Chapter 22 - Bartender
I grabbed the bottles of Sour Puss®, Blue Curacao and 7-Up® from under the counter and started to make three Porn Star cocktails for the girls who looked barely over the age of sixteen. But hey, who was I to judge? I'd been going to bars and clubs long before I turned 18.
When Jackson called me earlier today, I desperately wanted to confront him about the secrets he's keeping from me, but I knew that would be the wrong approach. If it's that important, he isn't going to budge which means I have to find another way to get it out of him. In the meanwhile, I'd convinced him to give me a job as the bartender at Nocturnal Night Club.
It was a spur of the moment decision and I couldn't exactly explain why I was so desperate to do it. I've been trying to convince myself it's because I'm an independent women who wants to make her own money and not depend on her daddy's credit card and although that's somewhat true there's something else that's been nagging me to do it and I can't quite place my finger on it just yet.
I placed the three purple drinks in front of the girls but they all seemed too distracted to notice. Their gazes were all locked on a man sitting not far down the bar from them. By their tinted pink cheeks and the small giggles escaping their mouths I could tell they obviously found the man very attractive. He was speaking on his cell phone with his face turned mostly away from me so I couldn't get a clear look at his face but his side profile did not disappoint. His dirty blonde hair, sharp jawline and nice build covered by a sharp black dress shirt told me his face was probably just as good looking as the rest of him.
He hung up the phone suddenly and everything about his body language told me that he was not happy about whatever the conversation had been about.
A random man waved me over pulling me out of my trance. He ordered a round of tequila shots and even as I was grabbing the bottle of alcohol off the shelf I couldn't help but let my gaze wander back over to the dirty blonde haired guy. Something about him made me incredibly curious. The fact that this one single man stood out in a club filled to the brim with people was undeniable. His presence held a certain air of power to it that seemed to attract everyones attention, including mine.
I couldn't suppress my curiosity any longer so I did what any sane person would do. I poured a glass of bourbon and made my way over to the mysterious guy. The sound of the glass hitting the counter made the man's head snap up from his phone.
When our eyes locked I felt my words get caught in my throat. Emerald green eyes stared back at me. EMERALD GREEN F*CKING EYES. Those same emotionless emerald green eyes that were the only thing visible under the creepy black mask. The emerald green eyes that were alight with enjoyment when they watched me tremble with fear as he held a gun to my head. The emerald green eyes that held no remorse when they watched me cry out in pain after being hit with the gun so hard that it almost knocked me out. The emerald green eyes that I had nightmares about.
"By the look of fear in those beautiful eyes of yours, I can only assume that you remember me." Green-eyes said with what could only be described as a sadistic smirk forming on his face. I felt like my entire body was shutting down as I stared into the psychopaths gorgeous and empty eyes. Dread was pooling into my veins and like wine it was a depressant. My heart wasn't racing in my chest like I would've expected, instead it was beating terrifyingly slow, almost as if it had already accepted the fact that I wasn't going to escape this situation. My entire body had frozen in place and it felt like everything around me had begun to move in slow motion. I let my gaze flicker around the room, searching for anyone who could help me but Jackson was nowhere to be found and the two creepy bouncers who had tried to feel me up the day I met Slate were the last people I wanted help from.
"Act natural sweetheart or this is not going to end well for you." Green-eyes said causing my attention to land back on him. He was good looking in an roguish type of way. His strong jaw was peppered with a five o'clock shadow and I noticed he had a tattoo running down the side of his neck that disappeared into the collar of his shirt, although I couldn't read it because it was in a foreign language that I didn't recognize.
I nodded my head in response to his previous statement. I could only assume my voice would come out as shaky as my hands.
"You're co-bartender is looking this way. Laugh as if I just told you a joke." Green-eyes ordered and I did what he said but my laugh sounded awfully forced, even to my ears.
"Here's how this is gonna work. Boss wants to see how good you are at following orders, so I'm going to be giving you orders all night and you're going to do exactly what I say unless you want your brothers parole hearing to end very badly. Comprende?" He asked, amusement clear in his eyes and I found my fear quickly becoming anger as I realized this whole thing was just some sadistic game for him.
"F*ck. You." I gritted out between clenched teeth and I saw his amused smirk waver for half a second before returning full force.
"You have no idea who you're talking to, sweetheart. I could have you naked and bent over a table for me within five seconds if I wanted, and it would't even be forced. Not to mention, that tight little skirt your wearing is making it even harder for me not to just have my way with you right here. So do what I say and don't talk back or I promise you'll really f*cking regret it." I swallowed nervously at his words. My burst of confidence had dissipated and the fear had returned. He grabbed the glass of bourbon that I had placed in front of him and chugged the entire glass as if it were a shot.
"Well that was f*cking awful. How much did that bottle cost? Twenty bucks? My mother wouldn't even drink that and she sucked Ben Affleck's dick so it's not exactly like she has high standards." In normal circumstances I would've been laughing my ass off at a joke like that, but nothing seemed nearly as funny when you were standing in the presence of a psychopath.
"I'm supposed to be working." I finally said, naively hoping that my stupid, insignificant excuse would somehow convince him to leave me alone. I knew I was sadly mistaken when a cold chuckle escaped his lips.
"Well you're off duty now." He said leaving no room for discussion and just as I parted my lips to ask 'why?' he cut me off already knowing what I was going to say. "Because I f*cking said so. And don't come up with some stupid excuse about you getting in trouble for leaving. Jackson's in love with you, I'm pretty sure you could steal a ton of his money and he wouldn't even bat an eye." He replied, getting off the stool. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, mostly because I was terrified he might shoot me if I did. Literally. I've come to the conclusion that he has deeply rooted anger issues and I most definitely do not want to become a target. More so than I already am, anyways.
"He's not in love with me." I mumbled pulling off the tiny black apron that was around my waist, leaving me in nothing but the short skirt and extremely tight and low-cut black t-shirt that all the bartenders are forced to wear. My words were true despite what Green-eyes had assumed. I'm not the typical girl that you read about in stories who is oblivious to how obvious it is when someone likes them. Jackson's attracted to me, that much is true. It's no secret either, he's told me multiple times and I can feel it when we're together but it's nothing beyond lust. You don't throw someone you love to the wolves and just two weeks ago—when I ended up in the green room with masked men who carried guns, all because of Jackson—it had never been more clear that I wasn't important enough for him to sacrifice his own safety.
Okay so maybe I haven't completely let go of the grudge just yet...
I made my way out from behind the bar and before I knew it Green-eyes was there, placing his hand on my lower back and leading me to god knows where. The gesture might have even come off as endearing if I hadn't been aware that he was doing it to assert his control over me.
"If you're going to pretend like I'm your girlfriend or something at least tell me your name first." I said genuinely becoming annoyed that he seemed to know everything about me yet I don't even know his first name.
"I'm West, it's lovely to make your acquaintance." He said sarcastically as we came to a pause just beside where the sea of gyrating bodies began.
"Do you see that couple over there?" West asked nodding to a girl and a guy who looked like the typical couple who would be voted as prom king and queen. The guy was the type of pretty boy I'd grown up around. The type who cares an alarming amount about his appearance and the only sport he's ever played is golf and maybe polo. The girl on the other hand, resembled the exact stereotype hollywood has created for the typical blonde preppy cheerleader. It was almost scary how perfectly she fit the label.
"Yeah?" I replied, trying to figure out where West was going with this.
"Get pretty boy to make out with you." West replied a smug smirk appearing on his face. It was such a simple request yet so against everything I believe in and something told me that West was aware of that.
"He has a girlfriend." I ground out as I turned to face West.
"What's your point? You know guys like that. They'll gladly ditch their girl for someone like you."
"Someone like me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.
"Do I have to spell it out for you, sweetheart? Someone like you; hot, mysterious, daddy issues." He spoke the words as if they were common knowledge and I fought the urge to strangle him.
"Fùck yourself." I smiled sweetly at him, seeing red. I turned away from West, watching the girl walk away from her boyfriend. Guilt weighed heavy on me, but West had an influence over me I couldn't shake.
"Let's see what you've got, sweetheart." West said, smacking my ass lightly. I glared at him, using everything in me to fight my raging emotions. He held up his hands in a defensive manner but the teasing smirk on his face didn't fade. Turning away from him I made my way into the crowd, towards the guy.
I stopped in front of him, swaying my hips to the music. I knew I was being unconvincing, I couldn't act and quite honestly I didn't want to. His hands were on my waist in seconds and I rolled my eyes. It was that fúcking easy? Was there no loyalty in this world?
"You're hot baby." Pretty boy said, his voice thick with lust as he spun me towards him, now lightly gripping the front of my hips.
"You're not too bad yourself." I replied, my voice flat, knowing my expression matched, I was repulsed by him, by his disloyalty and I had no urge to pretend otherwise, not even for West. The guy didn't notice the hostility, probably didn't care and before I knew it he was kissing me.
He was a surprisingly decent kisser but the lack of sexual chemistry between us was clear as day. There were no sparks, no butterflies, nothing. It did nothing to clench the building desire I had for Slate. The simple task of not kissing Slate had proven to be a lot more difficult than I'd expected, especially when Slate was doing everything in his power to make me give in to the temptation.
"Carter!?" A high pitched female voice was in my ear, causing pretty boy to pull away. It turned out the voice belonged to pretty boy's girlfriend and she was staring between him and I with shock. I watched as tears pooled into her eyes, my stomach rolled at her reaction. This wasn't me.
She stepped towards me and yelled something along the lines of 'you boyfriend stealing slut' before slapping me. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't expected it but damn did that girl pack a hard hit. I brought my hand to my stinging cheek and groaned at the fact that it just had to be the same cheek my mom had slapped five days ago.
The girl turned to pretty boy—I guess his real name is Carter— and slapped him just as hard before cursing him out. The whole situation was very twisted but I couldn't help but cheer the girl on in my head for not putting up with Carter's immaturity. I've known too many people that only get mad at the mistress and not the actual cheater.
I took their fighting as my cue to leave and pushed my way through the crowd and back to West who was standing with a proud smirk on his lips.
"That was so much better than Netflix." West said, not even trying to contain his amusement, but there was something dark in his gaze too and it looked almost like anger.
"I'm done taking orders from your stupid boss. Why is he so concerned with me anyways? Why won't anyone tell me what the hell is going on? And how the fùck do you know so much about me?" I yelled, completely losing my chill as I let my anger consume me.
I'm so goddamn sick of being kept in the dark about everything. My families done it to me my entire life and then Jackson and now West. To say I'd finally reached my boiling point would be an understatement. I've always been the easy going good girl who keeps her mouth shut and doesn't cause conflict where it can be avoided but after years of holding in everything that makes you angry and frustrated there comes a point where it all explodes out of you and I was doing everything I could not to let it all out. When West didn't reply to any of my questions, I bit down on my tongue hard, digging my nails into my palm.
"I have to go before I rip someone's head off. It was so fücking lovely to see you again West."My words were laced with venom and I turned on my heels, storming off before West could say anything. I had a feeling it wouldn't of been very nice.
A/N
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I had a lot of fun writing it so I hoped you enjoyed reading it just as much!!!! Sorry for the lack of Slate, Christian, AJ and Alec in this chapter, I promise next chapter you will be seeing a lot more of them :)
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