Rules of Attraction

12th March - Charlie

It had been a few days since I had made my decision. I still hadn't seen Niall and I wasn't sure if it was me avoiding the situation because I was scared of the possible rejection I would face, or simply because I was just busy juggling work and school.

As I stood at the bar now I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't hear Trevor sneak up behind me.

"You look stressed. We can sneak into the back and I can help calm you down before we get busy,"  he teased pulling me into him.

I shimmied out of his grasp and made my way to the other side of the bar to find something to occupy me. "We're at work, stop messing around," I chastise wiping down the counter top.

"Jesus, ice queen, what is your problem lately?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

I could feel his stare burning into me while I tried to ignore him, but it was harder to ignore as I felt him approaching me.

"It's him isn't it? What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing, can you just drop it. Jesus!"

He lifting my chin up so I couldn't look away from him.

"You actually like him, don't you? I've been here waiting since we were fucking teenagers and you pick him?"

"I'm not picking him. You benefited from our arrangement just as much as I did. You had plenty of chances to leave or speak up and say you wanted more. I found someone else that I can relate too, you'll get over." I stated before leaving him standing at the bar.

Trevor and I had a good arrangement, but there was never a chance of us having a future together. No matter what, it would end badly. He was a free spirit like his mother, and I wasn't going to be the one to try and tie him down.

Once the crowd started rolling in on our typical Tuesday night my mind was less focused on Trevor and his outburst and more about making sure the regulars always had a full drink and it was hard to ignore when two girls stumbled their way in looking out of place.

Both girls were dressed in designer clothes. That was something extremely out of place, not even Niall had been dressed in labeled clothes when he snuck in here. They made their way to a table near the old school jukebox and it didn't even take a full minute for Trevor to make his way over to their table.

I watched as Trevor used his charm on the redhead while the brunette looked at her phone like she was willing it to ring. Trevor made his way back with a cocky look on his face.

"Three lemon drops and two sex on the beaches."

"Does your mom know you're drinking on the job?" I bit back.

"Do you plan on tattling on me? Consider me off the clock," he snapped rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry, not like ya do much anyway," Muttering, as I started making the drinks.

It took a minute while I tried to remember what actually went in a sex on the beach, it wasn't the typical drink for the crowd that's usually here.

When the drinks were done, even topped with a cherry, Trevor made his way back to the table. I tried not to be annoyed while I heard him making the redhead laughed like he was a stand up comedian.

After their drinks were finished they all stopped at the bar while Trevor snuck in the back to get his things.

"Lizzie! I can't believe you're actually ditching me!" The brunette cried at the redhead who looked slightly guilty.

"I'm sorry!" She replied, placing a hand on her friend's arm.

"This was your idea! You said that we would have a proper girls night and forget about stupid boys and now you're leaving me for one!" Shaking herself free of the hold.

"I swear I'll make it up to you."

"I didn't even want to go out tonight." The brunette said, pouting.

"Well, going out tonight didn't exactly work anyway, you've been staring at your phone all night!"

"I'm sorry, guess I have been a downer. Just go have fun. Be safe and I'll see you when you get home," she sighed and took a seat at the end of the bar.

Her friend thanked her, giving her a hug then Trevor put his arm around her shoulders, giving me a smirk and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the bar.

Looking over at the brunette, I could see she was sad about being ditched.  I felt horrible for her, l had it done to me plenty of times for guys and it was never fun.

"Hey, you want another drink?"

"Yeah, um just a vodka soda this time. Not particularly fond of the fruity drinks."

"Sure," I said grabbing a clean glass.

"Sooo...boy problems?" I probed while I set the drink on a napkin in front of her.

"Kinda...I was kinda seeing this guy...and last time we were together, he was being kinda weird and I haven't heard from him since. I know he's been busy working on his album, but would be nice to know if he's still interested in me or not. Then this guy from work kissed me while we were away for a job now I'm confused and I don't know what to do...Sorry, I'm sure you don't care about this."

"No it's fine...so who's the guy working on the album? We get a lot of guys in here on open mic nights."

"He's actually pretty famous already. Which sounds crazy, I know but we seem to hit it off and he is really nice.  You see, he did a photo shoot last month at a magazine I work for. It actually just hit stands today."

My gut started twisting. It couldn't be him. There was no way in hell. But I knew it was him because I had just seen the magazine while I was at the gas station. Right on the cover.

She was definitely talking about Niall.