The Dealers

Chapter 11 - Lena

As I shuffled my way into the club around one that afternoon, I saw the new waitress, Karla getting her tables ready for opening and a few other members of the staff getting ready for their shifts.

I tossed my bag under the register and locked it securely as I always did. Clocking in at the bar, I adjusted the small apron around my waist and fixed my brown curls into a ponytail.

"There you are." The new girl said as she sauntered over to the bar just before opening.

Karla was petite and feisty but I wouldn't ever call her that. She had natural red hair and bright green eyes but she was a force to be reckoned with. I had only worked with her a few shifts so far up but she was a fast learner.

"How's it going?" I asked her as I added more ice to the beer chest.

"Have you seen Jacob?" Karla asked with a concerned look on her face and I immediately grew worried.

"No." I said trying not to panic at the thought that something happened to him. "Why? Is he okay?"

Karla sighed, "he's fine! He was just looking for you earlier. He seemed really frazzled."

Shit.

"Where is he?" I asked her but she only shrugged as she tucked a rag into her back pocket and headed back towards the tables in her section.

I knew that things would be weird with Jacob when I came to work because of the way we left things in my driveway. I didn't mean to hurt him but he also hurt me. I understood his insinuation that I slept with Noah because technically, we did sleep together but, Jacob knew me better than most and he should have known that I wasn't the type of girl to have sex with a stranger.

While I hardly considered Noah a stranger anymore, the fact remained that I still knew next to nothing about him and we were taking things slow. Being on the move out of town, I wasn't trying to get into anything serious. At the same time, it was impossible to ignore the connection that Noah and I shared.

Back to Jacob, I decided that I should rip the bandaid off before I had drink orders to make. If I found him and got that conversation over with, I might be able to get through my shift without losing my mind.

"I'll be right back." I yelled to Karla across the empty club before heading into the back storage area where Jacob's office was situated.

Looking through the stacks and piles of liquor, I thought Jacob might be at his desk but he wasn't. Being the only one in the room, I headed back to the bar. Karla was busy rolling silverware at a back table so, I headed towards the back of the building where the loading dock were located. Maybe, Jacob was unloading a shipment.

While there was no delivery truck, I did find Jacob sitting there with his legs dangling from the dock as he stared off into the encroaching forest behind the club. He heard me approaching but didn't stir as he sipped a beer and continued staring off.

"There you are..." I said awkwardly as I walked over and sat down beside him on the dock.

Without turning to me, he reached over to a small cooler beside him and offered me a cold beer.

"I'm kind of on the clock." I smirked at him and but he nodded without emotion on his face and put the beer back into the cooler.

"Hey..." I said to him as I nudged him with my shoulder.

"I'm kind of an asshole." Jacob said finally as he sighed and polished off the last half of his beer.

That was not what I expected him to say and that couldn't be further from the truth. While he was displaying asshole-like tendencies lately with Noah, Jacob was the nicest and most genuine person I had ever met.