Kai
“Ithink I’m going to die,” Leo whines next to me as the first customers walk through the front door.
“You’ll be fine, buddy.” I pat his shoulder. “Drink your energy drink.”
“Why?” Leo whines louder, and a customer turns to look at him.
“So you can shut the fuck up and stop whining before I kill you.” I turn around and smile at the man who’s looking too concerned for being in a bar.
“I’m sorry, sir. Leo had a hard night.” He nods as if he knows the kind of night Leo had.
Because this man in a suit walking into a bar for happy hour at noon while actively skipping half of his workday definitely understands getting drunk while stalking your newest obsession and then trying to break into her house, only to end up in jail for six hours before she bails you out.
Sadly, I do need his money, so... I smile back and ask him with my best impression of a good bartender, “What would you like to drink?”
“Bourbon.” He’s not very happy to be here. If I didn’t know better, I would bet I killed his dog this morning and he’s here for revenge with the way he looks at me.
I fill a skull glass I specifically chose for these drinks with ice and pour the delicious liquid over it, filling the drink a little more than usual as an apology for Leo’s behavior and, probably, his appearance.
I wink at the man as I offer him the drink.
“This one is on me.” He mutters a thank you under his breath and takes his drink to the other side of the bar.
I turn to attend to another customer. “What can I get you?” The blonde woman wants something fruity, but she doesn’t know what.
I gather every ingredient for a zombie cocktail.
It’s not too fruity, but in my opinion, it works best for women who look like her.
They usually don’t like the taste of alcohol, and fruity means exactly that, but a zombie has everything to balance the taste of hard liquor.
“No, we don’t have beer,” Leo holds his head like it will explode any minute now as he yells to a customer about not having beer.
“Leo, buddy, we’re in a bar,” I remind him. “I’ll get you that beer in a minute.” I reach for the beer and add a shot to go with it. If Leo continues this way, we are going to go out of business.
“How are you able to work?” he questions, and the look in his eyes tells me it’s a genuinely sincere question.
“A good nap, three cups of coffee, and an energy drink on my way to work.” I give him a toothy smile.
The truth is that I feel like a walking corpse myself, but I also know we need the money, especially if I’m going to spend a stupid amount of money on things like security cameras and adopting a puppy on a random Sunday.
“I think I’m going to die. Your new hobby of stalking Rachel will actually kill me.
” Leo presses his head against the bar’s counter as a new customer approaches him.
They take a good look at him, then turn to me.
I give them a nod and take their order, giving a few glances now and again to my friend, who indeed looks like he is going to die. Lightweight.
HOURS LATER, IT’S ALMOST time to close the bar, but none of us is willing to clean.
We are sitting on the floor behind the counter.
The doors are locked, and each of us has an energy drink in our hands.
The hangover from the previous night is very much still present.
I have the app with the cameras from Rachel’s house open on my phone, and we both watch the two adorable idiots we have been obsessing over for the past three days playing with the puppy.
Even though she destroyed the ones I installed, she still decided to get a new security system.
Probably to keep me out. However, she asked Noah about a recommendation for a security company.
Noah asked Leo, and my friend gave him the number for the one I used to install the first set of cameras.
It cost me a little, but I was able to convince them to hand over the code for her new feed.
“When did she get a puppy?” Leo asks, reaching for the bowl of chips between us.
“I might have gotten it for her this morning,” I say casually.
This doesn’t sound creepy; it’s totally normal to get your girl a puppy after cuddling all night.
There is, of course, that minor detail: she is not exactly my girlfriend, and we only really cuddled because I showed up trying to break into her house, but I will take the win. No matter how we got there.
“Sure, that sounds totally normal.” Glad you agree, buddy, not that I asked for your opinion. You are not one to judge.
“She had a picture of her holding a puppy that looked almost identical to this one next to her bed,” I explain.
“She was just a kid, and when I asked about it, the story seemed to still have some pain behind it.” I don’t remember much from last night, but I do remember her face twitching in pain at the reminder of the puppy and her childhood.
I know just getting her a dog won’t heal whatever she went through that made her face take that expression, but if I can heal a small fracture of her soul... I will take it.
“That’s a sweet gesture, Kai,” Leo admits. “You are a decent guy when you want.”
I chuckle. “Are we pretending I’m not stalking her currently?”
Leo laughs. “Pretty much.”