Chapter 4 Leo
Leo
Ihave been at work all day, almost. The afternoon rush came and went, and now the bar is finally silent. Kai is cleaning his section of the bar, and Melanie is pretending to wipe a table, but in reality she is dissociating hard, and with a good reason.
I am arguing with Logan, the guy I punched the night before, about the fact that he doesn’t need another beer.
The guy is hammered. He can barely stand straight.
I might hate him a little, but not enough to want him to die from alcohol poisoning.
Besides, it’s bad business to go around killing customers that keep us open.
He might be everything that is wrong with the world, and then some, but he is a good customer.
He always pays without any complaints. Always tips well without hesitation.
And if it wasn’t for his tendency to hit on my waitress, I might even like him.
He is not too bad when he is not drunk out of his mind.
He can hold conversation, he is polite, and he has some crazy stories to share.
I will admit he is a pretty decent dude once you get past all of the creepy things about him.
“Listen, man, I get it. You want a beer.” I say, and he gives me a smile, thinking I am finally giving in. Sorry to break it to you, buddy, but you are not getting another one tonight.
“Exactly. Now crack one open and give it to me.” He says with confidence, and right as I am about to say something, Melanie approaches.
She looks at him with an affectionate, caring expression in her eyes and gently leans over, stroking his bicep.
It’s not exactly flirty. It’s more like a familiarity, and actual interest in his well-being.
That’s the type of woman she is. Even when she is keeping to herself, and avoids opening up to anyone, you can tell this woman cares.
“Darlin’, you have had enough. How about we get you some water instead?
” She asks him with that sweet southern accent of hers, and I can see this man go from a furious Doberman to a golden retriever puppy in a matter of seconds.
He softens towards her. But in his eyes, there’s a look of lust, and that makes my blood boil.
She is too young for him, for fuck’s sake.
“Fine. If you say so, blondie.” He finally gives in, and I fill a glass with water before he changes his mind.
Hydration will help him sober up long enough to get his ass home.
I am considering taking his keys, but then again, I am not that nice.
Who cares what happens to him when he leaves, right?
Wait no. He is one of our regulars. He pays our bills.
Never mind, I should take his keys before he leaves for the night.
“Here you go, Logan, and don’t worry about tonight’s tab. It’s on me.” Kai turns immediately to look at me.
“Say what now?” He yells from the other side of the bar.
“His tab is on him, Sugar. Because your buddy here punched Logan in the face yesterday.” Melanie replies before I can, and Kai is more confused than ever.
Even if it sounds like she is being sweet to him the way she says the word ‘sugar’ you can tell she is one wrong word from his end before she bites his head off.
Kai knows better than to not make this woman furious more than she is with him already.
He ignores every metaphorical dagger she throws at him, making this a kind of decent work environment for both of them.
I doubt he cares. I know he secretly likes the girl.
He definitely gives her some credit for staying even when he pretends nothing happened between them.
“I slightly tapped him. It wasn’t even that hard.” I try to defend myself.
“You broke my nose!” Logan points at his bruised swelled nose. Okay, it was a rough tap, still a tap, barely qualifies as a punch.
“I think it makes you look like a bad boy. I like it.” Melanie teases and her hand strokes his shoulder. I really don’t like this. She is far too young for this guy.
“So we are breaking client’s noses now.” Kai says with an eyebrow raised, but as I am about to say something about the fact he can't judge me when he is behaving like a heathen himself, the door opens and all four of us turn to see what part of hell is going to leak into the bar this time.
I really can’t deal with more customers. I barely can deal with Logan right now, or Kai, or myself, to be honest. Melanie is fine. She is sweet, and her accent makes everything better. But the other two assholes? Nope, I am done for the night. I want to go home.
Instead of hell, Rachel and Noah walk in. I turn to Kai, who is looking as stunned as I am.“What the hell, Kai?”
How the hell are they here? Did he actually invite his kidnapper to our place of business? Man! We need this damn bar to survive.
“I swear I did not tell her about the bar.” He rushes to defend himself, but I don’t believe a word.
This fucking asshole totally told his new girlfriend about it. Sure, Kai, tell the criminal who kidnapped you about the place that pays our bills. It’s not like we need it to survive. I need to drag his ass to therapy.
“Hello, Kai.” Rachel says with a voice dripping sweetness, and I see Melanie whisper something to Logan that I am not close enough to understand, while Noah is awkwardly standing in the middle of where I am and where his friend is currently taking a seat at Kai’s section.
He has his hands in his jeans pockets and is looking around, not knowing what to do with himself.
I will admit he is kind of adorable. I don’t usually like nerdy guys, and this one is definitely not my type.
He wears a tight black t-shirt that matches the one Rachel is wearing, and since Kai said they work at a beauty salon, I am guessing it’s part of their uniform.
He has paired a tight pair of ripped jeans with a leather jacket that has seen better days.
The leather is distressed, and even though it’s still nice and kind of completes the look, it can use a make over.
“What are you doing here, Rachel?” Kai asks, but as he does, he also pours a glass of wine for the woman.
Because apparently that’s what you do when your kidnapper shows up at your place of business.
Someone kill me now and take me out of my misery so I don’t have to witness this.
I don’t pay attention to what they are saying; instead, I turn to Noah.
“Do you want a beer?” I ask, holding one in the air for him to see.
“Sure.” He responds shyly, and right now he does look kind of adorable.
I pass him his beer and approach Kai and Rachel while Noah does the same from the customer side of the bar.
“Rachel, how exactly did you find the bar?” I ask with as much politeness as I can muster in my voice. Which is not a lot. In fact, I am pretty sure I sound as if I hate the woman. I don’t. I hate the fact she is here.
Meanwhile, I track Melanie with my eyes and finally she has moved away from Logan who’s reaching inside the bar and grabs a beer.
I take a deep breath, convincing myself to not punch him again, even though he kind of deserves it.
I focus on Rachel instead, but the girl straight ignores my question and brushes it off with a “your friend is not the only one who can find people”.
Instead, Noah is the one who explains willingly.
“Kai came by the salon earlier and sent some coffee to Rachel afterwards. The delivery guy told us who sent it; the name on the receipt was this location.” It’s official, Kai is an idiot.
Not that I needed more convincing about that, but he sure likes to provide some, doesn’t he?
“You don’t say.” I shoot an angry look at Kai, who shrugs his shoulders in a ‘I did nothing’ motion. Buddy, you need to be in a fucking cage.
Noah turns to look at Kai. “We also found the video you posted.” Say what now? He can’t be serious. This idiot left the damn video up.
“You still have the damn video up?” I scream, and then I realize what Noah said about Kai showing up at the beauty salon where they work and add, “And you went by her job? Who are you? What the hell is wrong with you, Kai?”
Kai laughs, and Rachel sips her wine as if this doesn’t concern her while Noah is inspecting his beer.
“Calm down, buddy. The video is a hit,” Kai tries to joke, but I stare him down with one eyebrow raised, and my blood pressure joins it. I am going to have a stroke at this point, and it will be entirely his fault.
“It’s also evidence of her crime,” Noah points out, and right now I kind of like this guy.
He seems to be the voice of reason in a group of very stupid, unhinged people who clearly are delusional enough to think this is okay.
It’s not. This is a crime, with another crime after another crime, and they all belong in fucking prison, not in my bar. Why are they even in my bar?
“I promise you no one thinks this video is real.” Kai tries to reassure me, and now I want to punch him, but Melanie had a point when she said yesterday I should stop punching people, so I choose not to.
I need to fix my temper issues. Maybe I should start yoga or find new people to hang out with.
Maybe a new business partner, one who doesn’t bring criminals to our door.
I give a quick look to Logan; they can find it on their own too, it seems. I swear this dude is definitely an ex-con.