Toxic

Chapter 1

The club was buzzing tonight. I could feel the vibrations of the music pounding through my body and hear the talk of the many people in here tonight.

Friday nights were always packed but somehow this particular Friday was like none other. Money was flooding in and it was barely midnight yet.

Looking over the crowd from behind the bar where I stood, I could see people dancing, talking, making out, arguing and even someone being escorted out by security.

Everyone seemed to be having a great night, but that's the thing about clubs, the facades people wear are often fake. Facades of happiness. We have no idea what goes on inside their heads but I guess thats what makes people interesting. Their stories.

I for one was having a blast, I loved the stress of a wild Friday night at the bar, when orders kept coming in and the tip was good. I adore New York.

"Mila, far left" Matt, my coworker and best friend, shouted over the music. I immediately nodded and went to the corner of the bar where a couple of regulars sat, waiting for me to take their orders.

"Hello guys, what can I get ya?" I asked with a bright, wide smile as I leaned against the counter with my elbows.

I already knew what they wanted to drink but I had to ask and be polite of course, how else am I supposed to get tip?

"Oh, Mila, thank god you're working tonight" Greg, one of them, said with a smile. "No one makes a scotch and soda like you do!" He praised me chuckling.

I laughed and started to make their drinks, as always, they wanted the same drink as always. Occasionally they'd do shots of vodka, but that was only if they were feeling it.

These three middle-aged men had gone to this bar since before I started here, and I came here two years ago, just as I had fled from North Carolina after high school.

They were really nice and all but they were men, and men after a few too many drinks is never pleasant. Married men who would flirt with me and my other female coworkers constantly trying to get free drinks, or at least at a discount, but they never succeeded.

Thank god they were extremely good tippers.

I finished making their drinks in no time and placed them on the counter and started running a tab per usual.

"Hey gorgeous!" I heard a man shouting from behind me which made me instantly roll my eyes before turning around to none other than Luke, my ex boyfriend.

"What do you want?" I asked irritably and crossed my arms in front of my chest as I waited for him to order.

"That's no way to handle a customer" He smirked and pulled a hand through his blonde hair. I sighed and rolled my eyes yet again, this time so he could see it.

He drew a breath, "I want a whiskey" He finally said, "Neat" He added with a playful wink as he licked his lips.

I almost threw up in my mouth but quickly poured the Jack Daniel's into his glass, making sure to give him less than what he was paying for.

Slamming down the glass in front of him with a smile that was the most fake one I'd ever given anyone ever.

"When are you going to let this go and come back to me?" The smug smile never left his face and I wanted to punch it right off.

"Let's see here, you cheated on me, twice, so I would safely say when hell freezes." I spit with a look that could kill.

He laughed and sipped on his drink as he fumbled in his pocked. He placed a twenty dollar bill for me to take, "Keep the change, god knows you need it" Luke said before heading into the crowd.

I was fuming at his comment and had he stayed after saying it, I would've punched him right in his cheating, lying face.

Taking the bill and putting it in the cashier, refusing to take his tip I put it in the bars joint jar which we would all share.

I looked to Matt and saw him already looking at me with a look to ask me if I was alright, I just nodded and shrug my shoulders.

We both went back to our busy night, making drinks, cleaning and conversing with customers. Most of the time I loved my job but sometimes it was very exhausting.

Mostly it was times like this, meeting someone exhausting, that made me hate this job, but it was completely temporary. Meeting Luke was out of the ordinary though, he rarely came here since our breakup four months ago.

We were only together for almost six months but in that period of time he managed to cheat not once, but twice. So to say we had a bad breakup is an understatement.

"Mila, we have VIPs, can you take them?" My boss, Andre asked me from the other side of the bar. Making a thumbs up before heading towards our booths.

We had a balcony which we could close if necessary and tonight, it was closed to the public who wasn't VIPs or invited.

I headed in to the section upstairs and saw a group of guys sitting in one of the booths talking and laughing with each other.

"Hello guys, what can I get for you?" I asked with a smile as saw how everyones attention was brought to me.

They were all very attractive, almost making me draw a breath of surprise. One of them had blonde hair with dark roots and a very nice smile. The three others had brown hair, one with a lot of curls.

"Hello love, we need a bottle of vodka and four beers" One of them spoke, one of the brunettes. The British accent was most noticeable.

"Coming right up" I went to get their orders at the bar where Matt stood and actually had a brief pause drinking some water.

"Matt! The VIPs are insanely cute" I said as I stood beside him opening up a new vodka bottle and started popping open the four beers they'd asked for.

Matt's attention was brought to me, "Really? Who are they? Celebrities?" He asked intrigued and gulped his water.

I shrug, "I've never seen them before, but I heard one of them had a British accent" I wiggled my eyebrows and left Matt with an open mouth. He loved guys with accents, especially British.

I knew Matt would be jealous as shit right now which, to be honest, made me kind of malicious, but it was all jokes of course.

I approached their table and as they noticed me, cheers were heard. "Here you go" I hummed and placed everything in the middle of the table, as well as four shot glasses.

"May I ask what the occasion is?" I laughed nicely as I poured the clear liquor into the small glasses.

"We're all in the same place at the same time" The one with curls smirked at me, "You see, we work in different cities for the same company so we don't get together often" He further explained.

I nodded, "Well that certainly is something to celebrate" My hands folded in front of my chest.

"Unfortunately the boss is a workaholic and has a hard time getting here" The blonde guy said with, probably, the cutest laugh I've ever heard. And that he was Irish was very audible.

I narrowed my eyes playfully, "You sure you want to party with your boss, I mean that could get awkward" Grinning as I tightened my ponytail.

They were all smirking at my comment, "It's not like that, we've been mates forever so partying together is nothing new" The guy who ordered said with a wink.

"Okay then, just let me know if you want anything else" I let them know as I turned around to walk downstairs again, I crashed right in to something. Or someone.

My face was met by a hard chest, making my nose hurt. "Oh my god, I'm sorry I-" As I looked up I couldn't finish my apology because I had just crashed in to the most beautiful man I'd ever seen.

"A beer and we're even" His icy voice said strongly making me feel even tinier, and most certainly, intimidated as hell.