“Look at me!” he ordered as he shook me like a rag doll.
Red hot rage bubbled up in me, but before I could throw all caution to the wind and slap him hard right there in middle of my workplace, a large fist came out of nowhere and ploughed into his face. The blow hit Michael so hard he went flying to the floor. It all happened so fast I was still standing shocked. For a second, all I could do was stare at the pile of trash he looked like on the floor. Then I turned and met the eyes of the other person I didn’t want to see at that moment.
I still didn’t know his freaking name.
He stood staring down at the prone man with an expression that was begging him to get up so he could knock him right back down again.
“It’s alright. He’s just drunk. Don’t worry about it,” I said quickly.
He didn’t even look at me. His gaze remained on Michael as he struggled to peel himself off from the floor.
“Honestly, it’s okay. I know him,” I tried to explain. “Well, we used to date. He’s not troubling me. Just … just let it go. This is where I work. I don’t want any trouble. Come on. Let’s go.”
Suddenly, Michael recovered his senses, jumped to his feet with a roar and before I could say another word, the biker pulled me out of the way.
“You fucking bast—” Michael drew out his clenched hand to land a punch, but then froze mid-air the moment his brain registered the biker. It would have been comical if it wasn’t so damn embarrassing.
At first, I thought it was fear at his imposing presence since Michael was at least a head shorter than the biker.
Then he smiled, his golden tooth once again appearing. “Bone? Why the fuck are you here?”
I turned towards my savior. His name was … Bone? And he was acquainted with Michael? Well, that made sense since they must operate in similar circles, but … why did he have a name like Bone?
“McCarthy,” was all Bone said, not answering his question.
Michael regarded him a while longer and then the suspicion flashed in his eyes as his gaze roved from the biker to me behind him. “You’re – you can’t be … You’re fucking with him?”
When neither of us responded, Michael burst out into hysterical laughter, but the absence of humor was almost painful.
I didn’t understand why we were still indulging him as he fought all on his own to put an end to his fake mirth.
I wanted to leave but the biker didn’t move and instead waited patiently for Michael to get over himself.
“She used to be mine,” he began.
My head fell a little at this announcement.
He went on, “Did she tell you? For a while, we had quite the romance going, didn’t we? Have you tasted her? She’s juicy, isn’t she? You’re going to have quite the ride with her.” He leaned forward toward Bone to say in a conspiratorial whisper, “Just between you and me, she especially loves the reverse cow girl. She goes even wilder when she can’t see your face and all she has to take along for the ride is a big cock.”
I felt the tears sting my eyes. He was lying. We never got past first base, but no matter what I said, some of the large audience around us was enjoying the show and would spread that piece of gossip.
“You’re a pathetic liar and a pig, Michael,” I snarled. I couldn’t meet the biker’s eyes. I couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes as I turned around and walked away.
A round of gasps rang out behind me a split second before the sound of a table breaking and glasses smashing as women’s screams filled the air.
I whirled back around to see Michael sprawled on the floor and it all made me even more furious, at the embarrassment, the attention, and the spectacle. I would now be the talk of the town for a long time to come. I went past the bar into the backroom and decided to stay there until it was closing time.
I would have left straight away, but my ride home was Henry, the barman. The longer I stayed at the backroom fuming, the more the shame dissipated and all that filled my thoughts was the checkup I had to take Jess to next month. I began to calculate the tips that were falling into Lena’s pocket because of my decision to wallow in self-pity and not work in my section.
So I rose, straightened my shoulders and returned to the floor. The usual flow of the night had resumed, as though absolutely nothing had happened.
Lena hurried by then, but stopped and backtracked when she saw me. “Hey, I thought you left.”