Searchlight (Crystal 1)

Chapter 6

Somebody just shoot me now. Crystal sucked in a breath. “Uh, I’ll get you another fillet steak,” she said quickly, unable to meet Juda’s gaze. “And I’ll get you another drink.”

She rushed away, aware of all the eyes on her. Her face was flaming as she headed for the staff area. At some point during the chaos, Colin had disappeared.

“Crystal,” Jamie said, just as she was about to push through the door and flee. “I’ll clean up the mess and get him a new fillet steak. You just pour the drink, and I’ll get Colin to take them over. If Shane finds out that you set someone on fire he’ll go crazy.”

“Grayson tripped me!”

“Well, he’s leaving again,” she said pointing towards the exits where Grayson was making a quick escape. “So there’s no one but us for Shane to blame. You go do the drink.”

Crystal blinked back tears as she shuffled over to the bar. Talk about humiliation. A slew of colorful words flooded her mind. She’d never set anyone on fire before; never broken a glass.

She checked the table three orders on her notebook and found their drink orders. She might as well give all the guys at the table new drinks. On the house. Watching their friend get set on fire was probably traumatizing. Juda’s fillet steak would have to be on the house, too.

She was fumbling with the cocktail machine when Juda came over, topless, his burned shirt balled up in his hand. Two of his friends followed. Crystal’s gaze skimmed over the planes and ridges of his physique before she could help herself.

“Hey, we need new drinks,” one of the guys said, a smile tugging at his lips.

“And I need an apology,” Juda added.

“Yeah. I’m really sorry about that.” Crystal couldn’t look at him. “I’m getting you all drinks, and my colleague is getting you a fillet—”

“What time do you finish here tonight?” Juda interrupted.

“Nine.” Was he hoping she’d say she was finishing now? She didn’t blame him. She looked up at him. His dark eyes were unreadable.

“We’ll be waiting on those drinks,” his friend said.

Crystal nodded. She watched them walk away. She’d disgraced herself in front of a bunch of cute guys and set the cutest one on fire. Life didn’t get much worse than that!

Crystal left the main restaurant two hours later. It had been a long four hours. Juda and his friends had left around seven thirty. She’d tried to ignore them after the fire incident, but it was a little hard to ignore a client who was dining topless. Especially when she was the reason for that toplessness.

She entered the staff area. Shane was at the screen. Jamie, Trixie and a bunch of others whose shift had just ended were gathered around him. Shane liked to show everyone how much they’d all made in tips. Crystal shuffled over and stood behind them, hoping she was inconspicuous. She’d explained the fire incident to Shane and he’d gone to apologize to Juda personally and told him that his meal tonight was free. He’d also apologized to everyone dining in the restaurant at the time and given them free drinks for the night for having to witness Crystal’s spectacle.

“Five hundred and fifty dollars, Trixie,” Shane said, beaming at Trixie, who didn’t have a hair out of place despite the busy shift they’d just finished. “Well done. You also have a few compliments from the clients you served tonight.”

Crystal scowled. There was no point doing this. Everyone knew Trixie would have made the most tips. She always did. Shane read out the compliments that Trixie’s clients had left for her, all about how sweet and helpful she’d been. Crystal snorted. Shane stopped and looked at her, as did everyone else. So much for being inconspicuous. Trixie gave her a sweet smile.