18. Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Dallas
S leep doesn’t come easily tonight, or almost at all. I’m pleasantly surprised when Abby finally dozes off for an hour before waking with a jolt. She groans and cuddles into me tighter. The frustration is thick in the dark room, hanging over our heads like storm clouds ready to open in floods. I just hope that when they do—because I know they will—she’s in a place where she feels safe and comfortable to let the rain fall in sheets, the lightning strike where it needs to, and the thunder carry out the rest of the thoughts circling her mind.
In the morning, after only a couple of hours of real sleep, I pull myself from the tight grasp of her arms around mine. I check my phone on the way to the bathroom and see I have a missed call from the hospital. The voicemail is brief, and my future boss simply asks me to call her back.
The dial tone rings a few times before she picks up. “Hello, Oxly Physical Therapy Outpatient Services. How can I help you?”
“Hey, Sarah, it’s Dallas. You called?” I turn the coffee pot on because Lord knows I’ll need it after getting so little sleep last night.
“Dallas, good morning. Before I get into it, how is baseball going?”
“Oh, um, it’s not anymore. We lost the second round of games. So, we’re done for the season, and my baseball career is done now, too.” Okay, Dal. Word vomit much? I guess that’s what no sleep does to me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ve heard you were a really good player.”
“Yeah, thanks.” I have a feeling I know where this conversation is going. She’s probably trying to check in to see if I’ll still be set to start work for her in a month.
“So, I have an update for you. Sherly, the woman you’re replacing, well, baby came early. She’s on maternity leave as of this morning.”
“Oh, wow. Congrats to her.”
“Yeah, we’re all very excited for her. What I wanted to ask is if you’d be open to starting early. I’m not sure if you’ve got anything else tying you down right now, but we could use you as soon as you’re able.”
“I’m still working at the bar, but I’ll chat with my boss and see how quickly I can get out of there without causing too much chaos for them.”
“Awesome. Keep in touch. Bye.”
I hang up and place my phone on the counter. I wasn’t expecting that, but I can’t say I’m upset. I think getting out of the bar scene will be a nice change of pace. Good thing I work today so I can talk to Bill. And Aubrey. Fuck. She’s going to be pissed. But after everything, I can’t say I’ll be upset about leaving.
I kiss Abby on the forehead and explain that I’m leaving for work, but that Logan will be here for the day. She nods and decides to go back to sleep.
I haven’t said anything to Aubrey yet. I’m waiting until Bill gets in to talk. I’d rather he be the first person to find out. They all knew this was coming. They just didn’t know it would be this soon.
Ignoring all of Aubrey’s advances has become an unwanted habit lately. It’s been her new thing, trying to get me back, I suppose. I’ve told her I’m not interested and that I have a girlfriend now. She was taken aback by that at first but seems to have brushed it off and doesn’t care anymore. All she cares about is getting back on my good side, which in her eyes means getting in my pants. It's a vicious cycle of me telling her no and her pretending those conversations never happened.
Bill walks in just before noon and I’m thankful for the distraction to get me away from Aubrey, even if it means I have to break the news to him.
I peek my head through the open door of his office. “You got a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I need to quit earlier than expected. The hospital called this morning, asking me to start sooner.”
He nods as he takes in the news. “No worries. I understand. How soon do you need to be done?” He flips through his schedule binder to the next few weeks.
“I was thinking two weeks out so you can hire someone else. I can help train them if needed.”
“Okay. That would be great. Thanks for the heads up.”
I leave his office and head back out to the bar. I’ll tell Aubrey later. No way am I spending an entire day working with her and having her also know I’m leaving. She'd just spend the day trying to convince me to stay.
An hour passes as we focus on our work before Bill appears at the end of the bar with a few papers in his hand. “Aubrey, can you put one of these on the bar bulletin and one at the front door?”
Aubrey eyes him curiously before taking the paper. She reads it over before looking up at him, confused. “Who’s quitting?”
Bill nods at me, and Aubrey spins around so quickly I’m surprised she didn’t fall over. “What?” she almost shrieks. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Bill turns around and heads back to the kitchen to let us sort this out. A few customers sitting at the bar watch us curiously, clearly enjoying the entertainment.
So much for not telling her. I sigh and finish filling a glass of beer for one of our regulars. “I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”
She comes over to me and leans on the bar. “We’ve been working for almost two hours.”
I shrug, trying to play it off, but she’s not having it. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Aubrey. The hospital needed me sooner than they planned. That’s not my fault.”
“I … What about … You should prioritize your current job.” She follows me around the bar like a lost puppy, trying to get me to pay attention to her.
“This wasn’t going to be a permanent thing. It never was. It was a job to get me through college. That’s all.”
“You don’t mean that.” She clears a couple of empty glasses from two customers sipping their new beers.
“I do. I’m done in two weeks. I told Bill I could help train whoever I needed to.”
She frowns and watches me move about the bar. I find any little thing to keep me busy, anything to keep from stopping to face her fully. This is the reaction I knew she would have. The one I’ve been trying to avoid.
She grabs my elbow, her once dark purple nails now a baby pink. “Will you stop for a second and talk to me?”
“About what?” I ask, spinning around. Customers watch from their seats, enjoying the bout of drama for the morning.
I don’t think she expected me to stop and listen to her plea because now she stands there speechless. She’s rarely speechless. “I—” She cuts herself off when someone yells to her for another drink. “We’ll talk after work.” She leaves to take his order, and I’m left standing there while the rest of the bar eyes me half apologetically, half with a look of “Oh, you’re in trouble.” I roll my eyes at one of the regulars, and he gives me a sympathetic smile.
It’s not until the second shift employee finally arrives that I start to wind down for the end of my shift. Aubrey and I spoke all of two words to each other since our original conversation. She’s pissed, that much I’ve gathered. She pulls me around to the back of the kitchen once two other bartenders can take over.
Rather than saying anything, she folds her arms and waits for me to say something first.
I mirror her position. “There’s nothing to say. I’m quitting. That’s all there is to it.”
Her jaw tightens at the words. “So, what about us then?”
“What us?” I jump in, a little harsher than I intended, but maybe that’s the right call here. I can’t say this any blunter than I have previously. I enunciate each of my next words. “There is no us, Aubrey.”
She swallows and reaches up to tighten her short ponytail. The auburn hair needs a redye. “Can we stay friends?”
Maybe that’s her way of staying attached to me as long as possible. I have no reason to deny it other than she’s been rather annoying the past couple of months. But I cave and say, “Fine. But that’s it. I need you to understand that.”
She nods furiously before pulling me into a hug, arms pinned at my sides. “I’m going to miss working with you.”
“We’ve still got two weeks.” I’m not sure why I’m trying to reassure her. Maybe I feel bad, but I don’t know why. Could be some “you helped me when I was struggling, so I’m helping you while you’re struggling” kind of thing.
“I know. But I already know the bar will be far less lively without you.” She’s still hugging me. I still can’t move my arms.
I shrug away from her and say, “It’ll be fine. I’m sure whoever replaces me will be just as good.”
“Nope. No one will measure up to you.”
One of the other bartenders peaks their head out the back door and tells Aubrey she’s needed for something.
“God, it’s always something. Can’t they figure it out themselves? I already told Dylan where to find the backstock.”
And just like that, she’s back in work mode. I take off to head home, finally feeling like the Aubrey drama has been cleared up. It’s the first time she’s settled for my boundaries, and I couldn’t possibly make them any clearer than I have.
It’s been two days and Bill and Aubrey have already had three interviews for my position. He hired the last guy on the spot. I’m not sure what his credentials are that made them jump on him so quickly but he’s due to start today. Aubrey leaves in an hour, so it’ll mostly be me training him today. Half of the first day is paperwork, so it shouldn’t be too complicated.
He walks in early. First good sign.
Aubrey rounds to the front of the bar and extends her hand. “Hi, I’m Aubrey, the bar manager, in case you forgot since yesterday’s interview.”
He shakes her hand and greets her back politely. “Yeah, I remember.”
Aubrey motions back to me. “This is Dallas. You’ll be replacing him.”
“Jordan,” he says. We shake hands, and she shows him around the restaurant and bar to familiarize him with the place before setting him up at the end of the bar with a packet of paperwork.
She gives him the rundown before dismissing herself for the day and turning him over to me. “Don’t ruin him. He seems like a good one,” she says.
I chuckle and shake my head. When he’s done with his packet a few hours later, I run through it with him, answer any questions, and then we get started on the actual bar training.
“Have you ever done any of this before?” I ask, pulling out a few basic supplies.
“Not as an actual job, but I’ve got some experience behind a bar.”
“Okay. I want to test you first, see what we’re working with, and go from there.” I pull out a glass and hand him a larger glass bottle filled with water that we use for training. “Free pour one shot into this glass. When you’re done, we’ll measure.”
I run him through a series of different tests before starting any sort of liquor. He’s good. He needs a bit of fine-tuning on a few things, but for not having professional bar experience, he somehow knows what he’s doing. He shadows Dylan and me for the rest of the day and when we near the end of our shifts, he’s got a bit of paperwork left to finish. I set him back up at the end of the bar.
I lean against the back of the bar during the lull in customers. “So, are you from here? Go to college? What made you apply?”
He scribbles something down into an empty box before replying. “Went to college at Oxly. Graduated a couple of years ago. Made the wrong choice of major. And now I’m here.” He looks up frantically and blurts out, “Not that this is a bad thing. I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
I laugh at his sudden frenzy. “Chill. I realize bartending isn’t a dream come true for most people. Tends to just be a job to get by. I get it.” He settles at that, checks a few more boxes, and finishes the paperwork. “Check in with Bill before you head out.” He nods and disappears into the back. I’m thankful when the top of a new hour hits and I can finally go home for the day.