
“Sorry, I’m extra nervous today.” He says as he pulls a towel from the bar and runs it along the smooth surface, collecting stray drops of water.
“Why?” I ask, stuffing my coat underneath the bar.
“Mr. O’Ryan is having a meeting here.” He flicks his bright green eyes over to the corner of the room and sure enough, Jesse is there, sitting back in his chair with four other men. “Every now and then they all watch me. It’s making me edgy.”
My stomach drops. Well, shit. I purse my lips, hoping my façade doesn’t slip. “Don’t screw up and you’ll be fine.” I tell him with a comforting slap on the shoulder.
I breathe a sigh of relief and turn around. The kid clearly doesn’t remember me. I bend low and pull a tray of glasses from the dishwasher. As I straighten my posture and lift the heavy tray up onto the bench behind me, I spot him, Jesse, in the reflection of the long mirror. He’s walking in long strides towards me and I notice he’s changed his clothes. A nice steel gray three piece suit all fastened up with a sleek, black tie. My stomach flips as my chest tightens and I hate it. Never have I ever been so affected by the opposite sex—even with Scott. I blame it all on the fact Jesse never satisfied me the night we were together and now my hormones are all over the place. Dropping my stare, I grab the glasses and lower them into the chilled draw.
“You didn’t tell me you were working today.”
I drag in a light inhale before expelling it and turning around. I glance at the kid next to me who’s doing a really good job at cleaning the bar and pretending not to listen. I look back to Jesse whose large, strong hands rest on the bar’s surface.