OPEN ARMS: Eddie Munson x female reader

chapter one: here i come, but i aint the same

song for chapter:
mama i'm coming home by ozzy

1989

Stupid fucking bitch.

One dial tone waned into another, a monotonous wave taunting you from the end of the receiver. Your fingers tap impatiently against the counter. How long could a phone actually ring before it stopped or someone finally answered?

Too damn long apparently.

Giving up and counting your losses, you slam the receiver back on the wall, muttering more choice words as you skirt your hips behind the wooden bar, thumbing through the blue lined notebook schedule.

Work was packed. More-so than any other Friday night, but since it was the beginning of graduation weekend for Hawkins High— every Sam, Dick, and Harry had wandered into the bar looking for a cheap escape and a sugary drink.

Lucky for them, that was exactly what Queen of Hearts had on the menu. And if you talked to the right person, the luck didn't stop there.

"No answer?" Jolene called over her shoulder, hands full with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Scribbling an angry dark mark through the name Ginger on the schedule, you toss the notebook back into the drawer shutting it with your hip.

"Just rang and rang," you say, annoyingly jumping in to help her finish pouring three Jack & Cokes. The soda fizzes under your thumb, "and before you try to cover for her, this is the fourth time she's done this."

She lets out an exaggerated sigh, taking the cans from you and tossing them into the trash.

"Really thought this one would work out," her long legs cross behind you to slot the liquor bottle back in its designated spot, "she had kids.. poor thing needed the cash."

The familiar ache of neglect radiated through you, "I found a babysitter for the nights she was working, told her I'd help pay... that asshole she keeps around probably found out she was working here."

Jolene raises her eyebrows. Her slender fingers hold the three drinks with ease, setting them on a tray.

"Can't believe Jackie skipped town with that rich salesman," she sighs heavily, leaning an elbow on the sticky bar, "lucky girl, something like that would never happen to me."

Jealousy pings in your chest but you shake it off, "he was really dreamy huh? Those beauty marks? His hair? His ass?" You wolf whistle, "cut me a slice."

You weren't jealous that Jackie was now probably driving a BMW, that her life would be nothing but luxurious from here on out, or even that her boyfriend was movie star hot.

What made your blood boil over was the fact that she got out, and you were still stuck here like hardened gum underneath a table.

The club was a part of you. Like an unwanted birthmark, this lifestyle was something you couldn't get away from. Understanding at a young age, when most girls were playing with dolls, just exactly the kind of life you were destined to live, and unfortunately it wasn't outside of these four walls.

"Your time will come," Jolene smiled, looking into a compact and wiping a smudge of lipstick from her teeth, "you're still young, Miss Assistant."

You rolled your eyes, placing the tray on her awaiting palm. Since Jackie was gone, her job was now yours. Tacking on added responsibilities with no pay raise in sight. You found out all too soon what a fucking joke that title of 'assistant' actually was.

"Told him I didn't want it, but you know how that went."

"I do kid," she sighs, looking down at you, her eyes sweeping over the still pink scar in your eyebrow, "I really... oh honey, you're gonna be a busy little bee tonight!"