The Scarlet Woman

chp. 3 ~ absinthe, baby

***
Paris

Glancing over the railing at the bar downstairs, my eyes dragged over the ebb of people as they trailed out the club, the morning sun shining brightly through the glass doors into the dim, smoky atmosphere.

"Tu le regardes aussi?"
(Are you looking at him too?)

I looked up and turned to the new girl next door to me. She, unlike me, stood mostly bare, her hands on hips scratched raw.

I turned to the bar and figured she was talking about Amon, our charming bartender. With golden skin and a dazzling smile, I might've been attracted to him, had he not swung the other way.

Glancing back up at the girl's face, I pursed my lips, shaking my head.

"Not my type."

She scoffed, mumbled something about Americans to which I pulled the finger, and went back into her room for her dress.
Shrugging, I walked downstairs to the bar.

Amon gave me one of his sparkling grins and sneakily slid me a shot of hard liquor. I raised it up to him and tipped it down in one gulp.

"I still don't understand how you've managed not to die of alcohol poisoning yet."

He murmured to me under his breath, his thick, Arabic accent rolling over his lips. I smacked my own lips at the taste of the alcohol and slammed it down, giving the Egyptian a smirk.

"It's called immunity, my friend."

"That's what Moon said five minutes ago."

Moonyoung, sitting shirtless and also strewn with hickeys, gave me finger guns from across the bar and slid over to me, his dark hair swept over his eyes. He smiled at Amon, running his finger along the bartender's arm.

"I hold my soju and Paris can hold her...absinthe. But between the two of us hopeless alcohol-lovers, we both know that I have better immunity."

I rolled my eyes and got up, moving to the couches instead.

"You can't hold your soju for shit, or do you not remember how you got those hickeys?"

"That is...correct to some extent, I do not remember how I got these hickeys, but I can hold my soju. C'mon, Amon, babe, just a little more?"

"It's barely five in the morning."

Moonyoung gave a dramatic sigh and turned to me with pursed lips, swinging in his barstool.

"Paris, what magic did you use on Redhead? I need some of it for Amon."

My smile dropped at the mention of the redhead and, curious, I sat up.

"Do you know her?"

Moon raised his eyebrow, his long, black hair shifting away from his narrow face, and threw his hands about dramatically.

"Moi? Why, mademoiselle, can you not see that she is my first cousin on my mother's side?"

I flipped him the finger and he howled with laughter, causing rough glares to be thrown at him from the other tables and couches where my co-workers lounged with hands to their pounding heads.
Amon cracked a small smile but tried to hide it as I caught his eye.

"American!"

Moon immediately stopped laughing as Victor's deep voice croaked over the railing, his greasy form emerging from the dark doorway that lead into Uncle Todd's office.

"Come."

And he disappeared back into the smoky office, shutting the door behind him.

I raised my eyebrows and sighed, hesitantly rising off the couch and making my way up the stairs. Moon whispered loudly over at me, a cheeky smile on his face as I reached the landing upstairs.