Fuck. I can fake this shit.
I scooped some ice into the stainless steel shaker and poured the vodka in first. I poured for a while then, added the triple sec and cranberry juice. Easy. I topped the shaker and shook like I’d seen in the movies.
Grabbing a few martini glasses, the ones I always saw women in the clubs drink their cosmos from, I lined them on the bar and poured away. Two drinks down. I repeated the process until all five glasses were filled.
Owned that shit.
The ladies laughed as I slid over their drinks, winking to each one.
The brunette took a sip and turned her nose up as she tried to swallow it down.
“Is this a Cosmo?” she asked as she set the drink along the bar.
The other girls all took a sip with the same reaction as I tugged at the back of my neck with my hand. “What’s wrong, ladies?”
“Sorry, it doesn’t taste right.”
I examined the drinks and they were fucking pink. What did I do wrong? “Penny,” I said over my shoulder. “Can you come make the Cosmos for these lovely women?”
I emptied the five drinks into the sink as Penny stomped over.
“Fine, Boss,” she said through clamped teeth and a fake smile. She made the drinks like a pro, all while trying to show me the process.
When the new drinks were finished, I slid them over to the group of chicks.
“Thank you. What’s your name? Are you new here?” one of the girls asked.
“Yep, and you can come back to see me anytime.” I glanced at Penny as I said the next line. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”
After telling them all my name, I joked and laughed with them, trying my best to keep them entertained while I left Penny to handle the rest of the bar.
For a Tuesday afternoon we weren’t slammed, but Penny appeared busy as she shot me her evil glare every so often. I laughed to myself—yeah suck it up.
SIX
PENNY
I was livid. Lord of The Assholes is what he was.
Here I thought maybe Theo took this whole learning the ropes thing seriously, but no, he wanted an excuse to flirt with the locals.
The ladies at the bar who hung on his every word were annoying me to no end. I couldn’t even glance in his direction.
Calm down. Why are you so mad?
I ran my hand across the bar and thought about Dex. It’d been another day of radio silence and worry about his whereabouts started to creep in. Why didn’t he call?
Everyone and everything annoyed me today. Rage lurked below the surface of my smile, threatening to surge out, but I knew I should keep it together through this shift.
Once I got home, I would blow Dex’s phone up until he answered. Or maybe I’d take a nap and forget about them both: Dex and Theo.
A Jason Mraz song played in the bar as everyone clapped and laughed along. I looked out at the guests we had this afternoon, so happy, carefree, and loving life. The complete opposite of me. Against my better judgement, I snuck a glance over at Theo. He was gorgeous with his dark, piercing eyes and chiseled jaw. His forearms rested on the bar and he was transfixed by something a redhead said to him. As she spoke, her arm waved wildly in the air, her fruity drink sloshing out, and he threw his head back and laughed.
I guess I was lucky he didn’t remember me. He probably picked up women every night, and I wasn’t any different to the many faceless one-nighters he had previously. It pissed me off thinking about how shallow he was. I didn’t normally do those things—one night stands weren’t my thing.
&n
bsp; I wished I could turn off the sector of my brain that found him sexy and made me want to touch him in places the sun didn’t shine. I could never go there again, not if I wanted to keep my job. I shook my head and grabbed a towel to wipe down the bar. I didn’t want to give him any more reasons to find fault with me. Ugh.