Hi again,

Thank you for all your kind words & for saying Hi.

Here's more, so hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2- Voices

"He's staring again." Traci leaned a little closer to whisper in her ear while her eyes fluttered over Andy's shoulder to focus behind her somewhere across the room.

"Let him." Andy shrugged and breathed the words out in a billow of smoke as she let her hand seek out an ashtray.

"Shifts almost over anyway." Andy gave Traci a wicked smile before leaving the corner they were huddled in while Andy took a quick smoke break between serving tables.

Andy could feel the strangers heated stare throughout the rest of her shift. His eyes would follow her as she crossed the bar, back and forth as though they were transfixed to her.

The first few times he came in, it had creeped her out. He would sit at the high-rise table with his friends and have beers all the while seeking her out with his gaze. He would openly watch her, his face always cast in stone.

They were also always in a group of guys. There was never a female companion, not even once in all the months she had been working here.

Passing the table of people that hovered in her mind, Andy looked up to find the staring strangers face missing and his chair vacant.

After cashing up her tables Andy waved bye to Traci who fled for the door of the Penny. She had date night with Jerry and he would be waiting outside to take her for a late movie or a bite to eat before taking her home. It was the sweetest thing ever.

Andy waved goodnight to Gail, the barlady and headed for the door herself, the warm summer air surrounding her the second that she set foot outside the door.

It was a little after eleven pm, and yet the heat still lingered in the darkness.

It was a four block walk home, a quiet Thursday night street giving her time to let her work mode check itself out and she let go of all the irritation that found its way into her mundane daily existence.

Rounding the wall that enclosed the parking lot, Andy's feet came to a disturbed stop when she found dark eyes peering at her from under a streetlight a few feet away.

It was the first thing she had ever noticed about him- his eyes.

They were dark, the darkest she had ever seen. They were vibrant, and full of life. Not dull and void like one would expect. They were expressive but she had no way of reading what was going on in them, because she didn't know him.

Andy started walking again, with every intention of passing the stranger who was leaning against a white car staring at her intensely.

Why he was waiting outside the parking lot in the street, she had no idea. It was weird.

She was a whole two feet away from passing him when his expression changed and he tilted his head to the side slightly. The familiarity of a warm look morphed into a hardened stare, his eyes flashing something that nearly made her shiver.

"You're walking?" His voice was low but rich. She had never heard it so she had no idea what it would sound like. They had never spoken and he seemed to be the quietest one at their table. They always ordered from the bar, and when she worked a bar shift, someone else at the table always came to get the drinks.

"Why drink and drive, when you can smoke and fly right?" Andy mumbled back. She always said that when a comment was passed about her walking. She could drive, she just didn't have a car or a license because she couldn't afford it.

It was a part of life that was not on her list of priorities right now.

"Need a ride?" The stranger asked as Andy passed him, her feet finding a steady pace as they resumed their stride.

"No, but thanks." Andy threw it over her shoulder and kept walking to the end of the block where she rounded the corner.

It probably wasn't safe to be out in the streets alone at this time of night, but she had walked the same route twice a day for about seven months now. And she had spent the last seven months tending the bar and waiting tables at the Penny so she saw a side of humanity that made her perspective on people change.

She was careful walking home, and paid attention to every sound and every shadow.

She heard a car close by start, a wicked rumble emitted from its exhaust. It was clear that the car had; had some work done to it- it was not your standard car with a standard engine.

She had always like fast cars and bikes, but steered clear of their drivers because bad boys were trouble.

The car hovered at the stop sign on the corner behind her, its engine letting out a purr that sent shivers down her spine. She loved that sound.

Picking up the pace Andy put distance between her and the corner until she heard the car pull away and drive in what she assumed was the opposite direction because its purr became a distant rumble.

Did he really think she'd get in a car with him when she didn't even know his name?

Just because she worked as a bartender and waitress didn't mean that she was cheap trash even if most people thought that. She was working to earn a living.

Andy opened the front door as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake her Dad. He would probably be passed out on the couch and she was never sure if he had bought his gun home or not. She was just careful not to scare him awake if he had because that would end badly.

She stopped just to the left of the couch and let out a low sigh. She should be used to the sight by now, but it still sent tremors down her spine and ripped her heart out when she came home to it.

Her Dad was an alcoholic and a cop, a combination that was more dangerous than a criminal with a gun because her Dad was actually allowed to have firearms in his possession. Most of the time he checked them in at the station before coming home. It was his way of knowing that he'd be drinking and still trying to keep her safe.

He missed a lot of work and how he ever managed to keep his job she would never know. He was a good cop, a good guy really, he just had a bad way of living life.

Andy passed the back of the couch and gently tugged the blanket over the back of the couch over her Dad before walking away silently.

She closed the door to her bedroom quietly and took a moment to gather her thoughts. She set her bag down on the top of the chest of drawers and heard her phone beep. She knew it was from Traci, she said goodnight every single night no matter what.

They had been best friends since the first grade and nothing would ever tear them apart.

Andy ignored the text and dug around in her drawers for pajamas before stepping into the bathroom to have a hot shower.

Sam watched her walk away, her sassy side making a brief appearance.

She had a whole lot of sass and didn't take crap, he'd seen it a few times at the Penny when someone got mouthey or handsey with her.

He got into his car and started the engine before pulling forwards enough to see around the corner. He hovered at the stop sign and watched her keep up a steady pace, her head moving to the left and right on occasion as she checked the dark street.

He knew that she walked home on most nights, he had seen her a few times. He also knew that she would catch a ride with very few people.

She was sensible, and smart.

He took a right when she crossed the street and disappeared from view and he was left looking at an empty street.

He took a slow drive home, his mind circling around Andy as it did almost every time after he had seen her at the Penny. There was just something about her, something that had captivated him from the first second he had seen her.

She always smiled and laughed and he could tell that she was pretty decent. She had manners and everyone that worked with her seemed to get on well with her.

She seemed genuine, a real person and not someone pretending to be someone they weren't.

That wasn't something you saw much anymore.

He had heard her voice a million times and her surprise at hearing his tonight showered her face as he said the short sentence to her.

It was then that he realized that they had never even spoken.

It was not a good start to getting what he wanted.

****Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed?

JbJ.