Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
“ S orry, sorry, I know, I know. My boss from my internship needed to have a word with me, and I guess I lost track of the time, I swear it won’t happen again.”
Barbs purses her lips as she looks at me over her insanely oversized breastplate. They’re pushed up even further as she crosses her thick arms over them, cocking an archly drawn eyebrow at me.
“Don’t write checks you can’t cash, kiddo. This ain’t your first time running late for a shift, ya know.” She drags the words over her gravelly, smoker’s voice. Once upon a time, I’m sure she could pull off the femme fatale look and sound, but now everything has kind of compacted into a more matronly look. Barbs B. Comin really makes it work for her though.
“I know, I’m really sorry.” I flash her my puppy dog eyes, and a weak smile, hoping that I haven’t finally crossed the last line for her.
Barbs purses her lips to one side then the other, before throwing her hands up, ample rubber breasts bouncing down in a wobbling jiggle.
“You’re lucky you’re cute, kid. It’s Jocks and Socks Night, if you remember, so get your shirt off and get behind the bar, try and get these thirsty men to buy a few more drinks than they should, and I’ll overlook it. Again .” She marches off towards the small stage at the end of the bar, brushing behind a curtain to the backstage area with the drag queens who are on tonight for the show.
Jocks and Socks Night is a monthly themed event at the JoyBox, the bar I pick up a few shifts at to help keep myself in spending money. After all, the internship at Excelsior Comics doesn’t pay. Technically speaking, I don’t need to do it. My parents have done really well for themselves, working in publishing and marketing, so when they found out about the internship, they said they’d cover my rent so I can do it.
But I really hate constantly borrowing off them, I wind up feeling like a total burden. I know I couldn’t hope to be making this dream gig a reality without them, but still. So I took on some bar work to try and help pay my own way a bit more. It helps, but it is kind of exhausting I guess. I’m often going from a full day working with editorial at Excelsior to coming here to serve drinks until the early hours.
Jocks and Socks is usually a big night though, and good for earning some extra tips. Because the bar staff are encouraged to get involved too, so we’re often serving in just our underwear and shoes. Which, yeah, a little manipulative, I guess, but I actually don’t mind. It’s less sweaty and I guess I kind of lucked out in the body department as I tend to do pretty good on tips at this event. Last month, I actually made enough to pay half my rent.
“Well, you heard the lady. You best get into ‘uniform’, eh?” the voice behind me is familiar and I’m already blushing before I turn around to see a broad, naked, shiny chest, a fine layer of dark hair pressed flat to tight pecs. I look up slightly and see a big cheesy smile staring back at me.
“Hi, Julio,” I stammer out, trying to not make it obvious I’m staring. Julio is one of the bar’s dancers, and on a night like tonight it’s clear to see why. Wearing nothing but a jockstrap and a pair of black and red Nikes, he cuts for a pretty damn gorgeous figure. His tanned skin is covered in a layer of body oil, which just serves to accentuate his muscles. He’s a little taller than me, which is rare, but with his body being so much thicker than mine he kinda looks even bigger. And when you see him dance, it’s clear he knows exactly how to move his body, so no wonder he’s one of our most popular dancers.
He’s also a total sweetheart, and one of my best friends here… friends only . Not that I wouldn’t love to do more. But he probably gets way better offers anyway, looking like he does.
“Heya Jesse. Running late again?” He gives me that big goofy smile of his the whole time, letting me know there’s no judgement in that statement. He’s just like a big puppy, always acting happy to see me, or any of the other staff and our customers. It would be one thing if he was just crazy hot, but he gives off the vibe of just being the nicest guy too, and that smile. No wonder his jock is always stuffed with dollars by the end of the night.
“Ha, you know it. I swear I’ll make it on time one of these nights,” I say as I unbutton my shirt. Technically, there is a staff room or even the toilets I could get changed in, but it’s really not a problem to get into the right look anywhere here. Well, as long as you’re not changing into different underwear right at the bar, I guess, but I made sure to wear a pair of my nicest, sexiest briefs just for tonight. “Think you’re going to get all the dollars again tonight?” I tease.
Julio laughs, “I dunno! I think the girls are going to put on a helluva show tonight, so I got my work cut out for me, maybe—” he suddenly kinda hiccups, and I look back over my shoulder at him. It’s an awkward angle, as I’m midway through pulling my pants off over my sneakers, but I swear he’s blushing? “Anyway, I should leave you to it. Catch you later, okay?”
“Sure,” I call after him. “Hey, the usual for you? I’ll get it sorted first thing.”
“Sure! Thank you,” Julio waves back, back-stepping towards one of the small podiums dotted around the bar area.
I fold my clothes wondering what the heck that was all about, then drop them in the little staff area behind the bar. I make Julio’s drink and drop it off to him before getting myself into position and taking orders.
It’s a pretty busy night, which is a good thing for several reasons. Firstly, the tips are indeed flowing like Barbs suggested, which with NYCC coming up is really handy.
Secondly, it’s keeping my mind off of everything happening at the moment. Being thrown in at the deep end, trying to snag Arran Wilson for Excelsior, whether Hank will come after me for more than just my ability to get him a writer, and whether that may lead to me getting to make more comics with Excelsior in the future.
The text message…
Nope, too busy for any of that, and that’s just how I like it right now.
As the night wears on, the endorphin high of the tips and more than a couple compliments on my, well, me , I guess, isn’t quite cutting it to keep me awake. I slam back an energy drink to keep my head in the game, but I can feel exhaustion coming on fast.
Luckily, by the time I’m really starting to lag, the show from Barbs and the guest queens has come to an end and it’s just been music, dancing and drinking for a while. Everything is starting to wind down. JoyBox doesn’t stay open all night like some places, so we’ll be calling time at the bar soon, then it’s just a little bit of cleaning and clearing up and I can stumble home to bed.
I glance over at Julio while I absent-mindedly clean a glass. The waistband of his jockstrap is stuffed with cash, and I’m sure there’s some higher denominations than simple singles in there. He turns so his back is to me, slowly twirling his ass. He looks back over his shoulder and smiles.
“You should just ask him out already, you know.”
I almost drop the glass in my hands as I jump, startled. I look to my right to see Andy, one of the other bar staff, wearing his Yankees baseball cap, a green jockstrap and matching green sneakers.
“What are you talking about? Julio ?”
“Yeah, man,” Andy smirks at me as he starts putting more glasses away. “You know he likes you, right?”
“You must be mad. Julio? I mean, have you seen him? He gets way better offers than me, Andy.” I chuckle nervously.
Andy rolls his eyes. “Yeah, he is. And so are you, Jesse, my dude. I mean, have you not seen yourself right now? That smooth body and that pert little butt of yours? Plus, you’ve got that whole geek boy charm going on, and Julio totally digs that.”
“What? Really?” I glance over at Julio again, who is finally slowing down his dancing, as the bar gets quieter. He spots me and gives me a massive, dorky wave.
“Julio is a total himbo, but he’s also a total dork. Loves comics, anime, games, all that crap. So you being a comics guy too, you’re basically like catnip for him. He’s been sniffing around you for ages, too nervous to ask you out.”
I laugh out loud, turning on Andy, “HA! Him ? Nervous to ask me out? Now I know you’re insane. Julio doesn’t have a nervous bone in his body. We should know, we see pretty much all of them!”
Andy fixes me with a stern look under the peak of his cap. He sighs, turning it around, taking a long blink as he looks me dead in the eye. “Listen, kiddo. Shaking your ass on stage doesn’t mean you can’t be nervous. Just because he’s comfortable in his skin doesn’t mean that chasing the things he wants isn’t as daunting as it is for everyone else.”
“I guess…” I lean forward over the bar, and drop my gaze. When he puts it like that, I kinda feel like a total putz.
“And besides, you’re also right - he’s hot as all hell and there’s a lot of guys who’d want to snap him right up. If you don’t jump on his bone soon, someone else will and you might lose your chance. Unless all you wanna do is ride him, in that case, I hear he’s usually down for that kind of thing…” Andy gives me a playful slap on the ass as he walks by.
Now my mind starts to race again: should I ask Julio out? I mean, is he the right guy for me? I mean, he’s really sweet, and the whole himbo vibe he’s got is so cute. And there’s no mistaking he’s hot as anything, but…
Isn’t there more to finding your partner than if they turn you on and make you laugh? Isn’t there some magic lightning strike that hits you when you find the right one? He does make me feel bubbly, but is that the right feeling?
But then, life is short… maybe shorter for some than others . Maybe I should risk it.
“Hey, Jesse, can I get a water?” I blink and see Julio standing at the bar between us. I wonder how long I’d just been standing here thinking.
“Sure, man, here you go,” I hand him a bottle water. “And, hey, I was wondering…”
“Jesse, would you like to get dinner sometime?” Julio interrupts, having just downed the entire bottle of water in one go. “I mean, it’s cool if not, and I know you’re really busy, but…”
“Yes! Yes, I totally would!” I smile, awkwardly, as Julio lets out a massive breath like he’s been holding it in.
“Okay! Okay, awesome. Look, I really gotta go shower, I’m a total sweaty mess right now, but I’ll text you tomorrow and we can organize something, maybe? That cool?”
My smile widens. “Yeah, totally yeah, very cool.”
“Awesome! Right, well, I’m gonna go. I’ll speak to you soon. Good night!” He bounces out towards the front door, then turns on his heel and heads back towards the stage. “I should totally get dressed first though!”
I laugh and wave at him as he heads off backstage.
I stand there for a moment, absently wiping away at a glass, suddenly wired again. Okay, my mind is buzzing. It’s not lightning striking, but it’s definitely something. Maybe that’s enough.
Okay. So a date. A date, and hiring a writer, and maybe a big step in my career, and maybe a scary boss to watch out for, and…and…yeah, okay. Lot going on.
I am going to sleep like the dead tonight. I’m gonna need it.