“What’s your name, and how old are you?” He asked. My nerves piqued just a bit. It wasn’t that I couldn’t lie. I could lie. I was damn good at it. I just hoped that I could get away with the five years that I needed to add to my age. I looked twenty-one, people often told me that I did.
I stuck out my hand to shake his, “Ysabelle Telle, twenty-one, you?”
He shook my hand. “Devon Hill, twenty-nine.”
“Well nice to meet you, Devon Hill.” I gave him a flirty smile. “Now about any hiring’s, do you think you could help me?” I bit my bottom lip in the enticing way that worked with the guys back home that I had become accustomed to. I knew how to flirt to get what I wanted. I was damn good at that too.
He considered what I was saying.
“Let me see what I can do.”
He walked to the back of the bar.
I took that time to look around the place. The bar looked very upscale. I was sitting at the first bar by the front doors. There were white leather couches that extended throughout all of the back and sidewalls, with small tables in front to accommodate expensive drinks. Above the back wall was a balcony looking thing, and DJ equipment. Attached with its own set of stairs. Right in the middle of the place were tables with white cloths with chairs tucked underneath. There were a few people sitting around having some drinks. One of the tattooed covered guys smiled my way. I smiled, and continued to inspect the club. I didn’t want to be rude to the guy. I may need to use him for a few bucks if I didn’t get this job.
At the back of the bar was a dance floor, as shiny as glass. I was sure guys loved that, there was no doubt that the floor reflected like a mirror. Right before the dance floor was two sets of stairs, leading to a second floor that looked even more striking than the first. There also appeared to be another bar in the middle of the room, along with leather couches and tables. I looked back on the first floor and saw that there was another bar to the left of the dance floor. It seemed that they would need a lot of bartenders, considering it had three bars. I pondered that thought, as I downed my drink. Before I knew it, Devon returned and handed me an application with a pen.
“Fill this out and you can start today? Do you have any bartending or waitress experience?”
“No…like I said though, I’m a really fast learner.”
“Alright then, I can have you start bartending today. Just shadow me around and we will see how fast you pick it up. If I like what I see, I’ll put you on the schedule. I’ll just pay you under the table until we see if you’re going to work, and then we’ll talk about putting you on the payroll. Deal?” He asked, with an extended hand.
I shook his hand. I would de-rail the payroll thing as long as I could. I didn’t need him running my social, informing him of my true age, not to mention my mother. I wasn’t too worried that she would be looking for me. She never cared what I was doing or where I was before. The only thing that would send her looking for me would be the fact that she didn’t have my food stamps to ensure she had drugs anymore. Fuck her. She could sell her body for her fix. I wasn’t being anybody’s pawn. Ever again.
“Are you the owner?” I asked, shaking his hand.
“I am.” He replied.
I put the pen to the corner of my lip and bit on it. I don’t know why I was flirting I already had the job.
“Huh, you’re awfully young to be owning something.”
“And you are awfully gorgeous.” He smirked. “You’ll definitely bring in a crowd for me. I inherited this club from an uncle, who passed away a few years ago.”
I brought the pen back down on the application. “Oh…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to__”
“Don’t sweat it, Kid. It happened a long time ago. He was a mean old bastard anyways, he did know how to run a great place. It was successful before I ever got my hands on it. I was fortunate enough to have a business degree from college, so I knew a thing or two about running a business. What brings you to Miami?”
I started working on the application. I didn’t want to look him in the eyes.
“I was over living in my hometown. I wanted to expand my horizons.” I looked back at him. “You know?”
He nodded his head. “Yeah, I can understand that. I was born and raised in Miami. I moved to Gainesville to go to UF for college, and somehow I wound up back here, nonetheless.”
I noticed then that Devon was a talker and he wasn’t shy about sharing. Though I found myself not minding his openness, he was authentic, and I liked that.
I grinned at him. “You sound like you got your shit together, Devon. Care to share your secret?”
He laughed. “I think I’m gonna like ya, Kid. You say what’s on your mind, great quality to have. The guys will be taken with you… which will make my bar happy, as well as your wallet.”
“I think you’re giving me more credit as far as my appearance goes, thank you anyhow.”
He left me alone for a few minutes to finish my application. When he came back, he introduced me to some of the staff and gave me a tour. Once we were finished touring the exquisite night club, he walked me to a back restroom and asked me if I had anything else to wear. I must have looked at him funny. He called one of the bartenders that I had just met and asked her to ‘help me out’. His words, not mine. She handed me a black corset top and told me to leave my bra on with it, and to change into some tight jeans. I’d never worn a corset anything before, so she had to help me with the ties on the back. She pulled the ties so tight, I had to tell her that I couldn’t breathe. She loosened them a little with a snicker.
“You’ll make a lot more tips with it tight like this. You’ll get use to the not breathing part. Beauty is pain right?” I smiled, and nodded.
After I finished changing, I looked in the mirror to survey myself. The first things that caught my eyes were my breasts, they were to my chin, and my waist was smaller than usual, which made my ass stick out more. All in all, I was pretty impressed with myself. I could see what she meant by making more tips this way. My breasts would be in the guys’ faces every time I would lean over. With this ensemble, I would need to be on nipple slip patrol. Since I never really wore any makeup, I really didn’t have very much to work with, so I just went heavy on the black mascara and eyeliner. I applied some blush, and went with my favorite flavored strawberry lip-gloss.
After, I did one more check in the mirror, I walked out from the restroom, and ran right into Devon. He cocked a huge smile at me.
“You clean up nice! You looked great before, now you just look amazing. Are you ready?”
“I am,” I assured him, with a smile.
Chapter 3
The more things change, the more they stay the same. School had started up again for all of us. We rode our bikes together to and from school everyday. I was never a huge fan of school especially when I was younger, I preferred playing baseball or being anywhere near the water. Although, school had been an easy transition for Oli; she loved to learn. Since Julia and I were the total opposite of her, we often made fun of her.
“Where are you going, Babygirl?” I yelled, as Julia hauled ass on her bike right after school.
“I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll see you guys at the house.”
Oli smiled a weak smile over at me. I let her stay one tire in front, just so I could watch her.
“Sebby?” she softly peddled as we barely crept. We were going just fast enough to keep our bikes from toppling over.
“Hmmm?” I replied.
She didn’t look at me. She kept her head slightly down. “How come you never said anything about that day?”
“What day, Oli?” I knew what she was asking. I was feigning ignorance, not exactly sure how to respond.
“You know. That day you made me jump off the swing. We never talked about kissing.”
“Did you want to?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I just, I don’t know. I kind of liked it.”
I snickered a little. “I kind of liked it
to, Oli.”
“You know Julia likes you, right?”
“Nah, Julia and I are just friends. We’re too close. She’s like my right arm or something.”
“I don’t think so. She likes you.”
“Does that bother you?”
She shrugged again. It did bother her. I could tell. “I love her. I would never do anything to hurt her.”
“I love her too, Oli. I would never intentionally hurt her either.”
We rode in silence for a few minutes.
“Oli?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking back at me.
“Do you want to do it again?”
I saw the instant small smile, like she was trying to hide it or something. “Do you?” she asked.
“Maybe, just to see, you know, see if we still like it.”
“Okay, but not in the middle of the street, someone will see us.”
Pumping my legs, I pulled around her. “Follow me,” I beckoned, trying to hide my own smile.
I darted through the sidewalks and quickly made our way to the neighborhood clubhouse; we went around the back of the building where no one could see us.
Keeping my hands tightly around the handlebars, I backed my bike up beside hers. We kind of stared into each other’s eyes, briefly. It was rather awkward. Neither of us knew what the hell we were doing.
“Just do it, Sebby,” she coaxed.
I did. I leaned in, as she did. I was expecting it to be like the last time. Kind of like a relative kiss. It started off that way and I was about to pull away when Oli parted her lips for me. I pulled my tongue back when it touched hers, and then hers sought mine out, turning it into something, I’m not even sure what. It was wet, sloppy, and amazing.
Oli was the one to pull away from my lips. I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to kiss her for the rest of my life.
“Did you still like it?” she asked, quietly.
“Uh-uh,” I stupidly replied, still dazed and confused.
She laughed. “Come on, I’ll race you home,” she wagered.
It took me a moment. I couldn’t move. My legs didn’t seem to remember how to make the stupid bike go.
“Come on, Sebby,” Oli called, pulling me from the most amazing trance I’d ever been in. We made our way back to her house and parked our bikes in the garage. Julia was in the kitchen making us sandwiches as we walked through the door.
“What took you guys so long?” She wondered.
“Oh, Sebby forgot his math book, so I waited for him.”
Julia laughed, while looking over at me, which made me inadvertently shrug my shoulders.
“Sebby…what would you do without us?” She questioned.
“Good thing I never have to find out.” I remarked.
Oli looked over at me with a huge smile, I knew mine matched her own. She had a glow about her for the rest of the day. I hoped even then that Julia couldn’t tell that something was going on between us. I never wanted to hurt Julia, I loved her. The way I felt around Oli was undeniable. I didn’t understand those feelings or what they were, just that they were different.
Oli and I would steal glances at each other, and sometimes if no one was around, I would hold her hand just to touch her skin. She was always warm and soft. We continued as friends all three of us, playing at our waterhole.
Although the older we got things started to shift a little. Of course, we all still remained extremely close, things just started changing.
I remember one afternoon when I tied our tubes together, like I often did for the three of us to float around the waterhole. We would float like that for hours, talking about growing up, and what we would become. We were still young and naïve. I was going to be an astronaut, Julia was going to be a dancer, and Olivia was going to the Olympics to win a gold metal.
“Come on, Oli,” I coaxed, when she just sat on the bank. I guess the girls were around twelve at the time and I was fourteen.
“No, Sebby. I’m not getting in the water today,” she called, from the bank.
“Why not? It’s a hundred degrees out here.”
“I don’t want to.” She retorted.
“What do you mean, you don’t want to? You always want to. You’re the first one in, because you’re part fish. Now, come on.” I exclaimed.
“No, I’m not getting in. Stop bugging me or I’m going home,” she pouted.
“Leave her alone, Sebby,” Julia said, in a soft tone.
“What’s the matter with her, Babygirl?”
“I can’t tell you.” She said with a grin.
“What do you mean, you can’t tell me? You tell me everything.”
“I can’t tell you this. It’s a sister secret.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
I grabbed Julia’s tube and spun her so that Olivia couldn’t see her lips moving.
“You can’t keep secrets from me, Babygirl, we have a pact. Remember our tree house pact?”
Julia laughed. “We were like seven, Sebastian. I think you still thought you could be the fifth Ninja Turtle. ”
“It could still happen and it doesn’t matter. A pact is a contract. You can’t break it. I can take you to court or something.”
“You cannot,” she laughed.
“Oh I can and I will. Now please tell me, Babygirl. I hate seeing Oli left out.”
“I can’t, Sebby. I promised.” She whispered.
“Yes, you can. I promise that I won’t tell her you told me.” I said, grabbing her pinky with my own.
“You swear on your life?”
“Yes, just tell me already.”
“Oli got her period.”
Whoa. I should have let her keep that secret. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was expecting something like she thought she was fat or something. I didn’t know how to react. I just froze.
“Sebby?” Julia said, pulling me from my shock. “You promised,” she worried.
“I’m not going to say anything to her. I promise.” No way was I saying anything. I wished that I didn’t know. “I don’t understand, Babygirl. You can’t swim when you have your period.” She laughed.
“Stop laughing at me. I don’t know anything about that stuff. I’m not a girl.”
“She can swim if she wears a tampon. She just hasn’t worked up the nerve to use one yet. She will.”
“How do you know?
“Because, I got mine like six months ago.”
“You did?”
“Yeah! Unlike Oli I’m ecstatic about it. I love that I am finally a woman.”
“Hmm, why is she scared about the tampon thing?”
“It’s scary the first time, Sebby. You have to put it inside of you, you know?” she explained, looking down between her legs.
I heard enough. Too much had happened in a matter of five minutes. Periods and tampons, I definitely needed to start hanging out with my baseball friends.
*Y*
I worked a full shift that night and tried to remember how to make all the drink orders that Devon kept ringing up. Devon was a chick magnet. They were like moths to a flame, putting their bouncing breasts right in his face every chance they got. Devon seemed receptive towards it, I’m not sure if he was flirting, because he wanted to get laid, or he wanted bigger tips. As the owner, I’m assuming it was probably both. I didn’t make many cocktails, I took care of all the easier drinks and beer.
I was shocked at how many people ordered vodka and club soda. I recognized that night, how much appearances mattered in this town. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fit in, however I was getting quite a bit of attention. It helped in easing some trepidation in my mind.
I’m sure it was expected. I had never had anyone show me this kind of attention. My mother sure as hell never told me how beautiful I was. Some of the guys back home did, I assumed that was for their own sexual gratification, not my esteem.
At the end of the shift, I was exhausted. The bar closed at 5 a.m. We turned into a live, happening nightclub at night,
which came as a nice surprise. I really enjoyed the music that the DJ played. Everybody referred to it as house music, the upbeats and constant drops kept me going all night. By the time we cleaned up, cashed, and tipped out it was close to 6:30 a.m. I counted all the money that I had made after tipping out. I had to count it several times. I was sure my eyes were playing tricks on me. I ended up with $252 bucks. Yes! I wasn’t sleeping in some alley. I saw Devon from the corner of my eye.
“It’s usually a slow night on Tuesdays. Did you do okay?” I looked up at him, with disbelief in my eyes.
“Yeah…I did more than okay. I can probably get a decent hotel for a couple of nights now.”
“You don’t have anywhere to go?”
Noticing the worry in his tone, I smiled at him. “No…I don’t, I’ll be fine.” I would be fine. I was used to taking care of myself, did it my whole fucking life.
He reached over and grabbed my shoulder.
“You did really great tonight, Kid. I’m going to put you on the schedule.” I immediately started jumping up and down. I was so happy and giddy.
“Really! That’s great. I’m so happy.” He laughed at me.
“Great, because I have another proposition for you. My roommate just moved out a couple weeks ago, he got married and left all his furniture behind. His wife said something about wanting to buy new stuff, because it was too masculine. If you don’t mind that, the room is yours for however long you need it.”
The apprehension on my face was visible which made him squeeze my shoulder.
“It shouldn’t take you too long to get on your feet. Hotels in Miami are sleazy, unless you can afford something on South Beach, and I’m assuming you can’t. I wouldn’t feel right letting you sleep somewhere, where I know you won’t be safe. A pretty girl like you could get in a lot of trouble in this town. My apartment is right on South Beach, next to Collins Street. You could walk to work, and everything you need would be in walking distance, so transportation wouldn’t be an issue. You could focus on finding a place and then maybe buying a car.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I blurted out. I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t used to people being nice to me. It just came out that way. How was I to know that his intentions weren’t what my mind was convinced they were.