"So, are you in?" He asks walking back over to me. His verdant eyes lowering to me as he stops right in front of me. I don't understand why he has to stand so close, if I am take a half step from where I am I'd be stepping on his feet he's that close to me. I take a deep breath, steadying my heart this time at his proximity and my nostrils fill with his sweet musky scent again. It's like he's soaked in wood and vanilla. His eyes watch my lips for my answer.
"Yes." My mouth answers for me.
"Good." Seven's eyes drag back to my eyes before blinking back down to my lips once more in a flash, as if he couldn't help it but didn't want me to notice. He looks into my eyes again and his brows pull together. I stay completely silent and still, unsure of the weird way he's acting a half step from me.
"You can leave your bag in here till you're finished. I'll show you to the bar." He says and steps around me, walking over and opening the office door again. With the space back between us, my lungs release the breath I didn't know I had been holding.
I follow him, still confused at the way he was staring at me and walk out of the office. I feel the gentle pressure and heat from Seven's hand rest against the small of my back as he leads me out the office. I don't draw attention to it or the way it makes my entire body flush. It's a simple gesture so I don't understand why my body has jumped up a few temperates. I know I find him attractive but his personality is a complete turn off for me. He's rude and takes enjoyment in embarrassing me which I don't like at all.
Seven doesn't touch my back again as he leads me through the other door back out into the club. He walks me over to the brightly lit bar and shows me where the chilled glasses are kept, where the main requested liquors are and how to use the till. It's the same kind of till as in the liquor store so it's fairly easy to work out. There are drink lists with the right mixers as well as price listings for me to familiarise myself with. Seven takes me round the back of the bar to show me the stock and how to change over the taps on the bar when the kegs run dry. It's fairly easy and with Seven making it a point to explain everything to me like I'm a child I get the hang of most of it within the hour. He's very adamant that I don't give out my real name to anyone and if anyone asks to just make one up.
He leaves me alone to finally start working and tells me to find Curby or one of the other big men in suits walking around the place if I need any help or if someone is too drunk to be served. I busy myself memorising the drinks menu and their respective programmed numbers in the till in between serving the few customers that actually come up to the bar. There's a server working who comes over every so often with her black tray. Emptying the used glasses onto the bar before listing off more drink orders for me to make. She's wearing a sheer top that's completely see through, actual leather underwear and high heels. She doesn't attempt to make small talk with me and the friendly smile I gave her was not returned. I gave up trying to be friendly with her after her third round back and just stuck to making the drinks, stacking her tray then clearing the empty glasses and bottles.
There's about forty customers in here. They're all crowded around the dancer on the stage as she's the only one performing at the moment while a few others are giving lap dances around the club. The woman on stage is completely topless now, she started in a whole school girl outfit and slowly discarded an item of clothing as the time progressed. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself from the discomfort in seeing a grown women dressed as a young girl for the pleasure of much older men to witness. It made me feel grossed out and hoped to god they weren't looking at actual children in school uniforms the same way they ogled at the stripper.
By eleven I was well versed in making the drinks, clearing the empties and not talking to the rude half naked server. A few men had approached the bar for their drinks, starting small conversations with me and all of them tipped me generously. They were mostly middle aged men with greying hair and belly's stretched with years of drinking. One or two seemed less than well off but the rest all seemed rather wealthy. It bothered me that literally all of them had gold bands on their ring fingers. All of them were married yet were spending their Saturday night here throwing money at naked women young enough to be their daughters.
I hadn't seen Seven since he left me to begin working the bar but while restocking the ice I caught his eyes through the mirrored back wall of the bar. He was staring at me and I couldn't tell if he was catching my eyes back through the reflection but he didn't shy away from the intense eye contact he was blazing into the back of me. The dark club seems a lot darker when you're standing in the only lit up area of it but I could just make out Seven sitting down, his face leaning over to the side to stare at me around the woman sitting on his lap. My mouth drops in embarrassment for looking at him for so long while he's being grinded on. As soon as I make out the stripper dancing on his lap I look away from the mirror and finish stocking up the ice. Flustered I pop a small shard of ice into my mouth to suck on in an attempt to cool my burning cheeks.
A man approaches the bar and I reluctantly turn to serve him. Willing myself to not seek out the dark area where I now know Seven is sitting receiving a lap dance.
"Just a rum and coke gorgeous." The man smiles. I've served him before, this is his third time coming to the bar instead of using a server.
"Sure." I smile politely at him, crunching on the ice till it completely dissolves in my mouth and begin to make his drink.
The man begins to make small talk and I try my best to pay attention but I'm heavily distracted by the green eyes I can feel still burning into me. In a lack of better judgment I glance up in the direction I know Seven is sitting.
His eyes are still fixed on me, watching my every move and not faltering when I look back at him. The woman sits with her back against his chest, completely oblivious that his attention seems to be focused elsewhere as she moves her behind against him. I notice how-just like before- Seven's hands rest beside him on the seat and don't touch the dancer. The customers are completely different, they grope and hold the women against them as they receive their dances and I'm reminded of how Mesha mentioned that the guys working here aren't meant to touch the women at all.
I guess Seven has found a loophole.
He lowers his eyes at me watching him, an expression washes over his face that I can't decipher but he seems...turned on? I watch his once flat hands ball into fists at his sides. His mouth opens and his tongue runs over his bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth, eyes still boring into mine until I look away and break the intense eye contact.
I finish making the drink before serving it to the customer over the counter. I hope he didn't notice me completely ignoring his babbling.
"There you go." I smile at him, my cheeks are extremely hot thanks to the weird stare down I just had with Seven.
"Thank you gorgeous." He hands over cash to pay for his drink and when I go to take it his hand catches mine.
"What time will you be up on the stage?" He asks me, his eyes looking down at my chest and I fight the urge to smack at him. He's a customer, I can't do that here I remind myself.
"Oh, I'm not a dancer. I just serve the drinks." I tell him, moving my hand out of his grip and taking the cash at the same time.
"What about a one on one? I'd love to go to a room with you gorgeous." He says. He's referring to the private rooms where I've seen some of the strippers lead patrons into. They pay extra for a one on one session in the privacy of the small cupboard like rooms. I say privacy, but I don't doubt they have cameras in there to keep an eye on things. I absentmindedly glance up at the cameras angled around the bar at the thought of the over the top surveillance. I've noticed they have security cameras everywhere in this place.
"No, sorry. I just work at the bar." I explain again and move to the till hoping he'll leave.
"What about a dance? I'll pay double whatever they're paying you to stand behind here." The man says and leans over the bar to get a better look of my body.
"No—" I begin.
"There a problem here?" I'm interrupted and look up to see Seven now standing next to the man on the other side of the bar. He's glaring at the old guy and the look sends ice through my hot veins. He knows how to look intimidating and he does it very well.
"Not at all. I was simply asking this gorgeous thing if she could service an old man." The man says casually and I want to barf at his words.
Seven looks to me and I avoid eye contact as I process the drink order into the till and shove the cash into it. I don't want to cause a scene on my first day, he'd probably fire me over it. And I don't know the rules about customers requesting your company so I don't know the etiquette here.
"And what did she say?" Seven asks the man.
"Well we were just getting to that." The old man lies.
"I told you no." I butt in, my voice low.
"Many times." I add sternly. I'm not sure if I'll get in trouble for denying a customer but I won't let him sit there and lie. Sounds more to me that the old man is trying to lie to get himself out of trouble and not me.
Seven looks from me to the man at the bar who shrugs as if to imply I'm the one lying. There's no warning before the man is lifted from his seat by the back of his collar and pulled away from the bar with dramatic force by Seven.
"What the fuck!" The man yells as his drink spills down him and the glass drops, ice cubes bounce around the floor with the glass.
"She said no." Seven drops the mans collar and pushes him back with a forceful hand to the chest, the man stumbles but doesn't fall.
"They all say no at first." The man says as if it's some kind of defence.
"She's not on offer." Seven clarifies with a growl, his fists clenched at his sides - rings hugging tightly around his gripped fingers. I'm a little taken back by how aggressive he is being towards the man.
"All the girls are on offer." The man argues.
"Not her." Seven says and two large men approach them briskly. I recognise one is Curby.
"You good here Sev?" Curby asks looking between a tense Seven and the older man.
"I'm fine." Seven brushes him off but his voice is still harsh. Curby frowns at Seven clearly confused by his behaviour and then looks to the guy who walked over with him.
"Get him out." Curby nods at the old man and the large dude grabs the man by the shoulder and begins to lead him out of the club as the man starts to protest.
I begin to clean up the mess from the spilt drink as an excuse to eavesdrop on Seven and Curby.
"You going after the bouncers job now huh?" Curby teases Seven. They're backs are to me and they have no idea I'm behind them picking up the tossed ice cubes scattered on the carpet.
"Fuck off. The guy needed to be taken out, he was hassling the bartender." Seven explains.
"So? Since when did you care if a punters hassling the workers?" Curby interrogates, nudging Seven with his arm.
"Why do I have to care to kick a creep out?" Seven defends.
"I see." Curby chuckles.
"She's hot right?" Curby continues. Is he referring to me?
"Don't start." Seven warns.
"You think she's hot, don't you?" Curby pushes Seven for an answer but instead he just shakes his head. I put all the ice cubes back into the empty glass and begin to wipe up the spilt drink with a cloth.
"Is that why you went to her work to offer her a job? Cause you think she's hot?" Curby is clearly teasing Seven now.
"What? No. Fuck off would you." Seven nudges back at Curby.
"I will when you admit you think she's hot." Curby persists.
"No. I don't think she's hot. She's not my type." Seven concludes sternly and I can't help the shitty feeling from his strong dismissal crash over me.
I move back around the bar, tossing the dirty ice aggressively into the sink before putting the used glass with the growing pile of dirty glassware I need to start sorting soon. I don't even understand why I'm pissed off and kind of hurt by Seven admitting he's not attracted to me. It's not something I even want but hearing anyone say they don't find you attractive hurts the ego a little bit. Especially when I in turn find him attractive.
I don't understand Seven at all. I can't understand the emotions behind his eyes, I can't decipher the looks he gives me. I had assumed by the way had checked me out and told me my looks had nothing to do with him first denying me a job had meant that he actually found me attractive to some degree. And the way he stares at me makes me feel like he might do too. But him admitting to Curby that he doesn't find me hot nor that am I his type goes completely against what I had been thinking.
I know I'm not everyone's cup of tea, everyone is entitled to their own preferences I just found it confusing since the way he had acted gave off a different impression.
"Ugh." I groan to myself quietly while stacking the glasses into the huge dish washing machine. I don't even know why it bothers me if I'm his type or not. He's certainly not mine. I mean I find him attractive for sure but his attitude, the confusing demeanour, the way I feel on edge around him and especially the way he looked at that man with such menacing eyes are definitely not my type.
To be honest when I think about it I'm not even sure what my type is. Because the complete opposite to what Seven is, is the likes of Tom and he definitely isn't my type either. I think back to the guys I've actually slept with...I don't think any of them were really my type either. I mean looks wise all three of them were very handsome but I also wasn't raving about their personalities either.
One was a guy from my high school who I slept with a couple times in my last year. He took my virginity but it wasn't anything romantic, it was more a transaction that neither of us wanted to go to university as virgins so we helped each other out. He was very cute but I didn't really hang out with him at school to get to know his personality enough to judge on. The second was a frat guy from my uni. He played a lot of sport and spent most of his time in the gym or with his guy friends. We never dated, we just continued to hook up casually for an entire semester. But I never found conversations with him interesting at all. It was like he had some weird talent of talking a whole lot and not saying very much while doing so. He use to call me for random booty calls that I declined up until he got into a relationship about six months ago. The third and last guy I slept with was a model I met during one of the very few photoshoots I ever did. He was gorgeous but we only went to dinner once and slept together that night. I never saw him again and didn't plan to either, if I'm honest the sex wasn't that great so I dipped early in the morning. With our time together being very, very fleeting I couldn't really comment on if he was my type since I only knew him for an afternoon but I'd like to think my type was good at sex.
Once I've stacked all the glasses that fit into the washer and turn it on I check out front to see if the server is waiting for any refills. She isn't, in fact I don't see her anywhere. There's no women on the stage anymore either or strippers giving customers lap dancers. I look at the time on my phone and it's just after midnight. There's a couple customers still mulling around and the men who work here are attempting to round them up to throw them out. It must be closing time.
I return back to the back and get started on hand washing the rest of the glasses in the sink. Once I'm done I empty the bottle bins from underneath the bar, noticing the music has been turned off now and replace the missing bottles that were emptied tonight from the back shelf with new bottles from the stock out back. When that's done I stack the hand washed glasses back under the bar since the ones in the washer haven't finished yet. I do a quick sweep behind the bar and wipe down the counter noticing how the club is practically empty now. I can't even see any of the large men that are usually walking around. Did everyone just leave?
The thought that I may have been locked in here makes my stomach drop. Surely they'd turn off the bar lights before going though? I'm still lit up as a Christmas tree in this corner and the red lights in the club are also still on. Maybe everyone is just in the back?
I check my phone for the time and notice it's now almost one in the morning. Shit.
I rush to the doors that lead out to the hallway that leads to Seven's office where my bag is. I hope people are still here, I feel uneasy about walking around here while it's so empty. The lights at the back are still on which I'm taking as a good sign.
I make my way down the bright hallway, my boots echoing even more than before now that there's no thudding music coming through the wall from the club. I catch a glimpse of one of the dancers rushing down the end of the hall, looking like she's come from Seven's office. Relief washes over me as I'm not alone in the building after all. Once I get to the office I take a steady breath through my nose before knocking on the door.
No answer. I knock again, this time a little harder and wait. Nothing. I go to knock again, my knuckles tapping against the door once before it flies open.
"I told you to fuck off!" Seven's voice shouts loudly, his face is scrunched in irritation before his eyes focus on me and his face drops.
"Lilianna?" He looks at me confused before continuing.
"Sorry I didn't know it was you." He says quickly, his voice back to its usual volume.
"Lily." I correct him.
"What are you still doing here? You're meant to finish an hour ago." Seven says opening the door wider and my eyes drop to see his black dress shirt completely unbuttoned. Showing off a full view of his tattoos and toned abdomen. I swallow hard and rip my eyes away from admiring his body.
"I just finished. The dishwashers still going but I can stay till it's finished if you need?" I ask him, making it a point to look at his face as I speak. Don't look down. Don't look down. Do not look at his torso again, my mind chants.
"No, no that's fine." Seven looks between my eyes and leans his arm up against the door frame completely opening his shirt up with the movement. He's towering over me in the doorway almost shirtless and I hope he can't hear the air coming out of my nose rapidly. He smells so nice, earthy and sweet. I can't stop my eyes from flicking down to look at his bare stomach. A large butterfly tattoo is spread across the top of his stomach taking me by surprise. My eyes trail down to the two fern tattoos that frame the predominant lines carved between the muscles on his stomach and hips. My cheeks are blazing red at the site alone. I can't explain how attractive it is and I can't stop staring at how the lines form in a V shape that directly angle down to his crotch. I realise I'm staring, I know I need to stop but it's like my eyes won't listen to my brain right now. Since they won't move I do the next best thing and just shut my eyes tightly.
"I um..." I'm struggling to form a sentence now. What the fuck is wrong with me?!
"I came by to collect my bag." I rush out, eyes still closed.
"Oh. Right." Seven says and when I open my eyes again he's ducked into the office to retrieve the bag for me. I'm relieved he hasn't said anything about my awkward reaction to his half nakedness.
"Here." Seven holds my bag out for me.
"Thanks." I take it from him and turn around abruptly.
"Did someone pay you?" He asks.
"Not yet, I have my tips though." I hold up the small wad of cash I'd collected tonight.
"Shit, here." Seven reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a huge stack of cash. I don't think I've ever seen that much money casually sitting in someone's back pocket. He flips through the notes before handing me my pay.
"Thanks." I take it from him, his ringed fingers are hot as the brush my palm accidentally. I pull my hand away quickly and turn to leave.
"Wait." He says quickly and I turn around.
"Let me walk you out." He says, stepping out into the hall and closing the office behind him.
"You don't have to do that." I tell him.
"I do though. It's policy. It's not good to leave alone...as a female worker anyway." Seven clarifies as he falls into step next to me.
"Where did you park?" He asks me.
"Out front. I didn't know about the back entrance." I look over to him and he's staring down at his hands, twisting one of his many rings. His knuckles are red and the bruising I noticed earlier is now much more prominent. He must have hit something at some stage tonight as the swelling and bruising looks new.
"Did you get in a fight or something?" I pry.
"Hmm?" Seven lifts his head to look at me as we walk through the club.
"Your hands. Did you get in a fight or something?" I repeat for him, watching his face for an answer.
He stares down at me a minute as if thinking of what to say.
"Or something." He answers vaguely, copping out of a real answer. I don't know how to take his reply and decide to drop the subject. It's his business not mine.
"You had a good first day?" He asks me as we almost get to the door.
"Yeah. It was fine." I shrug.
"Not freaked out by the old creepers then?" He questions opening the door for me.
"No. I can handle myself. They're nothing new really." Drunk persistent guys really aren't anything new for a lot of women who go out to bars or clubs. I've come across a lot of them while out with friends. It's just the age difference that I'm getting use to, and maybe the fact that I can't just outright slap them when they say derogatory things to me since they're customers.
"Mmm. I'm sure you have a lot of admirers." Seven states as we walk outside. It's so dark out and the only light is coming from the lit up club sign above us and the street lights. It's a little cold but Seven doesn't seem to mind with his open shirt. Why is it even open anyway? What was he doing in his office before I interrupted?
"Some. But I'm not everyone's type." I reiterate his words from his discussion with Curby earlier. Seven looks at me questioningly, as if he knows what I'm referencing to but doesn't understand how I would know.
"That's me." I point to my little white car parked not far away.
"Cute car." He says, clearly mocking it.
"I'd watch what you say around her." I warn him.
"She has a habit of running blokes like you over." I threaten him humorously and Seven smirks. That dimple I noticed back in the liquor store popping out his cheek again and it makes my stomach flutter. God I hate the way my body is so attracted to him.
"Is that the car or you?" Seven questions still smirking.
"Maybe both." I shrug and sling my bag over my shoulder.
"I should get going now." I jiggle my keys in my hand.
"Thanks for walking me to my car." I add.
"No problem. I'll see you on Wednesday for your next shift." Seven nods.
"Cool. Well...see ya." I awkwardly turn to walk the short distance to my car.
"Bye Lilianna." Seven watches me unlock my car and get into it before he turns and stalks back into the club.
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