Closing Time

32.

When I went back to work the next day, Lou and Mike still weren't there. The only ideas I had about them not showing up were not good. Either the war council was still stretching on, or the war council had completely failed and the war was back on.

The size of the crowd hadn't really changed so I couldn't just assume stuff from looking at them. Axel had been nice enough to volunteer some details about angels and demons that I didn't know. It made me wonder how many of these beings here were drinking and laughing to hide their pain. Injuries from angels take time to heal, I'd assume it's the same for injuries from demons. Considering demons are like the antithesis of angels, it has to be.

My eyes flickered to the angels sitting on my right. They always refused to talk to me about themselves. The glares I got when I asked about the war should've melted me into a puddle on the spot. The almost complete silence on their side versus the easy ribbing and jokes from the demons... I twas exhausting. I don't think I'd ever met such tough customers as them.

A few days passed by. No changes. No expected appearances. A tired sigh escaped me as angels started leaving. That's my cue to get ready.

I'd changed into a dress right before Dottie and Sasha had left. I'd left the makeup for later because, well, I'm not very knowledgeable about it and it doesn't take me that long.

"Alright." I tapped the bar to draw attention. "Last call for five minutes. I'm wrapping up for tonight."

One of the demons sitting at the booth by the window whistled. "Hey! This is bit early for you to close, isn't it?"

I headed towards the taps at the end of the bar as I saw a few demons raise their glasses for a refill. "I've got some work after this so I'm closing up early. Ten minutes here and there doesn't make a difference."

"It kind of does when you were closed for almost two days in a row."

"I told you I was locked out the second day." I gestured towards the door as I switched glasses under the tap. "This stupid thing didn't let me enter!"

Some of the demons at the bar laughed. The ones in the booths chuckled with them and let it go. I served a few more drinks as the final orders came flooding in, shutting it down after five minutes as I'd announced. The demons and angels sitting in the booths were nice enough to just place cash at their places and leave as I cleaned up behind the bar. I had to take care of the ones coming up to the cash register before I could collect it. The lights went off and I left the bar, right as the cloak vanished. Got lucky there. I almost forgot that was on a timer as well.

I checked myself out in the reflection of the glass. I'd been wearing a hoodie over the strapless black dress to not raise questions or pick-up lines from the demons. No heels. Didn't get them, can't work in them. Sneakers were fine. I'd be barefoot at home anyway.

My phone buzzed as I got a few blocks away from the restaurant. I smiled as I saw the text from Trace. He'd reached my apartment building, it was a picture of him waiting in the lobby with a question mark. I texted him an ETA back, speeding up my pace to get there.

It had been a while since I'd seen him. We'd been talking a bit, but we both were fairly busy with our own lives to be able to sustain long conversations for now. He had another big job and I was, well, always at a 12 hour shift.

Onoda smiled at me as I started climbing up the steps to the door. It was a knowing smile. "Good morning, Ms. Ryleigh. Your gentleman called is waiting inside."

I laughed at the formal terminology. "You can just call him my boyfriend, Onoda." He held the door open for me. "His name is Trace."

"Yes, I did check his credentials, Ms. Ryleigh." He winked, still maintaining that smile. "Have a good night, Ms. Ryleigh."