"I have to be at work in about thirty minutes. I'm going to call Kyle and ask if he can babysit you, is that okay?" I tie my converse and put a piece of spearmint gum into my mouth, the minty flavor erupting against my tastebuds.
"Yes, that's perfectly okay." She smiles at me.
"It's so obvious. You realize that right?" I chuckle abruptly before shoving my keys into my side bag.
"What's obvious?" She questions, avoiding eye contact with me. I send a text to Kyle instead of calling him and he replies almost instantly saying he was at the library and should be here soon.
"It's obvious that you like Kyle." I roll my eyes. She's just playing dumb.
"What?" She gasps dramatically. "I most certainly do not like Kyle!"
"You are a terrible actress, Ron," I scoff. I hand her a bottle of water and she glares at me for a moment.
"Well, what if I did like him?" She asks softly before unscrewing the cap off of the bottle and taking a sip of the water.
"I wouldn't have a problem with it, honestly. You guys would be good for one another." I admit, checking the time on my phone and waiting for Kyle to arrive. I have to be at work in fifteen minutes.
"Do you think he likes me?" Veronica asks and before I can answer there's a knock at the door. Her face turns a furious shade of red when Kyle walks in. She looks away and turns her attention to the tv.
"Hey, thanks for coming to babysit her. I gotta go! Have fun you guys!" Veronica gives me a dangerous look as I wink at her before leaving the dorm. I have to admit that they would make a cute couple. Plus they're both kind and loving people; they deserve to be happy.
I shuffle through the large crowd of people herding through the sidewalks of downtown New York. I can see Mike's sign just a few feet in front of me and I finally make it with five minutes to spare. The bell above the door jingles as I enter the pub.
"Chloe, hey!" Mike greets me as I approach the bar. He begins placing some bottles of alcohol onto the shelves behind the bar.
"Hey! What do you need me to do?" I ask, scanning over the large amount of people filing in and out of the bar. A lot of them are rather big men with burly beards and leather jackets. There are a few women sitting at the bar a few feet from me. The music is loud and the voices of all the people are even louder. It's sort of hectic in here.
"Well, since you're probably a fast learner, I'm just gonna give you this pad of paper and a pen and you can go take down orders from table twenty to forty over there on the left side." I grab the pad and pen from him and he also hands me a black half apron that I tie around my waist.
"Cassidy and Haylee have the other tables so no need to worry about those." He points to the other tables in the pub and I nod, taking in the information. He points to the other man behind the bar. "That's Randy, he's the main bartender. Frank and George are the main chefs in the back. I think that's all you need to know for now." He smiles at me kindly and I return it, trying not to seem overwhelmed by all the information he's loaded on me.
I walk over to table twenty where what looks like a couple has just sat down. I put on my best smile as I approach them. "Hello, I'm Chloe. Can I help you guys?"
"Yeah, I want a whiskey and she wants some kind of fruity something or another," the man gestures to the pretty brunette in front of him.
"May I recommend the strawberry martini?" I ask the lady in front of me and she nods, smiling at me. I scribble their order on the pad of paper and approach Randy.
"Hi," Randy looks at me as I approach the bar. "I need a whiskey and strawberry martini, please." He nods politely and hands me the bottle of whiskey before making the martini. I shove the pad of paper and pen into my apron and grab the drinks, thanking Randy once more before heading back to the couples table.
"Here you guys go. One whiskey and one strawberry martini." The female smiles at me graciously and the man just sort of scowls at me. "Do you guys want anything to eat?"
"No, we're good." The man growls at me and I nod slowly, wondering what his problem is. He's had an attitude ever since he walked into this bar. I walk away and notice a group of guys sitting down at another table in my section.
"Hello, I'm Chloe. How can I help you guys?" I ask happily, trying to contain my composure.
"You can help me by turning around so I can check out your ass," one of the guys say and I roll my eyes.
"Sorry, that's not my job. But there's a stripper joint a couple blocks down." The other men erupt in laughter and the guy who gave the crude comment glares at me for a moment before answering my previous question.
"I want a corona, no lime." He says. The other three men all order a pint of Budweiser and I nod slowly before going back to Randy. I grab the drinks from the bar and place them on a tray. I take them over to the group of men and place the drinks on the table. "Would you like anything to eat?"
"Actually, your pussy would be a nice meal." The same guy who made the vulgar comment earlier speaks up once more.
"Funny. I figured dicks were more your thing." I roll my eyes before leaving the table. His friends erupt in loud whoops and laughter again.
"Mike, we need to talk." I push his office door open and my mouth parts agape as I notice him making out with another male. It's sort of a surprise. I don't judge anyone by no means but I would've never guessed Mike would be gay.
"Um, Chloe don't - can you shut the door - I um," his words are jumbled as he looks at me confused. I do as told and close the door behind me.
"I thought you locked the door?" The tall male asks Mike and he shrugs. "I thought I did lock it."
"Chloe, I need you to understand that-"
"You're gay? I don't care." I chuckle and Mike just sort of looks at me.
"It doesn't bother you?" Mike asks and I shrug.
"Not really, no. I mean it surprised me because I didn't guess that you was gay but it's whatever. I don't judge." Mike and apparently his lover, both exchange glances and let out breathes of relief.
"Thank you. Can we keep this between us? I don't want the staff to know." Mike scratches the back of his neck, his biceps throbbing under his shirt and I nod.
"Of course. It's no one else's business. I should've knocked instead of just barging in. I apologize." I admit, scuffing my shoe across the tiles of the floor.
"Yeah, please knock next time. What did you need?" He asks.
"What do I do about men making crude comments about me? I mean are we allowed to kick them out?" I ask.
"Why? What happened?" His eyes get wide as he approaches me.
"I was waiting this group of guys and this one kept making vulgar comments about me that I would like not to repeat and I sort of burned him to be completely honest."
"Burned him with what?" Mike gasps and his friend and I burst into laughter.
"Not with fire or anything. I burned him with sass and words." I laugh once more and Mike chuckles with me.
"Oh I got you. Well, if they're rude to you and continue to be rude then you can come get me and I will handle it or you may burn them but only to a certain extent. We should really invest in a bouncer in this place." Mike admits and his friend, or I'm guessing his boyfriend, stands beside him.
"I could do it." As my eyes scan over him, I notice just how tall he really is. He has a few tattoos as well along with raven black hair and piercing brown eyes.
"But what if you got hurt, Trey?" Mike speaks slowly, concerned.
"I won't get hurt. Besides I took MMA for nine years remember?" Trey says proudly. Mike considers it for a second then nods. He gives Trey a shirt similar to mine and we exit Mike's office.
"Thank you for being so cool about that." Mike whispers to me and I give him a reassuring smile and nod before returning to my table waiting duties.
YOU ARE READING
Not So Secret
Teen Fiction*Dirty Little Secret Sequel* They've been through thick and thin; had several fights and mishaps. But they've always gotten over them, right? Until now. What'll happen when going to two different colleges? Will Chloe and Ethan be able to stay toget...
