Protect Me (7 page)

“Oh who are you kidding, look who you’re talking to sister. I invented hot monkey sex! Now watch and learn.” Ashley looked sideways at Abbi before walking over to a nice looking guy at the edge of the bar.

Abbi watched as she touched his arm while she got his drink order, smiling so hard it made Abbi’s own cheeks hurt. As Ashley walked over to the beer tap the guy’s eyes didn’t leave her ass, and Ashley played it up, sashaying around hard enough to break a hip. Watching as she bent over to pick a napkin up off of the floor, it was everything Abbi could do to not stare with her mouth wide open. As she poured the beer, Ashley glanced back over her shoulder giving the guy a wink. She topped off the glass and returned it to her unsuspecting victim. He fiddled with his wallet without breaking eye contact with her and before he could lay the twenty on the counter.

“Hi, um, I’m Matt. Would you like to grab a drink sometime?” The attractive man asked Ashley.

Abbi couldn’t believe it. It actually worked, in a matter of four minutes Matt had gone from complete stranger to Ashley’s next date. She battled back and forth in her head, one side telling her to go for it, the other telling her to just save her loses and go for someone a little more on her level. I am sure there is some guy running a comic book store that would love to take her out. Not that she would probably find any of them in here.

“See it’s that easy.” Ashley stuffed the napkin scribbled with black ink into her bra.

“Yeah, for someone who knows what they are doing it is.” Abbi looked exasperated.

“What’s wrong Abbi?” Ashley looked genuinely concerned. She hadn’t intended to upset Abbi.

“It’s just that…”

“What girl? You can tell me.”

“What if he shoots me down, or isn’t interested? What do I do then?”

“Well, I will be the first to tell you that won’t happen because he hasn’t taken his eyes off of you all night, but if for some reason he does, then just smile and move on to the next one. That’s the great thing about this city. There’s more fish out there than there is water to hold them. Now look he needs a refill, so go work your magic.” Ashley gave her an encouraging look.

Ok she was going to do this. And God help her, if she fell on her face hopefully she wouldn’t look too stupid doing it. She plastered a big smile on her face and walked over to Jeff.

“Well hello gorgeous. Where have you been all my life?” Jeff looked her up and down.

“The same place I will be the rest of your life, in your dreams.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. She made her best attempt to bat her eye lashes, but figured she just looked like she had dirt in her eye, as she grabbed a strand of her hair and twirled it around her finger.

“You’re dangerous, you know that?”

“How so?”

“Because you’re beautiful and you know it. Not to mention that mouth of yours. I don’t think anyone has quite put me in my place before like you have tonight. I like it.”

Oh hell, again she was at a loss for words. She could keep up the sarcastic remarks but what the hell do you say when someone says something like that to you. “Well I appreciate the compliment.” Yep, that was lame. “So would you like another beer?”

“Can I get it to go? Preferably with you?” she saw a look of hope in his eyes. For the first time the roles were reversed and she could see it happening right in front of her face. He thought she was going to turn him down.

“It’s possible, though not tonight because I have to close. But get me your number and maybe we can get together next week when I know my schedule.” Abbi merely choked on her words. Her mouth was so dry and not to mention her heart was thumping so hard in her throat she could barely breathe.

“Ok, it’s a date.” Jeff reached for a napkin as he scribbled down his number. “Don’t break my heart, beautiful.”

“Well I say. I would never.” Abbi said in a deep southern drawl.

Jeff smiled sliding her the napkin as she was stepping back away from the bar top with a shit eating grin. She looked up, Trent was standing at the top of the staircase leading up to the offices on the second floor. The look on his face sad that he was less than pleased. She watched him stalk through the door before slamming it shut. She flinched only at the thought, as the music was too loud to hear it slam.

As she looked back up she saw Jeff’s eyes turning back from the same spot she had been looking at.

“Having some boss issues?”

“I am not sure what his problem is tonight, maybe he’s having a hard time getting it out.”

Jeff looked at her with a confused and slightly disgusted look.

“The stick up his ass.” She laughed.

******

Trent stalked into the office. He slammed the door coming up to the second floor and then slammed the one going into the office. Screw it, no one was up here and no one would hear over the sound of the loud music.

He paced angrily across the floor of his office. There was no way this guy was coming into his bar and trying to take his things from him. He was never one to share his toys and he wasn’t going to start now. He knew it was unreasonable to have him thrown out. Hell, all he did was talk to her.

The images of Abbi and Blondie were flashing through his mind. The way she smiled. She didn’t smile like that with him. He could see the sway in her hips as she walked over to give him his beer. He could feel the anger burning up his face.  Maybe he would go make some ridiculous claim and have the guy thrown out, after all it was his club, he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

He walked around his desk and sat in his chair. As he stared off towards the wall contemplating a plan, he heard his phone go off in his pocket. He reached in pulling it free and after taking in the number on the caller ID he immediately answered it, putting the phone up to his ear.

“This is Trent” He answered the phone nervously. There was no way he would be able to get away with ignoring anymore of these calls.

“Mr. Williams, I hope you haven’t been dodging my phone calls. I haven’t been able to get a hold of you for the past few days. I was beginning to get worried that you had gone back on our deal.” A heavy Hispanic voice came through the receiver.

“No, not at all. I’m sorry. Things here with the club have been very busy. And my girlfriend, she uh, she has been sick.” He wiped his hands up and down on his slacks trying to wipe the sweat off, hoping that he sounded convincing.

“Well Mr. Williams. Busy means money. You do have my money right?”

“Yes, I have your payment for this month.”

“That’s great Mr. Williams. Really Because I didn’t want to have to hurt you. I will be sending an associate down tonight to pick it up. Have it ready.”

“Yes sir. I will make sure it’s ready.” Trent prayed in his head that they had made enough in sales tonight to cover the money he had used.

“Good boy. Oh and Trent.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t make me hunt you down again, if you do. I’ll bury you and everyone around you, including that little girlfriend of yours.”

With that the line went dead, he dropped the phone on his desk. Shit, how was he going to pull this one off? He did mental math to calculate the numbers in his head. He was pretty sure they would make enough, but it would be cutting it very close. Maybe this one time he would get lucky. Fumbling with his key ring, he found a small silver key and inserted it into the corner drawer of his desk. Unlocking it he pulled the drawer out and removed a small clear baggie with a white powdery content inside. Before he was able to open the baggie his office door opened.

“Hey Trent do we have anymore boxes of Bacardi?” Ashley walked in.

“No, they are on order. And will you knock next time. Shit!” He snapped back at her.

“Why, what are you doing that you don’t want me to know about?” She grinned as she stepped closer to the desk.

Taking a small amount he made a line on the desk, before rolling up a twenty dollar bill and handing it up to Ashley. In one quick motion she snorted the drug into her nostril before falling down into the chair in front of his desk.

He just needed to take the edge off.

******

Abbi couldn’t seem to get the grin off of her face the rest of the night. She had actually gotten someone’s phone number and was going on a date. A real date. Not one that included crinoline in any form. Flashbacks of her prom night came into her head, the cheap tux her date had worn, his comb over, oh yeah she had certainly moved up in the world. She tried her best to focus on her closing duties but her giddiness seemed to get the better of her. She jumped as Judy snapped her out of her day dream.

“Spill the beans girlfriend!” Judy had been so busy all night working the private booths that Abbi hadn’t had a chance to really chat with her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Abbi tried to hide the smile from her face.

“Oh, you know exactly what I am talking about! So what happened with Blondie? I had to go work the back before I could find out what happened.”

“Well he asked me out.” Judy grabbed Abbi’s hands and they jumped up and down like school girls squealing with excitement.

“Girl, I told you that men wouldn’t be able to resist you. Next time don’t doubt me.” She said with a sideways grin. “So, where are you going?”

“We haven’t made those plans yet, but we are supposed to get together this next week.”

“If you two are done talking about your boy toys, I’d like to see Abbi in my office.” Trent had a way of appearing out of thin air it seemed. He stared at the two before heading back towards the stairs.

Oh shit, a sinking feeling in her stomach told her that she was about to get fired. For what, she had no idea.

“Well, it was nice knowing you girls. I will probably need you for a reference soon.” She threw the bar towel in her hand onto the counter as she made her way around the bar.

“Let’s pray it’s a promotion!” Judy giggled nervously making Abbi’s stomach sink lower.

Abbi headed towards the stairs, once she got to them she slowly took them one at a time. It seemed a little ridiculous to draw out the inevitable, but this was only her second night. She really didn’t want to be fired. She made her way to the top of the stairs, taking a deep breath as she glanced back towards Judy, who was now standing beside Ashley giving her two thumbs up. She was going to miss those girls even if she hadn’t known them very long. She walked into the hallway leading to Trent’s office. Stopping just short of the door she saw it was cracked open.  

As she reached towards the knob, she realized that there was someone else in Trent’s office. She paused listening to the conversation, it didn’t sound like anyone she worked with and even though she couldn’t make out all of the words being exchanged she felt as though the two were arguing. Feeling as though listening was betraying Trent’s confidences she turned to walk back down the hallway, when the floor outside of his office creaked loudly. Oh damnit. Knowing she had been busted she slowly grabbed the handle of the door and peeked her head into his office.

“Uh, you wanted to see me?” She glanced at Trent whose face was as pale as a ghost.

“Yeah, baby, why don’t you go over to the employee area and wait for me. This will only take a minute.” He said blasting her a smile before winking at her.

Not responding she just stepped back and closed the door. Why on earth did he just call her baby? That was a term of endearment used between two people in a committed relationship. Not a nickname used by a boss towards his employee. Screw betrayal, she wanted to know what was going on. Trying her best to avoid the creaky floorboard she stepped closer to Trent’s door and carefully leaned her ear against it. At first she didn’t hear anything, until the muffled voices started again.

“Listen, cut the bullshit. I was sent here to pick up for Mr. Hernandez and he gave me specific instructions on what I do if you don’t come through.” As if listening through a door wasn’t hard enough, the man’s heavy Hispanic accent didn’t make it any easier.

“Hey, hey I got it man. You just gotta give me a few minutes. Shit we just closed up.”

“I shouldn’t have to wait! It should have been ready!” She flinched as the man shouted.

“Look, chill out. Give me five minutes and you will have your money.” Hearing footsteps coming towards the door, she quickly walked into the employee area just across the hall and jumped down onto the couch. She took a deep breath trying to calm her heartbeat. She did not want Trent to know she had been eavesdropping on his conversation. She wondered briefly who Trent would have owed money to, the bank maybe for mortgage, but she didn’t know of any bankers who collected money in that way. And who was Mr. Hernandez? Quickly she erased the thoughts from her head as she saw Trent walk into the area.

“Hey, sorry about that, I had an impromptu visit from a business associate.” He looked as though he was trying to be as convincing as she was about having been sitting there the whole time.

“No biggie.” She said standing. “I guess I will get my stuff, just let me know when I can come by and grab my last check.” She glanced up at him to see his face forming into a confused look.

“Uh, where do you think you’re going Country?” He tipped his head to the side as a smile developed across his lips “I’m not firing you; I just wanted to see how you were liking everything.” His smile faded a little “and to apologize for earlier. It’s been a stressful few weeks to say the least.”

“Oh, um, everything is great. Thanks for checking. And you know don’t worry about earlier. Sometimes I need a good kick in the ass to get my head back in the game.” She let out a nervous giggle.

“Oh trust me,” he said stepping a little too close for Abbi’s comfort, “I will make sure your ass is well taken care of.” He smiled a wicked grin before he turned and walked out of the door.

Talk about a man who had more mood swings than she did, he was so mercurial at times. One minute he was strictly business, the next he was hitting on her, and the next he was jumping down her throat. She tried not to think too far into it, it had been a long night and she was sure that she was just overanalyzing things. She yawned as she headed out the door towards the bar. Maybe the girls had gotten the rest of the closing work done, she suddenly felt the adrenaline from a few minutes earlier wearing off, leaving her very tired.