I Have Been Chosen

Cody 4

Friday 9th January

Staying true to his promise, Cody helped mop up the mess from the spilt drinks and brought in all the empty glasses from his group, returning to his hospitality instincts, which he was then told off for when he tried to wipe down the bar.

"You don't work here anymore," snapped Jacki, the general manager, snatching the cloth from his hands. "Stop doing that every time you come here."

Cody put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay." He grinned. "Hard habit to kick."

Jacki paused momentarily, staring at him, before saying softly, "how are you holding up?"

Cody continued upholding his smile but could not stop himself from rolling his shoulders back in discomfort. "How quickly does word spread?" he groaned.

"I didn't hear anything," said Jacki. "I could just sort of tell with how you were singing... and the choice in the setlist."

"Kara also broke up with her girlfriend recently," said Cody. "That's why we chose-"

"You already admitted that something happened, Cody." Jacki let out a huff of air. "I never liked her anyway whenever you brought her here."

"Because she ordered a lot of cocktails?"

"That too, but no, she just didn't seem... that genuine; all that smiling and laughing she did seemed very fake."

"You seemed to get on well with her, though?" Cody frowned.

"That's because I'm also good at fake smiling, which comes with working in customer service."

Cody glanced down at the floor, then said in a low voice, "can you do me a favour?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't serve me any alcohol for a while, maybe for the entire month."

"Doing Dry January? New Year's Resolution?"

Cody shook his head. "I think I would be doing this regardless of the month." He paused. "Eventually, what happened with Colene will hit me, and I'd rather not drink... at least not in public." He forced a chuckle, but something caught in his throat. "You promise me, yeah?"

Jacki nodded, and Cody smirked at seeing how serious her expression was.

"Don't you worry about me," said Cody, poking her playfully on her forehead where there were numerous worry lines.

Jacki pulled him into a hug. "Don't you burn yourself out, Cody, you hear?" she ordered, her voice muffled as she pressed against his chest.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

Jacki glared up at him. "Look after yourself," she said, breaking the hug to return to closing down the bar.

Cody attempted to help, but Jacki snapped her fingers and put her hands on her hips, giving him a stern look before he could pick up the cloth.

"Get out of my pub; we're closing," she ordered, motioning to the door.

Chuckling, Cody returned to his band, all putting on their coats.

"How are you getting home?" Darren asked Oliver. "You live close?"

Oliver shook his head. "It would be over an hour's walk from here." He looked down at his phone. "The buses won't be running this late. I was going to call for a taxi."

"Where do you live?" asked Cody, joining the conversation.

Oliver answered, and Cody paused momentarily, frowning, repeating the address.