BRANDON
“You okay there, Brandon?” Rod asked me as he slid his glass across the bar so I’d pour him another one. “You’re very quiet today, not like you.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
I brushed off Rod’s concerns. I didn’t need to hear about his problems, much less talk about my own. And it wasn’t even like I had aproblemreally. I was just…well, wondering why Christine hadn’t come to see me another time. I thought we had something good going on. I liked fucking her way more than anyone else, and I wanted it to continue. Usually it didn’t bother me one way or another if a woman came back to me. I barely even noticed, truth be told. But Christine…she was different. I’d taken things slow with her, by my standards anyway, which meant I was nowhere near done with her. There was so much of Christine’s body that I still wanted to touch and taste, so many positions I needed to take her in. I still hadn’t felt the pleasure of her red lips wrapped around my cock.
I wouldnotbe able to relax if I didn’t get that experience.
“You look like you’ve got a woman on your mind.” I could hear the smirk in Rod’s voice. “I told you, didn’t I? One day one of them will get under your skin and you’re done for.”
“That isn’t it,” I barked back a little too harshly. “It’s nothing to do with any woman. I’m just sick of being here.”
I tossed my cleaning rag down and let out a sigh. Maybe that was why I’d gotten so caught up in Christine. Because she was the only good thing about this shithole, and I didn’t see myself getting out any time soon. I’d applied for so many jobs that I was more than qualified for, more than good for, but no one was getting back to me. What the hell was the problem? This was New York City, the city of opportunity, yet I was finding it a challenge to get anyone to notice me.
“You’re in education, right?” Rod narrowed his eyes in on me. “You know, I might just have the little tip you need to get you out of here.”
I doubted it, but I didn’t want to be any ruder than I’d already been, so I leaned in a little closer to hear him out. “That drink’s on me if you can assist me.”
He grinned ear to ear. “You better get your wallet out then, because my cousin, you know the one who works for the Design department at NYU? Jeremy Bowden, I’ve told you about him before.” I nodded with absolutely no recollection. In my defense, Rod told me alotof things. “Well, due to, erm…someunforeseencircumstances…” He winked at me, but I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. “He’s been forced to step down from his position. As of now. I think the faculty is in uproar, and they don’t have a replacement to step in quickly. Could be good for you.”
Wow, this actually was a decent tip. Who’d have ever thought it?
“Do you have any contact details for me, Rod? I wouldn’t mind maybe reaching out just to see if they do need someone. NYU could be good for me.”
I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but a personal connection and my chance to get my foot in the door first had to help me out, right? I took the details with Rod, surprised that this man, who’d gotten on my nerves so many times because he spent way too much of his time here, might be my savior. He could get me out of this dead-end job and into the career I’d actually trained for. Fingers crossed. If I didn’t climb out of this career rut soon, it was gonna kill me.
“I’m going to make the call first thing tomorrow morning,” I said gratefully to Rod. “Hell, if this works out, I’ll pay for all your drinks one night. How does that sound?”
He chuckled and rose his glass in a cheers gesture. “Sounds good to me. I will hold you to that though…”
My conversation with Rod ended the moment the door swung open and a very familiar woman strolled through the doors. Unfortunately, as quick as my heart rose, it sunk all over again. This wasn’t the face I wanted to see. There was no sign of Christine coming to finish what we started. It was the friend she’d come in the bar with on that very first night. I might’ve allowed myself to hope that she was on her way as well, for another night of drinking and fun, but the friend had a guy with her. This seemed like a date. No room for another. Why did her friend do this? Just to torture me?
Fuck.
My fists balled up by my side as the frustration clung to me. I really did want to get out of this bar. I certainly had no intention of staying here forever, but once I left there would be no more endless shifts behind the bar just waiting for her to randomly stroll in to make my night incredible. Unless she reached out to me via textfinally, we wouldn’t see one another again. I’d not get the final puzzle piece I needed.
Maybe once she learned I was gone, she’d send me the elusive text I was on edge waiting for. Ihadto wait for her to make that first move because she was the only one who could text. I had no idea what Christine’s number was. Without me at the bar, she might not be able to stand it. She may well have to find me again and take me in her mouth, just like I wanted. That sweet tongue of hers wrapping around me, sending me to heaven…
Or perhaps I’d stop thinking of her once I stepped into my new life. Being bored, wandering into the stockroom all the time, there was too much time to think about what I hadn’t had yet. It’d be good to stop obsessing over my addiction to the enigma that was Christine. She wasn’t doing me any favors.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Devil himself.”
I glanced up from my phone to see a new face frequenting the bar. Although, this person wasn’t new to me, and she wasnotthe person I wanted seeking me out. Dear Christ, why couldn’t anything ever work out as I wanted?
“Isabel?” I couldn’t keep the iciness from my tone. But what did she expect? Her and I werenevergoing to be on good terms, were we? “What are you doing here?”
She smirked, her eyes fluttering with excitement. She had a secret, didn’t she? One she couldn’t wait to dump on my lap. Wonderful. No wonder she had me on edge every time I laid eyes on her. No wonder I avoided her as much as I could.
“Are you going to get me a drink, or what?” Isabel purred as she delicately placed herself on one of the bar stools. “That’s what you’re paid to do, isn’t it?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not playing your games, Isabel. What are you doing here?”
I sensed Rod watching the tense exchange excitedly, probably making all the wrong assumptions. I didn’t have time to correct him.
“I’ve just been talking to Daddy…”
“Don’tcall him that,” I snapped, my temper bubbling over already. She knew just how to push my buttons, didn’t she?