The sunlight peeking through my blinds wakes me up, I reach for my phone and check the time, it's almost four in the afternoon, I have almost two hours and a half to get ready for work. As I get up, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my hair is all messy and my make up is smudged, I yawn and go to the kitchen to make myself something to eat, I decide to have scrambled eggs, orange juice and toast, since I don't have a lot inside my fridge or pantry. I sit down and look around myself as I eat my so called "breakfast", my apartment's a mess and I decide to clean up a little before I leave for work.
I wash the dishes, pick up all of the clothes that are laying around on the floor and mop the floor until I'm satisfied with the result; my place is a small and kinda dark studio apartment, but it's actually pretty nice and cozy, plus, the amount of rent I have to pay for it is amazing.
I take a shower, put on a pair of jeans, both my favorite band t-shirt and leather jacket, then I decide to put some eyeliner and mascara on so I don't look as tired as I am. I lay down on my couch to check my social media and I'm out the door just when the clock hits six.
I rush down the stairs and get on my dad's old Harley, it was a birthday gift. I work as a bartender in a bar called The Blue Jasmine, it's a few minutes away from my place. The drive to work turns out to be really calm, and I get to appreciate how beautiful the city is, since there's not a lot of traffic, I take that as a sign that today's going to be a great day.
The Blue Jasmine is one of the best looking places I've ever worked at, the combination of its brick walls, the dim light and the beautiful wooden tables and counter makes it a delight to look at.
As I walk in, I notice that it's almost empty, but then again, it's still kinda early. I say hi to Will, who's my coworker and one of my best friends, and get behind the counter.
Time passes fast as I make drinks, chat and occasionally goof around with some of our regular customers, but it suddenly stops when I look at the door, as a tall, blonde woman walks in... I've never seen her before. She's holding a biker helmet, wearing a black jacket, a nearly unbuttoned shirt and a lot of jewelry, her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue, her blonde hair is short and her skin looks so soft and beautiful, our eyes meet and that's when I realize I'm holding my breath. She looks away from me and takes a seat in the bar, a few stools away from where I'm standing and she looks at me again. I freeze in my place.
One of the guys from the group that's sitting in front of me laughs loudly at something someone of his friends says and I flinch as I get out of my trance. I notice that Will is starting to walk towards that gorgeous woman and I try to stop him as discreetly as I can.
"Hey… Let me..." I whisper as I walk to her, ignoring Will's snicker.
"Hi!" I say to her with a smile and as I do, I notice my voice's a little shaky. "My name is Y/N, what can I help you with tonight?"
"What drink would you recommend?" she asks with a sarcastic grin as she looks me up and down. My heart skips a beat. Her voice is just as beautiful as she is, a little raspy and, oh god, that accent, she must be from Australia…
"Ummm… I… I really like beer and we have a great artisanal one… or I could make you any cocktail you want..." I say nervously with a stupid smile and resist the sudden urge I get to bang my head against the counter for stuttering like that.
"I'll trust you and have the beer." she says softly and smiles at me.
I serve the beer and hand it to her, as she takes it from me, our hands brush gently and I feel as if my skin was on fire. I take a deep breath and try to keep it together, I'm at work after all.
"Would you like something to eat?" I ask trying to stay calm and keep the conversation going.
"No, thank you very much" she smiles and takes a sip "You were right, the beer is really good."
"Really? You like it?" I say as I laugh nervously "It's my favorite one."
"Yeah, it's good" She says as she smirks again.
"I'm glad you liked it!" I say smiling.
She smiles and takes another sip, I just stare at her, speechless.
"Hey, Y/N" Will calls me "can you give me a hand, please?"
Crap, I don't want to move, but I have to.
"I'll be back in just a second..." I tell her.
"Sure, I'll wait" She says and winks at me, I get butterflies immediately.
I walk towards Will as I ask myself what the hell just happened to me, I almost never get this nervous around any woman, though I've never seen anyone who's this gorgeous.
"Help me carry some boxes, please." He says and I follow him to the back room where we keep the bottles, and all the stuff we need for the bar.
"Dude, I couldn't keep a straight face when I saw you talking to that woman..." He says laughing.
"Did I really look that stupid?" I ask and almost drop a box on my feet.
"Kind of, you looked like a mesmerized schoolgirl!" he laughs again "Though, she kinda did seem interested in you..."
That takes me by surprise.
"Shut up…" I mutter, but instantly regret it "Wait… Really?"
"Well, from my point of view, it looked like she was… I don't know." He says smiling as he hands me a box.
"Okay, but, how do I know?"
"You know there's only one way to figure it out…" He says as he elbows me playfully.
"Okay, but how?" I say as I shift my weight from one foot to the other.
"Flirt a little bit, loosen up." he says as he takes me by the shoulders and shakes me a little.
"Right" I say and laugh nervously.
I'll try to flirt, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?
I take a deep breath before walking back into the bar behind Will. My heart skips a beat when I see her still sitting in the same place she was when I left, I feel her staring at me as I get the bottles out of the box and arrange them on the shelves behind the counter. I turn around and meet her gaze, she gestures for me to come closer and I do.
"So… Can I get you anything else? Another beer?" I say with a smile.
"Surprise me." She says softly as she runs her hand through her hair and smiles at me.
I swallow and breathe deep, I remember Will's words "There's only one way to figure it out". I try to calm down as quickly as I can and think to myself: "you've got this".
"Well, I actually make killer cocktails..." I say trying to sound flirty as I lean over the counter.
"Well" she says, mocking me "As I said, surprise me." she smirks and looks me right in the eyes.
My heart pounds in my chest. I decide to make her an Old Fashioned, since it's one of the drinks I know like the back of my hand; and, as I do, I realize I don't know her name, I feel so stupid.
"I've just realized that I've been really rude and haven't asked your name." I say as I hand her the drink, our hands touch again and, once again, I feel sparks.
"Lou." She says with a grin before taking a sip.
"It's a lovely name."
"Is it?" she laughs and takes another sip "So, Y/N, do you like working here?" she mutters with the glass pressed to her bottom lip.
"I do, actually, the place is great and I get to meet a lot of cool people." I answer sincerely "What do you do?"
"I con people." she replies with a straight face.
I laugh at her answer, she must be teasing me.
"What? How?" I giggle "You're joking, right?"
"I own a club." she says and takes another sip.
"Whoa, that must be really cool!"
"You should come by sometime…" she looks me in the eyes "If you want to, of course… Would you like to?"
I feel butterflies in my stomach as we stare at each other.
"I'd love to." I reply with a smile.
"Great."
The place starts to get a little crowded and I excuse myself before I go check on the groups of people who just sat down. I'm taking the order of one of the tables from the back when Lou suddenly comes from behind me, takes my hand and slides a piece of paper inside.
"Here's my number and my club's address..." she whispers in my ear and I tremble at the touch of her lips against my skin "you can come tonight if you're not too tired, or you can come anytime you want, call me or text me if you do."
She walks away and I feel my heart beating frantically, I realize that once again, I was holding my breath, so I inhale and force myself to get back to work, even though my head is somewhere else.
Notes: Guys, I'm so sorry if my grammar's not that good, after all, english isn't my native language.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'd love to know what you think about it, x.