Shadowsouled

6: Ashallia

Pete's was pretty quiet tonight, so Ashallia worked through her tasks pretty quickly and with few interruptions, albeit with continued stares from the man in the corner.

Kacey had come over and tried to order her around once, with a sly smirk on her face, but Josh had stepped in quickly, which had quickly wiped it off her tanned, sulky face.

Ash was sure Kacey would have loved to find a way to make her work life horrible, but neither Josh nor Pete were giving her a chance. She was grateful to them both.

Pete pulled her side a couple of hours before close, after Liam and Kacey, and their friends had left, "Hey kiddo, I've gotta head off. Charlie's in charge for close, but I'm only a phone call away if you ever need me, okay?"

She smiled warmly at him, "Thanks Pete, I appreciate it." He smiled back, then left through the kitchen. Only moments after she'd heard Pete's loud bike pulling away, the front door opened, and she immediately cringed.

A group of older men came in, they were semi-regulars, but far from the most pleasant of guests. She sighed, knowing this would be her table, and put on her nicest fake smile as she went over to greet them.

"Hey guys, welcome, where would you like to.." she trailed off as one of them talked right over her, "Well heyyy sweetheart, somewhere with a good view of that fine ass of yours will be perfect," he winked at her and laughed, his friends joining, and they went and sat themselves down at a table near the bar, talking so loudly and incessantly at each other that she wondered if any of them even heard what the others were saying.

She stood in place a moment, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Feeling his eyes on her again, she glanced over at the man in the corner and found him still staring at her. If she thought he'd looked like he was glaring before, he looked downright pissed off now. She was glad Josh had taken his table.

Pulling her gaze away, she shivered, walking quickly towards the kitchen, where she nearly walked right into Josh. "Ash, careful!" he said, grabbing her shoulders. She started to apologise, but it was lost as one of the men began shouting, "Hey sweetcheeks, how about you bringing us some drinks, eh?"

Josh looked at her and pulled a face. He recognised the voice, as all the servers here did. And they dreaded it. "Well, so much for closing on time," he sighed, and followed her back out as she turned to attend to the table.

She took their drink order, forcing a smile through a few more vulgar comments, and took it over to Josh, who made them and placed them all on a tray for her to carry over. She'd only just placed the last glass in the table when she jumped, feeling a hand on her ass.

"S'alright sweetheart, it's quiet tonight, why don't ya sit here on my knee and keep us company, hmm?" the rough looking one to her left said. Her face paled and she shook her head, forcing another fake smile, "Sorry, they need me out back too," and left the table quickly, heading to the kitchen to hide until they needed something again.

The rest of the night went much the same, until finally, more than 40 minutes after closing, they decided to leave. Scary corner guy had left only 30 minutes before. Her and Josh both sighed in relief, and had just finished cleaning up when Charlie stuck his head through the door from the kitchen, "If you guys are done, head on home. It's been a long enough night."

They nodded, heading to their lockers, before leaving through the back. "You want a lift home, Ash?" Josh asked her. "Thanks, I'm good," she replied, smiling. He always offered, despite knowing she liked the walk in the quiet hours. He nodded, have her his trademark grin, and headed to his car, parked in the side street.

Ash turned the other way, down the alley that would lead around to the main street. Ash she neared the end, she stopped, as four figures moved into the alley around her. "Well hello again, sweetheart."

'Shit, no!' she thought. Josh had already driven off. She turned, thinking of running, only to find one had moved behind her, closing her in. "You can't run and hide in the kitchen this time, darlin'," one said, looking abused as he moved closer and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek.

She swallowed, trying not to panic, backing away from him slowly only to bump into one of the others, who wrapped a strong arm around her waist, his other hand clamping over her mouth when she tried to call for help, "Awwh, don't worry sweetheart, we'll take real good care of you," he laughed, as he lifted her sightly, dragging her towards a large, old, white sedan, ignoring her struggles.

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