AN: Thank you so much for those who are following this story. I appreciate the love. I hope you guys enjoy it.


A brunette with the bright green eyes waited a moment for an acknowledgement before she drifted back to the glass she polished.

Clarke shifted nervously in place at the intensity of the moment. The girl's aloof personality and greeting, or lack thereof intimidated the blonde, and she struggled to say anything back.

"You can come back at seven." The girl spoke again as she set the glass face down in a tray and grabbed another to clean.

Her blue eyes shifted from the glass to the brunette and around the darkened space she had walked in to, but she failed to say anything still.

"Can you hear me?" The brunette finally set the glass and towel down on the counter as she looked up slightly concerned. Her hands rested on the edge of the bar top for support. "Are you alright?" Her eyes traveled the girl's body looking for any sign of injury.

"I'm sorry." Clarke finally swallowed her nervousness and nodded. "I saw your sign outside, it was on, and I assumed you were open." She responded and held onto the strap of her bag, using it as a distraction for her anxious fidgeting.

A lopsided grin emerged from the brunette before she nodded. "The sign is always on." She replied before continuing with her prior task.

The blonde knitted her brows at the statement, but quickly moved past it to continue on with the conversation. "I also saw the wanted sign. Is that always there?"

Clarke studied the confused squint from the girl and smiled to let her know that was her lame attempt at a joke. The brunette shook her head, clearly not impressed, but she smirked nonetheless. "Are you a dancer?" She asked, but never stopped working as she moved the tray of freshly polished glasses under the counter.

"What?" It was her turn to look on in confusion as she leaned forward to listen to the girl who was hidden somewhere under the bar now.

She re-appeared with an exhale and a swipe at some strands of wavy hair that had fallen from their loose braids. "We need a dancer. That's what the sign is for." Her hands rested on the edge of the table once again as she waited for the blonde to respond.

Clarke's hopes fell as she realized her latest opportunity was yet another flop. She shook her head remorsefully. "No, I'm not a dancer." She adjusted her strap and prepared to leave before she decided to explore other opportunities. "But I can do other things. I have experience in waitressing and I'm really good with annoying customers." The blonde shrugged.

There was another exhale from the brunette before she rounded the counter and sat casually on a stool. Her eyes scrutinized the jittery blonde. "You're not from around here." She stated rather than asked and grinned at the shake of the girl's head. "Where then?"

"Arkadia, Virginia." Clarke replied with a crestfallen expression. It had only been days since her life-changing decision and she was already exhausted. The warm greeting on the plane was not foretelling of the grueling work she still had ahead of her before she could be happy…comfortable even.

"No kidding." The brunette nodded before she patted her hand to her chest. "Washington, D.C."

"Nice." Clarke smiled; glad to have found a person who might understand her current situation.

"Not really. I wouldn't have moved out here if it was." The brunette countered as a joke before she rubbed her hands on her legs and stood. "Listen, I'm really sorry that we can't help with the position, but you should come back at seven. I'll buy you your first celebratory drink and you can share your tale of woe with me and whoever might be at the bar then."

"Tale of woe?" Clarke asked with furrowed brows.

The girl nodded. "Like Jane Eyre." She looked at the blonde's perplexed stare. "Charlotte Brontë." She continued, hoping to ignite a flame of recognition within the girl.

"Sounds familiar." The blonde lied. She rarely read for pleasure since she started college, and before then she read science books to please her parents when she wasn't deep into artist biographies.

"Right." The other girl dropped the subject and shook her head. "Well I have to get back to setting up for the night. Hope to see you around." She walked back around the bar to organize and clean the various bottles of alcohol.

Clarke remained rooted in place. "I can help you with that. Give me a chance." She insisted. "Maybe I can make a case with your manager."

The brunette laughed and looked back to the girl with a bottle in hand. "You can try, but Indra is quite hard to persuade unless she wants to be." She decided to challenge her. "That's her over there at the bottom of the stage. Let me know how it goes, Virginia."

"Clarke." She responded, annoyed by the girl's dare, while her eyes looked around for the manager.

"What?"

"My name is Clarke, D.C." Clarke looked back to the girl and puffed up her chest in acceptance before she pivoted and walked confidently towards the woman in charge.

The woman was well-built and dressed very fashionably and sophisticated. No skin on her showed except for a small triangle of chest that was exposed by her cross front tunic. Her boots added another two inches to her already lengthy legs that were concealed by tight leather pants.

When Clarke approached closer it became clear that Indra's commands were very carefully formulated and directed with extreme concentration. She felt bad that she would soon be breaking her out of her zone, but the blonde was desperate.

"Excuse me." She crept warily.

"You want more drama when you swing those arms, Raven." The woman seemed to miss Clarke's intrusion.

"Give me a break, Indra. If I flail any harder they might fall off." The girl responded with an eye roll.

Indra frowned up at the girl. "See, you can be dramatic." They both playfully glared at one another.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Clarke inched closer beside the woman to make her presence more conspicuous.

The darker woman turned her head with an annoyed sigh, finally acknowledging the interruption. "If you are here about the position please leave your resume with my assistant and we'll give you a call for an audition." She dismissed Clarke with a feigned smile before she moved her eyes back up to the stage.

"Actually, I'm not here about the dancing position." She moved with the woman to stay in her line of sight.

"Then we open at seven." Clarke bit her lip in frustration when Indra failed to avert her gaze from the stage.

Yet she did not budge. "I wanted to see if you could use a server or a helper for your bar. I have experience." She pointed back towards the back of the room and did not miss the small grin on the brunette's face as she caught her eyes.

"I didn't know we needed any help in that area. Now, if you don't mind, I really need to get back to my dancers." Indra spared a glance at her bartender and glowered at her, silently asking for assistance with the unsolicited distraction.

Clarke wanted to yell at the infuriating woman, but she held back. The way with which she was dismissed irked her beyond belief, and she turned around to walk away dejectedly. Her strap held tightly in her fist.

"Thanks anyway." She didn't bother to look up at the brunette as she headed for the exit.

"Lexa."

"What?" Clarke held the door handle while she looked back towards the girl.

Lexa simpered as she wiped the counter top. "I'm Lexa." She paused. "Come back at seven." She suggested coolly with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Clarke wasn't sure whether she should be annoyed or pleased with the girl's invitation. Walking back into a place she had just been rejected from was not something she was fond of, but she was a fan of having a drink every now and then. And with the week she just experienced, a glass of whiskey did sound appealing.

So Clarke nodded, albeit indifferently, back at the brunette. "Maybe I will, Lexa." She waved a small goodbye as she opened the door and headed back out into the city.

Lexa watched the girl exit as she continued to clean her space. "You sent that poor girl straight to me when you know I hate to be bothered during rehearsal." Indra cleared her throat and smiled at the brunette's mischievous grin. "I pay you too much to have fun."

The girl chuckled and shrugged. "I need a little levity in my life some times." She finished up and washed her hands before readjusting her button down. "So, can we spare another check for the bar?"

Indra studied the girl with a small smile. "Hardly, but I have a feeling you're going to add the girl to your staff regardless." She replied and nodded knowingly at the girl's smirk. "You're going to make her work for it, aren't you?" Lexa shrugged before her manager shook her head with a sigh. "Fine. You're responsible for her." Indra pointed a finger at her employee before she turned to retreat to her work. "You're a good person, Lexa." She finished with a proud smile.

Clarke walked back into the show bar after hours of mulling over her outfit and whether she should take Lexa up on her invitation or not.

She was taken back by the change in atmosphere she stepped into when she opened the door. The lighting was not that much different except for the spotlight that lit the stage, and a row of decorative rope lights that illuminated the bar top and alcohol selections.

People were scattered around sparsely at the small cocktail tables as they waited for the performer to emerge. At first she debated whether she should take a table or sit at the bar, but when she spotted Lexa behind the bar assisting some customers, she made her choice.

The brunette was quick with her hands as she poured hard liquor over ice and switched over to shaking martinis for the men that waited for their orders. She was so engrossed with the task that she missed Clarke as she sat patiently on a bar stool near the end of the counter.

Her bartender senses did alert her of the silhouette that now occupied the stool so she grabbed a coaster and cocktail napkin from underneath her bar top and headed towards the person. She set the items down in front of the casually folded hands and asked for their order before looking up.

"Surprise me." She heard the voice respond.

Lexa looked up from where she grabbed a glass. "Clarke from Virginia." She nodded impressed that she had showed.

"Lexa from D.C."

They smiled simultaneously before Lexa went to work on the drink. She moved effortlessly behind the counter and used embellished movements to create whatever concoction she was putting together. Clarke looked on in astonishment at how the girl twisted the shaker without hesitation or flaw.

When she added the finishing touch she slid the glass towards the blonde and leaned in. "On the house, but don't be obvious or I'll have to give the guy next to you a free whiskey." She winked and Clarke stifled a small chuckle.

"You gonna help me out Lexa, or am I chopped liver now?" The man in question teased as he slid forward an empty tumbler.

"Come on, Bruce." The brunette feigned a hurt look. "Would I ever do that you?" She lifted her hands in question. "Another whiskey neat?" She began to prepare the drink for the man when he nodded.

"Who's this pretty lady?" The man turned slightly to examine Clarke. Something that the blonde felt extremely uncomfortable with. Especially given his lack of sobriety and the man's sour breath.

Lexa jumped in when she detected the uneasy yet barely noticeable shift in Clarke's body. "This is Clarke, Bruce. And you will keep your distance unless you want to be cut off." She warned with a playful grin.

The man lifted his hands up in surrender. "Alright. Alright. Nice to meet you, Clarke." He nodded before taking a large gulp of his drink.

Clarke mouthed a polite thank you while the man occupied himself with swallowing the alcohol. Lexa nodded slowly before she moved on to assist more of her customers.

Lexa moved around while the blonde studied her for several minutes. She was amazed with the level of poise the girl possessed. She enjoyed her drink from that position for a while, but after a few minutes she turned around in the stool to enjoy the show. Dancers moved around and mock-sang on stage while the audience cheered them on. It was rather entertaining and something she was not familiar with. She concluded she was a fan when she found herself clapping and cheering along with the rest of the spectators.

As the show progressed, and more people filed in to catch the next showing, Clarke realized the customers far outnumbered the servers that were on the floor. She watched silently as some customers waited patiently for their drinks, and others looked around irately for someone to assist them. Her concern rose when she witnessed several couples gather their belongings to walk out of show bar without ever being greeted.

She spun in her seat and didn't wait for the bartender to make her way back towards her side of the counter before she stood. Lexa topped off a Long Island when she looked up to catch a glimpse of the blonde, clearly on a mission as she pushed her clutch behind the counter and walked out onto the floor.

Impressed and slightly taken back by her boldness, the brunette allowed it, using the moment as a test for Clarke before her initiation. She smiled when she caught the girl taking orders and memorizing them before collecting a few empty glasses from surrounding tables.

When the girl made her way back towards the bar, Lexa pretended that she had not just been spying on her by wiping the counter dry and moving towards a customer.

"What are you doing, Clarke?" Lexa eventually asked under her breath as she replaced an empty liquor bottle from the display shelf.

"Helping you." The blonde replied with a shrug. She looked around before she spotted an unused waist apron and made quick work of securing it around herself. "I need three Blue Moons, one whiskey on the rocks, and two martinis." Clarke waited with an empty tray she found as Lexa gawked at her.

"You don't work here." Lexa rebutted with her hands firmly on her waist in mock frustration.

Clarke shook her head before she moved closer to the bartender. "You need me. Look at the people waiting for their drinks. You have one server who doesn't leave the same two tables, and one server who is busy chatting it up with a guy who isn't even drinking." She pointed at the culprits. "Don't get me started on the server who needs to jot every single order down and check it twice before he makes his way back here." She argued.

Lexa shook her head in wonder. "What if you get hurt? You'll want to sue us for your injuries." She knew she was reaching with that, but given that she had not planned on testing Clarke so soon, or that the girl would jump right in, it was all she could come up with on the spot.

"Will you just get me the drinks so your customers don't walk out?" She deadpanned and challenged the other girl with a forceful stare.

"Fine." Lexa shook her head again. "But if you plan to work here, you'll have to be more respectful to your superiors." She argued back as she gathered what she needed for the drinks Clarke had requested.

"You mean you're hiring me?" Clarke's glare shifted into a grateful gaze at the girl's words. Her spirits lifted to a new high since having moved across the country. She didn't fight the excited squeal that escaped her when Lexa nodded at her.

"Welcome to the Tassels staff, Clarke." Lexa smiled as she placed the finished drinks on the tray for her. "Now get to work." She joked and laughed when the blonde nodded emphatically back at her.

TBC...