15. Jay
CHAPTER 15
JAY
T wo nights later, Violet is on shift again. I can’t help it. Every time she’s sashaying to a table to take orders, my eyes follow her. She’s wearing a brown and orange sweater dress with knee-high boots. My eyes keep going to the patch of skin between where her boots stop and her dress begins.
I want to slide my hand up under the hem of her dress and grab her ass. I want to pull her against me and do unspeakable things. I just have to ask her to stay after her shift tonight, and she’s all mine. That’s how this friends-with-benefits thing works, and I can't wait to experiment with it
But ever since Violet arrived for her shift, pushing through the front door and heading straight to the kitchen, she’s been on edge. I’d like to talk to her and make sure everything is okay, but she hasn’t made eye contact with me.
The few times she’s needed me to make some drinks, she’s repeated the order tightly, then gone back to the kitchen to fill her food orders instead of waiting and chatting. It’s odd behavior, but we’re also busy tonight. I should be pleased that she’s keeping up with her orders.
“We’re out of peanuts,” Violet tells Jerry. He has his hands full mixing a mojito, and he’s got at least four or five other orders bouncing around in his head. I don’t know why she chose to go up to him and alert him about the peanut situation.
“What can I help you with?” I ask, sliding up beside Jerry so he can continue to fill orders. I’ve got a few on my own plate, but I’ll take a thirty-second break for Violet.
“It’s okay,” she mutters, turning around with her half-empty bowl.
I reach out to stop her, but my fingers just brush her sleeve as she goes. I frown, confused at the strange interaction. If she needed more peanuts, it’s not a big deal. I can just go to the back and get them. But why wouldn’t she talk to me about it?
An hour later, I hand things over behind the bar and go to check the inventory. If we are out of peanuts, then I should get the order in sooner rather than later. After doing my usual count, I’m replacing things on the shelves when Violet comes into the kitchen, almost running into me as I’m backing out of the closet.
“Oh, sorry,” I apologize, reaching out to steady her by grabbing her arm.
Violet slips her arm out of my grip and averts my eyes. She’s acting strange, quiet, not the confident woman I laid eyes on when she first came into The Rusty Oak.
“Do you need something from back here?” I step aside so she can get into the storeroom.
Violet steps inside, and I watch for a moment as she shifts through a bag until she finds a new package of napkins. She rips them open and steps back out of the storage area.
“Napkins? I could have gotten those for you.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got them now.”
We both stand there for a moment. I sense that she wants to say something, and I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. Last time we talked, it seemed pretty clear that we had an arrangement, but now, Violet is acting strange around me, like something has happened.
“I’ve got a table waiting for these,” Violet finally says before rushing out of the back and into the bar.
Something is clearly bothering her. I take an extra minute in the storeroom to try to figure out what it is. But the only thing that’s changed between last time she was working and tonight is that we now have a label—friends with benefits.
Is it the label that’s bothering her? Maybe she regrets agreeing to it? It’s not like she couldn’t tell me no if I started to touch her and she didn’t like it. I need to talk to her, but not now. I’ll talk to her when we have more privacy.
When I get the chance later in the evening, I tap her elbow as she comes up to the bar with another list of drinks for me to make. She’s already recited them, and I’m doing the mixing.
“Vi, is everything alright?”
Violet presses her lips together and avoids my eyes, not giving me a verbal answer. Her physical response, though, is enough to confirm that something is wrong.
“Can we talk?”
“I’m busy, Jay. Can’t you see that?”
I set another finished drink on her tray then start the next one.
“It’ll only take a minute.”
She finally meets my gaze, her eyes flashing. “I said I’m busy. We can talk later.”
I nod, backing off. This isn’t the right time. I need to figure out what’s really going on with her, but it’s hard when she won’t even give me the chance to talk. “After your shift then.”
Violet hesitates before finally nodding her head in agreement.
As it gets close to eleven, the crowd starts to leave. All of Violet’s tables are empty, so she takes a wet rag and starts wiping them down, filling a bin with dirty glasses as she goes. It’s not as private as I’d like, but it’ll do. “Violet, we need to talk. Now.”
She sets down a mostly empty bottle of wine, and it clatters against the table. “Okay, what’s going on?”
Her tone sounds indifferent, like she doesn’t care if she has this conversation with me or not. I glance over my shoulder at the bar where Jerry is serving one last drink before telling the patrons that we are officially closing. I try to be mindful of the ambiance of the place. I don’t want to run customers out because I’m having a fight with one of the cocktail waitresses.
I decide to approach the problem from a different angle so neither one of us gets too upset. “I’ve noticed that you’ve really got a handle on the job now. You get drinks to customers. They’re happy. I’m happy. It seems like things are working out.”
Violet stops cleaning. She turns and looks at me with a cool look, like she’s not sure if she should believe me. Her eyes study every angle of my face before dropping to my chest. “Why are you saying that? You don’t seem like you give out compliments easily.”
I’m about to protest before I realize that it’s kind of true. I’m not the guy who is constantly praising his staff. Maybe that's something I need to change up. “Well, I’m being about as genuine as I can be right now. Maybe I don’t normally give out compliments, but you look like you could use one.”
“Okay, well, thanks, I guess.”
I sigh. I feel like this conversation isn’t getting anywhere. “I just want you to know that if something is bothering you about the bar or another staff member, or whatever it might be, you can tell me.”
“I… I don’t think I can tell you what’s going on right now. I just think that… maybe our whole arrangement was a mistake.” She won’t meet my eyes, and my heart sinks. Maybe it was. Not because I wouldn’t enjoy it, but because Violet isn’t interested enough in me.
Her words sting, and I struggle to keep my voice steady. “You can back out at any time, you know. You didn’t sign a contract.” I’m saying it because it’s the right thing to say, but it doesn’t mean that I want to stand by it. I don’t want Violet to back out. I don’t want her to take back this beautiful gift she has given me.
Violet’s eyes soften for a moment, but then she shakes her head. “This isn’t about us, Jay. It’s about everything else. My mom, my job, my life. I’m just trying to hold things together.”
For the first time since I’ve known her, I see Violet as vulnerable. She’s not withdrawing out of anger, but out of hurt, maybe even fear. I reach for her and take her hand, but she yanks it away. “Not here. Not now. I need to finish cleaning these tables.”
I feel like our conversation is far from finished, but I have to respect what she’s saying. She needs time and space to think. I’ll give her some, for now.