As always, the line outside the club wrapped completely around the building before winding through the parking lot. Lexa had never parked in the section that was reserved for employees, even though it was right by the entrance. She drove her shit-wagon to the back of the lot, hopped out, and took the long way.
Some of the club's regulars called out to her and waved. She nodded her head in response like a badass.
Grounders was one of the most popular clubs in New York, probably because it catered to a large, yet specific demographic: women who just wanted to go out, dance, and not get hit on by creepy guys. Sometimes it was a strip club. Sometimes it was a sushi bar. Sometimes it was a whatever-the-fuck Luna wanted it to be for the day.
Luna was standing at the entrance, talking with the bouncers.
"Lex!" she shouted, tottering over on sparkly purple platform shoes. She grabbed Lexa in a bone-crushing hug and then held her out at arm's length.
"Look what the wind dragged in!".
"Hey Lu," Lexa said, prying her off. "You know, this is the third time this week I've had to fill in. I'm not gonna tell you how to run this place, but somebody's ass needs to get fired around here."
Luna threw her hands in the air dramatically. "Well it's not my fault all of your replacements have been absolute horse crap! Not to mention, Anya and Tristan's childish feud has escalated…..wounding each other up. Just yesterday Anya threw an empty beer bottle at him from across the bar."
Lexa sighed, "My cousin never did have much self control."
Luna slung an arm over Lexa's shoulders and started pulling her toward the entrance. "Now get your booty behind that bar so we can pretend you never left! Maybe you'll come to your senses and beg me for your job back."
Lexa laughed and stepped back, letting one of the bouncers open the giant pink double doors. "Something tells me I wouldn't have to beg very hard." Luna shrugged and winked before returning to her post at the head of the line.
Everything inside the club was pink and plush except the bar. The bar was located on the wall furthest from the entrance. The lights behind the liquor bottles slowly changed color every few minutes.
Lexa was pretty sure that Luna modeled the club's interior after what goes on in her brain. She was a smart and successful business woman, but she was also batshit crazy.
Instead of going straight to the bar, she decided to make a detour to the DJ booth. She passed by the stage, which was still being set up for the first act of the evening. In a few hours, the floor would be covered in body glitter.
The DJ booth sat on a platform that overlooked the entire club. The noise coming from the speakers was almost deafening up close. How Ryder did that every night was beyond her. It's almost impossible to stay up there for more than a few minutes before your the pounding in your head forces you to retreat.
Ryder turned, glancing at who it was, before turning back to his turntables.
"You picked the right night to return," He smirked.
Ryder bobbed his head along with the music and trailed his finger up and down the list of songs on her laptop screen.
"What? Why?" Lexa asked. Ryder just gestured behind her in response.
She turned towards the bar and frowned. Ilian and her cousin Lincoln were sitting on top of the bar, grinning like idiots as a dozen drunk girls lined up to write on their chests with markers. It was Body Paint Night.
"Not body paint again!" Lexa wanted to bang her head against the wall. "I hate that stuff! Now it's gonna be all over the counter, the stools, the bottles, the glasses! And guess who's going to be cleaning it up? And I hate those stupid black lights! They make me feel like I'm on drugs!"
Ryder gave a light chuckle, "And to think, just 7 years ago Lincoln was embarrassed to be seen without his shirt off."
"We've been a terrible influence," Lexa agreed.
The lights on the stage went up. Ryder slid his headphones off his neck and put them down on the counter.
"Oh wait, hold on," he said, pointing down to the stage as the floor manager, Shay, trotted out in a blue sequin dress.
Ryder grabbed the volume knob and allowed the song to slowly fade out. "It's show time."
Shay's voice filled the entire building as she reached center stage.
"Alright ladies! You know what time it is! But before we get this show on the road, let's give it up for DJ Rys, holding it down on the 1's and 2's! Holla!"
The crowd cheered and hooted for Ryder, who waved politely in return.
"I'm your hostess, Shay. And I have the pleasure of introducing our first act for tonight, a crowd favorite and a man that is sure to get you hot and keep you wet, Fireman Derrick!"
The crowd went crazy as Derrick strutted out to center stage in a full fireman's uniform. There was a sharp whistle beside her. Startled, she turned to see Luna, cheering louder than anybody else. Derrick looked up at her and blew her a kiss, which she "caught" and pressed to her lips.
Lexa and Luna had been best friends since diapers. Since her Uncle Gustus and Luna's dad were business partners, the two kids were often thrown together to play while the adults talked.
"I don't get how you can watch other women stuff money into your future husband's shiny gold thong and not get upset about it."
Luna shrugged. "I don't have to worry about Derrick. I know he doesn't want anything from these women but their money. And that money has gotten us plenty of nice stuff!" She smirked, gesturing to the water fountain. "And even if I didn't trust him, I can see everything from up here and he knows I'll break his legs if he steps out of line."
Lexa thought back to the Martial Arts class they had taken up when they were 6, and how Luna had made a 9 year old boy cry. "Good point. Anyways, I gotta get behind the bar since everyone is too busy being painted to make drinks."
"Alrighty! Catch ya later."
Since most of the women were crowding the stage to throw money at Derrick's junk, the bar wasn't very crowded. Niylah was pouring shots for a customer, Ilian and Lincoln were wiping paint off their abs with bar towels, while Anya and Emori were taking their turns as human canvases.
"Welcome back, traitor!" Lincoln called. "Here to steal our tips?" He grinned and held out his fist.
Lexa bumped it, then slapped his bare stomach, causing him to double over. "You know I don't keep your stupid tips. And don't use the bar towels for that!"
"You'd get more tips if you showed some skin," Anya called over her shoulder as some drunk chick drew squiggly hearts down thighs. "And more tips for you means more tips for me!"
Lexa snorted and shook her head. "Maybe I'll just pull down my pants so you can kiss my ass."
Lexa never participated in Luna's crazy games and theme nights. No body paint, no body shots, no lap dances. Those were her personal rules and Luna respected them. And even though the other bartenders liked to tease her about never showing skin, they knew the Ladies Night regulars tipped her very well. If you wanted someone to play with, you went to the other bartenders. But if you wanted a good drink, you came to Alexandria Woods.
Lexa threw her flannel on the back bar and started taking orders, making drinks, and ignoring the requests from women that wanted to do body shots. Pretty soon, Fireman Derrick's act ended and Officer Lincoln took to the stage, showing of his abs of steel.
The incredibly drunk brunette seated at the bar in front of them started to bang on the counter and flail wildly. "Arrest me, Officer! Take it all off!"
Lexa was about to tell her to shut the hell up and get away from the bar, but a flash of blonde caught her eye. Now, she was never one to believe in all that love at first sight bs, but when those bright, piercing blue eyes landed on her, it felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on her head. Lexa couldn't look away. She was absolutely stunning. But damn, she looked familiar. Oh crap, she wasn't a one night stand, was she? What could she say, she had a thing for blondes.
"O, take it easy," the blond girl laughed, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I think you've had one too many wine coolers, sweetie."
The blonde turned her head to Lexa, and she swore she'd never seen eyes more strikingly blue.
"Sorry for the mess. Two Beers Betty here can't hold her liquor very well."
Lexa blinked slowly and shook her head, trying to shake off the fuzziness that wrapped around her brain when the blonde looked at her. Oh god, she hoped her wasn't drooling.
Stop staring, you weirdo! Speak! Use your words!
Lexa cleared her throat, bringing herself back to the present, and tried to return her smile. "It's okay. You'd be surprised how dirty the counter gets," She gestured to Ilian who was taking his time putting on body paint.
The blonde chuckled, "I can only imagine. Must be a pain in the ass."
"As long as they don't puke I'm golden," Lexa gave the blonde a million dollar smile, "Can I help you ladies?"
"Well I'm afraid I'm cutting this one off," She gestured to the brunette beside her, "But I guess I'll have something. What do you recommend?"
"I make an amazing Long Island," She leaned over the bar, purposely exposing her rambunctious twins.
She saw the blonde's eyes flicker down for just a few seconds. Score
"U-uh, if you want." The blonde replied, avoiding eye contact.
"It's not what I want, it's whatever you want," Lexa replied, a little flirty, trying to catch the blonde's eye, but no luck so far. She had no idea where that ounce of confidence came from.
The blonde bit her lip nervously "That'd be great."
That completely wrecked her concentration and it took a good ten seconds to even remember what she was supposed to be doing. She grabbed a shaker, plopped some ice in a glass, and starting pouring tequila.
"Hold up there." Niylah slid beside Lexa, throwing the towel she was using to wipe the bar over her shoulder. "You're not gonna do any tricks for my home girl?"
Wait? Her home girl?
Clarke leaned on the bar "Do you recommend it?"
"It tastes better when she does tricks…" Niylah grinned over at Lexa, giving her a nudge, "Aint that right, Lexa?"
Lexa shot her friend a death glare. "You just made that up."
The blonde smiled at Lexa which ruined her resolve completely. Her frown slowly turned into the embarrassing, dorky smile that she tried to keep locked away in her internal Dungeon of Feelings.
"So," Lexa's eyes flicked between the two blonde's, "You know Niylah?"
"Oh, me and Clarke go way back." Niylah slung an arm around Lexa's shoulders. She glared back at the bartender. She was not amused.
Clarke nodded in agreement "We met when she did the walk of shame out of my house."
Say what?
Niylah shrugged, "What can I say? That roommate of yours is smokin'."
Lexa was flabbergasted. "Excuse me?"
"Niylah's my roommates main squeeze right now, they've been together for almost a year."
They were interrupted by a loud cheer. They turned to see Lincoln finishing up his performance..
"Well I gotta bounce," Niylah gestured to the stage. "I'm next."
And with a punch to Lexa's arm and a wave in Clarke's direction, she was gone.
"So," She was busy trying not to drool on herself or stare at the blonde's boobs. She was just classy like that. "What can I get you?"
"Surprise me."
"Okay, okay, fine." How could she say no to that look? "But if other people start asking me to do this, I blame you!" The last time she did her tricks to impress a girl, Luna caught her said if anything was broken it was coming out of her paycheck.
Lexa grabbed a bottle of gin, flipped it behind her head, and caught it with her other hand before pouring it into the shaker. She continued to grab bottles, slide them around her shoulders, flip them in the air, and juggle them around each other. Her muscles relaxed as she got into it, even though she hadn't done it in a while. It was like riding a bike for her. After giving the mix a single dramatic shake, she dumped the contents into a glass, walked around to her side of the bar, and presented the drink with a bow.
"Your Long Island iced tea," Lexa said, wedging the lemon onto the rim and plunking a straw into the glass. She anxiously watched as Clarke took a sip.
"I think I just found my new favourite drink," she gushed. "Along with my favorite bartender."
Lexa shrugged, "Any good bartender can make a decent long island."
"Give yourself a little credit. You're not just any bartender."
They sat in relative silence for a minute, while "I'm Too Sexy" played and a club full of women screamed for Niylah in the background.
"Lexa, right." Clarke's hand was on her forearm before her brain could process the movement.
"Y-yeah," Lexa stuttered.
"I haven't seen you around before. And I think i'd remember someone like you," Lexa saw the way Clarke's eyes lingered.
"I only come in when Luna needs the help," Lexa said, hoping her voice wasn't going to give away the fact that her lungs were imploding. Her arm was tingling where Clarke's fingers continued to graze her skin. She was only ten percent sure that she wasn't having a heart attack.
"Thanks nice." She mercifully released Lexa from her grip and her body's Terror-Alert level went from Orange back down to Yellow. Yet, she found herself missing the smooth feeling of Clarke's hand.
Lexa let out a breath in relief, "So what brings you to Grounders?"
Clarke smiled again. Lexa silently cured herself for her weakness for blonde's. "We're actually supposed to be celebrating, but I think Octavia is pretty drunk and Raven is trying to figure out a way to lure Niylah into her bed once again."
"I thought they were dating?"
Clarke shrugged, "It's complicated. They have an open relationship, but get jealous when the other flirts with someone else."
"Sounds…..interesting."
"Oh yeah, makes for some good stories. But, enough of me blabbering. What do you do?"
Lexa started to internally panic. What does she say? Landscaper by day, sometimes bartender by night didn't exactly sound glorious. Not that there was anything wrong with being a landscaper, but she wanted to impress the girl.
Luckily, her saving grace came in the form of her cousin Anya, who was behind the bar pouring herself a drink. Lexa decided to avoid the job question and make fun of Anya's crazy ass dress instead.
"Hey, Ann. Kudos to you for finding the only Shrek-colored sequin dress in existence. You look like a bedazzled pickle."
Anya started choking on her drink. Clarke covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
"Fuck you, Lexa!" she fumed, giving her best death glare. She was actually 5 years older than Lexa, so that meant she was one of the oldest people who worked at the bar- the other person being Tristan.
"Well that was original." Lexa snorted. "Getting a little slow in our old age, are we?"
Anya leaned over and slammed her hand on the counter between her and Clarke. "I'm really, really not in the mood tonight. Cut the shit and get back behind the bar." She pointed at Clarke. "That way, you can actually make drinks while she doesn't give you her number instead of just sitting on your ass while she doesn't give you her number."
Lexa clenched her jaw as Anya turned on her heel and stalked back toward the stage with her drink in hand. Despite being cousins, the two were more like sisters. They somehow managed to get caught in a never-ending game of "Antagonize and Embarrass the Shit Out of Each Other". They'd usually laugh about it later, but at that moment she was just hoping that Anya couldn't see her blushing.
She was still glaring daggers at Anya's back when Clarke's friends showed up. The one who was screaming at the bar earlier looked super wasted and was leaning on a tan brunette like she couldn't feel her legs. The tanner girl had a look on her face like she smelled something rotten. She probably did smell something rotten; Loud had vomit all down the front of her shirt and was sweating like a sumo wrestler in a sauna.
"Hey, Raven. Whoa, what happened here?" Clarke wrinkled her nose.
"Hey Clarke, we need to get going. Octavia just threw up in the bathroom so I think the party is over for her."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Raven huffed. "I just wanna get the hell out of here."
Clarke looked at Lexa and then back at her miserable looking friends. "Okay, Raven. Five more minutes?"
Raven looked over at Lexa, narrowing her eyes in suspicion at the brunette. "Are you sure Clarkie? We should really get going."
She gave Raven a pointed look. "Just go wait in the car. I'll be like 2 seconds."
Raven sighed. "Fine. We'll be sitting on the bench outside." She shifted Octavia, who moaned like a zombie. They staggered through the crowd and made their way to the entrance. Clarke slowly turned back to Lexa with a look of… determination? She had an intense look on her face like she was about to challenge her to a duel or something.
Her lips quirked in a grin "You're great."
Say what?
"Uh- thanks." Lexa smiled at her. "And you're cute."
"Ms. Bartender, are you flirting with me?"
Her heart was pounding so hard, she would've sworn that Niylah could hear it from the stage and was pop-locking to the beat.
"Would you be opposed to that?"
Deep breaths, deep breaths
Clarke conjured up a dopey smile that Lexa knew would soon be her Kryptonite. "Of course not."
Her new favourite blonde got up from the stool.
"Could I have your number?"
She could practically see the smirk on the blonde's face. "Nice try hot stuff, but I'm not that easy."
What the hell was happening? Was she being played at her own game?
"I'll see you around, Lexa."
Lexa waved like an idiot, and by the time she realized Clarke couldn't see her, she was already halfway across the club.
Goodbye, Clarke. May we meet again.
Lexa heard soft, slightly annoying laughter before she felt a body sidle up next to her.
"Oh this is just great." Anya wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of her eye." Lexa Woods just got played at her own game!"
She flipper her cousin the finger. She was not amused.
"Think what you want." She tapped her temple. "But that girl has you in the palm of her hand."
"No she doesn't." Lexa huffed.
Anya was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "Do you even know how much of a score this is for us-"
"-us?"
"-although she just broke up with her boyfriend…."
"Excuse me?!" Lexa spluttered.
"Exactly. I had no idea she was bi-or maybe gay."
Lexa was getting really frustrated now. "Anya. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Does the name Clarke Griffin ring a bell?" Anya gaped at her cousin's confused look. "Hollywood's golden girl? She just wrapped up the 3rd season of that post apocalyptic show- Exodus."
So that's why the blonde had looked so familiar. Exodus was trending globally. How the hell did she not recognize her. Anya had been obsessed over the show for years.
"Your welcome by the way. I contained my cool around her and acted normal. I'm the perfect wingwomen!" Anya left her half-finished drink on the back counter (because she knew it drove her cousin insane) and walked toward the stage where Ilian was stripping.
"Anya!" Lexa called out. She stopped, but didn't turn. "What do I do."
"Get you lovestruck ass off the ground and go for it. You know what they say, go big or go home."
Lexa thought about it for a moment, "Thanks."
"Whatever loser."
And all was right with the world.