-Chapter 4-

Lauren's original plan was to sleep through the night and deal with meeting Bo tomorrow. With the little bit of what Kenzi, and Trick had to say about Bo, she wasn't looking forward to meeting her. But her stomach had other ideas. The need for food had outweighed her need for sleep. Not being able to tolerate her hunger pains any longer, Lauren got up and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped tightly around her body as she headed for the closet to choose something to where. She settled on a tight pair of white jeans and a form fitting Dodgers blue and white V-neck t-shirt, and matching blue vans. She put her hair up in tight ponytail and headed out of her room and up to the bar.

As she reached the bar she noticed Trick was having, what appeared to be a heated discussion with a brunette. They both had their backs turned and didn't notice Lauren standing at the bar.

"I don't have time to babysit anyone Trick! And I don't need any help behind the bar! Besides, why are you helping this girl?" The brunette stated firmly.

"I'm not asking if you need help Bo, I am telling you, you are going to get help whether you like it or not. And it is not your concern who I decide to assist." Trick countered.

"Fine, then lets hire Kenzi, at least she knows how to mix a drink." The brunette stated.

"No, she knows how drink me out of business with all the free drinks she sneaks. I am done discussing this with you, you are training her and that's final."

The brunette huffed as she turned on her heel, making direct eye contact with Lauren, who was standing at the bar not sure of what to do or say. The brunette stood there mouth open as she stared at the blonde in front of her. Trick noticed the lack of argument from his granddaughter and turned to see who she was looking at. As soon as Trick realized it was Lauren, he blushed in embarrassment, knowing that Lauren must have heard the argument he was having with his granddaughter.

"Lauren, you're up." He approached the bar as he smiled at her. "Lauren, I'd like you to meet my granddaughter, Bo Dennis. Bo this is Lauren Lewis, your new trainee."

Both women continued to stare at each other, seemingly sizing each other up, before Lauren finally broke the silence.

"Bo, it's nice to finally meet you." Lauren extended her hand to Bo.

"Likewise" Bo stated sternly. As soon as Bo took Lauren's offered hand they both felt an electricity that was both unexpected and unexplainable. Both women looked at each other not sure if the other one felt the same thing, but neither willing to mention it. Bo furrowed her brow and took a step back. Trick interrupted the moment.

"So, Lauren you must be hungry, can I get you something to eat?" Tricked asked.

"Starved actually, and that would be great." Lauren replied as she took a seat at the bar.

"Okay, how does a burger and fries sound?"

"That sounds great." Lauren smiled

"Perfect, burger and fries coming right up. Bo will get you a drink while you wait." He cocked an eyebrow at Bo before walking away.

"So, Lauren, what can I get you?" Bo asked, while throwing a towel over her left shoulder.

"Beer would be fine, whatever lager you have on tap." She responded as she clasped her hands together, resting them on top of the bar. She watched Bo closely as she grabbed a frosted glass out of the freezer and poured the beer. Lauren couldn't help but check Bo out. Bo had long dark hair that was put up into a high ponytail. She wore leather pants that looked like they were painted on; they showed off her perfect ass, an ass that Lauren found herself wanting to touch. She wore a tight low cut black tank top with the words Dal Riata written across it in white letters. The tank top hugged her tight in all the right places, showing off a generous amount of her perfect cleavage. Yup, this woman was beautiful, and had the perfect body. Lauren couldn't tear her eyes away.

Bo interrupted her thoughts as she cleared her throat before placing the ice cold beer in front of Lauren. Lauren's head snapped up making eye contact with Bo, who had a smirk plastered across her face. Lauren was caught staring and an immediate blush crept up the blonde's neck and settled on her cheeks. She put her head down trying to avoid Bo's cocky smirk. She reached for her beer and took a long drink.

"See something you like?" Bo asked with a raised brow.

Lauren nearly choked on her beer. "I uh, um, I…." Lauren cleared her throat; Bo was enjoying the blonde's discomfort, much to Lauren's dismay. "I was looking at your top, uh your tank top, not your…..top top, oh boy…..what I meant was I was looking at your shirt and wondering if that was the uniform for the bar and if I needed one." Lauren let out another heavy sigh as she shook her head.

Bo chuckled in amusement. She was enjoying watching the blonde squirm. "I'm just giving you a hard time, you're too funny."

"Well, I'm glad you can have a good laugh at my expense." Lauren said with a small smile.

"To answer your question, yes there is a uniform shirt, and no this isn't it. My BFF Kenzi customized this one for me." Bo reached under the bar grabbing a couple of shirts and placing them on top of the bar in front of Lauren. "Here's the one you'll be wearing. I gave you a couple of them so you don't have to wash the same one every day. Also, you might want to wear dark pants, things tend to get a little messy sometimes. You'll start tomorrow at 4pm. I hope you can keep up because I don't like babysitting."

"I'm an adult you won't have to babysit me." Lauren was getting a little frustrated by Bo's attitude toward her. "Do you have a problem with me?" Lauren asked as she hid behind her glass.

"It's not personal; I just hate having to train people. I can do this job on my own; I've been doing it for 3 years. I just don't get why Trick is bending over backwards to help someone he doesn't even know."

"I'm sorry that me being here upsets you. I never intended to step on anyone's toes, or disrupt what you have going. I just wanted to earn my keep, pull my own weight. Don't worry; I'll stay out of your way. Maybe Trick will let me work in the kitchen or have me work when you're not here, this way you won't have to be bothered with me." Lauren dropped a couple dollars on the bar and grabbed her shirts. Lauren lowered her head as she addressed Bo one last time. "Thank you for the beer, can you let Trick know I'll be down stairs." As Lauren walked away she heard Bo call her name, but she kept on walking. She had no desire to be around anyone, especially Bo. It was official, Lauren really didn't like Bo. Lauren thought she was too cocky, and full of herself. She had a great body and she was gorgeous, but she possessed an attitude that Lauren didn't find appealing.

Bo immediately regretted the way she spoke to Lauren. She was upset with Trick, she was still recovering from her hangover, and she took it out on Lauren. The look Lauren gave her nearly broke Bo's heart. As Lauren spoke to her, Bo could see the sadness behind those honey colored eyes. The way that Lauren kept looking down and the way she shied away, Bo couldn't help but think that this woman was broken and it immediately pulled on her heart strings. She felt like such an insensitive jerk. Her grandfather would never bend over backwards for just anyone. Lauren must have been someone who really needed help. Bo was determined to make it up to Lauren, hopefully Lauren could forgive her.

"Where's Lauren?" Tricked asked, holding a plate with a burger and fries.

"I think I might have offended her." Bo stated sheepishly.

"What did you so Isabeau?" Trick scolded.

"It's not my fault! You're the one who blindsided me with all this. And you refuse to tell me anything about this girl." Bo defended.

"It is not my story to tell. If she wants to tell you then that's up to her, but you aren't going to be hearing it from me. You need to apologize to her Bo, she has been through a lot, and she doesn't need to have anything else thrown at her."

"I know, I know….I'll go apologize. Let me take her dinner to her and hopefully she'll accept my apology."

Trick nodded, handing Bo the plate of food. Bo grabbed a couple of beers and headed down stairs. The closer Bo got to Lauren's room the more nervous she was. As Bo reached the door she took a deep breath and knocked. Lauren opened the door and was surprised to see Bo standing there looking wide eyed at her. The women locked eyes for a moment before Bo looked away.

"Uh, hey Lauren, I uh, brought you your dinner and a couple beers." Bo stated as she held the plate of food up.

Lauren reached out and took the offered plate and beers. "Thank you, how much do I owe you?" Lauren turned and walked away leaving the door open as Bo stood there not sure of what to say next. Bo couldn't understand why she was so nervous, and why her stomach was doing summersaults.

"It's on me; it's the least I can do."

Lauren turned back and looked at Bo as she placed her dinner on top of the desk. "Do you want one of these beers? I don't think I'll be drinking both."

"Sure, that would be great." Bo responded.

"Come in, take a seat." Lauren motioned to the leather chairs near the fireplace.

Bo entered the room, taking a seat on the chair. Lauren twisted the cap off one of the beers and handed it to Bo. She did the same to the other beer for herself as she took a seat in the chair across from Bo. Both women took a big drink of beer, looking everywhere else but at each other.

"You know, I haven't been in here in a while. Glad to see nothing has changed." Bo said, looking around the room.

"Trick told me this was your grandmother's room."

"Yeah, my grandmother was a stubborn woman. She refused to let Trick stay here alone, so he had this built for her." Bo took a deep breath and looked over at Lauren, who had yet to look up. "Listen, Lauren, I just want to apologize for my behavior earlier. I was out of line and my attitude was uncalled for, you didn't deserve the way I spoke to you. I really am sorry. If it's okay with you, could we start over?"

"I think I'd like that." Lauren smiled

"Great" Bo stood to her feet and extended her hand to Lauren, smiling brightly. "Hi, I'm Bo. Welcome to The Dal, I'll be training you starting tomorrow."

Lauren stood and took Bo's offered hand, immediately feeling that electricity again. "Lauren and I'm looking forward to it."

The two women stood shaking each other's hand for a little longer than necessary. Lauren finally looked up locking eyes with Bo. Bo was mesmerized by the beautiful amber eyes staring back at her. She could look into those eyes all day. Lauren too was mesmerized by the chocolate orbs staring back at her. She felt the unfamiliar flutter in her belly, the flutter that she hasn't felt in over 8 years. It's almost foreign to her, in that moment she knew she was in trouble.

Bo was the first to break the trance. "I uh, I have to get back upstairs before Trick sends out the search party. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at 4?"

"I'll be there." Lauren responded. Bo nodded as she made her way to the door. "Um, Bo?" Bo stopped and turned to Lauren, "Thank you…..for dinner and the beer."

"No problem, if you need anything I'll be upstairs until closing. Have a good night Lauren." With that Bo exited the room and headed back up to the bar. As she climbed the stairs she couldn't help but smile. Bo couldn't explain it but, that was the second time she felt butterflies dancing around in her belly the moment their hands touched. Lauren was someone she definitely wanted to get to know. She shook the thought from her mind as she approached the bar ready to finish her shift.

Lauren stood frozen in the same spot Bo left her in, staring at the empty door way for a moment before walking over and closing her bedroom door. She made her way over to the desk and sat down to eat. She began wondering if Bo felt the same thing she did when they touched. She quickly dropped that thought from her mind, why would someone as beautiful as Bo be attracted to her. She rolled her eyes at the thought. She started to think maybe she had Bo all wrong. Maybe she was just having a bad day. Lauren decided that she would give Bo a chance. She was even looking forward to working with her. She would just have to ignore the attraction she had toward Bo, no reason to indulge in something that will never happen. Either way, for Lauren, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

-3:30pm the next day-

Lauren had woken up at 9am and lounged around for a good portion of the morning, reading a book she pulled from the bookshelf in her room. Around noon she headed up to have lunch with Trick. After lunch Lauren went back to her room and decided to do a couple hours of yoga and meditation before it was time to get ready for work.

She had just gotten out of the shower and was searching through the closet for her favorite black jeans, the ones that made her ass look great. Truth be told all her jeans made her ass look good, but the black ones were by far her favorite. She found the jeans, slipped into them before putting on the uniform shirt. Much to her surprise, it fit her pretty well. The V-neck cut in the shirt was a little lower than she would normally wear, but it did accentuate her cleavage. Lauren went back into the restroom to finish putting on a little bit of make-up. Not much, just a little to highlight her lips, cheekbones, and eyes. She stuck to light neutral colors, after-all she was going to work, not out for a night on the town. She pulled her hair up into a casual bun. She gave herself on last look in the mirror, splashed on a little body spray and headed upstairs.

As Lauren approached the bar she glanced at her watch, 3:58pm. She wasn't technically late, but she was late by her standards. Lauren always arrived to work early and was ready to start no later than 5 minutes before her shift. She was 3 minutes late. She began to calculate in her head what time she would have to start getting ready tomorrow so she would be on time.

"Wow, Lauren, on time and ready to go. I'm going to love having you on board." Trick chuckled. "Maybe your punctuality will rub off on my granddaughter." He said nodding toward Bo.

"Ha Ha gramps, very funny." Bo chided. She smiled at Lauren before addressing her, "Hey Lauren hope you're ready to work."

"Of course, I've been looking forward to it all day."

"Well I have some paperwork to take care of downstairs, so I'll leave you ladies to it." Trick saluted the pair and disappeared down stairs.

"Alrighty then, why don't you come around behind the bar and we'll get started." Bo said motioning for Lauren to come around.

As Lauren made her way around the bar toward Bo, Bo couldn't take her eyes off the blonde. As Lauren stopped in front of her Bo raked her eyes over the blonde, appreciating how she looked in those jeans. Bo was too busy checking her out that she didn't see Kenzi observing what was going on from the pool table. Lauren cleared her throat, getting the attention of Bo and her wandering eyes.

"See something you like?" Lauren said with a smirk. Lauren was a little surprised by her own flirtatious tone. But she went with it.

"That's my line Ms. Lewis." Bo smiled brightly, remembering that was the same thing she told the blonde the day before. "And to answer your question, yes I do." Bo winked. "You look great, that shirt fits you perfect." Bo smirked as she watched Lauren squirm.

Lauren blushed and quickly changed the subject. "So, what do you want me to do first?"

"Straight to business, Trick really is going to love you." Bo laughed. "Well the first thing we do before we open is take inventory of the bar, and restock the liquor as needed. Trick usually takes care of that in the morning. He goes down and gets everything we are going to need and we restock it as soon as we start. After that is done we make sure all the glasses are stacked and cleaned. Usually by the time we are done with that customers start coming in. It stays pretty slow for the first few hours, but picks up around 7pm for happy hour. Happy hour is from 7-9pm Monday through Friday, you with me so far?"

"Yes ma'am got it." Lauren said nodding her head.

"Okay, moving on. Tonight all I really want you to do is bus the tables, and keep up with the glasses. If we leave too many empty glasses out on the floor, we will run out quickly. So just keep them stocked and cleaned. When things are slow you can shadow me behind the bar and I'll start showing you how to make a few of our basic drinks, as well as our most popular ones."

"Sounds great. I'll do my best and try not to ask you too many questions." Lauren said as she looked at her shoes.

"No, Lauren, I don't want you to be afraid to ask me questions if you aren't sure. That's what I'm here for. You can ask me anything, I promise I won't be a jerk like I was yesterday." Bo tried to make eye contact with her but she continued to keep her head down. "I just need you to do one thing for me." Bo reached out, placing her index finger softly under the blonde's chin, gently lifting her head so that she could look into her eyes. "Don't look down when you talk to me. I want to see those beautiful brown eyes of yours, okay?"

Lauren gazed into Bo's eyes; enjoying the warmth she felt throughout her body the moment Bo touched her. "I'm sorry; it's become a habit I've picked up over the last few years. It's not going to be easy to break it, but I'll try Bo."

Bo dropped her hands to her sides as she smiled warmly at Lauren. "That's all I ask. Come on, things are slow, I'll show you how to make a margarita."

Lauren took notes and observed intently, as Bo went through all the steps on how to make a proper margarita. As the two ladies interacted at the bar Kenzi continued to watch the pair closely. She couldn't help but notice the sparks between Bo and Lauren. She was very surprised to see Bo being so gentle with Lauren. Especially with how she placed her finger under the blonde's chin so that they could make eye contact. Kenzi didn't know what was going on, but she intended to ask her BFF about it later.