“Where the hell is Sam?” I asked with a tone of exasperation. I had been in Club V for far too long this evening, although it probably hadn’t been very much time at all. The place was getting to me.
As if conjured out of nowhere, Sam appeared. “I’m right here! You ready to go?”
I nodded and stood, downing the rest of my drink. “You’re driving,” I said as I handed her the keys.
“Cool,” she replied as I followed her out of the bar and into the parking lot, thankful for the fresh air and to be out of Club V—and far away from Jake Mesa.
Chapter 4
Happy to be in my sweats and an old t-shirt, I settled onto the old couch for some trashy reality tv and some time to chat with Samantha after her long day at work and my very weird experience at Club V.
“Seriously, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you how fucking weird your workplace is, but I think I finally got my fill of it today.”
Samantha laughed gleefully as she sipped a cup of tea and flipped through the channels. “I can’t imagine what you might mean by that.” Her words were sarcastic. The truth was that she must know exactly how fucking weird the place was. She had to go to work there every day.
“I don’t know how you do it, Sam. All of those people just lying around, fucking, waiting to fuck, hoping to find someone to fuck, sitting next to me at the bar and hoping that I’m on the fucking menu.”
She shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, some of them can be pretty bad. You know, they aren’t ever supposed to approach the bar staff that way. It’s in the rules and they all know it and somehow I think that makes them want it more. It’s against the rules so they want to do it. They want to see if they can be the one guy to get past all of that to convince us that they are worth losing a job over. I know a few people who have done that and it’s never worked out for them. Members get booted and bar staff get fired. It’s a lose-lose situation. Was someone bothering you?”
I brushed it off. “There was one guy. It was no big deal and Celeste was right there. Not that I needed her backup, but I was glad to have her there just in case. He didn’t seem like the sort to get persistent about it. You never know though.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” Samantha settled on some kind of dating reality show, but the volume was turned down low and we continued talking to each other. “I’m lucky to have Celeste for a boss. She really looks out for us. Some guys and even women can get really out of hand, but she nips it in the ass right away.”
I nodded and stared at the tv, wondering what was appropriate to bring up about the conversation I’d had with Celeste or any of the things I had seen that evening. If Jake Mesa was an owner then that meant he was Samantha’s boss. I had never heard her talk about him, probably because she didn’t run into the owners much, but she might be able to shed some light on the guy.
“Celeste talked to me about working there.”
Samantha looked over at me, a little surprised. “Really? But you’ve never tended a bar before. She’s pretty serious about the people she hires for the bar.”
“Yeah, umm, she wasn’t talking about the bar.”
Samantha suddenly understood what I was talking about. “Oh. Wow. Okay. Well, is that something you’re considering?” I could see that she was shocked. She had known me most of my life, of course, this was going to come as a surprise to her.
I shook my head. “Nah. I mean, I’m sure the money is great, but I told her I had some things to take care of first.”
“And by ‘things’ you mean your virginity, right?” Samantha said without missing a beat.
“Yeah.”
“Well, Tay, you know I’ve always said I thought you might be making too big of a deal out of it. I know you put up this tough exterior and you want things to be the way you want them, but maybe you should just dip your toes in the water and experience something. You never know where it might lead. And even if it doesn’t go anywhere you’ve had the experience. There’s nothi
ng wrong with that.”
I digested her words in silence. There had been so many opportunities for me and there still were. I could decide any day to let someone be my first. Maybe I just needed to let it be the next guy who walked into the garage.
“Maybe you should seduce someone,” Sam added suddenly. “It sounds like exactly your sort of thing. You like a challenge.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes.
“No, really. Set your sights high. Maybe pick out some guy at the garage. One with a super expensive car. Do your homework when you get his name, make sure he isn’t married, and then bang him in the backseat of his car on your lunch break. It can’t be that difficult for someone who looks like you.”
“Well, thanks,” I said, not exactly sure how to take the compliment.
“Hey, you know I mean that with the most kindness. You are gorgeous, Tay. You could have any guy that you want. I know you want to make sure it’s someone who knows what he’s doing, but honest to god, you’ve got to be so skilled with that vibrator by now that I’m not sure any guy can live up to your expectations.”
I shot a hair tie at her and scowled.
Samantha laughed. “You know it’s true. Seriously, if you want to take care of things, just pick a guy. Get it over with. And from there…” She grinned and looked terribly mischievous. “Then you can work your way through piles of them. There are so many out there. Just think of who you could be picking up at bars. Frankly, I’m jealous.”