Neighbor Cottage (Devils of the Dawn MC - #1) [On hiatus]

Chapter 7

ROSALIE

It was Thursday, when Rosalie had finally managed to work up the courage to enter the same bar again, she and the girls had been to on Friday night. It was lunch time, so she decided to take a longer break and try to set a few things right. It was something, she should have done already earlier but she didn't have the same self-confidence as her friends Sally and Florence. She would have taken them along but they wouldn't have been able to keep their cool and Rosalie didn't want to have another argument on her hands.

Entering the DOTD bar during broad daylight made it seem less taunting. This time there was no bouncer waiting to check her ID. It was rather quiet when she got in and only a few people occupied some booths. Like Friday the place smelled like smoke and leather and deep fryer food. The same guy was working the bar like on Friday. Shaker was surprised to see her but not hostile, like she had feared. Their group had caused quite a scene on Friday.

"Hi," she smiled at him.

He nodded.
"Hi, there. Didn't expect to see any of you back here."

Rosalie sighed.
"Yeah, me neither."

Shaker gave her a confused look. 

"But here you are."

She nodded.

"Do you need to speak to someone?"

"Your president, I guess." 

Rosalie didn't really want to talk to him, but she was concerned about her friend.

"He's out at the moment, but should be back in half an hour. That good enough for you?" Shaker asked.

"Sure," Rosalie nodded, "can I wait here or do you want me to come back?"

Shaker scoffed, but it wasn't mean.
"No reason for me to throw you out, so suit yourself and take a seat. Do you want a drink or food?"

"Coffee, if you have." 

Rosalie climbed hesitantly onto a bar stool.

Shaker served her a cup of coffee, which she - as usually - drank black. After a couple of minutes sitting and thinking about whether it was really that smart for her to show up, she pulled out her laptop and continued working. She had a big project due soon, so losing half an hour waiting for Gravel to show up, meant losing precious time. She heard the door open and close a few times but after a couple of times, she stopped turning around focusing on her work instead. Probably Gravel wouldn't come in through the front door anyways.

She was onto her second cup of coffee, when she noticed someone get closer. Looking up she saw Gravel, the huge guy that had carried Lottie off on Friday, which she had learnt was Nitro, the same guy that Lottie had been interested in, and another shorter guy with a neat, full beard and also a lot of muscles. 

The guys around here really were buff - Lottie had been right about that.

Rosalie gave them a smile.

"Hi."

Gravel gave her a nod that showed that he acknowledged her greeting. Nitro didn't react at all, just looked gloomy. But the last guy at least smiled back. A small awkward silence spread around them, before Gravel nodded to her laptop.

"You working in construction or something?"

She still had some floor plans open on her screen.

"I'm an architect," she replied. 

She was proud of her work but she didn't want to brag.

"Really?" Gravel seemed surprised. "What kind of buildings are you working on?"