I was roused from my sleep by a few light knocks on my bedroom door.

"Get up lazybones! We're headed to the restaurant." I heard Whitley's voice chime from the other side.

I grumbled something incoherent and shuffled to the door. Just beyond the wooden frame stood Whitley already completely dressed and ready to go for the day.

"Wow. That is some serious bed head." She stated with a laugh.

"I'm gonna get a shower." I mumbled as I made my way to the restroom.

"Towels are under the sink and you can use any of the products you want." She said as I closed the bathroom door.

I quickly stripped out of my pajamas and stepped into the steaming hot water. It was so incredibly soothing on my stiff muscles from the drive up. I lathered my hair with some wonderful smelling rose shampoo and washed my body in an amazing honeysuckle body scrub. Once I felt completely squeaky clean I stepped out and wrapped myself in a towel. I cleared the mirror of steam and took a long look at myself. I had light bags under my eyes, but other than that I was looking a little less gaunt than usual. I sighed and set to blow drying my hair. After thirty minutes of primping I deemed myself ready to face the day. Whitley was sitting on the couch staring intently at her phone. She glanced up when she heard me enter the room.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes. I'm ready to see more of the city." I said with a trill of excitement to my voice.

"I'm so happy to see you smiling." She said as she slung her purse over her shoulder.

"So…how was your night?" I asked her as we walked the streets of New York.

"Wonderful." Her voice had a dreamy quality to it.

"Did you ask him about me meeting him and his brothers?"

"I did. He said he would speak with his sensei about it."

"Well hopefully he says yes, because otherwise I'm just going to force myself into your group. I mean think about it, I'm going to be the odd one out."

"You know….one of his brothers is single."

"Ugh, for real Whit. I don't want to date right now."

"You don't even want to know what he's like?" She prodded.

"No." I stated bluntly.

She was about to retort but instead turned her attention to the building we were coming up on. It was a dark brick building with a purple letterhead that read 'Lush'.

"This is it!" She smiled as she opened the front doors.

I followed her in and was astounded at how beautiful the inside of the restaurant was. It was dimly lit, and booths lined the walls with a few tables scattered across the solid black floor. I was most impressed by the bar, which was a deep cherry wood, lined with dark purple bar stools. The alcohol behind the bar was almost as impressing as the restaurant itself. Every bottle was a top shelf liquor, not to mention the cold case full of expensive wines. This bar was every bartenders dream.

As I was making over the bar, Whitley tossed an apron at me.

"You can get behind there tonight if you'd like." She smiled.

"I'd love to! This is the most amazing bar I've ever seen!" I quickly tied the apron around my waist. "I'm so proud of you, Whit. You have really done well for yourself."

Whitley blushed a little before responding, "I've got a ton of paperwork to get caught up on in my office. I should be done in a couple hours though. We'll probably be pretty slow tonight considering that it's a Wednesday." She laughed.

Once Whitley was back in her office I grabbed a menu from one of the tables. I scanned it over to see if there were any signature drinks, the only one was a drink called 'ninja'. I laughed and shook my head. She really is crazy about that guy. After looking over the menu a few times I went back behind the bar to examine all of the products. Amongst the top shelf liquors I did notice a few cheaper brands that weren't displayed. I felt a little relieved, I wasn't used to serving to only wealthy people. The majority of my customers back in Louisiana were bums. I laughed a little to myself as I poured myself a tiny bit of Moscato.

Time passed really quickly and before I knew it, it was time to open. I had already met a few of the waitresses and really enjoyed their company. I could tell that I was going to love working here. Within the first hour of my first ever shift I was completely slammed with drink orders. I was baffled considering that Whitley had told me it would be a slow night. Clearly she wasn't expecting this kind of turn out on a Wednesday. The night passed so quickly that it was mostly a blur. But around ten thirty that night things began to slow down and the crowd started to thin out. I was washing a few glasses when Whitley joined me at the bar.

"How was your first night?" She asked sympathetically.

"I guess you saw how busy it was." I said with a laugh. "It was good though, I love working in a fast paced environment."

"Sorry I couldn't get finished with all the paperwork in time to help out." She replied

"Don't worry about it Whit. You had been out of the restaurant for three weeks, it's understandable that you'd be super busy your first night back here."

"Thanks for being so understanding." She said as she pulled me into a hug, "Well, I'm out of here for the night. I'm going to meet Leo at his place, I probably won't be back till morning."

"Okay, I'll just finish closing up here. I'll see you in the morning." I replied with a smile.

She gave me one more tight hug before leaving. I finished cleaning the glasses and wiped down the bar before flicking off the lights. I said bye to the few waitresses that remained as they walked out the door. After locking the front door behind them I exited out the back door so I could toss the trash into the dumpster. It was oddly quiet in the alleyway behind the restaurant. So quiet that it made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I quickly walked out onto the busy sidewalk to get away from the grim quiet of the city alley.

Even among the throngs of people crowded on the sidewalk I still felt on edge. I could feel eyes on me. I glanced around to see a hooded figure following me a little too close for comfort. I picked up my pace, maybe I was just being paranoid. I was getting closer to the apartment building, but the closer I got the more the crowd of people started thinning out. I started to panic. I couldn't turn around because the man in black was closer to me than ever. I could see the apartment, I was almost there…that's when I felt a hand close over my mouth.

The man in black dragged me into the parking garage beside the apartment and started ripping my shirt off. I kneed him in the stomach before I started running toward the stairs. I didn't make it very far before he caught up to me again. He tackled me to the ground and I was able to let out a terrified scream before he started trying to pull off my pants. I was thrashing and kicking him as hard as I could, but I just couldn't shake him. I was beginning to lose hope when suddenly he was pulled from me and thrown down the stairs. I saw a glint of silver and a flash of green but in all the panic I couldn't exactly make out who my savior was. In a matter of moments my attacker was knocked out and tied up as the mystery man who saved me disappeared into the shadows.

But before he could disappear completely I heard a very Brooklyn accent call out, "Call the cops, they'll take care of him."