Y'all are being so sweet with your feedback. Like, seriously - thank you so much. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I've honestly had a much better quarantine than I was dreading; personal events, life in general... didn't know how I'd make it through. But writing and interacting with you all has been a great help, and I must say... I'm happier now than I've ever been this year. :D
So let's get onto the story, shall we? Let's DO THIS! :D
-0-
2:00 AM
"Alright people, wow - what a night!" Cisco said, counting up all the gross profit made from the Saturday night patrons. "Though I may not be your boss, let me just say, if I was, you all would be getting a raise for sure."
The staff applauded for another great night in a row, all keeping their fingers crossed that this momentum would carry over into tomorrow's shorter Sunday shift. That was mostly a dinner service night since people had to go back to work the next day, but drinks were served at a certain limit. The band would only have the key performers (no singing or dancing, just music), so Barry and Caitlin would both be on bar duty for the night.
And what had happened to the last bartender, you ask?
Well... we don't exactly know. Called in sick, although he didn't sound sick, and hasn't peeped a word since. Effectively, until he was found (and Wally had also resigned for school), Barry and Caitlin were gonna be behind the bar indefinitely, and also swapping out for the stage on Fridays and Saturdays.
"And, since I know someone's gonna ask," Cisco said, "no - we don't have any update on Nash's situation. Hopefully he's back tomorrow, but if not, I'll be running the joint once more. Everyone good with that?"
Everyone nodded.
"Alright, go home and get a good night's rest," said Cisco. "I know its our last day together for this round of days, but it's no less big! Let's make it count!"
And with that, everyone slowly began to file out of the bar, patting each other on the back after a great night - this was looking to be one of their best three day services in a while!
"Hey," Caitlin said, tapping Barry's shoulder, "uhm... t-thank you for all your help tonight. That meant a lot to me."
"Oh, I'm more than happy to," Barry smiled, slipping on his coat. "You're really easy to work and communicate with, so I found it really fun!"
Caitlin blushed. "You are too! Uhm, well, g-goodnight then... see you tomorrow!"
"See ya!" Barry waved, as the tap dancer walked out of the bar, wondering why she got so nervous there for a second... what was that all about?
-0-
4:30 AM
Ralph and Sue's Apartment
What was expected to be a night of peace and sleeping in the next day was interrupted by a loud ring - the telephone was letting the people inside the house know that, guess what, someone's decided to call you at this ungodly hour! Whoever could it be?
Sue groaned, getting up to go see who it was since Ralph seemed to still be snoring through it. Figures.
She slipped on her robe, and found her way through the hall and into the kitchen. Making sure that the caller knew she was agitated, she answered in the groggiest voice possible. "Hello... Dearbon-Dibny residence... this is Sue."
"Ah, good, we got the right one," the voice on the other end of the line said.
Sue suddenly felt her eyes open wide with dread, and a chill ran up her back like lightning. She knew exactly who was on the other end of the line... the very reason she was a light sleeper. Speaking of sleep, that no longer seemed like a priority to her - every single part of her that wanted to sleep was replaced with a sudden jolt of shock and fear.
"W-What the hell d-do you want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice down, but firm; she didn't want to wake Ralph.
"Mrs. Dearbon, you are aware that you owe us a... fairly sizable debt still, yes?" the voice asked. Sue said nothing. "Thought so. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we have devised a way to pay off your debt... meet us tomorrow at our former usual spot, and we'll discuss terms."
"Go to hell," Sue whispered, abruptly hanging the phone up and making a 180 turn back to the bedroom.
She hung up her robe, got back under the covers, and laid there staring at the ceiling... gosh, she hated feeling dread. There were only three humans on earth that could make her feel scared. And one of them had literally called her in the middle of the night.
Sue sighed... this was gonna be a long night.
However, at that very moment, Ralph rolled over and flopped his arm down on her in his sleep. Well... maybe it wouldn't be such a long night. She rolled onto her side, and snuggled into his touch. How'd she get so lucky?
And while it would take a while, she would fall asleep eventually, and sleep well past her usual wake up time.
But that didn't change the fact that the caller's voice lingered on in the back of her head.
-0-
12:45 PM
Caitlin's Apartment
Caitlin was just returning back to her apartment after managing to catch a church service, one of the few she had been able to in the past month - her life had so much going for it, but she always tried to make time whenever she possibly could. She had then gone to the market for supplies to make her lunch and a few other essentials, and was setting the bags down when something happened.
The telephone rang.
Caitlin didn't get called often, so she was curious as to who it could be. "Hello?"
"Hey, Caitlin, it's Cisco," Cisco said. "I'm sorry to call you during lunch hour but I've got some pretty big news. They found Edwin."
"The bartender? Wait-what do you mean, they found him?" she asked, raising her brow as she pulled off her shoes.
"He was found dead in his apartment. Dude died of asphyxiation, apparently," Cisco sighed.
"Oh my gosh! That's awful," Caitlin said, rubbing her temple. "Do they think... do they think he was, y'know... killed?" "CCPD's looking into it, but that's about as far as it goes," Cisco said. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Caitlin. I'll tell Barry next."
"Wait - could I tell him?" Caitlin asked, seemingly out of nowhere. "I-I mean, y'know, you-you've got a lot on your plate. I've got a moment - I can call him for you."
"That'd be a great help, Caitlin, great idea," Cisco said gratefully. "Alright, here's his number..."
After giving Caitlin Barry's number and saying his farewell, the doctor dialed the number quicker than she could remember dialing any other number. After a few seconds of waiting, she heard a voice on the other end - one familiar and friendly, just like Cisco's.
"Hello, Allen residence, this is Barry," he said. "Barry? I-It's Caitlin!" Caitlin said, a bit too excited - keep it cool, Snow, she told herself. "Oh, hey Caitlin!" Barry said. "How'd you get my number?"
"Cisco gave it to me," Caitlin explained, "and... I-I wish our first phone call would be less grim, but it looks like you and I are on bar duty for a while."
"Oh? Why?" Barry asked. She then explained how the former bartender died in his apartment, and Barry expressed his deep condolences. "Gosh, that's awful... did he have a family?"
"A brother in Seattle, though they weren't that close, but still," Caitlin sighed. "Okay, let's-let's try to make this a bit lighter; how has your day been so far?"
"Its been pretty good, thank you for asking," Barry said, with a smile finally coming to his lips. "How about you?" "Well enough," Caitlin said, also smiling, "I went to church and then the store, just about to make lunch actually." "Sounds like a nice Sunday morning," he said.
"Yeah, minus the bartender," Caitlin said, trying to laugh, before a slightly awkward silence. "So, uhm, you excited to work the bar tonight?"
"Oh yeah," Barry said, sounding even more excited now on the other end. "I've been doing bottle tricks with empty bottles and I think I've got one down - how many do you have?"
"I can dance on bottles and not break them," Caitlin said, dead-panning like it was obvious.
"Wai-Wait, ho-how is that possible?" Barry asked, dumbfounded.
"Just yanking your chain, Barry," giggled Caitlin, and Barry laughed right along with her. "You had me there! I legit thought it was possible for a second," he laughed.
"Hehe, maybe one day," she giggled. "Well, either way, I've gotta go - but it's been lovely speaking with you, Barry! I'll call you back some other time, when there isn't a murder to discuss." "Sounds like a plan," Barry said happily. "See you tonight, Caitlin!" "See you tonight!" Caitlin echoed, before hanging up.
While the loss of the bartender had threatened to ruin her day, the conversation after she told Barry the news was enough to put a smile upon her lips and a song inside her heart.
It had been a while since that had happened...
-0-
4:50 PM
Cisco was polishing his saxophone on stage - he'd be in the back office, taking calls and managing the paper work for the night, so his sax would practically just be a stage piece.
"Hey buddy!" Ralph said, walking into the bar. "Hey, Ralphie, what's up my man?" Cisco said, pointing at his friend. "Nothing much... hey did Sue come through here by any chance? She said she had something to do tonight, so I wanted to check with you." "Can't say she has my dude, sorry," Cisco said, shrugging. "Ah well," Ralph said, "thanks anyway!"
After that, more and more people began to come into the bar for their five-hour shift. Cisco greeted Kamilla with a smooch when she stepped onto the stage, which made Chester ask for the same treatment from his temporary boss.
Cisco just gave him a look.
...Before bursting out laughing, and Chester did the same, patting him on the shoulder and getting behind the drum kit, doing a sick warm up afterwards.
Finally, Caitlin walked in, Barry close behind - they had arrived at the same time, and had spent a minute talking before entering the bar. "There they are!" Cisco said, clapping his hands together. "Alright, you two know the drill, right? You got your bar skills down pat, Barry?"
"I was practicing bottle tricks with some empty beer bottles," Barry nodded. "I... may have broken a few, but I was able to do some pretty easily!"
"Alrighty, just don't do that with our bottles, okay?" Cisco chuckled, before cringing. "Oh God, I'm sounding like Nash..."
"Need a minute, buddy?" Caitlin asked. "Probably," Cisco sighed, laughing. "Alright, you two have fun behind the bar tonight!" Though he didn't mean anything other than work, Barry and Caitlin both felt an initial awkwardness at what Cisco had just said. Instead of dwelling on it, though, they just made their way to their work station and began prepping for the dinner service.
And, well...
It went off without a hitch!
About two hours passed with nothing major happening, except for Barry and Caitlin doing some sweet bottle tricks as patrons popped in to requested a little booze to go along with their meal, or just a drink in general. They quickly got into a rhythm of switching on taking orders and actually delivering food to help out the waiters and waitresses, and once again, found it very easy to work with one another.
"Oh, Caitlin - check this out!" Barry said excitedly.
"Show me what ya got," she smiled, watching him with her full attention.
He then twirled the bottle around in his hand, then tossed it to his other hand, and repeated the move. "Ahh! Nice one!" Caitlin said, smiling and clapping as Barry jokingly took a bow. "You're really settling down here quite nice, aren't you?"
"Well, only with everyone's help," he chuckled, "including yours... you've really become a good friend of mine in such a short amount of time, Caitlin." "Aww... well, the feeling's completely mutual," she smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "So, you got next tray, I got next drinks?" "Yep!" he nodded, grabbing the fresh tray and carrying it off to the table he just barely heard Gideon say.
Caitlin turned back to the bar...
And was suddenly very uncomfortable.
One of her co-workers from the hospital was at the bar - and the least of which she wanted to see at that moment; Dr. Ramsey Rosso, ever the oddball, had a huge smile on his face as Caitlin turned to face him.
"Caitlin? Why, what a surprise!" Ramsey said, chuckling. "Had no idea you worked here on the weekends! How are you, my dear?"
"I..I'm good, thank you," Caitlin said, trying not to seem uncomfortable. "W-What could I get you?"
"I'm so glad," Ramsey said, completely ignoring her question. "Y'know, I was actually wanting to ask you..."
While Ramsey blathered on about whatever he was saying, Barry had taken notice... he didn't like what he was seeing at all. Having been in the interrogation room many times (y'know, to learn.), he could tell when a person was uncomfortable, and that expression was plastered all over Caitlin's face right now. Not just that, but she was tensed up - he could tell because her happy go lucky mood had been completely dropped.
Barry then thought of an idea; it may not work, but he was willing to try.
Walking back behind the bar as quickly as he could without raising any brows, he quickly stepped next to Caitlin. "Hey, sir! If you don't mind, could I just steal my partner here for a second? Nash needs us in his office."
"Oh... my apologies," Ramsey said, suddenly seeming a lot colder - like a switch had been flipped. "Do take your time, if needed."
"Great, thanks," Barry said, gently grasping Caitlin's hand as he led her to the other side of the bar - it continued beyond the kitchen wall corner, and off into the other side of the bar, so it provided a perfect cover to try and get Caitlin out of this situation.
"Hey, who is that guy?" Barry asked quietly. "O-Oh, he's uhm... he's a coworker of mine; Ramsey Rosso," Caitlin said. "He seems like a creep," Barry said, figuring there was no use in shuffling around the fact. Caitlin opened her mouth, but she nodded subtly instead of saying anything.
"Alright, well, would you like me to take over for a sec? You can wait here, go ask around the tables for refills, whatever you want," Barry offered. "That... that would be really sweet of you, thank you Barry," Caitlin said, smiling again, which made Barry extremely happy.
He patted her on the shoulder, and she smiled at him again before walking off to go check as many tables as possible. Barry returned to Ramsey, with a cheeky smile on his face. "So sorry about your wait sir, what can I get you?"
Ramsey's eyes followed Caitlin creepily as she walked out from behind the bar, before they slowly returned to Barry, eyeing him with a very odd look. "I'll take a Bloody Mary," Ramsey said, placing his hand on the bar. "Comin' right up," Barry smirked, turning to make Ramsey's cocktail.
As Caitlin walked around the tables taking refill orders, she looked up at Barry, who currently had his back to her, and smiled warmly. He really was quickly becoming a great friend to her...
Ramsey, however, would leave before his cocktail was even finished, not even bothering to tip. What an oddball...
"Huh," Barry muttered. "Cheapskate."
"Hey," Caitlin said, walking up to him, "uhm... s-sorry to put that on you; normally I'd be able to handle stuff like that, he just caught me off guard... and now he knows I work here."
"Hey, I got your back, Cait," Barry said, but then quickly covering his mouth. "I-I'm so sorry, Caitlin, I'm sorry-"
However... her lips turned into a smirk. "Cait... I think that actually sounds cute," she smiled. "You can call me Cait, if you'd like. Figure I owe you after you got me out of that situation there."
Barry felt relief wash over his entirety as Caitlin smiled at him. "Well then... you got it, Cait," he said, smiling.
And with that, the two went back to happily working together for the rest of the evening, no more interruptions to disturb them that night.
8:00 PM
*Undisclosed*
Sue had taken a long drive before coming here... it was to mentally prepare.
She was not a weak minded person by any means; but even the strongest people have their weak spots. Her's just so happened to be a man she owed a pretty large debt to, one she wasn't prepared to pay off for the next decade or so...
She took a deep breath, pulled out a key she hadn't looked at since she had gotten together with Ralph, and turned the lock. Still worked.
As she stepped inside, the place didn't look that much different than the day she was convinced to quit this lifestyle. Same old table of cards - different set of four people playing the cards though, they seemed to have found a new girl to replace her - and same old ammunition scattered about, along with guns. Lots of them.
Huh, he finally invested in a safe, Sue tried to laugh at the thought, noticing the lack of cash strewn about the floor.
It really just made her realize, yet again, how much she despised this place.
She made her way to the back office door, and knocked five times in a beat. "Come in," a voice said. And as she entered, just as she had guessed - same squad of three dudes, all of whom she despised more than this place. There was the boss in the center, the creepy pale dude who always had a weapon on him, and the Indian-Canadian henchman who did more work than he got credit for.
"Mrs. Dearbon, so glad to see you," the center figure said.
"Cut the crap, Eobard," growled Sue. "What the hell do you and your buddies want?"
"Well, we spoke with your boss yesterday - Harrison Nash Wells, was it?" Eobard said, tossing a rubber ball against the wall and back into his hand, "and... well, we've come to the conclusion that... we've figured out a way to pay your debt off."
"I don't wanna hear it," Sue said, "you all can go to hell."
The two other men in the room pulled out their guns, but Eobard raised his fingers in the air. "Hold your fire men," he said calmly. "Hunter, August, don't go causing a ruckus now..."
Hunter and August looked at one another, then back at Sue, before lowering their weapons.
"On second thought, you'd probably like it," she sneered. "I'm done here. Unlike you all, I have a life to get back to."
"And yet you came back to this one, even after you spat in our faces with that little stunt you pulled that nearly crashed our operations," Eobard said. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't interested in what I had to say, doll."
Sue was so close to pulling out her revolver and killing Eobard... but her humanity, something he didn't have, kept her from doing it. "Get it over with, what do you want?"
Eobard smirked. "There's a good girl... have a seat, and let's discuss."
"I'll stand," Sue said, smirking right back. "Get. It. Over with."
He chuckled, and began to reveal his deal for clearing all of Sue's debt.
What he said made her want to vomit.
-0-
AAAAAAAAHHHH SORRY ABOUT SUCH A BAD CLIFFIE! I promise we'll get answers soon!
In the meantime though, gosh... I'm actually really happy with how this came out! Did anyone see that coming this early? :D And this isn't the last big reveal! There's more to come!
However, that's all we've got time for tonight. Thanks for reading guys! As always, PLEASE leave a review if you enjoyed! It really keeps my spirits up and I love interacting with you all.
Thanks again all! Love you guys! See you next chapter!