Piper finished cleaning off the bar and surveyed the room, it was the early hours of the morning and most people had already stumbled off elsewhere.
Giving up on the counter with a sigh of resignation, this place would never be clean, she untied her apron strings and shoved the wrinkled navy cloth into her bag.
'BELLONAS' wasn't the worst place to work, not by a long shot, if you discounted the dirt and the broken sign, drunkards and flirts, it was a pretty decent place.
Besides working here was better than scrounging off her billionaire dad, far better.
It was run by Hylla, the original owner's daughter, a ridiculously attractive Porto Rican with a rich tan and thick dark hair who was pushing thirty, and her long term girlfriend , a cute girl she met in college, Kinzie.
It had a reputation for the best beer in manhattan (among some) and for the lack of trouble, Frank Zhang was a real teddy bear but his sheer size put off most wrong doers and if that wasn't enough Hylla and Kinzie's sorority sisters were always about wielding baseball bats and stiletto heels alike.
Leaning against the bar gave her a good view of the whole room.
She could see the hunters, the college girls soccer team, in the corner planning their next match. Fourteen year old Nico Di Angelo, Bianca Di Angelo's, their left wing, kid brother playing on his Nintendo the bright screen illuminating the dark circles under his eyes and his skinny cheeks.
Sixteen year old Leo drunkenly moping against the bar. His foster brother Percy, Piper's best friend, was working away in the kitchen, for all she was worried about Leo she knew Percy would get him home safely.
Hazel Levesque, a cute art major Piper had had a fling with two summers before, was curled up in a booth sketching while she waited on her boyfriend Frank to finish his shift.
And then in the far corner of the room, sitting on her own was a pretty girl with thick blonde curls and stormy grey eyes. Piper's breath hitched. She was beautiful, undeniably beautiful. She had started coming in around the starry of term and Piper still hadn't the courage to go up and talk to her.
Someone cleared their throat to catch her attention. Whirling around, embarrassed to be caught staring, she came face to face with another goddess.
Thick black hair pulled back in a braid, a crisp white blouse with loose navy blue slacks and a pair of far too high heels, created an expensive looking ensemble that was far too out of place for the bar.
"Excuse me?" The woman asked, slightly accented English washing over Piper, she looked impatient it took her a moment to realise she had to reply.
"Ah uh yes, I'm sorry" she ran a hand through her own messy hair, suddenly acutely aware of her whiskey stained jeans and the old camp shirt that smelt like a mix of cigarette smoke and sweat.
"Can I help you?" She asked trying her best to sound professional.
"Indeed, I am looking for my sister, Hylla" She stated flicking a piece of invisible lint from the collar of her blouse.
"Ah see well she isn't actually here right now" sister? Of course sister, Hylla had said she had a sister.
For some reason she felt like she had personally offended the woman, not having the location of her sister , like she had somehow failed her.
"I see" she sounded disappointed "uh well I'm just getting off my shift now so, like, I don't think I'm going to be much use to you I'm actually -"
She had taken a step backwards slipped on the loose apron strings trailing out if her bag, resting on the floor by the bar, and had landed on her ass.
The woman made no move to help her up, so she just sat there dazed. Her brain was overloaded, pretty girls had always been her forte, but strong beautiful women? She was a bust.
Luckily Percy sidled out of the kitchen, stepped between them and sent the woman on her way. She flopped backwards, intending to lie on the floor in humiliation but just succeeded in smacking the back of her head off the chipped wood of the bar.
Howling in pain she clutched her head as Percy slid his hands under her to haul her to her feet. "What was that you were saying? About me not being able to talk to hot guys? Huh?" He joked handing her her bag, "need a lift? Or you can crash at my place my mums making Lasagna"
"Sold " she agreed cringing as she caught sight of not only herself in the mirror behind the bar, but the blind beauty smiling at her ( read laughing at her) from across the room, one perfectly shaped blonde eyebrow raised questioningly before she turned back to her book. Slumping against Percy she said her goodbyes before heading out.