Perfect Storm

Part 1

Taylor walked into the back entrance of the bar; her head hung low to hide the swollen bruise Matty had left on her cheekbone mere hours before. He had been mad because someone had been pestering him about paying off his debts that he owed, and Taylor had accidentally burned some of dinner since she had been scrambling to get the house clean before he got home. He yelled and slapped her around for a bit before storming out of the house telling her he was going elsewhere for dinner leaving Taylor to pick herself up and get ready for her shift at the bar.

She had been working at the Black Dog for a little over eight months and so far, she had been enjoying it. Sure, the occasional drunk guys hitting on her got a bit irritating, especially when their regulars, who she's told she has a boyfriend before but won't stop pestering her for a round in the bathroom. Really her only main problem was her manager Scooter Braun who was constantly harassing her and nitpicking everything she does.  But she really couldn't complain since the owner of the bar always shuts him down, telling him off for disciplining her for doing nothing but working hard. She's also quite grateful to him because he allows her to sing at the bar between shifts to make a little extra cash.

Taylors head shot up as she closed the door behind her, hearing the nagging voice of her manager.

"You're late."

Begrudgingly she turned around her eyes landing on Scooter who had his arms folded across his chest, his foot tapping on the sticky floor as he gave her a disapproving look. Her gaze shifted over to the little clock on the wall behind him noting the time.

"I'm three minutes late."

She shrugged past him, her shoulder brushing past him as she made her way to the small set of lockers where the staff kept their belongings. A small gasp left her lips as Scooter's hand jetted out grabbing her arm pulling her back.

"Three minutes late to the busiest shift of the day. Do it again and I'll find someone else more capable to fill your position." He hissed.

Taylor winced as his grip tightened over her already bruised arm. She knew he didn't have the power to have her fired, which was a decision only Aaron could make but she still didn't fight back, instead just nodding her head submissively and silently walked over to her locker. She mindlessly unlocked the small lock shoving her things into the small cubby before making her way to the front grabbing an apron from the rack on her way.

Taking a breath, she put on her best custom service smile and made her was to the bar where Jack was frantically getting three different drinks ready.

"Hey sorry I'm a little late." Taylor apologized, grabbing one of the drinks from Jack.

Jack let out a sigh of relief seeing Taylor had arrived and gratefully handing her the order number so she could finish up the order.

"This was for booth four, it's a group of college boys." He informed her as she began gathering all the drinks on the black tray. "Careful, they've already had a few drinks so they're pretty rowdy."

"Ok thanks for the heads up."

She effortlessly lifted the tray up and made her way over to the booth where she was met with the sight of four clearly drunk college boys talking at a very loud volume. She mentally prepared herself for what she knew was about to happen as she drew closer to the table. They didn't seem to notice her at first, seemingly too caught up in their own conversation, but once she set the first drink, what seems to be the leader of the little group notices her presence.

"Whoa look at you blondie, you seem like you could use a drink."

Taylor internally rolled her eyes at the man's drunken words as she placed the last drink on the table and tucked the tray under her arm.