III

Hazel Winters

B efore I can turn the light on, I’m pushed back through the door towards the bar. My steps are shaky as I walk into the locker room, my mind reeling as I tie my apron around my waist.

Who the fuck just did that?

I shake the thought from my mind, realising it’s more important for me to be professional right now than deal with my internal crisis.

As soon as I walk behind the bar, I roll my eyes at the blonde girl from yesterday. She’s glaring at me with her arms crossed to push out her ample breasts, clearly unhappy that I was hired.

"So, they took pity on you, did they?" She uncrosses her arms and walks over to perch against the bar, keeping her eyes pinned on me as her hair swishes.

"Not as much pity as it must have taken to hire you, babe," I sigh at her, heading over to the bar and bending down to survey the glasses available.

Scoffing, she turns and begins to prepare stock for opening. I stand up, looking around whilst being completely clueless on where to start.

Or where things are.

"Denise, give Miss Winters a hand getting to grips with the place."

I hear a voice from the stairs address Bitchy McBitch Face. My gaze follows the voice and lands on the three owners standing there in perfectly tailored suits. Awkwardness spreads through me as I notice their intimidating stares on me.

"Of course, Mr Rocco," she batters her eyelashes. I roll my eyes but notice Atlas glaring at me. Oh yeah, he had told me not to roll my eyes. That's gonna be a habit that's hard to kick.

Maybe I just won't try.

Seems like too much effort.

Theo nods and I see them turn to walk away. I begin to work beside Denise as she reluctantly tells me what to do.

"Remember what we talked about, Miss Winters."

I tilt my head in confusion as I turn to Atlas, the only one left standing in the same place. He mouths ‘behave’ to me and I smirk.

Unlikely.

Within an hour, the doors open and the bar starts to flood with bodies. The music pounds out of the speakers decorating the high ceilings and the sea of people move like waves with the bass. The drinks orders are relentless, and I struggle to keep up for the first 30 minutes.

Once I find my groove with bartending again, I start to whip out my old tricks with the cocktail shakers, earning applause of approval from nearby customers. The low-cut top of my uniform surely helps too, and I end up making over £100 within the first few hours.

I finish straining a Strawberry Daiquiri into a glass and turn to grab the card reader. I watch as an inebriated woman taps her card and runs back to her friends, with her drink spilling all over the place as she laughs. Smiling at her retreating figure, my heart aches at the thought of being able to be in her position right now.

My daydreaming is suddenly disturbed by someone clearing their throat. Painting my customer service smile on my face, I look over to a man leaning against the bar, seeming to not have a care in the world.

He smirks at me as his eyes peruse over my body appreciatively. Although I usually find it creepy when a man openly checks me out like this, there is something about him that has my feminist instincts failing.

His dirty blonde hair is separated into loose curtains that perfectly showcase his defined face. His bright blue eyes meet mine, evidently darkened with lust. Tattoos peek out of his white, crisp shirt as he leans his defined forearms on the bar top.

"What can I get for you, Sir?" I smile at him, brushing my hands down my apron.

"Well, for starters, I'd love for you to call me that again,” he winks at me, “but for now, give me a Dark and Stormy.”

Of course, his drink would be Dark and Stormy.

"Coming up."

He watches intently as I mix the drink before passing it to him. Just as I am about to grab the card reader, he speaks again.

"Put it on Atlas' tab, Angel."

I hesitate and bite my lip. I haven't been briefed on what to do if someone wants a drink on someone else's tab... especially not one of the owner's. Denise probably intentionally didn’t tell me what to do, so that she could watch me crash and burn on my first day.

Unsure of what to do, I grab the radio and call for Atlas, "Um… Atlas... I have someone here who is asking for a drink to be put on your tab."

Denise yanks it from my hand before I can hear his response. "What do you think you are doing?!"

"What am I supposed to do? Give people free drinks every time they name drop one of the owners? I don't think that would be good for business, do you?” I ask her, not caring that I sound like a bitch.

She looks at me like she is ready to commit a murder. More specifically, my murder.

"That's Andros," she hisses at me, pointing at the man I had just served.

"Who?" I blink at her, more confused than before. Before she can respond we hear static from the radio.

"I can see him on the CCTV, Miss Winters," Atlas chuckles, and I swear I can hear the smirk in his voice, “Don't worry, you can put his drink on my tab"

Denise glares at me before stalking away and I roll my eyes at her.

"Roll your eyes one more time, Miss Winters, and I will have Andros bring you up here in a second," Atlas whispers over the radio.

I look around for the cameras, seeing a red flashing light from the corner of the room. I send an obvious, sarcastic wave to it before rolling my eyes again, trying to rile him up.

Before I can begin to serve another customer, I feel someone grab my arm and drag me into the back and up the service stairs to the office. I'm dragged through the door.

Deja vu.

I look around the office and see Theo, Dawson and Atlas settled in their usual places. They all have amused looks on their faces, as they watch my reaction.

"You were right, Dawson, she is a little Spitfire," Andros laughs. I scowl and pull my arm out of his grip. Deciding to take back some control of the situation, I sit down in one of the empty chairs and cross my arms.

"You don't seem to listen, Miss Winters. I thought I had told you about the eye rolling," Atlas addresses me, not removing the amusement from his face.

"You don't control me, Atlas. None of you do. You may be my employers but I'm just here to make money so I can pay rent, not to satisfy your control issues," I bite back. His expression changes to a glare, and I notice his eyes go dark.

"I wouldn't speak to him like that, little Darling," Theo directs to me, his eyes also growing dark. I look around at the rest of them and realise they are all now staring at me with possession swirling in their darkened eyes.

Why are these men so hot and cold?

"I have to get back to work. Is there something you wanted from me?" I turn back to Atlas and match his glare. He quirks his eyebrow in challenge.

"Surprised you aren't already teaching her a lesson, Atlas," Andros says from behind me.

"Fuck off, Andros," Atlas mutters to him before giving me his full attention, "before you go, Miss Winters, I'd like you to meet our business partner properly. Andros owns the bar with us but mostly works on our other business ventures."

I nod, slightly confused as to why they would have a silent partner and why I wasn't told about him when I was originally offered the job.

Not that it would have made a difference.

Longing to get back to work and pushing the growing list of questions out of my mind, I stand up and push my skirt down. They all stare at my bare legs and the tension in the room doubles.

A blush forces itself onto my face and I quickly nod to Andros, muttering a quick 'nice to meet you' before leaving the room and practically running back to the shift.

I check my phone in my apron pocket before heading through to the bar area.

10:17pm.

Less than two hours until the end of my shift.

I can do this.

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

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