The Watcher

7. Safe Haven

He'd started calling me Belles when we first started hooking up. It was like he wanted something to distinguish him from the rest. A secret word only he used. He just didn't know that 'Belle' had already been taken by another, and just the mention of it now made my skin crawl.

I stalked away and shook off the shiver of repulsion that ran down my spine. As I made myself a coffee, I ran a hand through my hair, folding it into a bun and securing it in place. The waves fought against the elastic. If I was lucky it would hold until the end of my shift.

"Who's working tonight, Kel?" I called as I heard her rooting around in the back room.

"Max, Amber and this new guy. S something," she responded. She came out to meet me, wiping her hand on a cloth. Her brown curly hair was particularly smooth and glossy today. It always was when the band were playing. I briefly wondered which of the five band members were the reason for her extra effort.

"S something?" I smirked while I made myself a coffee and glanced over at the band. From the way the drummer showed off with his sticks, I thought he was probably the one Kelly had her eye on.

"Seth or Seb or something like that." She whirled her hands as she spoke. "I remember thinking it was an odd name, but you know kids these days. They'll be calling them Carrot or Cloud next."

I laughed lightly as she muttered. She spoke as if she was an entirely different generation, but she was only a few years older than me. I could just about remember seeing her walking around the school when I first started aged ten. Back then, she was just a wide eyed eighteen-year-old girl with frizzy brown hair and unplucked eyebrows. She was quite different now, but then again, a lot could change in ten years.

I took a luxuriant sip of coffee before getting back to preparing for the night ahead.

"Sevrin," Kelly shouted as the name popped into her head. "That's his name."

I nodded, fumbling a glass as nerves rose in my chest. There weren't many with a name like that around here. Or anywhere really. Any hope that he wasn't the same Sevrin who had went to the neighbouring boy's school was unlikely.

"Apparently, he's studying law, so he can't work many shifts, but he'll plug the gap in the rota for now. Do you know him?" Kelly asked, noticing the frown on my face. "Please don't say he's a nightmare. I really can't deal with another Ellie."

A smirk flashed across my face when I thought of Ellie. She was all bottle blonde hair and long legs. Ideal bartender material if you wanted to keep the boys buying beer. The only downside was that she was an utter bitch. A lazy, manipulative, whiny bitch. Normally I hated the word, a by-product of being called it myself one too many times, but there wasn't another word that described her so perfectly. She had been the only one of us who could come off a twelve-hour shift without breaking a sweat. Not because she was good at her job or relentlessly efficient. She just didn't move. She'd spend the entire night just flirting over the bar, propping herself on the cool metal surface like she was serving herself up.

"No, not like Ellie," I replied. The dread I felt was much more personal than having to deal with the work shy.

"Thank god!" Kelly said as she heaved a crate of bottles down to the storeroom. The sound of tinkling glass faded as she disappeared from view.

Her realm of worry didn't extend beyond the workings of the bar. It couldn't. This was her livelihood. It didn't matter to her whether we all got on or not. Just as long as the drinks got poured, and the floor got mopped at the end of the day.

I chewed my lip as I waited for the trio to turn up. It wasn't long before they piled into the bar. Amber was in her element as the two boys flanked her while she played coquettishly with her flame red hair. Max was on her left, all broad and stocky, while Sevrin towered above her on her right, long limbs leading to artfully mussed mahogany hair.

One glance and I knew he was the same Sevrin I'd thought he was. He still had his hair styled with wet look gel, and his body was still too long. He was all arms and legs as he had been back in school. The only difference now was that the arrogant smirk he'd always had on his face was now an all-out cocky grin.

Kelly hurried up the stairs at the noise of the bell clanging while they entered.

I chewed at my thumbnail as I tried to hide behind my hand. Sevrin hadn't noticed me, and although I knew it was unlikely, I half hoped I could go the entire shift without catching his eye.

"Amber, Max, you know Anna, don't you?"

There goes that plan.

"Yeah, I think we worked a shift together a couple weekends ago," Max replied as Amber nodded.

"Fab, well you've both obviously met Sevrin."

"Sev," he interjected.

"Sev, right. Well, anyway Sev this is Anna. She's your girl if there's anything you need help with." She waved in my direction, and I felt myself cringe as Sev's eyes passed over me. The shrewd blue dripped over my skin from my head to my toes. I knew what he was seeing. I just hoped he didn't tell the others.

I liked this place because it had been my fresh start. When everyone else went away to university or moved on for work, I'd stayed put and started to rebuild my life. I didn't want Sev to come and sully this small haven I'd created.