The One who got Away

“Come on, Summer,” the same girl from before calls out to me. “Time to get to it.”

At first I sort of hang around on the outskirts, just trying to keep myself looking busy. I don’t want to dive in until I find the right customer because I don’t want to end up in the same position that I did last night. And by right customer I of course mean Ben... not that I would ever admit that out loud.

“Miss?” someone eventually comes to me. “Can I get a round in?”

I nod and take the order, my eyes scanning over the bar the entire time. I can barely focus, it’s really hard to keep any concentration on anyone when I’m waiting for someone who might or might not come in. I take note of the drinks but I already know that I’m not going to stick to this table tonight, not unless I’m forced to.

“Right, I’ll grab those drinks for you and I’ll be back in a moment.”

As I walk I think it’s kind of pointless to have the shot belts on. I hardly sell any drinks from it, I spend most of my night heading back and forth to the bar. I’m pretty much a waitress in revealing clothing. That’s the role I have here.

“Miss?”

I almost role my eyes as someone else tries to grab me. I turn on my heels and try to plaster a fake smile on my face but that soon turns into a genuine one when I realise that thankfully something has gone right. As shitty as this day has been so far, it’s about to get a whole lot better.

“What do you mean, Miss?” I push him playfully. “It’s good to see you again, Ben.”

The fizzling sensation sparks at my lips as the memory floods my mind. His mouth against mine, the wonderful kiss, the feel of his hands against my hips...

“It’s good to see you, too. I hope you don’t mind me turning up again.” He looks a little awkward, as if he isn’t sure which is adorable.

“Not at all. I’m glad to have you here again. Let me just sort this guy out then I’ll be at your table, and at your service.”

Thank God.

Chapter Nine – Ben

I take a seat at a table in the corner of the room, not even bothering with the veranda today. I’m not here for business or networking, I’m simply here not to be interrupted so I can spend the shift with only Serena. I know I’m going to have to spend a lot of money so the manager of the club doesn’t get pissy about her spending a lot of time with only me, but I don’t mind that.

I’ve earned this money, now is the time to spend it as I please.

As Serena comes back into the bar and she spots where I’m sitting, her face breaks out into a genuine, warm smile. That look causes my heart stop skip a beat and again leaves me questioning my feelings for her all over again. I already know that I like her more than I have done anyone else, certainly no one that’s come before her has made such an impression on me, but what does that mean? Can I really be considering teetering into the scary relationship type territory? I guess tonight will be the only way for me to tell.

“Hey there, Ben.” Her sweet tone almost makes me want to sing. “So, now that you’re here, what can I get for you?”

“Can you get me some champagne? The most expensive bottle?”

“Ooh, champagne, are you celebrating something?” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, which makes me think that maybe the shyer version of her is slipping away even further. At least around me. I like that she can be different with me, it means she trusts me enough to reveal something new. “May I ask what?”

“You can, actually.” I lean back in my chair and run my eyes up her body. “I met the most amazing girl last night and we shared a phenomenal kiss.” Maybe I’m being a bit cheesy, but it looks like Serena likes it. “I’m hoping that she might let me take her out sometime.”

“You are?” Her eyes widen in surprise. I guess I’ve thrown her now, she clearly wasn’t expecting me to actually want to be with her. “Wow that’s... I mean, that’s awesome. I think the girl you met last night would love for you to take her out sometime.”

Yes! And with that, I know we can become something.

Serena walks off to get my drinks and I watch her ass as she goes. I can feel another pair of eyes upon me, so I follow where they are to see one of the other, much more obvious girls, winking at me. She twirls her hair between her fingers and pushes her boobs out to me. Clearly she wants me and if I think back she might have made that obvious before, but now I’m less interested than ever. Now, I don’t want to think about anyone but Serena. To make that point obvious, I grab my cell phone out of my pocket and I start fiddling around with it, putting up my barriers.

That leads to some work emails catching my eyes, but only for a moment. Once Serena is back, the office can wait. The business that I’ve spent my entire existence building no longer seems quite so important. I can’t believe those words have even fluttered through my head, but they have. I must be changing...

“So.” Serena sits by my side and she looks at me curiously. “Are you going to be asking the questions tonight, or am I?”

“Hmmm.” I act like I’m thinking about it, but really I’m not. “I think we should do a bit of both. I think we should just have some time talking.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” She nods slowly. “So why don’t you start by telling me more about your company. I know that you’re obviously very successful, but what is it that you do?”

“It’s very boring,” I warn her. “I work in finance.” When she doesn’t say anything, I take it as my cue to continue. “I guess when I was in school I noticed that I was good with numbers. Much better than the other kids in my class anyway, and because we didn’t have much when I was younger I already knew that I wanted to do something big, so I decided to follow that. I decided to work with companies to restructure their finances when they get into trouble, or even before they get into trouble, just to help saving them money.”

“So, you’re like the angel of debt,” she smiles brightly. “But you swoop in quick to stop debt becoming a problem. That’s really cool. I bet you’ve saved many asses in your time.”