The Traitors

Chapter 14 - Fi

I could feel a bead of sweat trickle from my temple as I finished shaking the cocktail shaker. I removed the lid and poured the mixture into the glass in front of me then delivered it to the woman on my right. I was handling the rush amazingly well by myself tonight since Jack wasn't here...again. I hadn't talked to him since that night and was slightly worried about him. I was hoping we could work things out because I really liked Jack. He made my shifts more fun and time seemed to fly when I had help and company. I thought about reaching out, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

Fixing our friendship would have to wait.

The place was packed which wasn't out of the ordinary for a Thursday night. Ice rinks were plastered along the screens behind me as the row of hockey fans cheered since playoffs were in full swing. I enjoyed the sport, but what I didn't like was the crowd it brought. The boys were rowdy tonight and I prayed the sport wouldn't rile them up to start a fight of their own. Ray wasn't apposed to calling the cops on customers, but she really hated to do it. 

I was thankful the next few tickets which came back were all beers on tap so I didn't have much work to do. The servers were genuinely impressed with me earlier since their drink orders were coming up fast with no errors. It's normally too much for one person to handle, especially when they have the entire bar section to take care of, but I shoved all my personal drama aside and pushed to be on my game tonight. I must've been doing well since Patty swung by the bar and slipped some cash into my back pocket.

"Keep the change, Red," she said, with a slap on my ass.

It wasn't abnormal for a server to tip us, especially when their orders are coming up fast and no mistakes are made, but it was weird for Patty to tip me. There was no beef between us, but she normally preferred Jack to make her drinks for her. I didn't blame her. Jack actually went to school for this. Still, I appreciated Patty acknowledging my work tonight which greatly boosted my ego.

I checked on everyone at the bar once again. Topping anyone off and cashing out those who were ready. I reached the end where the same guy had been stationed for the past two hours. He creeped me out a little since he came in and didn't order anything besides one beer which he had been nursing over the course of his stay. He pretended to watch the game, but I knew his eyes were on me. Typically, Jack would take these kind of customers from me, but I didn't have that luxury tonight.

I had never seen this guy in here before. We were one of the few bars in the area, so most people came here because of the location. We were right on the outskirts of the city which gave patrons the chance to stop for drinks either before entering or after leaving the city. We had our regulars, mostly made up of office or construction workers who spent their entire days in the city and needed a drink or two to decompress. We got the occasional group of college kids from the campus stationed not far from here. It wasn't quite tourist season yet so we shouldn't be seeing new faces around here. 

I couldn't place him, but I felt like I had seen him before. He had a certain familiarity to him, but he was wearing a baseball cap which he kept tilted down over his face. Anytime I approached,  he'd expose his visage, but I could never get a good look at him. 

"Everything okay over here?" I asked flashing a fake smile. I still had to sell it no matter how unnerved I was by his presence.

"Another beer," his voice was muffled by the sound of the cheering guys behind me. He raised his beer glass to his lips and finished off whatever was left. I swallowed hard.