Eureka

7

After we eat our burgers and fries Landon gets up to leave. He leans down to give Millie a quick kiss on the top of her head and says he will be back in a few hours to join us again. Millie and I move to the bar and order some more drinks.

At this point in the evening the kitchen is closing up, but the bar side is in full swing. Millie and I move over to the dart boards in the corner and start a game. I really like Millie. She reminds me of a friend from where I grew up in The Family. 

It makes my heart clench painfully at the memory of my oldest friend who was killed on a job. They have so many similar qualities. Millie is fun, has no filter, and can easily be seen as the life of the party. I know I have to keep my distance from her for her safety, but I also know it may be difficult for me. She strikes me as the type to burrow into one's life and not let go. 

As long as I can avoid being forced into realignment while here, she should be fine. I will try to keep my distance either way. 

As we continue to play others come to join us and I get to meet some more of the locals, so far so good. Carson, the owner of this restaurant, came over to bring us another round of drinks. I start to chat with him about his business and I tell him I recently left my previous bartending gig, and if he needs anyone to call me. He said he would let me know if anything opened up before making his way back to the bar. He's a man of few words, apparently. I smile and watch him leave.

He was a handsome man in his mid to late thirties. It was hard to tell because his hair had already started to grey slightly on the sides of his head giving him a distinguished look despite his tanned boyish face. His otherwise dark hair is cropped close on the sides and only slightly longer on the top where you can tell the ends want to curl. He's tall and muscular. I can tell by watching him work and the way his dark brown eyes scan the room constantly that he was probably in the military at some point in his life. Or perhaps he was in security? 

His smile rarely reaches his chocolate brown eyes, and that makes me sad, but I can relate. After seeing many terrible things, it can strip away all life from your eyes. I can mask my eyes pretty well after years of being numb to it, but I can easily spot a kindred spirit.

Millie didn't seem to care for his presence at our table much. I could tell by the obvious glares she kept sending him while I was trying to talk him into hiring me, even if it was going to be temporary. I can't decide if there was something romantic between the two at some point, or if it's just his less than approachable demeanor. I can see how it would be off putting, but I tend to enjoy dry, sarcastic people. I think Millie is just too sensitive for that. It can be hard to tell if he's joking or not, that much I can tell right away. I make a mental note to ask Millie about it later if I decide to stick around. 

That sounds counter productive to my earlier statement about keeping my distance. I'm well aware of that fact. However, my first impressions of people are usually pretty accurate. I just want to figure out if its some personal nonsense between them or if it's a hidden red flag. My ego doesn't want to believe that I'm wrong about Carson. Good vibes and all that.

After finally allowing myself to be dethroned from my top spot in darts, I relinquish my crown to a group of young men who sound like they may be from out of town just based on their northern accents. I walk to the bar to grab them a round of drinks as a way to congratulate them on their victory.

Carson is talking with the red headed girl from earlier. Emily, I think. She seems to be on the verge of tears. I try not to listen in, but it is pretty obvious at this point that he is letting her go. I grimace as the drama unfolds before me, but internally I'm screaming for some popcorn to snack on while I watch it happen. I watch unashamedly as Emily slaps Carson, scoffing at something he says. She then throws her apron at his chest and storms out. 

No shouting or yelling. Ugh, Slightly underwhelming, but okay. He has a smirk on his lips as he rubs the spot she hit on his cheek. He shakes his head and walks behind the counter to take over where she left off.

I clear my throat loud enough to get his attention and lean over the bar. "So, does this mean I have the job?" I ask while biting my lip to hold back a smile. I wiggle my eyebrows at him urging him to respond.

He barks out a laugh, catching me off guard, and looks at me. "Sure, if you're up for it you can start now. She was supposed to close the bar with me tonight," He says with humor in his voice. "There are servers on the floor, but she was supposed to be at the bar with me."

I do a happy dance while I walk around the counter to join him. "Let's do this!" I call out happily making a few people who had already been drinking quite a bit cheer out for no reason. I bump my hip into Carson's hip playfully making him move further into the bar area to make space for me. He watches me with amusement as I grab Emily's discarded apron and empty the pockets out. There was way too much cash for a typical waitress or bartender to keep on hand tucked into one of them. I pull it out and hand it to Carson with a frown creasing my brows. I see his jaw clench as the amusement drains from his eyes. He nods as he takes the wad from my hand.

After delivering the drinks I intended to buy for the out of town folks at the dart boards, I stayed behind the bar for the rest of the evening. I feel a little bad about abandoning Millie for the night, but not long after I started pouring drinks she came over with some friends of hers to introduce me to them.

"Since you've apparently got a job, does that mean you're staying here longer? In town I mean," She said excitedly while bouncing in place.

I chuckle and say, "I suppose so. I couldn't leave ol' Carson here high and dry. What kind of employee would I be?" Like I didn't just leave my gig in Houston without so much as a phone call letting them know I wasn't coming back. I've been ignoring all of their calls since my shift was supposed to have started a few hours back. I imagine they'll get the hint after a few days. So, I'm kind of a hypocrite, but they don't need to know that at the moment.

Millie squeals and leans over the counter to hug me tight. She must really like me. I laugh as she walks away to find a table with her friends.

A/N: Please vote and comment to let me know what you think so far!