One night was all it took: Season 3 "One second was all it took"

Hey

I push through the doors. "Hey! Jared! How's things going?"

He whips around so fast and shuts the drawer like he is trying to not let me notice the obvious situation. His eyes are wide, and he looks terrified. He is stuttering. "Lacey! When the hell did you get here?" He looks back at the cash register and rapidly shakes his head. "This isn't what it looks like. I swear to you I will never steal. I am trading out older bills for newer bills." He holds his hands up. He looked like he could cry.

I chuckled. "Jared! If you are not stealing, then do not act so guilty. You look like you're about to go to prison and you'd give up everything and anyone to stay out of it." I Slide my hand across the back of my neck. I glance over at Becca and the goofy laugh she gives off. Jared does not seem like he cares too much, but enough anxiety and guilt are running through his face that I feel like there is something small that he is hiding.

Becca looks up at me. I can see she is trying to tell me something with her eyes. She is pointing her eyes toward a small box underneath the bar. I quickly glance down and see his hand push it further back. "Is there something you need to tell me, Jared?" I say and swipe the box from his hand.

His eyes grow wide, and he pushes back. He is trying to swipe the box out of my hands. "No! There is nothing to tell you now, give me my box back, please! Lacey! Do not open that box it is a wedding gift!" He is growing angrier by the second. I stopped and looked dead in his eyes. He looks sincere.

I glance down at the box and back up to his face. He is still trying to reach for it, but I still hold it back and he cannot get it. I shake my head. "I'm so sorry. I had thought it was something else...anything else. To be honest, I thought it was money and I was concerned." I slowly raise my hand and he quickly swipes it from me. He holds it in his arms like he is cradling a baby.

I smirk and turn back toward the kitchen doors. "I apologize boo! I am disappointed you left it in the bar like this. I would put it somewhere safer. You can find better places to hide it..." I pause and exhale. I look up toward the ceiling. "Like your apartment. That might be a good place to put my wedding gift."

I can see the annoyance on his face. His eyelids are lowered and so are his eyebrows. He exhales through his nose. "Where I put this box should not matter. I am the manager of this bar, and I should have a right to place this box somewhere safe in here without other people trying to take it and look inside of it."

Becca drops her rag and quickly stands up. She closes her eyes. Her lips are sealed tightly, and I can see she does not want to say whatever she is about to. "It's my fault, Jared. I pointed out the box to her. I thought she was looking for something. It is all my fault. I am sorry. If you never want to speak to me again. I will completely understand."

Jared presses the box tightly together and shakes his head. He glances down at her. "Girl you ain't doing anything wrong. I should have thought this through. I do not know what made me hide it in the open like that. You are just doing what an employee and a friend would do. Don't be so dramatic."

She wipes the little bit of sweat off her face. She smiles and continues wiping down the cooler doors. I exhale and smirk. "Becca. Stand up and stop cleaning for thirty seconds. Take a break and watch some TV like you were" The front door swings open and interrupts me. I look toward it. We all look forward to it. Natalia is strolling toward us.

She is smiling at Jared. Her smile just changed to a frown when she looked at me. "Lacey!" She loudly says and holds her arms out. I can tell she is going to give me hell. "You just up and left me after that argument? You could not walk into the fucking house? Her voice grows louder.

Jared reaches out for Becca. His raised eyebrows and lowered eyelids stared at Natalia with a bit of fear. "Come on Becca. We are going to teach you how to mind your own damn business...preferably outside behind the building..." He pauses and flashes a nervous smile at me. He looks back at Becca. "Do you smoke?"