He'll have to break all the rules to keep her, but first she has to break just one and let him in...
It's taken four years, but Anna Fray has finally put the past behind her. Mostly. She fills her days working in a bar and her nights watching bad ro...
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During in my shift, I did the only thing I could to try and ignore the way my heart fluttered every time the bell rang on the door: I threw myself into the minutia of my job. I polished every inch of the coffee machine. I refilled the complimentary bowls of sweets to the point that each one had an equal array of multicoloured sweets. I even topped up the spirits, so when I looked down the length of the stainless-steel counter, I could see each thick meniscus line up with the next.
I'd filled hours with tedious tasks, and yet I couldn't stop the way goosebumps prickled my skin every time I heard the clang of the bell as a customer entered the bar. The troubling truth was that I wanted to see him. Even though I knew I had just seen him and would likely seen him again when I got home, it didn't feel like enough. It was inexplicable, unexplainable, but I couldn't deny it. It was a need, itching under my skin, making every second drag by like they were wading through cool molasses.
As my forefinger tapped wildly against the counter, and I chewed the maroon varnish off my fingernails, I was grateful for the distraction Emma provided.
"Are you coming this year, Anna?" she asked as she swept by to pick up a couple of the sweet bowls I'd refilled.
"Where?" I asked, distracted as the ding of the bell welcomed another stranger to the bar.
A waft of coconut drifted my way as her silky, corn-coloured hair slipped over her slender shoulder. "Bamburgh," she answered, flicking the golden silk back into place.
I knew what she was talking about. For as long as I could remember Kelly had given everyone the weekend off to go up to the quaint seaside town of Bamburgh for the annual Fire Festival: a weekend of fireworks, live music, and bonfires on the beach. It was her consolation prize for the twelve hour shifts we'd be working over the festive period. I'd never taken her up on the offer, but everyone else usually did. Now it had become less about eating candy floss and going on fairground rides, and more about indulging in one long staff party.
Wiping his hands on the dirty dish rag, Callum joined us from the storeroom and jumped on my reluctant silence. "Come on, Anna! Kelly's invited everyone to stay at her parent's beach house," he pleaded, leaning in with a devilish grin "I've heard it has an actual hot tub."
"You could share a room with me and Cal," Emma said with a sweet smile.
"And don't say you've got stuff to do because this place will be closed, and there will be fuck else going on that weekend," Callum pressed. "Plus it's not for another two weeks, and I know for a fact you never plan that far in advance."
Like a lawyer making his case, he'd covered all his bases.
"Honestly," I started with a sigh, "spending a drunken weekend with half the guys I've slept with in the past four years is the last thing I'd want to do."
"Why not? Maybe you have a few drinks, relax a little, rekindle an old romance?" Callum wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"You can't really rekindle something that wasn't there to start with." I scoffed. "Unless you think a drunken bang on the beer kegs is particularly romantic?" I said as I remembered mine and Keiran the guitarist's last underwhelming tryst.
