Yang had been doing the waitress thing for a long ass time. Putting her sister through school meant long, boring hours at a place that only earned so many tips. It got tedious when ten days of work was rewarded with only one day off, and she spent that time searching for a second job.
She was tired. On her feet all day with a one, half hour break wasn't enough. She'd trained at the gym to lift weights and punch people, but instead the skills were now put to use lifting platters of food and punching in credit card numbers.
She'd learned to make it work anyway.
Some nights she got lucky with a call from Junior asking her to play bouncer at his club. But that was only sometimes, and sometimes didn't pay the bills. Sometimes, she was too tired to say yes.
She'd worked at this place long enough to know the regulars, and of all the regulars she hated, there was really none worse than that blue-haired wannabe-punk who hit on anything in a skirt. She'd been forced to watch many of Neptune's dates.
This was the first time she'd served him on one.
It took everything she had not to laugh at the bored expression on his date's face as he rambled, but Yang had the luck of being far too exhausted to manage one.
When the girl stood up to go to the bathroom, Yang wondered if it was just an excuse to never come back.
She would've believed it, too, if the woman hadn't slipped her a napkin wrapped around a twenty dollar bill with the message please spill his next refill all over him.
The 'please' was underlined. A lot.
Yang composed her smile, tucked the bill safely away, and made her rounds to all her other tables. It was long enough that her patron was back in her seat by the time she reached the marked man.
This time, as she went to remove all the dirty dishes and empty plates, she wasn't careful with her hands, and one plate clinking into the glass poured high with cheap wine was enough to send the whole thing toppling into Neptune's lap.
His date covered her mouth with her hand for a moment, briefly making eye contact with her waitress and her entertainment, before Yang went about her speeches and apologies.
Neptune took none of them very well, but he'd had enough drinks that people would believe it was his own fault what happened. His date certainly wouldn't deny it.
She put him in a cab home some time later, and on the receipt had asked what time Yang got off work.
Yang was still surprised when Blake was waiting for her on the bench outside two hours later.
"I didn't waste all that time just sitting here, you know. I invested a little." She flashed a sharp smile, and pulled out a bottle of wine that was worth more than a week of tips and paychecks. "I'd hate for the whole evening to be a waste."
Yang worked her jaw for a minute, rolled her shoulders back. "It's like, eleven o' clock. Isn't the evening kinda over?"
"I can think of a few things there's still time for. A drink being one of them."
Yang's mouth went dry as she glanced back at that bottle of wine. It was the type Junior supplied to all his VIP customers. The restaurant she worked at couldn't afford anything like it.
"You look like you need it." Blake's voice was a little softer.
Yang laughed. "You have no idea. So uh, my place or yours?"
"Well, my partner is out of town for the week. My flat is empty, and there's a pretty large bed." Blake hadn't looked at her when she'd spoken, and she wasn't looking at her when she'd finished.
Yang was still processing what she'd heard. "Partner?" she finally managed to sputter. Even in the shadows, she could still see a laugh ripple through Blake's shoulders.
"We're fairly open about our relationship. We do a lot of traveling. Not always with each other. I figured I would warn you, but either way, you're welcome to that drink. I do owe you. But you'll have to make a decision about anything else that goes on tonight before you have a sip."
The twinge of heat that had started at the base of Yang's stomach had now firmly burrowed despite all her exhaustion. She'd known almost from the moment she'd stepped out into the cool evening air what she'd wanted.
"That shouldn't be too hard."
Her throat tightened when Blake stood up, almost matching her at eye level with gold eyes that smoldered in the dim lamplight.
"Well then. I'll lead the way."