I think I finally know what I'm going to do with this story, and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I'm going to enjoy writing it.
Chapter Two
Alexis was on her way out of the apartment building late one afternoon when she next spotted the boys. Both of them were coming toward her with dark sunglasses covering their eyes, and a cigarette hanging from their lips She stopped at the doorway to spare them a look, appreciating just how good looking they were before they spotted her, and made their way towards her. The moment Conner's smile morphed into one of fury, Alexis remembered the rather large lump on the top of her forehead that no amount of makeup would hide., and she quickly shook her head so that her hair would fall over the spot.
Not like it did any good. As soon as Conner was close enough, he made a grab for her chin so that he could tilt her head up and get a better look at the bruise. Murphy was right next to him, brushing the hair out her eyes, and running his finger across the top of it. Alexis hissed at his touch and pulled away from the both of them.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Alexis said, using her hair to cover the bruise once again. She peeked up at the brother's to see them both glowering at her, and she smiled to reassure them. "Honestly, I've had worse."
It was the wrong thing to say, Alexis realized it the moment the words slipped from her mouth and Conner's eye flared wide.
"That man up there do it?" he asked, moving to walk into the building. Alexis snatched at his arm, catching his sleeve as she moved to stand in front of him.
"Please, just let it go," she said, pleading with him silently as they stared each other down. She placed a hand on his chest to push him back. "Please."
He gave her one more hard look, and then a glance to his brother who'd remained oddly silent through the whole ordeal, before looking back at Alexis.
"Fine," he said, his voice coming out strained. "But if I see another bruise on ya, lass, I am going to be kickin his arse."
Alexis closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, realizing that was as close to an agreement she was going to get from either brother. When it seemed the two had calmed down, she moved to walk around Conner and the man stopped her, finally noticing her outfit of choice as his eyes traveled over her.
"Where ye goin?"
Alexis looked down at the knee length skirt, and button up white top with a tie hanging down and up to Conner like it should be obvious. "Work."
Conner's eyes furrowed together, and she laughed at his expression.
"Had an interview yesterday at McGee's and got hired on the spot, now I'm on the night shift," she explained, shrugging her shoulders as she moved past him. Conner looked to his brother who stood there smirking, and he let a small laugh escape him, making Alexis curious.
"What?" she asked, turning to face them again.
"We know where we're eatin at tonight," Conner said, letting that wicked grin spread across his face. Alexis groaned at the thought of the two brother's hounding her at work and she pointed a finger at the both of them.
"Don't be getting me into any trouble on my first night." she made sure they both met her gaze. Murphy slapped his brother on the side of the arm, and nodded toward Alexis.
"Relax, lass, I won't let me brother start anythin," he said, smiling at her as Alexis walked backward from the pair.
"Aye, we'll behave ourselves," said Conner with that wicked grin still spread across his face as he winked at her.
She glowered at the both of them while turning away. She heard Conner and Muprhy holler one last farewell, and she waved at them in kind.
Alexis made her way down the street, mentally preparing herself for the night. She'd worked in restaurants before on late nights, and knew that they could sometimes get pretty hectic. Her experience in restaurants was part of the reason that they hired her, and so she was pretty confident she wouldn't have any issues. It was just getting used to the new routine, and co-workers that would be a bit of the hassle. New people tended to ask a lot of questions, and Alexis's wasn't one to answer everything the moment they met. Even the MacManus brother's still knew very little about her. They knew some, and they had some idea of what was going on between her and Gabriel, but she still hadn't told them the whole story.
Sighing, she stood outside the building for a moment, and took a deep breath. Clearing her mind of the brother's and everything else that was going on at home at that moment.
When she opened the door, she was greeted by a smiling blonde girl with streaks of green in her hair, and balding man that she knew from the interview the day before.
"Hey Geoffrey," she said, walking right up to greet him. The man smiled down at her, and nodded his head.
"Hey there, Ally, you ready for tonight?" he asked. Alexis nodded her head and gave a quick 'yep."
"Good, follow me." He nodded toward a small hallway that led to the kitchens, and Alexis followed after him. Listening intently as he gave another quick tour of the place, and introducing her to some of the people that she would be working with. He mentioned that it was still a bit early in the afternoon rush, and so she was stuck in the back room in front of a television, watching a prepared tutorial video.
Alexis sighed as the thing started up, she'd seen something similar before, and judging by the peppy girl standing on the screen, it was going to be just as cheesy as the last one. She was told the video would last about an hour, and she couldn't stop herself from looking up at the clock several times in a span of twenty minutes and realized time wasn't going to speed up for her on this one.
When it was finished, she found Geoffrey fiddling with some paperwork in his office, and he happily introduced her to Kelly, the waitress that she would be shadowing for the night. The girl seemed nice enough, she was a nonstop talker and Alexis found she could only reply with short answers, and quick nods as she explained that she'd been there for a good few years, making this her first job that she just couldn't quite. Alexis smiled at her excitement, growing more and more comfortable with the girl as she went through her usual routine for the night
The night went on as Alexis would expect, families bribing their children, co-workers and buddies gossiping, nothing that Alexis hadn't seen before inside of family responsibility. When Kelly finally said it was break time, Alexis half ran to the employee area, and pulled out the small bag of chips she packed with her for lunch.
When her fifteen minutes were up, she made her way back to the front and met up with Kelly, who was already standing in front of a table with two familiar men. They were sitting with another man with long shaggy hair, and a booming voice, and Kelly looked to be handing them a round of beers. Alexis rolled her eyes, and walked up to them
The two brothers beamed the moment they saw her, and Alexis waved at them with a smile just as big as theirs.
"Hey there, lass," Conner said, holding his drink up in greeting to her.
"Hey, Conner, Murphy," Alexis replied, smiling at the two boys. "Glad to see you made it by."
She was holding a tight grin, and Murphy laughed.
"We just wanted to make sure ya were okay before we headed to McGinty's." He took a sip of his drink and Kelly turned to her then
"Friends of yours?" she asked, a smirk playing on her lips. Alexis nodded her head, and Kelly's grin widened.
"Good, then you shouldn't have any problems watching this table for a few minutes." Kelly walked off, and Alexis was left grinning at the girl as she turned back to the boys. The one with the long hair was eying Kelly as she walked away, and Conner was the one that nudged him in the ribs to get his attention.
"Fuck man, if I was single," the man said, making Alexis roll her eyes.
"Rocco, this is our friend Alexis," Murphy said, pointing toward Alexis and then back to Rocco as he continued. "Alexis, our pal Rocco."
"Hey," Alexis and Rocco muttered at the same time, and they both laughed.
"So what can I get ya boys?" Alexis asked, nodding toward the menus still lying in front of them. Conner flipped through the pages and quickly handed the menu back to her.
"Steak and Potatoes, side of greens," he said, and Murphy nodded his head in agreement. Alexis pulled out her pen and paper and wrote down their order, then turned to Rocco.
"Ahh, hell, give me the same thing." Rocco handed the menu back to her, and Alexis smiled as she wrote down a third order, and said she would return. Which didn't exactly happen, she wound up getting busy with some of Kelly's other tables and before she knew it, their order was up and Alexis was juggling three plates on two arms as she made her way over to them.
"Shit, Alexis," Murphy said when he noticed her coming up to them. He quickly jumped up, and grabbed the plate balancing on her arm.
"Careful, it's...hot." Murphy hissed as he practically threw the plate onto the table, and looked at his red fingers.
"How ta hell'd ya not feel dat?" Murphy asked, looking at the girl like she'd lost her mind.
Alexis shrugged as she placed the other two plates in front of Conner and Rocco. "Been doing this work for a couple years now, guess I've just grown immune."
"Hell of a thing to be immune to," Conner said, placing his finger on the edge of his plate. He removed it quickly and shook his head at Alexis. She smiled at the trio, but shook her head. Ready to answer when Kelly hollered at her from behind the bar.
Alexis waved at the boys as she took off, and walked over to Kelly who was steadily counting her tips.
"Don't know what you did while I was gone, but..." she trailed off as she held up seven bucks. "Found this on the two tables that vacated just as I came back and one of them said give this to the pretty young thing that just stopped by."
She held up a five dollar bill and handed it over. Alexis sneered at the money, not really wanting to take it after hearing the comment that followed.
"Cheapskates, let me tell ya," Kelly said, nudging her in the arm. Alexis looked up at her in confusion. "They're always in here, and they don't leave big tips, and their disgusting, but what can ya do?"
"Spit in their food," Alexis replied, earning a giggle from Kelly. There was a round of laughter coming from the table where the boys sat, and Alexis turned in time to see the three of them clinking their glasses together.
"Look," Kelly said, getting her attention again. "Geoffrey said you're free to go. Being a Friday, it's going to start dying out here pretty soon."
"Whys that?" Alexis asked, curious to why there would be hardly any business on a Weekend.
"Because we're a family restaurant in the middle of an Irish neighborhood. Everyone's going to start heading for the Pubs soon." Kelly looked at her like she should have already known that answer. Alexis nodded her head, realizing she should have realized that fact, seeing as the boys were out tonight.
"Then I guess I'll see you later," she said as she waved at Kelly.
"Yep, take care." The girl waved back at her, and Alexis removed her apron and headed to where Murphy and Conner were sitting. When she sidled next to Conner, they all looked at her with odd glances, and she explained that the boss sent her home.
Conner and Murphy both looked at each other for a moment before turning to her. "So I take it ye be headin home, then," Conner said, looking toward the table. Alexis shrugged in response, her focus going to her fingers as she began picking at her nails.
"Don't have much of a choice," she replied, peeking up at Conner and then looking to Murphy, who was once again glancing toward his brother again.
"Well, lass, we could walk ya home if ya like." Murphy met her stare and Alexis nodded. Her eyes meeting each of theirs and then looking toward Rocco, who was looking between the three of them like he knew something that wasn't being said.
"That would be great," Alexis began, smiling to show her appreciation. "But you really don't have to. I can make it back on my own."
"Don't be ridiculous, our ma would skin us alive if she found out we didn't walk a lady home," Murphy said, already pulling out his wallet to pay the bill. Alexis grinned at his statement, but didn't stop them as the four of them stood to leave. She waved good-bye to Kelly again as she passed, and again to Geoffrey when she passed by him at the front.
"Be here tomorrow at the same time," He said before she walked out and Alexis waved her hand to let him know she heard. The four of them walked in silence, Rocco was going on about some new joke that he heard the night before and the other three listened intently. When he reached the end they burst out laughing, and Alexis found herself once again, grinning from ear to ear with the boys.
She couldn't deny that she hadn't had this much fun in a long while, so when they came across the front of their apartment building she stalled at the door.
"I take it you're going out now?" she asked, not bothering to look at the either one of them.
"Only if ya don't think ya need us," Conner replied, stepping closer to her. Alexis looked up to the fourth floor, and then back to the ground. She kicked some dirt with her foot, a few times before looking up to meet the brother's eyes.
"I think I'll be okay," she said, not entirely certain of that statement. They must have picked up that small hint of nervousness in her voice, because Conner reached out to push the hair out of her face, his fingers brushing across the side of her forehead with the bump on her head, and she flinched away from his touch.
"Ya sure, lass." Alexis met his Conner's eyes, holding his gaze for a moment before nodding her head.
"I know where to find you if I need you," she said sending him another one of her grateful smiles. He grabbed her hand as she started walking away, and she squeezed it for reassurance before saying goodbye, being sure to wave to Murphy and Rocco as well before disappearing behind the front door.
When she reached the apartment, she was grateful to find that it was unlocked, unfortunately, she also found Gabriel standing at the counter nursing a bottle of hard liquor as he watched her come in.
"Your home awfully early," he said, watching her as she made her way to her room.
"They didn't need me any more tonight," replied Alexis, stopping at her door to look back at him. She scanned the living room to see the woman that she called mother wasn't anywhere around, and she assumed the woman was passed out in the bedroom.
"Those boys looked like they could have used your company," Gabriel said, taking another sip of the bottle. Alexis turned to roll her eyes at him, and grimaced as he smirked while his eyes traveled up and down her body.
"Don' start that shit again," she said, doing her best to ignore his stare and move into her room. The sound of his laughter followed her as she slammed the door shut and barricaded it once again.
