It took a couple minutes for Cinder to compose herself, but eventually she made her way out to the front area, where she found Yang and Vernal with a rather peculiar-looking girl. She had the brightest smile on her face while talking to Vernal, which to say the least, did not match the rest of her appearance. Her hair was jet black, tied up in a side ponytail, and her eyes... there was something off about them. Deep orange was definitely not a natural colour. On the contrary, her makeup definitely matched her hair - black eyeliner, eye shadow and lipstick. Her outfit was equally as... interesting. A spiked leather jacket over a faded red band t-shirt, low cut and loose enough for Cinder to see her lacy black bra. The black jeans on the other hand were fairly tight, accentuating her less-than-curvy figure.
Hesitance hindered Cinders approach, the familiar flare of anxiety clenching her heart, freezing her feet to the floor. But then Yang looked her way, and with a single friendly smile, Cinder felt her heart calm. One step after the other, Cinder made her way over, Vernal offering an apologetic smile of her own. Not nearly as bright as Yang's. But appreciated nonetheless.
"This is my girlfriend Weiss." Vernal gestured to the girl next to her. "Weiss, my coworker Cinder."
"H-Hello..." Cinder managed.
"Nice to meet you." Weiss greeted, in an accent far too refined to fit the look. She extended a hand, which Cinder took. Her nails were painted black too.
"So, now that introductions are out of the way, you ready to go babe?" Vernal wondered.
"For you, I'm always ready to go." Weiss purred.
"That's what I like to here." Vernal grinned before turning to Yang. "You got things here for a bit?"
"You know I do." Yang smiled, rolling her eyes. "Now go, before you make poor Cinder here jealous." Taking Weiss' hand, Vernal led her into the back room.
"Why would I be jealous?" Cinder inquired. Weiss was quite a beautiful girl - though her style was not exactly Cinder's thing - but that did not make her jealous of the pair. "What are they going to do?"
"Probably bang in the back closet." Yang answered, to which Cinder felt her cheeks heat up. "Actually no, definitely bang in the closet. I can't think of a single time when Weiss visited where they didn't bang."
Cinder blinked. "So you're telling me they... have sex here? In the workplace?"
The blonde nodded. "Yeah, but it's not all bad. Sure hearing the moaning while on break can get kind of annoying, but at least they come out clean and not smelling of sweat."
"But... doesn't that break any rules here?" Cinder questioned.
"Nah, my mom's pretty chill about that sort of thing. She only seems kinda uptight 'cause she's tired a lot." Yang explained, before a grin came to her face. "Like there was this one time where someone dropped a glass, so mom heads to the back to grab a broom to clean it up, and Vernal and Weiss were uh, busy in the closet." She reminisced, trying not to laugh. "Weiss had to hand her the broom mid-session."
As embarrassing as it sounded, Cinder could not help but smile, imagining how it must have looked.
"She's a sweet girl, Weiss." Yang continued. "Really nice, super polite, and the punk outfit rocks. But don't let it fool you, it's not even close to her natural style."
"Her... natural style?"
Yang nodded. "She used to wear a lot of white. But a little while after getting with Vernal, she kinda... adopted her look if you get what I mean."
"I see..." A few moments went by, neither woman speaking, so they returned to their place behind the bar. "How did they become a couple?" Cinder asked after a couple minutes of silence.
"Well it's a long story really, but they can fill in the nitty gritty." Yang answered. "Weiss came from Atlas about a year ago, originally just tagging along with her sister on a business trip. One night she came here alone, one thing led to another, and... Vernal ended up taking her home if you catch my drift. In the morning they talked, and Weiss decided to stay."
"But then... what about her sister?" Cinder wondered.
"Vernal took Weiss to her place so they could talk things out." Yang continued. "I heard it took some convincing, but eventually she let Weiss stay. Though I can't say the same about her father."
"What happened?"
"I don't know the whole story, but apparently he sent one of his employees to come get her." Yang explained. "Needless to say, he didn't get what he wanted."
"I can't imagine what that must have been like for her..." Cinder admitted, her gaze falling. "I never knew my father..."
"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry Cinder... I didn't know..."
The older woman shook her head. "Don't be, there was no way you could have." Maybe she should change the subject. "So... um, what about you? Do you... have a partner?"
"I uh... I've got someone." Yang started. "But we aren't really serious, just a casual thing."
That sounded a bit like Nora. Nothing serious, just casual. Though in their case, they were not in a relationship, just friends... who had sex sometimes.
Thankfully it was not too long before the pair returned from the closet, and just as Yang said, they came out clean and smelling fine - Though Weiss was more flustered than before. Once Vernal made her drink - a vodka martini - the three women returned to work. As afternoon became evening, the bar slowly grew more crowded. Yang and Vernal still handled the bulk of it, while Cinder cleaned up after guests left. Once Weiss had finished her own drink, she approached the bar. Giving her girlfriend a quick kiss - at least it started as a quick one - she received a firm slap on the rear before bidding them farewell.
After another group of guests departed, Cinder retrieved the glasses from their booth and brought them back to the bar.
"Hey Cinder?" Came Yang's voice from behind the bar. A tray of three drinks sat in front of her while she continued to make more.
"Yes?"
"You mind bringing these drinks to that group?" Yang asked, pointing to the booth she was talking about - A women and two men. "I've still got more to make for another party."
"Of... Of course." Was not the answer Cinder wanted to give, but it was the one she had to if she wanted to keep this job. Picking up the tray from the counter, she turned to face the booth. You can do this. She told herself. All you have to do is bring them their drinks and smile. Simple. Taking a deep breath, she slowly approached the group, and all eyes turned on her as she arrived with the drinks. "M-Mistrali Margarita?"
The woman raised her hand. "Here." Cinder carefully placed the glass in front of her, making sure to smile as best she could. "Thank you."
"Daiquiri?"
"That's mine." The man sitting next to the woman responded. To which Cinder placed the glass in front of him, offering another smile. "Thanks."
"A-And the Screwdriver must be yours..." Cinder finished, placing the last glass in front of the second man.
"Thanks sweetheart."
"Y-You're welcome." Cinder nodded before quickly returning to the bar. That was not too bad.
Yang offered a warm smile as she passed the older woman with a tray of drinks. "Nice job."
"Thanks Yang..." As Cinder placed the tray back into the stack under the bar, she heard the squeak of the back door opening. Turning around, she was met by Raven's tired gaze. The words that left her mouth were ones that Cinder hoped she would not have to hear, especially on her first day.
"Hey, can I see you in my office?"
Cinder was once again terrified.
Getting called into the manager's office, especially on the first day - technically it was not even her first day - was almost always a bad sign. Relax, you've done nothing wrong. Cinder told herself. Whatever this was, it would not result in her being fired... She hoped...
Following Raven into her office, the older woman walked around to sat at her desk, while Cinder chose to stand - mostly out of fear that she was about to be told to leave. A few moments went by in silence, so she decided to speak up first.
"S-So, what did you want to... see me for...?"
"Well first off, you should sit down and breath before you pass out." Raven suggested, to which Cinder did so. "Second, you're doing great, so you're hired."
Cinder blinked. Was she serious? "I... I'm hired...?"
"Well you haven't broken or burned anything, or punched anyone. That puts you ahead of everyone else on their first days." Raven explained. "So yeah, congrats."
Cinder could already feel tears filling her eye. "I-I... thank you so much... You don't know how much this means to me..."
"I've got an idea, but hold off on the thank you's for now, I need to get some details from you." Raven continued.
"W-What kind of details?" Cinder hesitantly asked.
"Bank, social security, you know, for pay and such." Raven informed. "Are you good for money or is this a dire financial situation type deal?"
"It's... the latter..." Cinder admitted.
Raven did not respond immediately, possibly considering options. "I can give you an advance if you need it... you don't seem the sort to skip town, so I trust you with that."
Cinder could not believe what she was hearing. "You could?"
"I don't want my employees living under stress, I've been there and done that, it doesn't make good workers." Raven observed.
The younger woman sighed. "I feeling I've known far too well for far too long..."
"How are you getting along with everyone?" Raven changed the subject.
"Fine so far... Vernal is blunt but she's not rude, and Yang is really nice..." Cinder offered a timid smile. "She helped put me at ease during the first part of my shift."
Raven offered a smile of her own. "I hoped as much. You'll get used to Vernal eventually, she had it rough too."
"What... happened with her?"
"Life dealt her a shitty hand, eventually she snowballed into sticking us up, I had a better idea." Raven reminisced.
Cinder blinked. Did she hear her right? "She... She tried to rob you?"
"Almost." Raven clarified. "Ask her about it sometime, she's not shy."
"I will... when she makes me less anxious..." Cinder hesitantly agreed.
"She only acts tough, just do what Yang does and treat her like anyone else, and she'll tone herself down." Raven suggested.
Cinder nodded. "I'll try that..." Then she remembered the other girl she saw during her shift. "And her girlfriend seems nice..."
"Weiss? She's adorable, tries to act like Vernal, then goes right back to the practiced rich girl shtick." Raven chuckled.
The younger woman smiled. "She did look quite good in that outfit... But... rich girl shtick?"
"Yeah, she was supposed to be heiress to the Schnee Development Corporation, but got disowned when she ran off with Vernal." Raven explained.
"Schnee Development... are you saying that's Weiss Schnee?" Cinder inquired, eye wide.
"Just Weiss now, and don't forget it, she gets bitchy about her name."
"Just Weiss... I won't." Cinder assured. "It's hard to imagine the heiress of the SDC would run off with someone..."
"Shitty parents are a theme around here." Raven grimaced.
This was probably a bad idea, but Cinder was curious. "Does that include... Yang?"
"She escaped the worst of it." Raven simply responded.
"I-If you don't mind my asking... w-what do you mean by... she escaped the worst of it...?" Cinder timidly asked.
Raven sighed. "Let's just say I wasn't the best mother for Yang, and I ended up needing help from S... someone else..."
Just by the look on Raven's face, Cinder could tell this was a difficult subject. Her eyes were full of pain... full of regret... "I'm... I'm sorry Raven..."
Raven shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry for, the past is the past, we're here now, and everything's peachy."
"I suppose that's also a theme around here?" Cinder wondered, her lips curling into a smile.
Raven laughed. "Keep moving forward and all that shit."
Cinder nodded. "Indeed, it's how I made it this far in the first place. Well, that and Nora."
"Girlfriend?" Raven guessed.
Cinder shook her head. "No, well, not exactly... We're not together, but we have um... I would not be here without her..."
"Then you be sure to treat her well." Raven advised. "Those kinds of friends are hard to come by."
"That they are..."
It had been a long time since Cinder had been this genuinely happy. Not only did her first shift go well, but she may have made a new friend.
After working out a schedule with Raven - she offered to work every day, but the manager insisted she take at least one day off for every seven - Cinder received the advance for the days she would be working that week. It brought a tear to her eye, been given enough money that would help her survive for more than a week. Almost too good to be true. Cinder felt as if she was going to wake up the next morning and she would learn this was all a dream... Shaking the less-than-pleasant thoughts from her mind, she bid Raven a good night and exited the office. As she did, she noticed Yang was standing outside, appearing to be waiting for her.
"Hey, good job today." Yang complimented. "I know my mom said you were pretty nervous during your interview, but you did well. I look forward to having you as a coworker."
Cinder offered a small smile. "Thank you Yang."
"See ya tomorrow." Yang grinned before passing her to enter the break room.
"Yes, see you tomorrow..." Cinder bid before exiting the bar. It felt good to say that again...
After a short walk - with a quick stop at the bank - she arrived back at her shithole of an apartment... and Nora was waiting outside her door. She appeared to be dressed in her usual 'hangout wear' - a white t-shirt with a pink heart on the chest and pink short-shorts. Upon noticing her approaching, the redhead's eyes lit up, her mouth curling into an excited grin.
"Welcome home Cindy!" Nora burst. "How was your first day of work?" Cinder did not verbally respond, simply wrapping her in a tight hug, causing her to giggle. "I knew you would do great."
Partially pulling away, Cinder raised her brow. "How could you have known?"
Nora just continued to grin. "I just knew."
Cinder rolled her eye, yet still with a smile on her face. "Sure you did."
"It's true! I had good feelings about you, I knew you could do it!" Nora insisted.
"Are you sure those weren't aftershocks?" Cinder wondered, her smile becoming a smirk.
Nora giggled. "I should be the one asking you about aftershocks Cindy."
"Well I had some good feelings of my own today, but unfortunately for you, they were not from the sex itself." Cinder informed.
"Considering how long I was between your legs last night, I'm surprised!"
Cinder chuckled. Well she wasn't wrong. Nora took great joy in giving pleasure to others, while at the same time never expecting to receive it. She has said as much. Even during their session the prior night, after going down on Cinder extensively, it was if she had no interest in receiving the same. Once the older woman had orgasmed several times, they just went straight to cuddling. Cinder tried asking if Nora wanted anything, but she insisted she was fine. Maybe it was the constant... excitement of her job...
"Soooo, tell me all about your day!" Nora beamed, pulling Cinder from her thoughts.
"Why don't we head inside first?" Cinder wondered. "Unless you want to have this conversation in the hallway."
Nora blinked, realizing where they were. "Oh yeah. Let's do that." She agreed with a smile.
Cinder chuckled again. Pulling out her key, she unlocked her door and the pair entered her shoe box apartment.
"Hey, you mind if I use your bathroom real quick?" Nora asked. "I've been uh, waiting here for a while."
"Of course Nora." Cinder allowed. The redhead scampered off to the tiny bathroom, closing the door behind her. While she waited, the older woman decided to take the opportunity to get changed. Stripping off her work clothes, she threw them into the hamper before donning a pair of black sweatpants and a light brown shirt. As she flopped down onto her bed, she breathed a sigh of relief. Today was a good day. She thought to herself.
Soon enough the bathroom door opened and Nora strolled out. "You're not gonna wanna go in there for twenty minutes!" She burst, to which Cinder grimaced. "I'm kidding I'm kidding!" She sat next to her friend. "So where were we? Oh yeah! Tell me about your day Cindy!"
Where should Cinder even start? In her mind so much happened that day. Should she start with the job itself? No... a bar job is pretty self explanatory... "I met some interesting people today."
"Ooh tell me all about them!"
"Well first there's my boss, Raven." Cinder began. "She's... tough, yet kind... and-"
"Is she hot?" Nora interrupted.
Cinder shrugged. "I suppose, but I was fairly nervous while speaking with her, so it wasn't exactly something I was focusing on. Maybe you should come visit sometime and try your luck."
Nora giggled. "Don't tempt me."
"Anyways, then there's her daughter Yang." Cinder continued. "I worked with her during my shift. She's really nice, polite and... comforting."
Nora raised a brow. "Comforting?"
Cinder nodded. "She helped me feel... at ease while we worked... I'm glad she was there with me."
"Oooohhh do I detect a crush?" Nora coaxed with a grin.
Cinder chuckled. "Just because I was glad she was there doesn't mean I instantly have a crush on her Nora."
The redhead just continued to grin. "Alright, whatever you say Cindy."
Cinder rolled her eye. "There was also the one I met a couple days ago when I first found the bar, Vernal. She is... rather intimidating to say the least."
"Why's that?"
"She has this whole biker punk thing going on... and that combined with her blunt attitude makes her an almost scary person." Cinder explained. "And that's not even including the fact that she had sex with her girlfriend in the bar's back closet." The reaction Nora gave reminded her of a double take. It made her laugh.
"Woah woah, your coworker banged her girlfriend at work?" Nora exclaimed, to which her friend nodded. After a moment her expression became a grin. "Could you hear them?"
"Fortunately not."
"So, was her girlfriend hot?" Nora wondered.
"Are you just going to ask that about everyone I meet there?" Cinder inquired.
"Maybe."
The older woman sighed. "Well to answer your question, she is pretty, but something about her style was... off-putting." She informed. "Yang told me she used to wear a lot of white, but now she's practically the textbook definition of goth."
"Sounds like an interesting girl." Nora commented.
"As far as I saw." Cinder shrugged. "But enough about me, we've talked to much about that, how was your day?" Knowing her friend's... line of work, her answer ought to be interesting.
Nora just laughed. "It was nothing special."
Author's Note: Hey would you look at that, it's early :O (I usually have 2 weeks or more between chapters).
Sorry it's a bit short, technically this was gonna be the 2nd half of chapter 2, but it was taking too long so I decided to divide it up.
Also, completely forgot: this Weiss' design is inspired by 'Black Mirror' by ThyBlake on DeviantArt. Go check it out, it's awesome.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and as always, your feedback fuels me!
