Walk the Line: An Avengers Soulmate Story

15. Work

Raven looked at the club and sighed. Work was work. As she walked in, a few heads turned. She wasn't in anything fancy, just a few freebies from a shelter up the street. She had been on her own for a couple of months and was in desperate need of a job if she wanted anything to change.

As she made her way up to the counter, a woman that looked a bit familiar glanced up before glancing back down, making a drink. It was almost comical how quickly the woman's head snapped back up to meet Raven's eyes. She was studying the red head's face, almost in awe of her. Truth be told, Raven felt a bit awkward about it but, she couldn't fix it for now. All around her, scantily clad women in either costumes or barely there lingerie strutted around the room. The smell of sex and sweat clung to the air and was dense enough to make Raven's stomach roll with memories. Pushing the thoughts down, she made her way to the bar, keeping her chin high and not making eye contact with any of the gross men as she went.

The beautiful brunette from before rushed to greet her at the bar. "Got a name hun?"

Raven smiled sadly before nodding. "Reagan. I am looking for a job, I'll serve drinks but I can't dance. I could help behind the bar too, if you need it?"

The other woman studied her again. "I need a server. I can't promise good pay, nor respectful clientele. What I can promise you is that if the customers are warned and ignore the warning, or escalate, we have amazing security here. What do you say?"

Raven nodded at the woman. "That's better than most places. What do you need from me?"

The woman's eyes clashed with Raven's before she spoke again. "Meet me here tomorrow morning. No earlier than 10, I have to sleep too. We will go over all of the paperwork and get you situated. Anything else you need hun?"

Raven bit her lip anxiously. "I need a place to crash tonight. Do you know of any semi-decent shelters? I really just want to sleep, not threaten to turn yet another creeper into a "limp-dick unicorn".

The woman behind the counter laughed heartily at the reference. "You will fit in just fine around here. I'm Vanessa. You can stay in my office, it has a couch. However, it does also have several cameras in there to deter others from stealing. You get it?"

Raven smiled gratefully again. "Wouldn't be the first time dealing with cameras in a room. Thank you so much Vanessa. If I am not sitting here at the bar waiting for you when you come back, don't give me the job. Thank you so much."

Vanessa gave the woman directions before reaching for her phone. She texted a name to her soulmate and waited.

Reagan

The night seemed to drag on as Vanessa watched the window of her office during every break in customers she had. It was torture, knowing that the woman everyone had been looking for, for what seemed like an eternity, was in her office sleeping. She had given Vanessa a different name and she wanted to know how far the new identity went. She felt disappointed that she hadn't asked for a full name but knew she would get one in the morning.

While closing up, she realized that she was not going to let Raven slip away again. She needed her to stay put, if only to help her own soulmate. As she thought about him, she reached for her phone again, only to have a single word answer staring back at her, followed by some smart-ass commentary, standard for her mate.

Who?

Ronald?

Is this some sort of history test? Maybe you finally found a girl to share?

Gotta give me something here! I'm driving myself crazy trying to understand your cryptic text.

Oh God! Is that your safe word and I forgot? Are you in danger? I'm coming now!