Turn To Me (20 page)

“Shut up and walk,” was Kade’s only response.

We made it to the car in this fashion and I climbed into the passenger seat.  I didn’t speak as he got in and drove to the bar, the silence thick between us.

Kade hustled me inside The Drop in much the same fashion.  I was relieved to get away from him once the door had swung closed behind us.

“I have to leave for a while,” Kade said, “meet my friend and give him the package.  What time do you get off?”

“I work until close tonight.”

“I’ll be back before then.”

“That’s just great,” I said with a saccharine smile.  “I’ll be counting the minutes.”

The look in his eyes said he didn’t appreciate my sarcasm. 

“Try to lose the bitchy before I get back,” he said dryly, and before I had a chance to retort, he was gone.

I was relieving the day bartender, Chad.  He was new and had only been working at The Drop for a couple of weeks.  About my age, he was married with a toddler daughter.  I’d gotten the impression he and his wife had married right out of high school.  He took classes at night at the local community college, getting some kind of business degree, but I couldn’t remember what he’d told me.

“Hey, Chad,” I greeted him, as I stowed my purse under the bar.  My blood pressure was still up from my anger with Kade, but I strove to be pleasant.  Being in a foul mood wouldn’t help my tips tonight.

“Hey, Kathleen,” he said with a smile.  “How are you?”

“I’m good,” I lied.  “You?”

“Great,” he said.  “Business was good today.  Holiday shoppers and all.  Hopefully tonight will be, too.”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” I sighed.  Business had been slow the past couple of weeks and my bank account was dipping dangerously low.  “You and Holly have plans tonight?”  Holly was his wife.

“Nah,” he said, “just studying for a final tomorrow.  But we’re planning on taking Amber to see Santa Claus Friday night at the mall.”

Amber was their little girl, and from the pictures he’d shown me, she was as cute as could be with little brown curls and soft brown eyes.

“That sounds like fun,” I said with a genuine smile this time.

Chad filled me in on the few customers that were currently in the bar.  Tish and Jill were waitressing tonight and I saw them come in to relieve their daytime counterparts.

After Chad left, it was slow for a while, then people started trickling in with more frequency.  A group of five guys came in and sat at a table near the bar.  They ordered a few rounds of beer and were soon laughing loudly and sounded like they were having a good time.

We were busier than Romeo had planned for and soon I was coming out from behind the bar to help Tish and Jill deliver drinks to tables.  A lot of people were ordering food as well so Jeff, the cook, was moving fast as he tried to keep up.  I was glad I didn’t have time to think and my pocket was getting heavy with tips, which was a relief.

I was delivering another round of beers to the group of five guys when they decided to pay more attention to me than usual.

“Hey sweetie,” said a big guy, catching hold of my arm, “don’t run off.  We could use a little company.”

I smiled tightly.  This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for a woman bartender.  I’d had my share of overzealous drunks coming on to me over the years.

“Sorry,” I said, “gotta work, guys.”  I pulled my arm out of his grasp and turned away, only to have him wrap his arm around my waist and yank me toward him.  The move nearly upset the table, which would’ve spilled all those beers and really pissed me off.

“Let me go,” I said, still trying to be nice but firm. 

“C’mon,” he slurred, his breath rank with beer, “we’d have a real good time.  You’ve got a helluva rack, babe.”

The other guys hooted and laughed, encouraging the idiot drunk who had a hold of me.  Over his shoulder, I caught Jill’s eye and she nodded, hurrying away.  When crap like this happened and it was only women on the floor, we’d go grab Jeff.  Jeff used to be in the Army and was a big guy.  He had tattoos up and down his arms and shaved his head.  A cigarette often hung out of his mouth while he cooked, but Romeo was too scared of Jeff to tell him he wasn’t supposed to smoke in the kitchen.

The guy who had a hold of me reached over, and to my shock, pulled the neckline of my shirt so he could leer down at my breasts.  Enough was enough, I thought, grabbing one of the ice cold beers I’d just delivered to the table.  With a quick flick of my wrist, I threw the liquid into his face.

He howled in outrage, abruptly releasing me.  The other guys at the table seemed stunned speechless before they started guffawing at their beer-soaked friend.

I turned to beat a hasty retreat, but was abruptly caught up short when the guy grabbed my ponytail.  I gritted my teeth in pain as he turned me back around, his hand moving to the back of my neck and squeezing.

“You fucking bitch,” he snarled, his face contorted with rage.

“Hey Bob, let her go, man,” one of his buddies said uneasily.  None of them were laughing now as they watched.  I also noticed none of them tried to intervene.  Cowards.  Looked like chivalry really was dead.  Bob’s hand tightened on the back of my neck and I tried not to grimace, but it hurt.  I pulled at his arm, but couldn’t budge him.  Sometimes it really sucked to be a woman, I thought grimly.  What I wouldn’t give to be a guy, 6’2”, and built right about now.

“You’re hurting me, Bob,” I managed to grit out, hoping one of his friends might show some sense before this got even uglier.  And where the hell was Jeff? 

“C’mon, Bob,” another guy said, “let’s go somewhere else, man.”

“If I already got a beer dumped on me, I should at least get to cop a feel, right sugar?” Bob sneered. 

“Let her go and I might consider not breaking your arm.”

I knew that voice.  My stomach knitted itself into knots even as relief flowed through me.  Bob raised his gaze to peer behind me.

“Fuck off,” he said dismissively.

Things happened too fast then for me to follow.  All I knew was that in the next few seconds, I was free of Bob’s hold and Kade had him face down on the table, his arm bent at an unnatural angle behind his back.  Blood flowed freely from Bob’s nose and glass lay shattered amongst the beer spilled all over the floor.  Damn it.  Now I’d have to mop up the whole freaking mess.

Bob’s friends scrambled away, their jaws agape, and I noticed several tables nearby had gone quiet as people turned to see the commotion.  Bob’s face was contorted with pain.  Kade bent down to whisper something in Bob’s ear.

“I...I’m sorry,” Bob babbled to me in his prone position as blood dripped from his nose to the table.  “I’m a...”  He paused as Kade whispered again in his ear.  “I’m a fucking asshole and-”  Kade whispered again.  “-and won’t bother you again.  I swear.”  He howled as Kade pulled his arm up a bit further while hissing something in his ear. 

Kade stepped back and Bob’s friends quickly gathered him up and hustled out the door.

The people that had stopped to stare started talking amongst themselves again, and I was grateful to not be the center of attention any longer.  Just then, Jill and Jeff hurried up to me.

“What happened?” Jill asked anxiously, looking at the mess on the floor and the empty table.  “Are they gone?”

“Yeah,” I said, shakily pushing my hair back from my face.  “They’re gone.  Thanks anyway, though.”  My ponytail had come loose so I nervously redid it, wrapping the band tightly around my hair.

Jeff gave a grunt and returned to the kitchen while Jill went to fetch a mop.  Grabbing my tray from where it had fallen, I crouched and started picking up glass, my movements quick and jerky.  On top of having to clean up their mess, they'd also stiffed me for their tab.  Assholes.

“You all right?” 

I looked up.  Kade had crouched down next to me.  He looked remarkably calm for someone that had just broken a man’s arm quicker than I could tie my shoelaces. 

“I’m fine,” I said, forcing my lips into a smile that felt it might crack my face.

Kade’s brow lifted in a silent question that I ignored, returning my attention to the mess.  After a moment or two, Kade began helping me pick up the glass.  Jill came back with a mop, and before long it looked like nothing had happened.

I returned to my position behind the bar, having fallen behind now, and was glad to have plenty to do.   It wasn’t until after ten that things began to slow down as people drifted out the door.

Since it was quieter, I could hear the Christmas music playing over the speakers and quietly sang along to one of my favorites, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” while I washed glasses.  Kade sat at the end of the bar, nursing a cup of coffee.  We hadn’t said anything else to each other and I avoided going down toward him.

The door to the bar opened again and I glanced up to see if someone was going out or coming in.  The glass I’d been drying slipped out of my fingers and back into the water, but I didn’t notice.  My eyes were fixed on Blane, who had just entered, and the tiny blonde attached to his arm.

I couldn’t believe it.  He was bringing another woman here?  Right under my nose?  I blinked, pressing my eyes tightly shut, before reopening them.  I had to be seeing things.  But no, they were sliding into a booth together.

“Excuse me, bartender, can I get a refill?”

I automatically turned to see who needed me and saw it was Kade that had spoken.  Grabbing up the coffee pot, I walked down to where he sat.

“Play along, remember?” he said in an undertone, as I poured more coffee in his mug.  My eyes jerked up to his.  His head tipped ever so slightly towards where Blane and the girl sat.  With a start, I realized what Blane and he meant.  This was a setup.  So whoever was stalking me would think Blane and I had broken up.

The relief I felt was so strong I should have been embarrassed.  Instead, I was just absurdly glad.  I gave Kade a quick nod to let him know I understood.

“Oh my God!”

I turned around to see Tish standing by the bar, her eyes locked on Blane.

“Isn’t that your boyfriend?” she asked me.

“Yeah,” I confirmed grimly.

“Who’s the chick?”

“No idea.”

“If I were you I’d be getting my ass over there and finding out,” she advised.

We both watched as Blane took the woman’s hand in his and she laughed at something he said.  Jealousy spiked hard inside me, even though I knew this was a setup.

“Stay here,” Tish said suddenly, “I’ll get the lay of the land.  Be right back.”

She snagged two glasses of ice water and I watched as she delivered them to Blane’s table.  She chatted with them for a minute, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.  A few moments later, she was back.

“Well?” I asked, anxious to hear what she had found out.

“What an asshole,” she snorted.  “The girl said it’s their first date.  He’s a jerk.  Cheating on you and bringing her here, of all places.  You guys have a fight or something?  Is he trying to get back at you?”

“No,” I said.  “No fight.  Maybe he just doesn’t like doing the break up scene.  Figured I’d get the idea if he brought someone here.”  I infused my voice with bitter anger, which wasn't that hard.

“Whatever,” Tish said, disgust evident in her voice.  “He’s a dick, my friend.  Better off without him.”

“Should I go over there?” I asked her.

“Depends,” she shrugged.  “You want revenge or dignity?” 

Our eyes met in mutual agreement.

“Revenge,” I replied evenly.

“Dish it up, girlfriend,” she encouraged. 

I took a deep breath and walked over to the booth.  Close up, I got a better look at the girl.  She was young and petite, with long blonde hair and blue eyes.  She looked up at me expectantly, a smile on her face.  I ignored her and turned to Blane.

“Hi, Blane,” I said pleasantly, though I could feel my palms sweating.  This felt much too real and I tried to keep in mind what Kade had said.  “Who’s your friend?”

“Kathleen,” Blane said, looking uncomfortable, “I didn’t realize you were working tonight.”

I smiled tightly.  “Well, I am.  So tell me, who’s your friend?”

“My name is Apryl,” the girl interjected, holding out her hand to be shaken.  “But it’s not spelled like the month – it’s a y instead of an i.”  Her voice was high and delicate, like the rest of her, and I automatically gave her hand a perfunctory shake. 

Yet another girl who misspelled her name.  My eyes slid to Blane’s.  Seriously?  Where did he find them?  Blane’s lips twitched as he read my face and he quickly looked away.

“Are you a friend of Blane’s?” Apryl asked curiously.

“Well,” I said, drawing out the syllable, “up until about five minutes ago, I thought I was his girlfriend.  But I’m guessing that’s no longer the case, right Blane?”

“Girlfriend?”  Apryl looked at Blane, alarmed.  “You never said you had a girlfriend!”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Blane corrected, his poker face back in place.  “We broke up.”

“You got that right,” I said, injecting anger in my voice.  “We are so over.”

I grabbed a glass of ice water and dumped it in Blane’s lap.  That made it twice in one night that I’d thrown a drink on someone, a personal record.

Apryl gasped, and I noted with satisfaction that so did Blane.  I turned on my heel and hurried away before I started laughing at the look on Blane’s face.  Returning to the bar, Tish held up her palm and I high-fived her.  I shot a quick glance at Kade.  One corner of his mouth was twisted upward in a smirk and he raised his coffee cup to me, as if in a toast, before taking a drink.

Blane and Apryl left quickly after that.  Blane’s slacks were soaked, which I’m sure didn’t feel that great once he was outside in the freezing cold.

Glancing at the clock, I saw there were only a couple hours until close.  The bar emptied as I did my prep work for the dayshift tomorrow until only myself, Kade and the waitresses remained.  We stopped serving food at eleven so Jeff was gone, too.

“You saw the schedule for the weekend, right?” Tish asked me as she leaned against the bar.

“No,” I answered.  “Why?”

“Romeo added you to the schedule Friday,” she said.