Disclaimer: Nothing here is mine, including the tall, dark and handsome Cajun.
Chapter Four
If Jean-Luc thought that giving Remy the job of taking care of Roxy's was going to soften him up, then the old man was losing his mind in his old age.
Sure, Remy loved Roxy's. He loved the soft, jazzy music and the dim lighting. He loved the expensive bourbon they served and the plush, leather seats. He especially loved the women. Roxy's was a classy establishment, but it was well known for its high end cocktail waitresses. A girl had to be practically run-way ready before she was accepted for a job at Roxy's.
Yet, as much as Remy loved it, he also hated it. Because Jean-Luc had stuck him here to try and get him back on side.
It wasn't going to work.
It would take more than a few nights in the company of several beautiful woman to bring Remy around to Jean-Luc's way of thinking. There was nothing he wanted less than to run the Guild of Thieves, the sooner his old man accepted that, the better.
"Don't know why yo' complain' m'self" his brother Henri said from beside him. They were walking to Roxy's together for the night shift. Henri had a prospective client to meet and Remy had to oversee a couple of the new girls and make sure everything was in order. "Be more dan happy t' run de family."
"Den yo' do it!" Remy burst out, rolling his eyes impatiently. "Done tol' Jean-Luc 'nugh times dat yo' de man f'r de job."
"He hates it when yo' call him dat" Henri chastised, "'Sides he wants yo'."
"Den he gone be real disappointed" Remy hissed as they both past the bouncer on the way in.
"Why yo' always gotta be so stubbon?" he brother demanded.
"Ain't like we both don't know I'd be terrible f'r de job" Remy pointed out, "Jean-Luc jus' hopes I'll make t'ings up wit' Belle."
"An' dat ain't gonna happen?"
Remy turned to look at his brother, "Non" he said simply.
Herni shrugged, "Yo' sho' make t'ings hard, mon frere" he grinned and slugged Remy on the shoulder as they parted ways at the door. Henri made his way over to a table in the far corner to discuss business, while Remy looked around the floor to see how things were settling down.
He noticed her the moment he moved towards the bar.
Not because she was overly showy or loud, in fact she was probably the complete opposite, but she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had a round, heart shaped face with two huge green eyes and a pair of pouty pink lips. Her hair hung on either side of her face and down her back like an auburn waterfall in thousands of tiny winglets, save the two white stripes covering her eyes. But her body, oh Lord, her body. She was perfect, right from the curve of her backside to the length of her legs.
Who the hell was she?
She was definitely staff. There was no mistaking those tiny shorts and apron wrapped around her hips. Plus she was carrying a tray full of drinks. She definitely worked here.
How had he never seen her before? He was sure he would remember if he had, there was no way he would have forgotten a girl like her.
He turned to Charlotte, one of the girls working the bar, "Hey petite" he called her over, pointing in the direction of the Goddess. "Who she?"
Charlotte shrugged, "New girl" she said simply, before batting her eyelids. "You gonna be here all night, Remy?"
"Sho' am, peti't" he grinned, throwing her a wink and watching her blush as he turned around and focused his attention back on the woman in hand.
She was placing drinks on a table full of customers, smiling at them and laughing at something one of them said.
She was so beautiful it physically hurt.
He didn't know why, but he knew he had to talk to her.
He watched her move around the floor while he thought about how he could do it. It wouldn't be so hard, he could just go right up to her and introduce himself. She did work for him after all, it wouldn't be so out of the ordinary. But he didn't want to scare her right away by looming over and informing her that he was her new boss. That might make her edgy and definitely wouldn't turn the conversation in his favour.
As he watched her collecting empty glasses on a tray inspiration stuck.
He pushed off from the bar, moving swiftly towards the table she was at collecting drinks. He approached her from behind so she wouldn't seem him coming and walked so close they were almost touching. Just as he'd hoped she'd turned around swiftly without looking where she was going and walked right into him.
The empty glasses on her tray had fallen from her hands as she let out a groan.
"Oh, ah'm so sorry, how clumsy o' meh!" the words poured out of her mouth and wrapped around him like silk. She was from Mississippi, there was no mistaking that accent.
"No worries, pet't" he smiled charmingly, helping her pick up her tray and the empty glasses she had been carrying. After all, it had been his fault she had dropped them. "De fault was mine, should o' been watchin' where I was goin'."
She froze when she looked into his eyes, and he could tell she was sizing him up.
Most woman were unnerved the first time they looked into his eyes, not that he could blame them. Red on black wasn't exactly comforting. Yet she stared into them like they were the most beautiful gems she had ever seen. It was beginning to unnerve him a little.
"No, ah'm sorry" she reiterated, recovering herself slightly. "It's highly unprofessional tah be pourin' drinks all over the payin' customers."
"Den ain't it a good t'ing I ain't payin'" he grinned when her eyebrows knitted together, sticking his hand out towards her. "Remy LeBeau, at yo'r service."
"Oh Gawd" she drawled, ignoring his hand in favour of placing her gloved one over her mouth in embarrassment. "Ah jus' dropped mah drinks all over tha bosses' son."
Remy laughed, "Don' worry none, chere" he winked, "I promise n't t' hold it against yo', if yo' tell me somethin'."
Her green eyes widened.
"Is yo'r name as pretty as dat face o' yo'rs?"
It was her turn to laugh, "How 'bout yah tell me, Swamp Rat?" she teased, "Mah name is Marie."
Remy stooped down to take hold of one of her gloved hands and plant a kiss on the back, "Enchante, Marie" he said softly.
She blushed. It wasn't a delicate flush that turned her cheekbones pink, it was a tomato red that covered her entire face and spread down her neck. Either she wasn't a very delicate blusher or she really wasn't used to being on the receiving end of male attention.
How interesting.
He just looked at her with a politely puzzled expression on his face, waiting for her to proceed. He didn't like to go in all guns blazing when they'd only just met, it was so much easier to know how to proceed if he gave her a little room to breathe.
Little did he know, this girl was a game changer.
"Well" she said after a pause, "Ah'm sure Ah should get back tah work."
"What de rush, chere?" he asked, eyebrows raised and eyes twinkling. "Y' gettin' bored o' dis here Cajun?"
"O' course not!" she admonished, smiling just a little so a dimple pierced her right cheek. "But Ah'm sure yoar daddy ain't payin' meh tah stand around."
"S'true" Remy agreed, watching her as she eyed him warily through those glass green eyes. "Mais he put ol' Remy in charge, an' he don't mind none."
Marie laughed. It really was a beautiful sound, it was rich like dark chocolate and sounded just as sweet. "That so?" she teased.
"Sho' is, chere" he grinned, "Remy be here f'r a few months, jus' t' oversee things" he shrugged nonchalantly, "Sho' yo' know how 'tis."
Marie nodded seriously, "So yah'll be wantin' tah see what Ah can do?" she asked.
Remy was taken aback by her abruptness, he hadn't expecting things to start moving this fast so soon. But he'd be damned if he was going to let a perfectly good opportunity go to waste. It just so happened he was on form tonight, and his charms were working faster than usual.
"More dan yo' know, chere" he said softly, moving a little closer to her.
She nodded again, her green eyes glittering in the lights of the bar. He took that as his green light and just as he reached out to touch her face she said, "Right yah are, Mista LeBeau" and turned to march over to the bar with her tray full of empty glasses.
Well it was safe to say that caught him off guard.
Had he not been making his feelings obvious? He'd thought his charms had been at maximum power, and he'd been certain she'd be only more than willing to join him for some late night activities between the sheets.
Yet there she was, taking more drinks orders and laughing with customers when she should have been over here succumbing to his charms.
Maybe he was losing it in his old age.
He shot that thought down straight away.
No, perhaps he had simply not conveyed what he'd wanted obviously enough. They had flirted a little but only in an undertone, and he could tell by her blush and the flavour of her emotions when he complemented her than she certainly wasn't used to it.
Ah, how he loved his empathic ability. It wasn't his signature mutation that he relied on most often, that was his ability to charge objects with kinetic energy and make them explode. He loved his mutation and it sure did come in handy. His added perks were the static shield around his mind that kept out those pesky psychics, and his ability to read people's emotions.
That wasn't a power he usually shouted about, and he probably wouldn't use it if he didn't have any other choice. His empathy was passive so he couldn't control it but it sure did come in handy. It was always useful to know what someone else felt about him, then he could change the way he acted based on their response.
He knew Marie found him attractive, so he flirted a little bit. The problem was that he'd thought she'd been flirting back, when really she was just trying to do her job.
He sighed and pondered over what to do next.
He could go back over and try to start up a new conversation, but he didn't want to seem as though he was desperate.
Instead he asked Charlotte to bring him the accounts from last week and a large glass a bourbon. He sat at a table at the very back of the club and took to watching her.
He watched the way she talked to the customers, always with a smile and a cheeky glint in her eye. He watched the way she moved and the way her body filled out that uniform. He watched her hair cascade down her back in thousands of tight mahogany ringlets. He also watched her little ticks. He watched the way he mouth would pull down into a frown whenever someone paid her just a little too much attention. He watched the way she constantly tucked her hair behind her left ear. But mostly he just watched the way she smiled.
He could probably watch that smile forever.
Unfortunately he couldn't be in his happy place forever, and the night had to come to an end.
As the girls started wiping down tables and the customers started making their way home for the evening, Henri decided to grace Remy with his presence.
"Productive night, mon frere?" he asked, taking the seat beside Remy and glancing down at the sheaths of paper.
"Sho' was" Remy agreed, his eyes still fixed to his new Southern Spitfire.
Henri followed his gaze before rolling his eyes "Tisk" he muttered, "Yo' gotta stop dis, Remy" he chastised.
Remy turned to look into his brother's disapproving eyes, "Quoi?"
Henri sighed, "Followin' round de Roxy's Girls wit' yo' tongue hangin' out."
"Yo' wound me!" Remy pretending to look offended.
"I'm sho" his brother shook his head, "If yo' want a warm bed den maybe yo' should make up wit' yo' wife."
"Ain't going over dis again, frere" Remy bit out.
"Jus' sayin'-"
"Wish yo' people would let Remy make up his own mind" he growled, standing to leave without waiting for his brothers reply. The last thing he wanted to listen to right now was another lecture about Belladonna.
Instead he looked around to try and find Marie. He'd lost her due to his brief distraction courtesy of Henri and he couldn't let her leave without trying his luck again.
He spotted her near the entrance to coat check, chatting to a girl he didn't recognise. She was at least a head smaller than Marie and she had soft brown hair pulled up into a long ponytail that swung down her shoulders. She was wearing a pink cardigan and looked far too perky and bubbly for his tastes.
As if he could pay attention to anyone else with Marie in the room.
His made his way over to this girls, they seemed to be having an argument of some kind and Remy wasn't one to interrupt but he couldn't let her leave without trying to make some sort of impression.
"Gal, yah are gonna be the death o' meh" Marie drawled, pulling on her coat and throwing her friend a contemptuous glance.
"Just one drink" her friend begged, "I can't bare to go back to that flat and stare at those four walls all night."
"Ah jus' worked all night, Ah ain't about tah paint tha town red."
"Maybe a little bit of pink then?"
Marie huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Yo' girls off out f'r a drink?" he thought this seemed the appropriate moment to interrupt.
They both whipped round with a synchronism that would have been funny if it wasn't so adorable. Both of their faces were flushed and their eyes glittered. However, Remy was only interested in the bright green ones over the shiny blue.
Marie seemed lost for words so her friend shot in with a response, "I was just hoping to see some of the local nightlife" she said, her voice a little breathy.
"Don't t'ink we've had de pleasure, pet't" he smiled warmly, holding his hand out. He was pleased when she took it and leaned down to place a kiss on the back. This was the normal response he got from women, not the oblivious stare he was receiving from Marie.
"Oh, ah'm sorry" she opened her mouth and that sweet Mississippi drawl washed over him, "This is mah roommate, Kitty Pryde" she turned to her friend, "Kit this is mah boss, Mistah LeBeau."
"Remy, please" he grinned, turning to look at Marie. "I sho' ain't old enough to be a mister."
Marie nodded in agreement before asking, "Was there anythin' else yah needed, Mis- Remy?"
He paused for a second. He had mentioned drinks and here she was reverting back to her employee status. Didn't she know it was possible to be friendly with the boss? Or a little more than friendly, he hoped. He would have to set her straight on that as soon as possible.
"N't at all, chere" he smiled, "Yo' shift is done, feel free t' make yo' way home."
She nodded and looked just about ready to leave. She was so eager to run away from him he had to resist the urge to check in he smelled funny. That didn't seem to be the case as her perky little roommate was staring up at him as though he was chocolate covered and gift wrapped. He ignored her, best not get distracted.
"Dat is, unless yo' girls needed a tour o' de N'Awlins night life" he spread his arms open and grinned, "Jus' so happens one is available."
Kitty giggled but Marie shook her head.
"That sure is sweet Mis- Remy" she smiled, "But Ah'm bushed, and sure am ready foar mah bed. Maybe some other time."
Kitty opened her mouth, as though she was about to suggest she'd love to accompany him.
He cut her off, "How 'bout dis Cajun walk yo' home den?" he suggested, he was even starting to sound pathetic in his own head. "Ain't gentlemanly t' let a lady make her own way back."
"Don't cha worry yoarself, Mis- Remy" Marie smiled, "Ah'm sure yoar real busy here, an' Ah got Kitty tah keep me company, ain't that right sugah?"
Kitty nodded enthusiastically.
"So Ah'll see yah on mah next round, Mistah LeBeau" with that as a farewell she smiled and threw him a wink, before linking arms with her roommate and making her way to the exit.
How many times had she just turned him down? Twice? Three times? He felt rather dejected. He was tempted to run after her and demand to know when she was next working, but his behaviour was beginning to scare even him a little so instead he turned to the bar.
Henri was stood leaning against it with a cat got the canary grin plastered on his face, "Losin' dat charm, mon frere?" He teased.
"P'shaw, ain't likely."
"De girl know she too good for yo'."
"S'true enough" Remy agreed, "But don't no one know Remy never miss when he shoots f'r de pretty girl."