10.
Emily
“ W hy are you here?” Hillary says. She’s on her feet instantly. She stares at me before swiveling to Jessica. “Did you invite her?”
“Nope.” Jessica smiles. I only know who she is because we met super briefly during one of my initial interviews at Northington Tech. The two of us haven’t interacted at work. In fact, I’m honestly not completely sure if she even still works there.
“I work here,” I say.
“At the bar?”
“Yeah.”
“No, you work for me,” Hillary says.
“I have two jobs,” I say. “That’s why I thought we could get a drink here. You know, when we first started talking.”
“Because it would be after your shift,” she says.
“Yeah.”
“And that’s why you’re here.”
“Yes.” I nod, glancing down at my uniform, which mostly consists of jeans and t-shirts, but I have an apron I have to wear. “So, did anyone need any drinks?”
They all stare at me for a long minute.
“Happy hour starts soon,” I say quietly. “Half-off the whole menu, plus appetizers.”
“We’ll take one of every appetizer,” a kind lady with long, blonde hair in braids says. “And we’ll need a few minutes to decide on drinks.”
“Okay,” I say. “Um, is this all together?”
A few people say yes, and a couple say no, but they start arguing among themselves, so I slip away from the group and make my way behind the bar counter.
“What the hell?” Polly asks. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “It’s like, my boss, and her boss, and their friends, or something.” Out of all of the bars in the world, why would they choose this one?
“Why are they all so good-looking?” Polly asks.
“What? You don’t have enough options on campus?”
“Not really,” she says. “They don’t make them like this at university.”
Polly is twenty-two, but she likes older women. She’s always singing that song about liking girls who are just a little bit older, but what she means is a lot older. I’ve tried to set her up with friends before. Somehow, it never works out.
“I’m sure that after you graduate, you’ll find someone.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Too bad my professors aren’t any fun.”
“You mean, too bad they don’t want to get fired?” I ask.
“Something like that,” she shrugs.
“What are you two talking about?” Hope appears beside Polly. She’s also in college, and she’s also trying to find a nice woman to settle down with.
“The perils of dating,” I say. I slide Hope a piece of paper. “Can you ring this up for me?”
“One of everything?” Hope glances at me. “Is this for real?”
“Pretty sure.”
“They all have money, huh?” Polly says, staring at them. She doesn’t want anyone’s money, doesn’t want to be a sugar baby. She wants to be like them, though. Polly always says that when she sees women in their forties and fifties, they seem so damn happy and satisfied that it’s wild to her.
“Something like that,” I say.
“They’re pretty,” she says.
“And nosy as hell.” Polly draws her attention from the group of women. Instead, she focuses on me.
“What am I missing?”
“My boss is there,” I say.
“What?”
“And we made out after a board meeting today.”
“Seriously, what?” Hope comes back. She starts laughing. “Are you for real?”
“Yes.” I don’t want to be for real, but I am. “She made me come, too.”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“And now they’re here?”
“Yes.”
“So can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why aren’t you over there with them?” Polly asks. “Don’t you want to be with your boss?”
More than anything.
“It’s wrong,” I say.
“Says who?”
“Society,” I say. “Everyone.”
“Girl, fuck society,” Polly laughs. “Do what you want, honey. Just do what you want.”
“You are so much younger than me,” I say. “It’s ridiculous that you’re calling me honey.”
She shrugs.
“The heart wants what it wants,” she says.
“Are you saying you want me?”
“No. I’m saying that I know exactly who your boss is because the lady with the dark hair hasn’t stopped looking at you since you walked over.”
I turn around, and sure enough, Hillary’s eyes are on me.
“I don’t know what to do,” I say.
“Then stop thinking about it,” Hope says.
“What will that do?”
“If you stop thinking, you can just follow your heart,” she says. She pushes through the door to the kitchen, leaving.
“I need to start making drinks for Table 7,” Polly says, “but seriously, you should go to her. I think that lady wants to talk to you.”
I think that lady wants to do a lot more than talk.