Fourteen
Wake Me Up When It's Over

It was like waking from a dream to find that everything was the same as she'd left it.

Nate picked her up quickly and asked very few questions – a surprise considering that she was hurt, alone in a parking lot in the wee hours of the morning, and had obviously been crying. Feeling that she owed him some sort of explanation, she told him about the robbery but kept the rest of the night's details to herself. It stung to even think about it. Besides, Eloisa knew that if she told him about what happened with Nacho then the rest of it would have to come out too, and it wasn't a conversation she was up to having.

Wanting to stay on her good side, Nate offered to sleep on the couch and make a run in the morning for breakfast. Eloisa let him. When he left, she called her mom to tell her a similar story. After multiple reassurances that she was fine, she just needed to rest, she spent the rest of the day watching movies and tried not to think about Nacho.

Monday, at least, provided her with a much-needed distraction. It was easy to get lost in all the small details and numbers at work. She got so caught up that she almost forgot about her afternoon meeting with Mr. Fring to go over the monthly expense report. When he knocked on the door to her tiny office, it took her a minute to remember why he was there.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Gustavo announced with a knowing smile on his face.

"Oh." She straightened in her chair and whipped the freshly inked papers off of the printer. "No. Not at all. Did you want me to meet you in your office or…?"

"No, no, this is fine."

He came in and took the lone seat on the other side of her desk. They spent a while going over the report and when they finished, he sat back in the chair and regarded her.

"Are you sure you're okay, Miss Samuels? That's quite a nasty injury."

"I am. It looks worse than it feels, I promise."

That wasn't entirely true- it did hurt, but ibuprofen took the edge off. The last thing she wanted was to be sent home. Like she needed more time alone with her thoughts.

She had given him an even more threadbare version of the story she'd told Nate and one that left the impression she was still working at Anodyne. She was fine letting him continue to think that. There was no way in hell she was about to tell her supremely strait-laced boss that she'd started working for a strip club.

He gave her a thin smile as if he saw through her ruse.

"If, for any reason, you feel you need to leave early today…" he let it drift, leaving it open for her to decide.

"I don't," she said quickly. "This is good for me. To be here."

He was about to say something else when they were interrupted by another knock at the door. It was Nate, dressed in uniform and holding a bouquet of sunflowers.

"Ah, Officer Osborne," Gustavo greeted. She thought she saw a twinge of annoyance cross his features, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"It's Sergeant Osborne now," Nate corrected, not bothering to hide his grin. "I wanted to pop in and check on El, and then if you had a minute, Sir, I wouldn't mind picking your brain about something."

Gustavo stood up.

"Yes, of course. I'll be in my office." He paused in the doorway on his way out and turned back to Eloisa. "I meant what I said, Miss Samuels."

"Thank you, Mr. Fring," she replied.

Nate waited until he was sure they wouldn't be overheard before he made himself comfortable in the chair across from her and held out the flowers. Eloisa hesitated before taking them.

"Thanks. They're pretty." She set them aside, deciding she would chuck them as soon as she got home. "Congrats on promoting. When did you find out?"

He scratched the back of his head, trying to look sheepish but not quite managing.

"Last week."

"Big step."

"Yeah, but it was time. I didn't want to end up like R-" he caught himself and cleared his throat. "Like the old-timers."

One of Ray's favorite mantras, one they had both been subjected to repeatedly, was, "If I wanted to sit on my ass all day, I'd be a goddamn firefighter". She was sure the only reason that Nate had stayed a beat cop for as long as he had was because of Ray.

"Are they moving you?" she pressed, wondering if this would shake things up further.

"I don't know yet. I put in for where I'm at now, but," he shrugged. "You know how it goes. But if I do, everything is under control." He qualified it with a knowing wink.

It didn't make her feel better. She made a point of looking back at her computer.

"What did you need to talk to Mr. Fring about?" she asked, clicking around aimlessly.

"LT wanted to know if he would be up for catering the promotion ceremony."

Eloisa raised an eyebrow. "You'd better go catch him then. He has a meeting soon."

"Shit, really?"

"That's what his calendar says."

Nate stretched and stood up.

"Uhm, El, listen," he began, fiddling with his tactical belt. "Daniel told me about your car breaking down and I wanted- I just- Are-" he paused, wrestling with what to say next.

Eloisa stopped clicking, body tensed.

"I'm, uh- I'm really glad you called."

She gave him a small smile, which he returned. Her eyes flicked to the corner of the computer screen where the time was displayed.

"Seriously, though, he's gonna leave in like ten minutes."

"Yeah, okay. You'll let me know if you need anything else, right?"

It drove her crazy, how sincere he could make those baby blues look when he wanted to. It would be so easy to fall for it again- but she had to remind herself that she knew better now what he was capable of.

"I will."

She was sorely mistaken if she thought she'd get a break at the club. As soon as she got in, everyone hounded her for details of what had gone down. Natalie called out and Gia and Jenna didn't work Mondays, so it was left to Eloisa and Maya to fill them in. Eloisa let Maya do most of the talking only confirming what Maya said when prompted. The only good part about the whole thing was that she didn't have to think about seeing Nacho until the next day when he would inevitably show up to collect.

"Damn, dude, you got fucked up!" Angel declared when he saw her face. "G said it was bad, but-" he let out a low whistle. "That's bad-bad."

"Thanks, Angel," Eloisa replied dryly. Secretly, though, she was glad she didn't have to tell the story again.

"You want me to show you how to throw a punch for next time?"

He shadowboxed the air which made Eloisa laugh and shake her head.

"So dumb. You'd better go do work before Matty starts cutting your hours again for being a slacker."

"Pfft. Like he could right now. He cut Dom loose," he explained after she gave him a confused look.

Rightly so, too. She still couldn't believe he'd just left them there without warning.

Then, like they'd summoned him by saying his name, Matty stormed into the club. He stomped past the bar, ignoring Angel's greeting.

"Lou, I gotta talk to you!" he called.

"Ooh," Angel taunted. "The principal wants to see you."

Eloisa flipped him off, but as soon as she was in the hallway she wished he'd gone with her. She was pissed, and she knew that if she took out an ounce of what she was feeling on Matty then she'd be in even more shit than she was now.

As it turned out, someone had beaten her – literally – to the punch.

He was sitting on the couch fiddling with a rolling paper and, judging by the smell, some expensive weed. When he looked up, Eloisa couldn't help wincing. One of his eyes looked almost as bad as hers did, his bottom lip was split, and his nose was bruised and swollen—no wonder he hadn't wanted anyone on the floor to see him. He finished rolling and then held out a wad of cash.

"What is that?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest to stop herself from reaching for it.

"Your cut. From Saturday," he added when she still didn't take it.

Relenting, she plucked it from his hands and counted it out. Then she counted it again.

"This is too much."

He shrugged. "It's what Jen gave me."

She made a note to say thank you to Jenna later.

"Do you need anything else or…?"

He didn't answer right away, choosing to lean back and light the joint. Eloisa shifted impatiently from foot to foot. She wasn't in the mood for games, she wanted to get back on the floor, do her job, and go home.

"You wanna be a manager?"

It was the last thing she expected to hear. She was stunned into silence for the first time in a long time. The Altar didn't have managers- not as far as she could tell.

"What would that even mean?"

He shrugged again and took a hit.

"Do all the dumb shit you're always buggin' about. Stop all the catfights. Shit like that."

Immediately Eloisa launched into her concerns.

"Okay, but what about the bar? Is someone else going to take that over? Because you can't leave Quinn out there by himself again. And I can't pull extra shifts right now- like, I have a day job. Oh- do I get paid mo-"

"Jesus fucking Christ," Matty mumbled, pressing his thumb and forefinger against his eyes. "Lou, do you want the fucking job or nah?"

"Yeah," she answered. Then more firmly, "Yes. I want it."

"Cool. We'll talk deets later. Oh, hey, before you go- Jen told me you chased after those dudes that busted in the other night… you happen to catch their faces or somethin'?"

Eloisa thought of that ugly tattoo but told Matty the same thing she had told everyone else.

"No, sorry."

"S'all good."

Her mind was on Matty's offer as she walked to the bar. For one thing, she could accomplish some of that ever-growing checklist which would be a huge relief. For another, maybe she could talk him into some changes – minor, of course. But she hadn't even been there for very long – so why now? She also couldn't help wondering how everyone else would react which started a gnawing in her stomach.

Angel, that blessed distraction, was waiting for her.

"God, you're so nosy," she joked, tying on her apron. "You're worse than G, I swear to God."

"Thanks, Angel, for watching the bar for me," he replied, badly mimicking her voice.

Eloisa rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Angel, for watching the bar for me."

"You're welcome." He started toying with a bottle of simple syrup. "So… what did he want?"

She laughed and flicked him with a towel, about to answer when the front door opened. The rosy, pink glow from outside attracting their attention.

"Pshh, never mind," Angel teased with a wink when Nacho walked in alone.

She was too surprised to joke back. For one horrible, hopeful moment she thought she was about to get a chance to apologize for how she'd acted the other night.

But no.

He didn't even look at the bar. He headed for a lone table where he was greeted by an enthusiastic Amber. Eloisa willed herself to look away as Amber squealed and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his middle and her arms around his neck.

Message fucking received.

When she finally ripped her gaze away, Angel was staring at her, clearly confused and with a funny expression she didn't know how to read.

"Tell me later, huh?"

"Yeah," she promised, forcing a sunny smile. "Later."