"Welcome to Spades please, have fun!"
I exclaimed to the aggressive looking men who entered the bar. The leader grunted and walked his boys to the nearest seat. As I walked the floor I dodged the rowdy customers and their groping hands. I got to the bar and began making drinks for the new guys that just walked in.
"A lemon zest for the big guy, two blue jays for the twins, and a mixed berry dash for the creepy one."
My hands were fast as they picked and poured each concoction that best suited the men's taste.
"Damn Bliss, your drinks are one of the best fucking things I've ever tasted. How are you so good at figuring out what they need?"
Jay asked picking up the drinks and taking it to the men at table 14.
"It's my thing man. I just look at em' and my mind just goes to work."
I said flipping a bottle over my head and pouring a little of it into the lemon zest."
"Little extra for the big one. He seems stressed."
"Of course he is. Mr. J is out and running the show again. None of these boys are ready to deal with the big man if he finds his stuff ain't up to par."
Maria said sauntering towards me.
She was one of the Queens of the bar. They were the entertainment for the men who strolled in for "some fun", as we say. I've only seen pictures of him in the papers and what I read tells me he's not the type you fuck with. If you got on his bad side, the fun he had in store for you left you dead or worse.
"When you say "out" you mean he broke out of the ward again? What the hell do they do there if they can't keep his crazy ass in?"
She looked at me in confusion.
"He's the Joker. He has ways of getting people to do what he wants."
"That literally tells me nothing."
"Oh yea, your just here for work. See honey he's the guy, alright. If ya want real fun, you hang with him. Lot of us look up to him, ya know. Taking down the Bat is fucking great for us."
"For you maybe, but the rest of us don't live a life of crime. How do you even know the Bat is gone? He's probably somewhere licking his wounds."
"Oh sweetie, nobody is going to mess with you. You're my gurl."
Maria hugged me and walked to her station and began to entertain our overzealous guest. The night was much like any other, except at any moment the Joker could walk in a lay waste to everyone here if he felt the need. From what Jay, the acting owner has told me the Joker's minds works in spontaneous ways. Some days up is down and down is up or if someone were to look at him for longer than a second he took their eyes, as he saw it as a meant to show dominance.
Lost in thought of impending doom I did not notice that the very man that could literally end everything walked into the bar. I looked up to see sherbet green hair past by and enter the special room in the center of the room. A large rounded leather couch circled the enclosure. It was windowless with gold bars surrounding it that held up the roof of the enclosure. It was a fancy gazebo. I assume the bars were for the strippers, I mean Queens. No one was ever allowed to use it, only him. He relaxed in his chair and one of the servers ran to his side. I could tell from over here that she was stumbling over her words, but he seemed unfazed by it. She finally stood up and came towards the bar and asked for a drink for him.
"What does he want to drink?"
I asked her.
"He-he said surprise him".
She then scuttled to the restroom as tears where streaming down her face.
"The fuck!"
"Well that's your specialty sweetie"
Jay said rounding the bar.
"He's not so bad if you stay on his good side."
"Where the hells that?"
I asked looking at the bottles of liquor too afraid to concentrate.
"You got this"
He said patting my shoulder.
"If I fucking die I swear I'll haunt your ass."
Taking a deep breath I looked at the Joker and tried to get a feel for him as I do with anyone. I kept remembering that I should never look him in the eye or I'll lose them, but I needed to see him to create a drink for him.
"Hey hurry the fuck up! You don't keep the man waiting for shit!"
One of the goons shouted at us.
It was then that I realized the place had gone quiet, probably when he walked in. He has been gone so long people forgot how to act around him. I had to do my job so I looked at him and studied him. I looked from his black dress pants, to his white shirt and suspenders and found his drink. I met his eyes and never looked away as I called out for the ingredients for his drink. The multitude of colors that it created was beautiful. I was too far in to making my drink to be nervous. Once done I handed it to the girl from earlier. She looked at me horror. I winked.
"It's called Fun House"
She nodded and skated towards him. I could not make out what he said, but she placed the drink down and took of her skates. Guess he was done making us wear them. She then handed him the drink and never taken his eyes off me he drank it. He closed his eyes and burst out laughing I felt the whole place jump.
"Now this is a drink! Come here!"
His husky voice shocked me. I was not expecting such a voice.
"Bliss he's calling you and ya gotta go."
Jay said nervously.
"Please honey, don't piss him off and do whatever he says."
"Can I run?"
I asked looking towards the door, which was on the other side of the room.
"I can guarantee that he will fucking chase you. He'll see it as a game and you won't like how it ends"
I took off the skates and walked towards him. He looked at my feet and acknowledged I was paying attention. He crooked his finger and told me to come closer. I was directed to sit on the table and my knees were in-between his legs. His blue eyes stared into my soul and when I tried to look away he tilted his head towards me to keep contact with my eyes.
"Mm, are you scared Bliss?"
He asked, his red lips stretching into a wide tooth smile. What big teeth you have, I thought. It was like his voice slithered around my neck and squeezed. I could only nod.
"I just want to say that I loooooove this- uh- Fun House. You're going make me more. Mm, every day, yea. Mm, yea every day."
"I only work on the weekends, Friday-Sunday"
I mumbled.
"What was that? You're going to have to speak up. Did you say, yes sir? I think I heard, yes sir."
"My apologizes sir, but I can only work on the weekends"
"What's more important than me, honey?"
He came closer to my face. He smelled really nice.
"I am a student, sir"
"Student! Well, I guess I'd be a pretty big asshole to ask you to drop out and serve me whenever I fucking want, right?
He growled.
I looked him in the eyes and he raised a brow. My eyes said yes, but I said to him that I could make it on the days I work here or I would have to find another place to work and I did not wish to inconvenience him. He placed both arms on each side of the table encompassing me. His ruby red lips were inches from mine.
"Well I guess I'll see you then, huh. Don't be late. Tardiness is a death wish."
He turned away from me and waved me away, effectively done with the conversation.
