Hailey was tired from a full day's work when she walked into La Rosa Negra. It was happy hour on a Friday and it was packed as always. She squeezed through the crowds of people who were drinking, smoking, laughing and talking. In the different crowds you could hear a mix of English and Spanish as the locals mixed in with the tourists. It was end of June and it was still quite hot and as the news talked about a heatwave, it was obvious that the temperature was not going to let up anytime soon, nor during the night. She was wearing a Royal Blue fitted dress and matching open-toe high heels and she cursed herself for having forgotten her sneakers at work, as her feet were killing her.
Eventually, she made it to the bar and sat down on an empty stool, which was rare and lucky. She was checking her cellphone when the bartender stopped at her level.
"What can I get you"?
The voice and the accent were enough to get her attention. They were unknown to her and it sparked her interest. She removed her eyes from her phone and looked at the man on the other side of the bar, as she placed her phone down on it. He was taller than any of the bartenders she had known here. He had hazel colored eyes, had no hair and had a strong build, as she could see from what was showing. He sounded British and looked rather unwelcoming. Exactly the opposite of who generally worked at La Rosa Negra. Hailey was more than intrigued.
"A Coke Zero, please. Thank you".
The guy gave her a look of disbelief.
"You're kidding right"? he asked with an abashed and reproachful tone that made Hailey tick. Yet Hailey was always a nice person and if he was new, it was obvious that he didn't know her yet.
She raised and eyebrow and remained firm. "Do I look like I'm kidding"?
"Look lady, this is a bar, we don't serve soft drinks"!
Hailey laughed internally. This guy was a joke but then again, those must have been the orders he'd been given. Serve alcohol, it reels in the cash.
"My bad", said Hailey, "I thought I was at the General Store down the corner".
The guy looked at her and she could tell he was trying to hold back a smile.
"When you're set on ordering alcohol, let me know", said the guy before heading towards the opposite end of the bar to serve other customers.
Hailey looked around, but the place was so damn packed, she couldn't see anyone she knew. Apparently, this guard dog was the only one serving drinks and she knew she wouldn't get her way. She shot a furtive look in his direction, as he was talking to a beautiful tanned blonde, and stood from her stool. She walked around to the wooden swaying door of the bar and passed through them, never taking her eye off the watch dog turned crooner on the other end of it. She quietly walked over to one of the cooler doors, opened it and knelt to grab a can of Coke Zero. When she closed the door, she saw two black construction type boots standing firmly at her side. She stood and looked him straight in the eye, she could tell he was fuming and not happy.
"You must have a hearing problem. I said we don't serve soft drinks".
"And you must have a seeing problem, cause I know you do, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to serve a classic Rhum Coke"!
"You know, I should report you to the owner for trespassing".
"Be my guest"! said Hailey daring him. She fidgeted for a second in her purse, then dropped a 50 pesos bill and a 10 pesos coin on the counter next to him. "Here's the equivalent of 2 tequila shots. Now get off my back"!
The guy narrowed his eyes as he watched her pivot and walk away. He quickly grabbed the bill and the coin, planning to put them in the till, when he noticed she was heading towards the swaying service door. Even though he was watching her every move and how mesmerizing she looked, and he hadn't even noticed it had he been too busy preventing her from getting a bloody coke. He quickly scanned the bar area, and everyone was served and busy. He followed her determined, to talk some sense into this chick who seemed to be a bit too at ease.
By the time he reached the other side of the swaying door, she was half-way down the corridor and was picking up her removed heels from the floor.
"And where do you think you're going? You've got problems with authority. Can't you read the signs that say 'no trespassing'"!
She waved her hand up in the air as she kept walking down the corridor, defying him. "I live here, wise ass".
She disappeared around the corner and he accelerated his pace, there was no way he was going to lose his job over her, good looking or not. "Yeah and I'm the fucking queen of England"!
When he came around the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. Sitting around a round table for six was none other than the owner of the bar, his boss, Carmen Vega, her two brothers Miguel and Santos and the pest of a girl he had followed. She was drinking her Coke from the can and Santos was serving her a plate with a taco and Mexican rice.
Carmen looked up from her plate in his direction.
"Everything OK Drew"?
The guy named Drew, kept looking at Hailey. Hailey gave him a self-satisfying look then addressed herself to Carmen.
"Car, can you tell your new British Bulldog to back off"?
Miguel and Santos laughed.
Carmen looked at Drew apologetically. "I'm sorry Drew, I forgot to give you a head's up. I was so busy explaining how the bar works that I forgot to mention some key things".
Hailey watched as Drew shifted into a more relaxed posture, not as welcoming as she would have liked, but at least a bit less aggressive. "I should get back to the bar, it's getting busy".
"I'll come with you", said Miguel as he stood from his chair.
When they were gone, Hailey looked at Carmen. Carmen was a short, robust, typical Hispanic woman. She was in her early fifties and ran her cantina/bar like a drill sergeant. It was one of the most popular bars in the area, there was always a good atmosphere, good music and great alcohol.
"You didn't forget to tell him. You were testing him, weren't you"?
Carmen smiled as she looked at Hailey lovingly.
"You know me too well".
"Next time warn me".
"Now what fun would have that been, huh Chica"?
Hailey smiled. "So, did he at least pass the test"?
"I don't know, you tell me".
"We'll he's got, we only serve alcohol here, down, that's already a start". Hailey took a sip from her Coke. "He's able to multitask, by that I mean, flirt at one end of the bar and see that I'm going in the cooler on the other side. He's very quiet, I didn't hear him walk up to me". She looked at Carmen. "Had you had a bat hidden somewhere behind the bar, I'm sure he would have smashed it on my stealing hand and chased me down with it all the way over here".
"Then he passed the test", said Carmen as she stood from her chair.
"Let's just hope he's a bit more action driven when it comes to men"!
Carmen cleaned her plate and cutlery at the sink as she kept an eye on Hailey. "You look tired. Hard day at work"?
Hailey rubbed her forehead. "A bit. Steven's got 5 projects going on at the same time and I have to be able to juggle everything in everyone's agenda with last minute changes and cancellations. Anyway, I'll spare you the boring details. Let's just say, I'm happy it's the weekend".
"Well, you should get some rest, we can do without you for tonight".
"Are you kidding!? This is the best part of my week. Besides, it allows me to blow off steam and not think about work".
"Alright then. Take an hour to relax a bit", said Carmen as she headed down the corridor towards the bar.
Hailey ate in silence then echoed what Carmen had did and tidied up her stuff. She kept walking down the corridor, in the opposite direction of the bar and reached a narrow wooden staircase. She went up two flights of stairs and reached the hallway. There were only three doors, one was the bathroom and the other two were bedrooms. Hailey lived in the one that gave on the back of the bar and as for the other, it had never been rented, not for the past years that Hailey had lived there. On the first floor was Carmen's apartment and it spread out over the entire floor and was minimally furnished but had everything it needed to be welcoming and useful.
Hailey let herself into her room and put her bag down on her desk. The room was big enough to hold a nice wooden wardrobe, queen-sized bed, a dresser and a desk and chair. Next to the bed was a double-pane window and she could see away in the distance, the beach and the ocean. On the dresser was a television, but Hailey very rarely watched it, it wasn't one of her favorite pastimes.
She removed her dress and grabbed a pair of dirty-blue jean shorts and a black draped blouse that hid perfectly her black lace bra. Once she was dressed, she grabbed a pair of blacked open toe wedged heel sandals and stood in front of the mirror. She contemplated herself for a few seconds before heading back towards the dresser and placing big silver loops on her ears.
She checked her phone one last time before placing it on the dresser next to her purse and walked out of her room, carefully closing the door behind her.
When she walked through the kitchen, Santos was preparing a plate of nachos and tapas to bring out back to a client. She stopped and took a nacho from the plate.
"Mi Corazon, tu es guapa"! Santos said as he looked at her.
"You're lucky Paquita isn't here"! she said mocking him. Paquita, was Santos' wife and had been for the past twenty years. They had three amazing daughters and she knew Santos well enough to know that his heart belonged to Paquita, no matter what.
When she had finished eating the nacho chip, she headed through the service door and into the bar area. The place was even more packed than it had been before. Drew was had returned to his spot at the end of the bar and was flirting again with the blonde, who was apparently enjoying every word he told her, she had on a charming smile, her eyes twinkling and had her hand on his forearm. Hailey rolled her eyes at the scene and headed towards a drawer near the till, not far from Drew, and pulled out a black waist apron. She tied it around her waist and walked away from the bar, without even getting Drew's attention. So much for a watch dog, she thought to herself as she made her way through the crowd towards the tables in the back.
She headed towards a table of regulars and took their order. She then walked over to the bar.
"Hey Bloke, when you've finished charming Britney Spears over there, I'd need two margaritas and three Corona's with Lime"!
Drew turned his head towards the typical Eastern US accent coming from the middle section of the bar and blinked a couple of times. If he had found her exquisite, from behind, in her blue dress earlier, she was jaw-dropping in that blouse, that left no man clueless as to what was underneath it. He looked at the blonde, "Excuse me for a minute".
Seeing that he was starting to prepare the drinks, Hailey headed back to another table. If that guy thought she was going to let him have even another minute of his time to grant that bimbo, he was in for a surprise.
She returned minutes later as he was placing the last margarita on the platter.
"Here you go Jersey Girl! Anything else"?
She narrowed her eyes. Apparently, the Brit had been around and had very elegantly matched her accent to the right US State. Yet she didn't give him the satisfaction of showing he was right.
"5 tequila shots, 3 margaritas and 1 rum on the rocks".
He watched as she took the platter and head towards the back of the room. As she did so, all the men who were in her way put themselves on the side, allowing her easy access and mostly the opportunity of watching her. Drew watched her every single move as well and he, like most of the men there, could have spent the entire evening watching her. She was toned and tanned, and her earrings enhanced the beauty of her face that was highlighted by a charming pixie cut of brown hair with occasional blond highlights which looked like they were naturally created by sunlight rather than dyed.
As he poured the tequila shots, he watched her as she talked and laughed with the clients. There was nothing out of place in her behavior, she wasn't flirtatious or vulgar in any way, shape or form. She seemed like a good girl with a good upbringing and he wondered what the hell she was doing working the night shift at a local bar in Cancun.
At around two o'clock in the morning, the last patrons walked out of the bar and Drew watched Hailey lock the door behind them as he was drying glasses. He said nothing as she put tables and chairs back into place. She then came behind the bar and removed her apron and put it back in the drawer. He was about to say something to her, break the ice, since their awkward encounter earlier that evening, when she looked at him, or so he thought.
He watched as she took out a wad of bills from her back pocket and dropped it next to him on the counter. "In case Carmen also forgot to tell you, you get 50% of my tips every night".
She walked away then turned around as he took the bills in his hand. "Oh and Brtiney Spears is waiting for you at the door"!
He turned around and saw the blonde waiting in front of the locked door. When he turned around to thank Hailey for his share of tips, she was gone. He sighed and placed the bills in his pocket before heading towards the door.
Hailey had striped in no time and had slipped into a girl's boxer and spaghetti strapped top and slid under the covers. The minute her head hit the pillow, she had fallen asleep, exhausted by her long day. Carmen had gone up around midnight as usual. That was the way it had always been ever since Hailey had been there. Hailey locked up and Carmen went up around midnight so that she could open early in the morning. Miguel locked up on Sunday nights as Hailey was working the next day. It was a perfect arrangement and pleased everyone.
Hailey woke up from a distant dream slowly to sounds coming through the door. At first, she panicked that there might be an intruder, then worried that maybe something was wrong with Carmen as she heard what sounded like whimpering or moaning. She tossed the covers off her body and slipped out of bed. She opened the door and found the hallway light switch instantly. She flipped it on and looked down the hall.
Her eyes grew wide open and her mouth fell to the floor. Sitting on the dresser in the hallway, was the blonde bimbo, she had her legs wrapped around Drew, who was standing between them in a perfect position, and were both naked. The blonde covered her opulent breasts with her hands and tried to show that she wasn't bothered by the situation. Drew, luckily for Hailey, didn't move an inch from his pleasuring position but looked at Hailey in a way she was finding hard to define. It wasn't indifference or shame, but more a mix of an apology and regret.
Even though she was trying hard not to, it was impossible for Hailey to not take presence of Drew's amazing body.
"Oh, for fuck's sake"! Hailey said as she turned off the light and headed back into her room and spent the next couple of minutes trying to remove the scene from her head and fall back asleep. She was relieved when she heard nothing more and finally allowed herself to fall back asleep, somewhere between being irritated, amused and somewhat envious.
In the other room, Drew, who had sent the bimbo away, laid on his back looking at the ceiling. As he felt stupid for not realizing that she was the one who was staying in the apartment from his, he couldn't help but remember two things… the way she was looking at him and what she was wearing!