Beauty And The Liar: A Liar, Liar Novella

t w o

Six Months Ago

The day you met your future boss aka bane of your existence started innocently enough. You woke up, made a delicious cup of coffee, and spent some time scrolling on your phone.

And then it all went wrong the second you spotted your sister shuffling into the kitchen looking worse for wear. She had food poisoning from some chicken she had and had been sick all night.

"I can't go into work today," she mumbled as she sat down across from you, blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Call in sick," you replied as you took a sip of your delectable coffee.

"I can't. The lady who hired us is neurotic as fuck. She'll have a meltdown if she's one server down." Her eyes shifted to you with interest. "Which is why I wanted to ask—"

"No," you answered before she could finish her sentence.

"Oh please! I'll do anything you want."

Anything? The idea was appealing — you had a huge pile of laundry to get through and you could always use the extra money but today was supposed to be your self care day. A day filled with only pleasures, not serving people who were more than capable of grabbing their own food and drinks. But this was your sister and she hardly asked you for help.

"How long is your shift?" You asked.

"Five hours."

You groaned. "Fine. I'm only doing it this once."

"Yes!" She cheered. "I would hug you but I smell like a dumpster."

You crinkled your nose. "I can tell."

"Your shift starts at 6:30. Don't be late," she warned as she got up and shuffled to the bathroom.

You adjusted your sister's outfit which consisted of black trousers, a white button down shirt, and a black vest. Your sister was a smaller size than you in bottoms so the trousers were tight but you didn't have any other pants to substitute it with so this would have to do. Looking in the mirror, you realized you looked like a penguin and the thought made you cackle.

So far, your shift was going smoothly, not a hiccup in sight but you still had about an hour left so you weren't going to celebrate until then. You had just picked up what felt like your hundredth tray when you noticed him in the corner of the room. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as he stared straight ahead. You followed his gaze and realized he wasn't even looking at anyone. You wanted him to look at you. What the fuck was that thought?
He easily stood out from the rest of the guests, eyes so dark they pulled you in. You wanted nothing more than to lose yourself within his gaze — okay enough y/n, back to work.

"He's so hot," a guest in the crowd muttered as you walked by, hungrily staring at the mysterious man. Her words caused an unfamiliar feeling to settle deep in your stomach. "Do you think I should talk to him?"

With the way his dark gaze was glowering at anyone who approached him, that was going to be a bad idea but you secretly wanted to see him reject her. Pushing her shoulders back and chest out, the guest who was devouring him with her gaze walked closer to him only to be silently dismissed when his eyes drifted right past her, settling on yours.

Oh shit, if you thought him looking at nothing was intense then him looking at you shattered your ability to form thoughts. Despite being surrounded by lots of people, it felt like it was just you two in the room. Your belly did flip flops as his eyes consumed you, tempting you like you were a sailor and he was your siren.

And with a tap on your shoulder, the moment was broken and you were rushed back to reality. You turned to face the mother of the groom who had also organized the entire thing. "I see empty glasses," she said as she smiled at someone.

Then you fill them yourself, witch. Instead, you smiled and resumed your job, trying your best to ignore the man who's eyes you could still feel on you.

The lights dimmed and that signalled that it was  time for the first dance of the newly wedded couple. You quickly moved aside as the music started playing and just as you turned around to place the tray on a nearby table, you bumped into someone instead, sending your tray clattering to the floor.

"Oh my god!" You exclaimed in horror as you took in a drenched tux. "I'm so sorry, sir."

You dropped down to your knees to clean up the mess, feeling embarrassed to even look the guy in the eye. After placing all the broken glass onto your tray and miraculously not cutting yourself, you stood up and nearly fainted when you realized you didn't bump into just anyone but him.

Your coworker came up to you with a broom and swept up the remnants as you stood there, dumbfounded. You took solace in the fact that he didn't look too upset that you had emptied your entire tray onto his tux but that didn't make it any less horrifying.

Your coworker disappeared and it was just you two again. You pulled a napkin from your vest pocket and held it out for him to take. "Here," you said softly. "I'll pay for the dry cleaning."

"It's fine," he said tightly.

"No, I insist. It's the least I could do after spilling my entire tray on you." Please just take the damn napkin.

"I should've watched where I was going, I'm at fault too," he replied.

"There must be something I could do," you said as you crossed your arms, frustrated with his inability to just let you right your wrong.

And he said the very last thing you ever expected him to say:

"Work for me."