“Why are you telling me this?”
Sydney looks away and out to the floor, where waiters have started to circulate as people begin to arrive. Tina stands at the door, letting the right people in once they reach the bottom of the staircase.
“She loves you more than anyone. If you don’t like me, she will find that an issue.” She bites her lip and looks back at me. “I usually wouldn’t care what you think, but she’s different, and I want to be better for her.”
“As long as you aren’t like your employer and a damn fuckwit, I don’t see any problems.” I smile. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get on with work.”
Sydney looks me up and down, as much as she can from standing on the other side of the bar.
“I could give you your old job back.”
“No.”
“The girls want you back. I want you back. You are good at what you do.”
“Thank you, but no.”
Sydney shrugs and goes to walk off, but then she stops. When she speaks, a shiver goes right through me. “Your sister is still at his apartment and trying to get as much as she can from him. Thought you should know.”
Lucy.
I haven’t had a thought about Lucy in over a month. I’ve been happily ignoring the fact that she even exists. But now I’m thinking about her, being happy without her, hurts my heart more than I realized.
Some people can’t be fixed, and Lucy is one of them.
“I didn’t want to know, but thanks for telling me.”
Sydney keeps on walking as the other bartender moves in next to me. He’s younger than me, good looking, with a reassuring smile.
“Hey, name’s Derek.” He offers me his hand, and I take it. “Haven’t seen you at one of Tina’s events before. You new?”
“You could say that.”
He puts on an apron and hands me one. I do the same, wrapping it around my waist.
“I’ve never done this before,” I tell him and when I look up, he’s smirking.
“I figured as much.” I blush at his words. “But it’s okay, it’s not an open bar so it’s you, me, and the waiters. You should be safe.”
“Oh, you met already.” I look up to Tina as she walks over to us.
“You got me a rookie,” Derek says with a great big smirk on his face.
“I did. And this one is my best friend, so you best be on good behavior.” Tina winks at him, then looks to me. “How freaked out are you? I didn’t mean to spring that on you,” she says, staring at me while leaning on the bar, obviously referring to Sydney and her.
“As long as you’re happy, I’m fine. But you have so much explaining to do.”
“What are you explaining?” Derek joins in the conversation.
“None of your business,” Tina snaps at him.
Derek holds up his hands and backs away.
She turns back to me. “Tomorrow, we can have lunch, and I will tell you everything.”
“Deal.”
Tina walks away as the music starts in a low hum around the room. Waiters come up to the bar for drink orders, and Derek turns out to be very patient and helpful.
As the night progresses, it turns out, I’m not bad at pouring drinks, and the company is great all night. Derek’s funny and a good guy to be around. Why couldn’t Lucy fall for someone like him?
“Hey, we need to start packing up,” Derek says, holding a tray of glasses out in front of him. I take it, and when I turn, someone is standing right in front of me, dark boots followed by dark jeans, hands clenched at his sides as my eyes make their way up.
When I finally reach his face, the tray in my hands drops and smashes at our feet.
“Theadora.”
Chapter Five
Theadora
My name on his lips is the last thing I expected to hear. I knew there was a small chance of seeing him, but as the night went on and we started to finish up, I thought I had luck on my side. Guess I was wrong.
Atlas’s amber eyes bore into mine. I look away and drop to the floor to start cleaning up the glass.
“It’s where you should have always been. At my feet.” Atlas takes a step back as I clutch a piece of glass in my hand. I stand, my eyes protrude while I flare my nostrils in anger as I look at him.
“Where I should have been is nowhere near you. Ever. And I hope to keep it that way from now on.” I push at his chest, but he captures my wrist.
Atlas’s eyes flick to my hand where I still hold the piece of glass. “I hope you plan to use that.” He leans in. “Because I have no qualms in cutting your throat the way he cut my cousin’s.”