19. Tom
Chapter nineteen
Tom
I t’s been a crazy night at the bar. All hands on deck. It’s the last Friday of the month, which means everyone’s been paid and is out celebrating. I lasted about twenty minutes in the back office before Abby, my assistant manager, came to ask for help. I’m pouring pints for a large group of guys when I feel the short buzz of an incoming text from my phone in my pocket. I make a mental note to check it, if I ever get a moment’s peace.
Abby squeezes behind me to get to some glasses on the other side. She pats me on the shoulder and gives me a wink. “Doing a great job there, boss man.” She loves to tease me whenever I’m out front. “I do love it when you get your hands dirty.” I shake my head with a grin and continue pouring. I look up at the guy waiting for the order to see him following the movement of Abby with his eyes. She’s wearing tight jeans and a tank top with the bar's logo on. She always does well with her tips and has a lot of admirers among the regulars and the not-so-regular customers.
“She single?” the guy asks me as I hand over his drinks and start ringing up the order.
“That’s up to her to answer, if she wants to.”
“You claiming ownership?” he asks, eyebrow raised. I snort at his antiquated suggestion.
“Nah, bro. Feel free to shoot your shot, but I’m telling you she’ll say no.”
He hands over his card to pay and looks over at her again. Abby loves men and women. But she had a nasty break up a few months ago and has kept to herself since then. I think she got burnt.
The guy gathers up his tray of drinks and gives me an eyebrow raise as he turns to leave. Who knows if he’ll take my advice, but I’ll be sure to keep an eye in case he ends up giving her grief later.
I serve another four customers before the crowd seems to calm down, and the staff look like they have it under control again.
“You okay, Abs?” I ask as she comes towards my end of the bar.
“Sure thing, boss. Go hide in your den and I’ll call you if it picks up again.” She punches my arm, laughing as I rub where she hit me. I give her a salute as I disappear out back again.
I pull my phone out of my pocket to see a photo notification in our group chat. It’s a picture of Jack and Cassidy cuddled up together. Cassidy has sent it with the message “Miss you x”. They both look blissed out and from what I can see of their bodies, which isn’t much, naked. I sigh. I’d do anything to be there right now. But I need to stay until we close tonight. At least we’ve got plans for brunch tomorrow, though. I shoot back a reply as I make my way back to my desk.
Me: You two look very cosy. *wink emoji* *splash emoji*
Only seconds pass before it buzzes again.
Mac: Sure you can’t join us?
Me: It’s payday so it’s been manic. I’ll be here until close.
Mac: Come over when you’re done if you like?
Me: It’ll be late. Probably 2am.
Mac: How about you text us when you’re finishing? If we don’t reply, we’re asleep and you won’t be able to get in. But if one of us does, you can swing by for a cuddle.
Me: Just a cuddle?
Mac: Depends how tired you are *winky face emoji*
Me: Okay. Will see how it goes.
I blink when there’s a knock at the door sometime later. I look up to see Abby leaning against the doorframe. “How you doing, boss?”
I rub a hand over my eyes and look at the clock on my monitor. It’s nearly 1 am. “Shit, why didn’t you come and get me? Did you get rid of everyone?”
“Yeah, they were fine.” The lights would have turned up to convince people to start leaving.
“How’s the clean-up going?”
“Almost done, and I know you like to check on everyone at the end of shift so I thought I’d come and wake you from your nap.”
“Fuck, I wish. Although I’m finally up to date with the accounts and social media scheduling, so it ain’t all bad.”
I rise from my seat, grabbing my phone to shove in my pocket. It went quiet after my earlier chat with Cassidy, so I have no doubt her and Jack are deep in dreamland right now.
I follow Abby out to see the team finishing the nightly cleaning. They’ve done a great job—the bar is sparkling and the floor clean and tidy.
“Thanks, guys. It was a busy one tonight. I appreciate your help.” I look across to Abby. “Did you split the tip jar?”
“Sure did. Your split is on the end of the bar.”
I shake my head. “I wasn’t even out here for that long tonight. I don’t want it. Share it between yourselves.” I walk over to the little envelope on the bar, which she snatches out of my hand.
“Fine, let’s chuck it back in the jar as a starter for next time.” She looks round and gets nods from the team before emptying the envelope back into the jar.
“Everyone got a ride home?” I ask.
“Abby’s dropping us,” says Dan, gesturing to him and Sarah.
“Sweet, well, I’ll see you tomorrow. You’re all in tomorrow, right?”
“Sure are,” Abby says, coming up behind me and giving me a hug.
“What was that for?”
“You just looked like you needed it.” She pats my shoulder. The other two go to grab their belongings from the back room and the trio make their way over to the door.
“You gonna be long?” Abby asks. “We can wait.”
“Nah, go ahead. I’ll just lock up the office, then I’ll head out, too.” I watch as my three staff leave and flick the door locked behind them while I finish up.
Ten minutes later, I’m ready to go. I pull my phone from my pocket and wonder what to do. I shoot a text to our little group.
Me: Long shot, but is anyone up?
I should just head back to my place as I’m exhausted and not good for much else anyway. But I can’t control the quickened thump of my heart as I see ‘Jack is typing’ at the top of the chat window.
Jack: Cass is dead to the world, but I’m awake. Want me to let you in? *winking face emoji*
Me: Sounds good. Alright if I park in the visitor's bay to save me running my car home first?
Jack: Go for it. See you soon x
I drive over to Cassidy and Jack’s building and park up in the visitor’s bay. I hesitate at the main door, not wanting to wake Cassidy up by buzzing the door, so instead pull my phone out and call Jack.
He answers straight away with a whisper. “Tom?”
“Yeah, I’m outside. I didn’t want the buzzer to wake Cassidy up.”
“No worries, I’ll buzz you in. See you soon.”
He hangs up and a moment later, the door buzzes open. I take the lift up, too tired to contemplate the stairs. As the doors open and I step out, it’s a comfort to see Jack propping up the door frame to Cassidy’s flat.
“Hey, you look done in.” He frowns at me.
“Yep.” I’m exhausted. This was a mistake. I should have just gone home. He grabs me in a bear hug, taking me by surprise.
“Let’s get you hydrated and tucked up.” He pushes me into the flat, closing and locking the front door before he strides over to the coffee table and lifts a glass of water, passing it to me. I guzzle it down, not realising until that moment that it’s been ages since I drank anything.
“Shower or bed?”
“Is Cassidy asleep?”
“Yes, but she seems to sleep like a log. I doubt it would wake her.”
“Nah, don’t want to chance it. I’ll grab one in the morning. I’ll just head to the bathroom first.”
He grabs the glass out of my hand and goes to the kitchen to refill it while I go to the bathroom. When I come out, he’s waiting for me. He guides me into Cassidy’s bedroom and I stand, feeling confused, as he strips off my t-shirt, then his. Then he shucks my jeans down, crouching to pull them off my ankles as well as my socks. My shoes were abandoned by the door when I came in. I’m gripped in another bear hug before he pushes me towards the bed. We are both in our boxer shorts. He urges me into the bed beside Cassidy and then climbs in behind me.
“You’re being weird.” This is very un-Jack-like. He’s usually only taking my clothes off when he wants to fuck.
“Maybe it’s time someone took care of you rather than the other way around,” he says quietly. My eyes widen as my heart thumps in my chest. Maybe he does care? He spoons behind me, kisses my shoulder, and pats my abs before turning the light off.
Through all the activity, Cassidy hasn’t moved at all. She really does sleep hard. Just like she does everything else. She’s laid on her side, facing us. I shimmy across the bed so I can lay a hand over her hip and she gives a sigh, snuggling a little closer. It’s not long before I fall asleep, surrounded by Cassidy and Jack and feeling more relaxed than I have all day.
I’m vaguely aware of Jack getting up the next morning to head to the gym before we go to brunch. The sun is streaming in through the crack in the curtains when I finally wake. I look around the room, remembering I’m at Cassidy’s place. And I’m all alone in her bed, which feels weird. I give myself a moment to get my bearings and then stumble from the bed.
I find Cassidy curled up on the couch, with a laptop on her knees and her hands wrapped around a mug. She looks up as I open the door wide, giving me a giant smile. “Hey, sleepyhead, how you doing?”
“I’m good. What’s the time?”
She looks down at her laptop. “10:30.”
“Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep this late. Have you been awake long?”
“It’s okay, you must have needed it. Jack messaged me to say he’d gone to the gym and that you’d arrived late and exhausted. I’ve only been up for about an hour. Just been looking at some feedback Jack gave me last night on a scene I wrote. You want a cuppa?”
“A coffee would be great… and, uh, a shower, if that’s okay?” I ask sheepishly.
“Go for it. Jack left his key and said you can go and grab some clothes from his place if you don’t want to go back to yours before brunch.”
“Ah, sweet. I hadn’t thought of that.”
She puts the laptop and mug down before she walks towards me. “Are you not a morning person, big guy?” she asks with a laugh.
“Coffee usually helps,” I tell her with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, sorry for taking so long. Come on, let’s get you caffeinated.” She leads me through to her kitchen, where I lean my exhausted body against a counter while she makes me a drink with her pod coffee machine. She even froths the milk before she hands it to me. I give a grateful sigh as I cradle the mug and take a big swallow.
“This is delicious, thank you.” I lean over to give her a kiss. “What time did Jack leave?”
“He messaged about 8:30 am, so I guess around then.” Jeez, crazy guy.
“Shall I use the shower at his place?”
She bites her lips and stares at me for a moment. “Why don’t you just grab some clothes, then come back here and use mine? I thought we could share.”
I blink as my mind conjures up the image of us both naked, wet and entwined in the shower. “I can get behind that idea.”
When I let myself into his flat, I notice a stack of books on the table by the entrance. I can’t stop myself from peeking at the titles and raise my eyebrows when I realise they are all about New York city. He must be planning a trip. I make a mental note to ask him about it later as I make my way through to his bedroom to find some clothes.