16. Juliet
16
JULIET
T he Dionysus Lounge is a quiet place when there are no customers—or ‘guests’ as Ma-Ri insists they be called. Like we’re all just hosting a bunch of wealthy men and pouring their drinks for them at our own houses. I roll my eyes at that thought as I finish wiping down a table and then tuck the cloth into my thin black apron.
A door opens in the distance, and Deb, one of the bartenders currently setting up, starts to say something behind me before she cuts herself off. Curious, I look over my shoulder when I reach the opposite side of the club and pause when I see a familiar head of spiky black hair. I turn back and wait as Roquel offers Deb a wave and then practically sprints towards me.
“Hey,” I say, brows rising. “What are you doing here?”
Roquel slows as she gets closer, her cheeks flushed, and for a moment I think she’s angry, but then she takes a breath and offers me a smile. “Just came to hang out before opening,” she says.
I frown at that and start moving again. “You wanted to hang out here?” I scoff. “Why?”
The clink of glasses echoes towards us as Deb finishes restocking the bar and getting it ready for opening. I head towards the back hallway to the service closet secreted away there.
Roquel follows and shrugs at my words. “Just wanted to,” she says. “I haven’t seen Auntie lately and I wanted to see how you were handling the job.” She trails behind me, her soft footfalls nearly silent as I grab a bucket out of the closet and fill it up with fresh soapy water. Snagging the adjoining mop, I dunk it several times before rinsing.
“It’s a job,” I deadpan as I start mopping the floors in preparation for the hosts to come out and get settled. The schedule on the board in the back already let us know that there would be several parties of businessmen arriving a short while after the doors open and we need to be prepared for whoever they’re bringing with them.
That’s one thing I’ve learned from Ma-Ri since I started working at The Dionysus Lounge. This place is more than a bar and club with beautiful women acting as hostesses. This place is a meeting place for the rich and powerful—usually men, though I’ve seen the occasional woman or two as well.
“You liking it so far?” Roquel asks as she finds herself a perch on the back of one of the lounge couches.
I chuckle at her lame question. “I’m just delivering drinks and bottles to the girls,” I remind her. “It’s not difficult.”
“Cool, cool.” Roquel nods and looks away.
I give her a good side-eye as I mop around the area, expecting her to get to whatever it is she wants to ask me before I’m done. I’m not stupid. It’s obvious by the nervous energy coming off her and the way her eyes keep flickering to me and away whenever I lift my head that she’s not here just to check on me. She wants something. I finish one route around the room and drop the mop into the now-dirty water before I sigh and cross my arms over my chest.
“Alright, enough. Out with it.”
Roquel lifts wide doe-brown eyes to my face. “Out with what?” she asks. The pseudo-innocent expression she wears is not fooling anyone. Even Deb snorts as she strides by with two racks of glasses clutched in her hands.
“You’re here for a reason,” I prompt.
Slender shoulders under a thin spaghetti strap tanktop rise and fall. “I just wanted to see how you were doing because I suspect Megan and her little minions will try something before the end of next week.”
A sigh rolls out of me and I let my arms drop as I turn and prop my ass against the back of the couch. “I expect you’re probably right,” I say, “but I’m not a psychic. I’ll just have to deal with it whenever they do gain the courage to come after me again.”
Roquel’s eyes spear the side of my face, and I turn to meet them. “You don’t sound that nervous about it,” she points out.
I shrug. “I’m not.” Whatever Megan and Lindsey try to throw at me, I’ve already made it more than clear that I’ll pay it back tenfold. If they want to risk their own skins, then I don’t give a fuck.
Roquel opens her mouth to say something else, but almost as soon as she does, the backdoor leading from the breakroom opens and a familiar face pops out. Madison Torres strides into the club as she gathers up her long blonde hair and ties it up into a ponytail.
I stiffen and go quiet as she lifts her head and pauses at the sight of Roquel. A soft smile appears across her lips and she lifts her hand in a hesitant wave. Roquel, as extroverted as she is, waves back eagerly.
“I take it you’re the reason she suddenly got a job here too?” I inquire as Madison continues towards the bar to help Deb finish stocking.
Roquel lets her hand drop and shrugs. “She couldn’t get a job in town without her parents knowing about it,” she replies. “They’ve kind of locked down on her since the whole sex scandal from last year. I felt bad for her. She’s trying to save up enough to move out.”
I find myself following Madison’s movements as she lifts stacks of glasses into place and then grabs a few towels to finish wiping down the bar, but I don’t say anything. Madison Torres’ business is none of mine.
“Okay,” Roquel blows out a breath and captures the rest of my attention once more. “You’re right. I didn’t just come here to see how you were. I came to ask for a favor.”
Tension crawls over the top of my shoulders, but I quietly force it down, reminding myself that I always knew there would be strings attached to this job. That’s just how the world works.
“Hit me,” I say, pushing off the lounge as I make my way back to my bucket and mop.
“There’s a party this weekend and I was hoping … maybe … thatyoumightgowithme .”
The words come rushing out, each one slamming into the other without stopping all in one long breath. “A party?” I repeat, before clarifying. “In Silverwood?”
She nods with a wince. I gape at her; she’s lost her mind. The mere fact that she thought asking me to go to a party in the town where everyone hates my fucking guts is a good indication. Roquel is certifiable. She’s crazy.
Before I’ve managed to piece together my ‘hell fucking no,’ Roquel rushes on to explain.
“I know you probably don’t like them anymore, especially since everything happened with your folks”—that’s an understatement—“but I have no choice. I really need to go to this party.”
No one needs to go to a party. I open my mouth to say just that but Roquel continues on. “Besides, you know you need to start making more friends, especially since Megan is out of ISS and she and Lindsey are planning something against you.”
“There’s no proof that they are,” I remind her. “Just your assumption.”
Roquel gives me a bland look. “Don’t be dumb,” she replies. “I know Megan like I know the back of my hand; that girl won’t just let it slide that you pretty much snubbed her attempt to conquer you. The fact that the Scorpion Kings haven’t done anything to you...”
I wince at the reminder of those assholes and am surprised to learn that Roquel doesn’t know about their little threat the other day. I would have assumed they’d have bragged about it to all their friends by now.
“—so please don’t say no. I can’t go alone, I just can’t.”
I blink and return my attention to Roquel’s pleading gaze as she clasps her hands in front of her chest and stares at me.
“Don’t you have other friends to go with?”
“Yeah, but they can’t go—one of them has a family thing she can’t miss and the other is going to be out of town?—”
I hold up a hand, halting her excuses as a headache begins to throb in a band around my skull. “Just…” I hesitate, trying to think of any other good reason I can refuse. The nagging sensation in the back of my mind, however, doesn’t let up. It reminds me that when everyone was shitting on me, Roquel was the only one who actually offered me a hand ... and she had gotten me this job. Without it, I’d be sucking down ramen for months and likely unable to pay my senior dues at the end of this year.
From the upper echelon to the gutter, I think to myself with no small amount of depression.
“ Pleeeassseee ,” Roquel begs. “It’s just one party, and like I said, you need to show Megan that you’re not afraid of her.”
I scowl at that. “I’m not .”
Roquel nods her agreement. “And going to this party will show her that,” she insists. “It’ll show her that you’re not going to hide away and that you don’t care what she thinks; that you’re not afraid of what she or the Scorpion Kings can do to you.”
And just like that, I know I’m going to say yes. It’s not showing Megan that I’m not afraid of her. The mere mention of the Scorpion Kings is what decides it for me. They, more than anyone else, need to know that they can’t push me around. I might be a social pariah and I might be broke, but that doesn’t mean I’m someone they can walk all over.
“What if I have to work?”
She must sense that I’m ready to give in because, at that question, Roquel claps her hands and grins at me. “Oh don’t you worry about that,” she says. “I already told Auntie about the party and that I was going to ask you. She was planning on giving you the weekend off anyway since you picked up extra shifts last week.”
The sound of something clattering behind the bar has me jolting and both Roquel and I swing our gazes to where Madison pops up and comes around the side, grabbing up the stack of black check booklets that she’d accidentally knocked off the front.
I open my mouth to ask her if she needs any help only to be interrupted as Roquel calls across the club. “Hey, Mads!” The girl’s blonde head pops up once more and she looks our way. “Are you off next Friday?”
Madison glances from Roquel to me and then back again before nodding.
Roquel squeals with delight and shoots me an accomplished smile.
Fuck. Me.
“Great! Then the three of us are going to the party,” she announces. “I’ll drive.”
Gathering up the last of the booklets and setting them atop the bar once more, Mads tilts her head in our direction. “Party?” she repeats.
Roquel hops off the back of the couch and shoots towards her. “Yeah, I just got Juliet to agree to go to Robby Cordin’s party next Friday and we were hoping you’d come with us.”
“ We were?” I mutter to myself, rolling my eyes. Roquel ignores my comment and bounces up and down in front of Mads as she holds the other girl’s hands.
“This is going to be so much fun. Robby’s parties are fucking killer. His parents let him use the back of the junkyard property they live on and as long as no one gets too loud or gets the cops called then we can pretty much do whatever we want there.”
This is a dumb idea, but as Mads turns her gaze from Roquel to me, something unfurls in my chest. It’s cold at first before turning warm. Sympathy? Maybe. A groan rumbles up my chest, but I already know it’s too late now. Roquel’s made her mind up and if anything proves the girl is a force to be reckoned with, it’s also the fact that she somehow managed to befriend me when I was sure I’d be able to make it through the entire school year without getting close to anyone.
I give Mads a nod of encouragement. “I guess you’ll have to come now,” I say before I jerk my chin towards Roquel. “She won’t let up until you do.”
Poor Mads doesn’t even get a chance to respond. Roquel’s over-excited scream is enough to seal both of our fates.