Electric Love

Chapter One

"I'm so tired. This is my third double in a row, syd. I wish they'd just go ahead and hire another bartender. I could use more than a few hours of sleep from time to time." I whined to my best friend during our phone conversation, inhaling the smoke from my cigarette. A five minute smoke break in the food service industry was the equilavent of an actual break with a normal nine to five job, so I took advantage of the quiet.

"I know it babe, but after today you're off for three days and you can sleep in for a few of them. And were going out tomorrow night because we've barely gotten to hang out in the last two weeks and I need time to catch you up on the soap opera that is my job." She said with a small chuckle.

"Oh god, Joey sleeping with an apprentice again?" I asked, my curiosity spiked.

"I'll tell you all about it when we go out for a couple drinks. But I gotta go babe, my client just walked in. Try to have a good rest of the night. Love you!" She rushed.

"Okay fine, love you too" I sighed as she hung up, then locked my phone and put it back into my pocket.

I stood up from sitting on an empty keg, stubbed out my cigarette at the outpost and headed back inside with a yawn.

Only six more hours, Ray. You can do this! Six more hours and you're home free!

I walked back up to the front of house and got back behind the bar. I found that I had a new bar guest waiting for me while I went out for my smoke
.
"Hey hon, what are ya drinking today?" I greeted him with a smile.

He was an older man with salt and pepper hair, and a grey business suit adorned his body. He had to be mid fifties and in pretty good shape from the looks of it. He matched my friendly smile with one of his own, the crows feet prominent at the corners of his hazel eyes. Although he seemed decent enough, I was getting a bad feeling about him in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was something very off about him.

"How about a scotch neat, doll?" He asked politely, but his gaze started travelling the length of my body.

I fiddled with the hem of my tank top, starting to feel a little uncomfortable under his unwavering stare. He was beginning to creep me out with the staring. I felt like he was undressing me. Any other time, I could shrug it off but not this time. My boss, Frankie, had ordered us tank tops and tshirts to wear with our restaurant logo on them. Of course I liked the new shirt options, but the black tank top felt like the wrong choice in that moment. I cleared my throat and his eyes snapped back up to my face.

"Sure thing" I answered before turning away from him to pour his drink. I was fairly certain his stare had made its way back to me as I opened the bottle of Dewars, but I tried my best to ignore it. Once the drink was made, I sat it on top of a napkin in front of him. He reached for the glass and put it to his mouth after tossing the small black straw to the side.

"Did you want to start a tab or close this one out, sir?" I asked. He seemed to think about it for a second before taking another sip of the brown liquid. I never understood how people actually seemed to enjoy the taste of scotch. It was bitter and disgusting to me, but a lot of men ordered it when they sat at my bar. He sat the glass back down, and looked back up at me.

"Start a tab for me, would ya sweetheart? I'm meeting a business associate here in 20 minutes." He decided, shooing me off with a flick of his wrist.

He acted like I was nothing more than a gnat to him, after trying to undress me with his eyes. I hated men like him and the business associate he was meeting, was probably just like him. I shot him a tight-lipped smile, before busying myself with my other guests. By the time I had gotten his tab started, I had three new guests sit down at the opposite side of the bar. I was grateful for the distraction and set to work on greeting them, pour beers, and shots.