One Month Later
The bar was bustling, crowded, though it was still a far cry better than the previous week. Mardi Gras went off without a hitch, but Shirayuki was certain she had never in her life served more alcohol than she did then. Of course, Mardi Gras is a week-long celebration, so the chaos was not limited to just one day. But they all managed to survive.
"Lucy, could you also ask if we have any more Grey Goose while you're at it?" Jazzy's voice called from behind Shirayuki before she could knock on the office door.
"Yeah!"
Officially, Shirayuki's new identity was under Lucy LeBlanc. She and Obi talked it over and, after roping Geneva into the conversation too, the three of them agreed that it was best that they not tell anyone else her real name or where she came from. They created the identity with the intention of making her sound like a local, which is why they chose the Cajun family name of LeBlanc. Obi, having always called her "Miss", didn't have an issue with it, but Geneva kept tripping up. She'd start with a "Sh" and would have to twist it into something like, "Shhhhould I use this one instead, Lucy?" or "Shhhhine up those glasses a bit for me, Lucy." It was amusing, but they could tell Geneva was trying her best so they didn't poke too much fun at her.
Knocking on the office door, Shirayuki waited until she heard the grunt of acquiesce before opening it. Obi was leaned back, his boots propped on his desk as he read over a piece of paper. Again, there was a pen sticking from between his teeth where he was chewing on it. There were still several papers in stacks around him, but they were in much neater piles, and the filing cabinet didn't look like it had been blown up anymore. Obi looked up as she entered, a smile creeping onto his features as he removed his boots from the desk and sat up straight, removing the pen from his teeth and setting it down with the paper.
"How can I help you, Miss?"
"We're out of Captain, and Jazzy said to check and see if we have more Grey Goose, too."
Obi stood, stretching for a brief moment. "Ooo," he said with a wince after thinking a moment. "I may not have ordered more Goose. I'll grab the Captain and see what I can find."
"Okay," she replied, backing out of the door and going back behind the bar. Jazzy was standing at the far end, talking to a semi-regular customer while gesturing wildly.
Jazzy was the other weekend bartender. She was a thirty-something year old lesbian with a penchant for chaos, but she did her job well and seemed to know how to handle a crowd. She was only a couple of inches taller than Shirayuki, but she sported black hair with the left side shaved. She kept a few twists of braids in her hair, giving her a look reminiscent of a viking, and with the red tank top, black leather pants, and multiple piercings, she definitely held the air of a girl who shouldn't be messed with.
"Lucy," she called, turning her head to look back at the redhead taking payment from another customer. "Could you get the guy in gray down there?" She nodded towards the other end of the bar. "He just walked up."
"Heard," Shirayuki replied instantly, handing the customer she was working with his change. Turning, she spotted the guy Jazzy was referring to. He wasn't anything special, about a head taller than her, wearing a gray hoodie and jeans with cropped brown hair. He was already staring at her, hoping for her attention.
"What can I get for you?" Shirayuki asked, looking at him expectantly.
"Two highballs," he said loudly over the chatter of the bar, slapping a couple bills onto the bartop as he smiled at her. "Keep the change."
With a quick "I gotcha!" she turned and set to work making the drinks. A few seconds later, the gray-hoodie guy had a friend wearing nothing but a muscle shirt and shorts (and almost a foot shorter than his friend) join him, both standing by the bar as they chatted and watched her work. Setting the drinks in front of the hoodie guy, she gave him a polite smile. "Enjoy!"
He gave her a smirk as his friend stared hard at her, taking a few steps before finally turning his head to continue his conversation with his friend as they walked away. Picking up the bills, she nearly choked when she saw Benjamin Franklin's face peeking up at her behind a twenty. Her jaw dropped before she looked around wildly for the guy. Surely it was a mistake?
She managed to spot the guy through the crowd, and it turned out he was looking straight at her. Probably waiting for her to notice. She waved the bills in the air, trying to convey to him his mess-up, but he just gave her a wink before returning to his conversation. Shirayuki flushed a bit, embarrassed but pleased. She had no interest in any guys but if he wanted to tip her well then that was his decision. Shoving the money into her pocket, she decided she would deal with it when she had the time. She didn't think anymore about it until much later in the evening.
There was maybe five minutes left before closing. Obi had made his appearance on the floor at around midnight to break up a scuffle, though it didn't take much more than him grabbing both very overly drunk men by their collars and dragging them outside. They were too drunk to really resist. It was the first hint of trouble Shirayuki had seen inside the bar that Obi had to take care of, and he had been swift about it. It was pretty much over as soon as it started. After that, he either hovered behind the bar or made rounds over the floor. Once it was close to closing, however, he decided it was okay enough to go upstairs in the storage room to try and get a head start on his order list.
"Lucy!" Jazzy called for the redhead, waving a stack of receipts at her to catch her attention. Shirayuki had been busy going through the random settings and screens on the POS system, still doing her absolute best to fully learn how to operate it. She almost had it figured out, too, which got under Obi's skin just a tiny bit from what she could tell.
"Yes?" She looked up to watch Jazzy get behind the bar once more.
"Gray hoodie from earlier is asking for you," she said, nodding towards the pool table before looking down at the receipts she was flipping through. "Want me to tell him to fuck off?"
Shirayuki's face fell a bit. "Oh, no, that's okay. He just overtipped me earlier. I'm sure that's what this is about. I got it."
"Aight."
Walking away from the register and rounding the bar, Shirayuki sidled up to the pool table where the guy and his friend were trying to finish their last game. As she approached, she pulled the money from her pocket in anticipation of handing it back.
"Hi guys," she greeted, grabbing their attention. Both of them stopped hovering over the table and stood up straight. She could see the guy in the muscle shirt flex slightly, though she did her best to ignore it. "Jazzy said you were looking for me? I know this is probably about that mistake earlier - "
"Nah, darlin'," Gray Hoodie said, his Cajun accent peeking through with the multiple drinks he'd had. "That tip is all you. I just wanted to chat with you a bit more."
"Yeah," Muscle-Shirt added on. "We know redheads know how to have fun so we just wanted to talk a little." He waggled his eyebrows a bit at her, making her cringe inwardly.
"Oh, well, that's... nice," Shirayuki tried to say politely, ignoring Muscle-Shirt. "Unfortunately, I still have to finish up work. I just wanted to make sure that you really meant to - "
"It's okay," Gray-Hoodie said, cutting her off. He and the other guy leaned towards her, forcing her just slightly closer to the wall. She hadn't realized Muscle-Shirt had moved to her other side. "Just wanted to chat for a minute. So, your name's Lucy? I heard the other chick call you that."
"Uhm, yes," she replied curtly, leaning back away from the two even more. "But if you - "
"I'm Andrew, this is Kyle," he cut her off again, indicating to himself and his friend. She took another step back to try and get some distance. The guys were very pushy, apparently. "So if you're about to be off work anyways, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out? We're meeting with some friends at the levy to get really hammered and - "
"No, thank you," she replied, cutting him off for once. By this point, her back was pressed to the wall with the two guys leaning ever closer to her. "I have some - "
"Come on, don't be like that," Gray-Hoodie said as he reached out to grab her shoulder. "I gave you an extra hundred bucks, you can at least - "
Before his hand touched her, another hand suddenly landed on the guy's arm, stopping him.
Swiveling her gaze, she saw Obi had appeared out of nowhere, gripping Gray-Hoodie's wrist tightly and glaring at him with narrowed eyes.
"What the fu - "
"I'm gonna ask you to not touch my employees," Obi growled menacingly.
"I'm not doing anything to her," Gray-Hoodie immediately argued, trying to take back his hand as his other one moved in to grab Shirayuki by the waist. "We're just talking. I think it's the least she can do for that tip - "
As soon as his touch grazed her waist, everything turned into some kind of a blur. The hand attached to the wrist that Obi had been gripping was suddenly folded under and behind the man's back, and then he was spun head over heels completely before landing on the floor with a harsh thud and a groan of pain. Shirayuki's jaw dropped.
Obi stood over the man, his eyes dark and his features hardened. He looked down at the man on the ground with a scowl for a moment before he reached into his back pocket. Pulling out his wallet, he quickly removed a hundred dollar bill and tossed it onto the man on the ground.
"If you're looking for someone to pay for their time, then I suggest finding a prostitute. You're in the wrong goddamn place. Get the fuck out of my bar."
"Hey, bro, what the fuck - " Muscle-Shirt guy tried to bow up at Obi, but the height difference made him look ridiculous.
"If you wanna start something then I will gladly finish it," Obi snapped, pulling himself up to his full height and looking down at the shorter man with a harsh glare. With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, she could see the muscles of Obi's forearms flex from his clenched fists. His presence was powerful, intimidating. Dangerous. The corded muscles in his neck stretched taut as he clenched his jaw, and the golden glint in his eye held a much deeper threat. Shirayuki had never seen a look like that on his face before, and the smallest shiver of fear raced up her spine. "I have no problems beating the shit out of a guy that thinks wearing shorts and a tank in fucking February makes any goddamn sense. Just say the word."
The guy looked up at Obi, leaning back from the encroaching presence. He swallowed hard a couple of times, the guy trying to stand his ground as this menacing presence towered over him. After only a few moments of contemplation, the guy finally backed away, reaching down to pull up his buddy by the arm.
"What the fuck ever, man. We're out of here. This is the worst bar in Nola anyways."
Gathering up his friend, the two left hastily, with Obi glaring intently at them both until they were out of sight. Once they were officially gone, Obi followed up behind the door and locked it, preventing any more people from coming in at closing. Turning to face her, she could see the dark and threatening look was gone, but there wasn't exactly any joy there either. Mostly worry.
"Are you okay, Miss?"
"I'm fine," she said quickly, too quickly. She had just been standing there, mouth gaping and eyes staring, her back still pressed to the wall. "I uh…" Looking around the bar quickly, she saw Jazzy putting a rubber band around a stack of bills (though Shirayuki could swear she saw her peek up at them sneakily), and the other server/cleaner Juanita was already mopping the hallway to the restrooms. "I should help finish closing. Um, thanks."
With that, Shirayuki skittered away to distance herself from whatever the hell had just happened.
"Are you sure you're alright, Miss?"
This time when Obi asked her that, they were walking through the third floor door into Obi's home. They had made quick work of closing up, thanks to Shirayuki's insistence of cleaning as quickly and efficiently as possible trying to distract herself from the scene that had unfolded before.
She'd had guys hit on her before. She had owned a bar, so it was a very common occurrence for her. At her bar in Tanbarun, she'd always had a couple of bouncers in the building, so when things escalated, it was dealt with fairly quickly. Only a couple of guys had actually gone out of their way to actually put their hands on her, but it was only something like an arm or shoulder grab, but they were still promptly removed from the premises.
No, what had her shaken was Obi. He had the man incapacitated and on the ground before she could even tell what was happening. And it happened so fast that Shirayuki wasn't even sure if Obi had done anything to the guy. It was exactly the same as when he had saved her from the guy with the knife the month before. He was so swift and precise with his movements, disarming the enemy and laying them out on the ground in the same motion. There was no hesitation, no delay. It was obvious that Obi was dangerous, and she should have been positive that that scared her a little.
Except, instead, she could feel a small thrill shoot up her spine and a warmth pool in her stomach when she thought about it.
She tried not to focus on it. She knew she was probably only feeling that way because it was Obi. He had taken care of her, gone out of his way to help her, and now… He'd gone out of his way to protect her. It was enough to make any girl swoon. But based on those simple facts, Shirayuki knew that whatever tingly feelings she got after that interaction were more than likely due to hormones or maybe just her overactive imagination. She wasn't thinking about him like that if she could help it. She needed to squash down those thoughts and move on.
"I'm fine," she replied brightly, pulling off her hoodie and hanging it on the hook by the door. Kicking off her shoes and neatly placing them against the wall, she said, "Sorry if I was acting weird. Was just surprised, you know?"
"Right," he acknowledged slowly, but his voice still sounded a bit skeptical. Shirayuki decided it was best to just leave it alone. Walking across the living room, she settled on the couch before picking up the remote and switching on the TV with a sigh.
"You're not heading up yet?" he asked as he walked towards the kitchen.
"Not really tired, yet," she replied truthfully, absently clicking through the channels. She hadn't been one to watch much TV before fleeing Tanbarun, but tonight was different. She needed something to keep her distracted. Going to get a shower or crawling into bed where she was alone with her thoughts was a pretty dumb idea for the time being.
"I get that," he said with a shrug, walking into the kitchen. She heard him ask from the other side of the wall, "Would you like a drink too, then?"
In the month she had been staying there, she had only taken him up on his offer of a nighttime drink a handful of times. She at least had built up her tolerance enough to where one glass didn't have her completely hammered, but she did get a decent bit tipsy still. If there was any night she actually thought she needed a drink, though, tonight was definitely that night.
"Sure."
Shirayuki stopped flipping through the channels, leaving it on some type of nature documentary. Staring blankly at the screen, she tried to concentrate on what was happening but her focus was pretty much shot for the night.
Obi reappeared a minute later, carrying two glasses. Settling on the sofa beside her, he handed her the smaller cup swirling with amber liquid. Taking a sniff, she determined it was another amaretto sour. Despite not drinking much, it didn't take long for Obi to figure out it was her preferred drink.
"Thank you." Taking a large gulp, she tucked her legs sideways underneath her and leaned back as she continued staring at the TV. The brief whiff she had of Obi's drink let her know he had gone with straight bourbon.
The two watched the TV absentmindedly, observing the hyenas on the documentary as they taunted lions and stole their food. Neither of them spoke for several long minutes, just occasionally sipping on their drinks. It had been a long day.
And then Obi suddenly spoke.
"I hope I didn't freak you out."
Shirayuki jerked her head around to see him staring down into his glass, her green eyes wide with surprise.
"Huh?"
Obi didn't look up, continuing to stare down the dark brown liquid. There was no hint of the smirk he usually wore. "Downstairs. I didn't mean to… I mean, sometimes I have to take care of assholes like that, of course. And I'm sure you know all about it having owned your own bar. It's just…" Looking up at her with those honey-colored eyes laced with something she couldn't quite recognize, he shrugged. "I've been told I can be a little... intense... when I'm pissed off. So… I'm sorry if that freaked you out."
Shirayuki felt her heart give a tug at the expression he was giving her. Apologetic, worried, nervous. Had he genuinely been concerned about scaring her?
"It's no big deal," she said, reaching up to pull her hair from its bun and allowing it to fall free around her. Taking another drink from her glass, she could already feel herself relaxing a bit more. "I already told you my bar was in the Juren district. We had a lot of fights break out during after parties for games. And I've had my fair share of guys being grabby. I'm used to things like that. As for you… Well, like I said. I was just surprised. You're actually a really good fighter, huh?"
Reaching up with his free hand to grip his shoulder, he tilted his head to the side and moved his gaze to the TV. "Ehh… Something like that. I picked up a few things after being on the road for so long."
"Well, it's impressive," she said honestly, taking another sip. "You did the same thing the night… uh… when we first met. Taking guys down like it's nothing."
"I guess I have to take that as a compliment," he said, finally giving her a smile as he brought his glass to his lips. Before taking another sip, he added, "I'm glad I didn't scare you off."
Shirayuki could feel heat rise to her cheeks at the look he was giving her, with his eyes half-lidded, dark, observant. Before she could realize she was staring, though, he seemed to notice too.
Eyes widening a fraction, he coughed lightly, clearing his throat before following up with, "Because, uh. You know. It's hard to find a really good bartender these days."
"Right. Of course," she agreed readily, turning her eyes back to the TV to avoid looking at him. Her cheeks burned, and she felt a tightening in her chest.
'Just ignore it.'
"But, for the record, Miss," Obi continued softly as Shirayuki watched the flock of birds flying past on the screen, "I also like to think of you as a friend. And I wouldn't want to scare off any of my friends, either."
Shirayuki's blush deepened.
