Where Two Collide

Chapter Thirty-Five - Cat

Chapter Thirty-Five

Cat

I walked into the bar like I didn't have a care in the world. At least, that's the image I portrayed. Inside I was a nervous wreck.

I'd been awful all evening, I'd even all but bitten Alice's head off when she'd asked me what I thought a good relationship looked like. I just knew she was playing one of her games, intent on getting me together with someone, so I could be the mirror image of her and Owen. The perfect high school relationship. I get that she wanted me to have the kind of high school experience she had herself, it wasn't me though and I didn't want what she had.

I was mean, so mean that'd she'd locked herself in the bathroom and refused to come out. She did come out eventually, but it wasn't because of my bribes of chocolate. She ducked under her duvet, pulling it tightly around her head. I could still hear her muffled sobs when I'd left, could see the duvet bobbing as her body shook. I hoped she still wasn't crying now.

I'd make it up to her tomorrow. I could only deal with one person at a time and my current dilemma was the golden-eyed girl sat at the bar in front of me.

"Addie don't you think you'd prefer to take your breaks up in the office where it's quiet?" I asked her. I dried a glass with a dish towel and set it under the bar, we had a glass washer, but they always came out with little drops of water stained on the side.

Addie spun in her chair; she had the energy of a toddler. A toddler who'd eaten the entire contents of a cookie jar. She gazed at me, eyes bright and spoke with a soft, musical voice. "Lord no, Vickie is up there, and she keeps trying to show me photos of men, she's on one of those apps, and expects me to have an opinion. Like I would know a good one, men all look the same to me," she laughed then caught my eye. "Besides, then I wouldn't get to hang out with you."

I hated when she said things like that, it made me stomach squirm and my head fizz with confusion. She was just being nice wasn't she. Or was she? I didn't know, I just couldn't recognise the signs. But then, what did it matter. I wasn't interested in her like that, I wasn't interested in any one like that. If I was, surely it would make more sense that it was Travis. I'd known him a while and we had things in common and other girls found him attractive.

I drummed my fingers on the bar, she was probably just messing with me. She did that a lot. Yeah that was definitely it, she was just playing. "Don't lie," I said matching her gaze. "You aren't here to hang out with me, you just like to people watch." I reached for another glass to dry, keen to keep my hands busy doing something.

"You know you might be right," she mused. "The people here are particularly interesting. I like to guess what they're doing here, you know, why here of all places."

I lifted the glass to inspect it for water droplets, but also so I didn't spend too much time watching her expressions shift as she talked. She had pink lipstick on today, it suited her more than the red did. "Aren't they all just creeps hoping to get laid," I said bluntly. At least that was my opinion, why else would you come to a bar full of half-naked girls if not because of that.

"Nah that's too vague," said Addie leaning an elbow on the bar. "You see the guy at the end of the bar, the one in the blue shirt and sunglasses."

I followed her gaze. "The one talking to Nicole?" Nicole was the new girl; she'd managed to keep her job long enough now for me to get to know her a little better. The poor girl spent most of her nights being chatted up by patrons who wanted to buy her drinks. It had gotten so bad that we'd had to pull a Coyote Ugly and trade out shots for water otherwise she'd have to have been carried home every shift.

"That's the one. This is the third night he's been in this week, and every night he comes in wearing sunglasses."

I gave her a funny look. "And your point is?" It wasn't unusual for guys to not want to be recognised here.

She groaned like she's exasperated. "It's obvious isn't it, he's an undercover cop."

"Why on earth would an undercover cop be here?"

"Maybe they are looking for underage bartenders," she said waggling her eyebrows at me.

I narrowed my eyes a her and set down the glass. "That's not funny."

"I thought it was," she grinned. Then span in her chair looking across the room. "What about that guy, he looks like he's lonely." She paused like she was deep in thought. "He looks like he's been sleeping in a cold bed for so long that he doesn't remember what it feels like to feel the smooth silk of a woman's skin."

"That's a pretty vivid picture," I replied. "It still just sounds like your imagination is running out of control."

"Me? Never," she said, still staring across the room. "I've not seen him here before; I wonder how he found us." This wasn't the kind of place you just stumbled upon; you were more likely to be invited with intriguing business cards.

"Which one is the lonely guy?" I asked, though I wasn't sure why I was encouraging her silly ponderings.

Addie pointed a finger casually over her shoulder. "The guy sat at the table on the other side of the dance floor," she said. "The one who just downed the rest of the glass he's been nursing for a while."

I squinted through the crowd of people, trying to see who she meant, and then my heart stopped. "That's one of my teachers," I murmured under my breath.

She didn't hear me, still watching him with interest. "Oh, look he's coming over for another drink. Maybe I can get him to fess up why he's here all alone. All it takes is just a little friendly flirtation." She wiggled her fingers excitedly. I would have rolled my eyes, if I wasn't so afraid that my teacher was on his way over to order a drink from me.

"I have to get out of here," I said, panic beginning to grow.

This grabbed her attention. "Huh?" She peered at me with confusion.

"If that guy sees me here, I'm in a lot of shit," I said, searching the room wildly for some kind of solution. I couldn't get to the door without passing him, but then he'd see me. If he came to the bar I could duck down and hope Shelle served him, but what if he then stayed here, I'd be stuck too.

Addie seemed to understand the urgency. "I got you," she said and darted away. She was back moments later with a pair of sunglasses. "The best disguise you can get in this town."

I took the sunglasses and put them on, the room instantly darkened as though the lights had been dimmed. I grabbed my stuff from under the bar and made my way quickly around to Addie. "I'll text Shelle there was an emergency, she'll cover for me."

Addie nodded. "Let's get you out of here." She took me by the hand and spun me.

"What are you doing," I asked her with alarm.

"The only thing I can think of that looks semi-normal and draws the least amount of attention to you," said Addie as she begun to throw down some shapes. "Dancing our way out of the door." She spun me again so that I had my back to my teacher and danced toward me so that I was backing my way up to the door. I had to fight the urge not to look over my shoulder to see where he was.

Addie shimmied at me, eyes widening expectantly. "You have to dance too; you just look weird walking backwards like that."

I pursed my lips. She was right and as embarrassing as it was, it wouldn't be as bad as getting caught.

I swayed my hips from side to side, letting my body move naturally to the music. Addie put a hand on my shoulder and my breath caught. Out the corner of my eye, I saw my teacher pass us, to my relief Addie's arm did a good job of blocking my face. We continued our dance backing out of the room until finally, we were in the hallway leading outside. We sprinted through the door and out into the cool air.

*** Please don't forget to Vote and Comment, your feedback is great and voting helps get this book in front of other readers :) ***

I think Addie is my favourite character. Thoughts? Comment below!