Chapter 1

Harry awaited Liam's return from Max's office with dread. He knew that if he didn't get this job he was going to be living on the streets and he wouldn't have any money to go back to England; he'd be another nobody that was drawn in by the façade of California that would come to realize it was nothing more than a ruse and he was about to be so totally fucked.

Liam padded down the steps behind the bar with, what looked like, sorrow, as far as Harry could tell, on his face. He walked over to Harry. Harry was running his finger over the bar's tag on the side of his water glass. He looked up at Liam and frowned in reply to Liam's expression. Liam sighed, "Harry, I-"

Harry stopped him, "it's fine, Liam. You did what you could; I'll get through this somehow. I know I can."

Liam grabbed Harry's arm as Harry stood from the bar, "Harry, I need you to start unloading and cataloging beers from the truck out back." Liam smiled at him and Harry practically yanked him over the bar counter in a hug.

"Thank you!" He cheered.

Liam pushed Harry back and held his shoulder, "All I could get you was part time, you'll be doing mostly day work and Max said you can be on call whenever you want. So if he calls and says it's getting crazy and he needs a hand you have to drop everything and come."

"I'll do anything. All I need is part time, just to get by. Thank you so much, you never fail me. You are an amazing friend and an amazing person, Liam Payne." Harry cheered again.

Liam patted his shoulder, "The beer truck is in the back."

Harry grabbed an apron and trotted to the back of the building. There was a delivery truck waiting for him to unload it. When he lifted the half closed door to the back of the truck there was a girl there, she set down her clip board and lifted another case of beer onto a dolly. Harry smiled at her and offered his hand to shake, "Hi, I'm Harry."

The girl looked him up and down then smiled and took Harry's hand, "Lil."

"Where should I start?" He asked the girl.

Her hair was an onyx shade of black and her eyes were bright blue and the rims of her irises were black; it gave them a look as if they could see into your soul. She was slender and her small frame was clothed with tattered blue jeans and an oversized black sweater, under which Harry could see a black tank top with Blue Oyster Cult written across it. She had a black tattoo on her right arm just below her shoulder that looked like three circles inside one another and three triangles resting on the outer edge with lines between them that intersected in the center of the circles. "Malum mihi" was carved into her pail skin just above that in red letters. Harry didn't know what language it was but he would ask her when he was sure she wasn't going to hate him.

"Just move these crates over there, inside the cooler, I'll keep tagging and stacking the rest of the truck for you to move. Then once we're done, we get ten minutes for a cigarette break then we have to set up for opening." Lil informed. Her American accent was so odd, it didn't sound like anyone Harry had spoken to in California.

Harry nodded and kicked the bottom of the dolly so it tilted toward him, "Sounds like a plan."

They finished and Lil disappeared out the back loading door, Harry grabbed water from the soda machine and followed her. He found her smoking a cigarette on the steps off to the side of the loading dock, "Water?" Harry asked before even opening it for himself.

Lil shook her head, "I'm fine, I got some.' She picked a bottle that up, that Harry hadn't noticed, from beside her. She held out her pack of cigarettes to Harry, "You smoke?"

Harry shook his hand, "No, I don't, but thanks."

Lil shrugged, "Suit yourself.' She took a long drag from her cigarette and let it street from her nose before she spoke again, "You a friend of Liam's?"

Harry took a sip of his water a nodded, "Yeah, he got me the job."

Lil chuckled and motioned toward the building with the hand that held her lit cigarette, which was meant to mean Liam, "He might as well be hiring people himself. He brings in all the help, I'm the only one Max has ever hired on his own."

Harry laughed, "How long have you worked here?"

Lil took another drag from her cigarette and pushed the smoke out of her lungs and past her lips before speaking. "A few months, I moved here from Wisconsin. I made my way down here to get away from the little nothing town I lived in. Ended up doing exactly what I wanted; working in a bar." Lil replied.

Harry nodded and took another drink from his water as he motioned toward her, "So you just came in and said you wanted the job?"

Lil shrugged, "More or less yeah. I went for a walk after I got turned down for, like, a dozen jobs and I ran into Max putting up a wanted sign on the door. I came in and he gave me the job as soon as I said I worked in six different bars in Kenosha before I was 19."

"How does that work?" Harry asked.

"I didn't get paid most of the time, I'd go work for my Aunt's friends and get some allowance whenever she had some extra money. Stock was easy, but I always left before six." Lil replied. She pulled her almost finished cigarette back up to her lips and hit it harder than before. She took it back in her fingers and pulled it away from her face before she flicked the filter for the carbonized portion to fall from its cherry.

"The only place I've ever really worked is a bakery. I've been doing odd jobs out here." Harry informed.

"When I was little I wanted to work in a bakery, my mother told me it was "man's work" and I needed to worry about being at home." Lil blurted.

Harry shook his head, "That's horrible. She sounds really old fashioned."

Lil looked down at her shoes and drug the last of her cigarette. She stood up and flicked the bud across the lot from between her thumb and her middle finger. She started walking inside but turned to Harry last minute and added, "Don't get to close, Harry." Then she walked inside and left Harry to think of all the possible things that her words could mean. He didn't want to ask her because he didn't want to annoy her. She seemed like she wanted to be distant but it was hard. Their casual conversation turned into something so odd so fast. Harry figured he'd just blow it off and get back to work, if she wanted him to know she would tell him.

So Harry stood from his place on the stairs and returned to work. Every once in a while he'd watch Lil, who would be washing glasses or restocking beer under the bar. He'd never say anything and if she looked at him he'd turn away. There was something odd about her and Harry wanted to know what it was.